Masters Degrees (Semiotics)

About the programme

The Master of Arts programme in Semiotics of Texts and Culture conveys competences in linguistics, literary studies, visual culture and media semiotics. This is done under the aspect of general cultural semiotics, as the systems of signs – the shared basis of the above branches of science – require deciphering both as a singular phenomenon and in terms of their complex interrelationships. As a student, you can select subjects to create a study focus including only subjects from the field of linguistics, literary studies or semiotics, as well as specialising in the philology of a language (e.g. German or English). Moreover you will acquire additional application-oriented communication, intercultural and IT skills.

Features

– Research-oriented
– Core subjects: linguistics, literature and visual culture in their semiotic form, as well as media semiotics
– Individual focus combinations in German Studies, English Studies, Romance Studies, Slavic Studies, Literary Studies

Syllabus

The degree programme consists of three module groups and a thesis:
A) Core modules
B) Skills modules
C) Expansion modules
A) The core modules pick up on the competences in linguistics, literary studies, visual culture and media semiotics gained over the course of related Bachelor's degree studies while at the same time providing a framework for advanced scientific analysis of the research subjects of the semiotics of texts and culture. In addition, these modules impart the necessary methodological and theoretical skills for scientific research.
B) The skills modules give you the opportunity to specialise in two freely chosen subjects from:
– Language and Signs (Linguistics)
– Texts and Signs (Literary Studies)
– Signs and Symbols (Visual Culture/Art History and Media Semiotics)
C) The expansion modules allow you to develop practical skills in the area of communication studies, intercultural communication and computer science with a view to your future occupation
At the end of the Master's programme, you will write a Master's thesis on a topic derived from module group B.

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The 2-year Master’s programme in Semiotics provides interdisciplinary background and gives a theoretical base for application of semiotic ideas to a wide variety of disciplines and scientific study. The programme binds together the theory of semiotics and three core modules - cultural semiotics, biosemiotics and sociosemiotics.

The tradition of excellence in semiotic theory in Tartu was established by Juri Lotman in 1960s, the founder of semiotics of culture and the Tartu-Moscow Semiotic School, as well as the oldest journal of semiotics, Sign Systems Studies.

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The Digital Media, Culture and Education MA explores the theory and practice of media education and emergent new literacies in the digital age. The programme combines theory with practical opportunities for media production. Students will critically examine new developments within digital media and work with partners including the British Film Institute (BFI).

Degree information

This programme provides the opportunity to explore media education, media literacy and related fields. It combines theory with practical opportunities in moving image production, Internet cultures and game design. Students will critically examine developments in the fields of new media, including the impact of new technologies on education, and debates about the place and purpose of media in society.

Students undertake modules to the value of 180 credits. The programme consists of two core modules (60 credits), two optional modules (60 credits), a dissertation (60 credits) or a report (30 credits) and an additional optional module (30 credits).

Core modules
-Digital Media, Cultural Theory and Education
-Internet Cultures: Theory & Practice

Recommended optional modules include:
-Moving Image Production
-Digital Games, Play and Creativity

Dissertation/report
All students undertake an independent research project, which culminates in a dissertation of 20,000 words or a report of 10,000 words.

Teaching and learning
Teaching is delivered by face-to-face lectures and seminars, practical workshops combined with online-learning. Students are assessed by coursework assignments of up to 5,000 words, plus practical work for some modules, and a 20,000-word dissertation or 10,000-word report.

Careers

Graduates of this programme are currently working across a broad range of areas. Some are working as teachers in primary, secondary schools and further and higher education, while others have jobs as within areas related to digital media. Graduates can also be found working as museum and gallery education officers and in other informal learning spaces.

Why study this degree at UCL?

This programme is run by UCL's London Knowledge Lab (LKL) where collaborating computer and social scientists research the future of learning with digital technologies in a wide range of settings. LKL conducts research, design and development across a broad range of media, systems and environments and brings together computer and social scientists from the areas of education, sociology, culture and media, semiotics, computational intelligence, information management, personalisation, semantic web and ubiquitous technologies.

