B.A. Journalism with History

Structure and content

The programme is organized into modules, or units of study, worth 20 credits each. In full-time mode, you will take six modules per year over three years. In part-time mode, you will take no less than two modules per year and no more than four modules per year over a maximum of six years.

In either full-time or part-time mode, you will take 18 modules amounting to a total 360 credits.

In Year 1, you will take modules that give you a good basic grounding in the academic study of the media and in practical journalism skills that you will need to underpin your more advanced modules in Years Two and Three. At this level you will take modules that introduce you to critical issues in journalism (history, sociology, economics and technology), journalism law and regulation, and journalism practice (newsgathering, report writing, sub-editing, newspaper design and production and broadcast journalism techniques).

Your commitment in time and effort will be intensive and demanding, much more so than those subjects that have no practice component. As well as on-campus activities, you will also learn about reporting from the local court and council offices. During your second year, you will be helped to obtain a placement with a local newspaper or other news based outlet.

Programme

The programme uses a range of teaching methods including lectures, small group seminars and practical workshops. These are delivered and supervised by experienced teaching staff, including former journalists and conducted in state-of-the art newsrooms and high definition TV and radio studios.

You will have access to a wide range of learning resources, including professional standard production and design software such as Adobe InDesign, and digital sound and video software.

The programme assesses your work using a variety of different assessment methods including traditional academic essays, critical book reviews, examinations, class-tests and practical journalism assignments in reporting and writing.

Attendance

• 200 hours per module per semester as follows:
• 36 contact hours per module per semester.
• 164 independent study hours per module per semester.

FAQ:

How many hours per week will I attend as journalism student at Ulster?

All full-time degree programmes in the Faculty of Arts require a minimum three hours contact time (e.g. lectures and seminars) per module. However, programmes with a practice component, such as Journalism, will demand, by their very nature, additional contact hours for attendance on practical workshops and may require occasional assignments off campus, e.g. to local court or council. In addition to attendance at teaching sessions, the programme will require up to 20 hours per module per semester of independent learning and study (e.g. library research and coursework preparation). In that light, the attendance requirement in part-time mode depends on how many modules taken per semester (one or two).