Students are able to work with the BFI, our partner for one of our modules, as well as leading researchers from the DARE Collaborative, a research partnership focussed on the digital arts in education led by UCL Institute of Education (IOE) and the BFI.

LKL conducts research, design and development across a broad range of media, systems and environments and brings together computer and social scientists from the areas of education, sociology, culture and media, semiotics, computational intelligence, information management, personalisation, semantic web and ubiquitous technologies.

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A unique opportunity to study in the city of Liverpool, home of The Beatles and with access to leading Popular Music academics and Beatles specialists, this MA is the only one of its kind in the UK and the world.

This MA will examine the significance of the music of the Beatles in the construction of identities, audiences, ethnicities and industries, and localities; by doing so it will suggest ways to understand popular music as a social practice, focusing attention on issues such as the role of music in the construction of regional identities, concepts of authenticity, aesthetics, meaning, value, performance, and the use of popular music as a discursive evocation of place. Furthermore, in a consideration of popular music as a text, popular music semiotics will also be employed.

This MA will be of interest to those working in the fields of popular music studies, cultural studies, social anthropology, politics, gender studies, and musicology, among others. Such a course is an essential addition to the discipline of Popular Music Studies.

Curriculum

Currently four taught modules are offered on this programme.

Texts and Contexts: Understanding Popular Music

This will offer you an understanding of how Popular Music Studies has expanded and developed to deal with the changing nature of popular music over the past 50 years. This module will also provide students with contextually related research methods.

Topics in History: Liverpool

This module will introduce and discuss musical production and consumption within the post WWII era and will discuss the roles of locality, economics, space and place, and other issues specifically relating to Merseyside.

Musicology and the Beatles

In this module you will take a popular music semiotics approach and will textually analyse a variety of Beatles material.

Historical and Critical Approaches

You will be invited to study a more ethnographic approach to the Beatles, the various cultural discourses surrounding their music, and the local tourist industry established in Liverpool to capitalise on the group.

The Dissertation module will be introduced to students towards the end of the Topics in History module with a request for student abstracts, the allocation of supervisors, and the agreement of research areas.

Please Note:

1. The Postgraduate Certificate will be awarded on the successful completion of 60 credits. This will consist of two taught modules.

2. The Postgraduate Diploma will be awarded on the successful completion of 120 credits. This will mean the completion of all modules apart from the Dissertation.

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This programme looks at language from a sociocultural perspective. It's designed for anyone with an interest in the relationship between language, culture and society but also provides a solid understanding of English language and linguistics- http://www.gold.ac.uk/pg/ma-sociocultural-linguistics/

The MA develops your understanding of historical and contemporary debates in (socio)linguistics and discourse analysis and enhances your analytic and linguistic skills by introducing different approaches to the analysis of written and spoken language use from a range of everyday and institutional contexts.

Topics covered include:

language and ideology
linguistic performances of identity (particularly language and gender, sexuality, ethnicity and social class)
language and the media
talk at work
English in a multilingual world
intercultural communication
multilingualism and code-switching
varieties of English
You're encouraged to engage with these topics by drawing on your own social, cultural and occupational backgrounds in class discussions and in your written work.

You're also encouraged to collect your own samples of written and spoken language use and learn to subject those to in-depth critical analysis.

This MA will draw on findings, theories and methodologies from: sociolinguistics, semantics, pragmatics, spoken and written discourse analysis, ethnography, semiotics, feminist stylistics; multimodal analysis; interactional sociolinguistics, conversational analysis, membership categorisation analysis, performativity and narrative analysis.

The programme’s distinct interdisciplinary ethos is also reflected in your opportunity to choose from a selection of relevant option modules in other departments in Goldsmiths.

Contact the department

If you have specific questions about the degree, contact Maria Macdonald.

Modules & Structure

On this programme you will complete two core modules, two option modules and one dissertation.

Core modules:
Core Issues in English Language & Linguistics- 30 credits
Language in its Sociocultural Context- 30 credits

Option modules:
You may choose two linguistic options or one linguistic option and one option from other MA programmes within the College, where specifically approved by the Programme Co-ordinator.

Option modules from other departments:
You may also choose one non-linguistics module, either from our own department (English and Comparative Literature) or from another department. Please note that availability of options across the College varies, but typically you can choose from the following selection. Please note that your choice of option module from another deparment needs to be discussed with the Programme Co-ordinator of the MA Sociocultural Linguistics in advance.

Dissertation:
You also produce a dissertation. Dissertation topics in the past have included:

discursive construction of religious identities in interviews with British Muslim converts
code-switching practices in a Tunisian family
discourse and identities in the SLA classroom
language and gender in dream narratives
pauses and silences on Talk Radio
attitudes towards bilingual signs in Thailand
representations of parenthood in UK parenting magazines
political debates on Irish TV
lifetime narratives of older Asian immigrants in the UK
the language of text messaging
language and literacy practices on Facebook
attitudes to non-standard language use
discursive analysis of EFL textbooks
gendered speech style in an all-female group of Iranian friends
The best (UG or MA) linguistics dissertation is rewarded every year with the Hayley Davis Prize.

Approach to teaching

Our lecture/seminar sessions are designed to combine discussions of preparatory reading materials with tutor-led input and hands-on analyses of data/texts by students. We also tend to invite guest lectures for our option modules and introduce you to a number of linguistics talk series across the University of London.

Our MA group is usually very tight-knit, students and student reps organise study/revision groups, online discussion forums, outings to lectures across London, and a number of social events.

Assessment

Coursework; essays; examinations; dissertation.

Skills

Transferable skills, including enhanced communication and discussion skills in written and oral contexts; the ability to analyse and evaluate a wide variety of spoken and written texts from informal as well as institutional settings; an understanding of the concept of communicative competence; the ability to organise information, and to assimilate and evaluate competing arguments.

Careers

Publishing, journalism, british council roles, public relations, teaching, research, translation, advertising, the civil service, business, industry, the media.

Funding

Please visit http://www.gold.ac.uk/pg/fees-funding/ for details.

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The MA in Translation Studies launched by The Centre for Translation and Intercultural Studies in 1995 has been one of the longest-running and most prestigious postgraduate degrees offered by a UK institution.

The MA in Translation and Interpreting Studies (MATIS) aims to equip you with the knowledge and skills for a career in translation and/or interpreting and/or for other professions which require expertise in cross-cultural communication. With its combination of theory and practice, it also provides excellent preparation for further study and research at PhD level.

The translation course units are offered in all language combinations (i.e. English and any other language). However, the interpreting course units are offered in specific language combinations (Arabic, Chinese, French, German and Spanish).

MA students come from Europe, Asia, Africa, North and South America; each year ten or more different languages are spoken by the MA group - a truly multilingual environment in the centre of Manchester!

Aims

The course aims to:
-Equip students with the knowledge and skills for a career in translation and/or interpreting or in other professions which require expertise in cross-cultural communication.
-Equip students for further study and research.
-Provide specialist training in various types of translation and/or interpreting activity, including the use of technology in translation, interpreting and related activities.
-Provide a gradual transition into the world of work through practical, real-life translation and/or interpreting tasks, according to the chosen pathway.

Teaching and learning

On successful completion of the course students will have demonstrated an understanding of:
-Translation and interpreting studies as an academic discipline and the various perspectives from which different scholars have attempted to develop theories of translation and interpreting.
-The role of translation and interpreting in solving interlingual and intercultural communication problems.
-The interdisciplinary nature of translation and interpreting studies and the exchange of empirical and theoretical approaches between translation/interpreting studies and other disciplines.
-Research issues in interpreting and translation, including recent approaches, current problems, and potential future developments.
-The relationship between translation, interpreting and other aspects of language use and communication, including language patterning, textual organisation and the semiotics of verbal and non-verbal communication.
-Specific translation and/or interpreting practices and the role of the translator and/or interpreter in various sectors of economic activity including the audiovisual media, publishing, localisation, commercial and international organisations, depending on the chosen pathway.

Career opportunities

Career opportunities exist in all areas of the translation profession, including translation, revising and editing, terminology, localisation and in project management. Graduates have also entered careers in translator training, international business and publishing.

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Are you interested in understanding and critiquing the ways in which language is used in politics, the media, and intercultural communication?

This course is intended for those who wish to upgrade their professional and academic standing in discourse studies, linguistics, semiotics, and/or intercultural communication. It is particularly well-suited for students with backgrounds in linguistics, communication and related fields who want to move into higher education, journalism, and research into the role of communication in media, politics and society.

The programme combines a range of core modules and optional modules to ensure that you develop a solid foundation in the discipline area whilst also having the flexibility to pursue your own specific research interests.

You will study five core modules:

Describing Language
Discourse, Culture and Communication
Intercultural Communication
Social and Multimodal Aspects of Communication
Research Methods in Applied Linguistics

You will also choose one optional module and complete a 15,000-word dissertation.

In addition, there are two non-assessed components in the programme:

During the autumn term, all students will be offered preliminary training in corpus linguistics, introducing you to one or more of the main English language corpora (e.g. the British National Corpus) – invaluable collections of authentic language data against which theory, intuition and pedagogic materials can be measured.

You will also be offered a course in Academic Writing. Those whose first language is not English are particularly encouraged to follow this course.

You will do a total of six assessed pieces of coursework over the year. For assessment purposes, one of the modules you take during the spring term will be ‘linked’ with the Research Methods module – that is, you will produce a piece of work in the field covered by that module, but with a particular focus on research methods.

About the School of English, Drama and American & Canadian Studies

"Welcome to the School of English, Drama and American & Canadian Studies, in the College of Arts and Law. This is one of the largest Schools in the College, and variety is our watchword. We offer one of the most extensive ranges of undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in the country. Our research expertise is equally diverse, and we welcome students and researchers from all over the world." - Professor Andrzej Gasiorek, Head of School.

We particularly encourage creative thinking, with a range of pioneering programmes including Masters opportunities in Creative Writing, Film and Television and Shakespeare and Creativity. Our creative offerings are also strengthened by the development of our Department of Film and Creative Writing – established in 2015 – which has opened up exciting new opportunities for postgraduates to benefit from synergies between the two fields.

Our well-established Departments also provide an excellent environment for postgraduate study. The Department of Drama and Theatre Arts has a highly respected national and international reputation for excellence in teaching and research. We are also one of the leading centres for the postgraduate study of English in the UK, spanning language and literature. The Department of English Language and Applied Linguistics is a world-leading centre of excellence for both teaching and research in this field.

We are also proud to be home to the world-renowned Shakespeare Institute, based in Stratford-upon-Avon. Situated within walking distance of Shakespeare’s birthplace, school and grave, and the theatres of the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC), the Shakespeare Institute offers postgraduate students and scholars an academic experience unrivalled by any other university.

Funding and Scholarships

There are many ways to finance your postgraduate study at the University of Birmingham. To see what funding and scholarships are available, please visit: http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/postgraduate/funding

Open Days

Explore postgraduate study at Birmingham at our on-campus open days.
Register to attend at: http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/postgraduate/visit

Virtual Open Days

If you can’t make it to one of our on-campus open days, our virtual open days run regularly throughout the year. For more information, please visit: http://www.pg.bham.ac.uk

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English Literature at Cardiff is taught by staff with an international reputation for innovative and influential research. Our passion for the subject and the strength and range of our scholarship enable us to offer a degree which is:

• Inclusive. We teach across the whole chronological span of English Literature, from Middle English to literature of the twenty-first century. We offer modules in a range of critical approaches, from bibliography and textual studies to contemporary women’s writing, and from Barthesian semiotics and postcolonial ways of reading, to theories of gender and queer studies. We are intrigued by the connections between literature and popular culture and literature and theory, and our teaching reflects these interests.

• Challenging. Staff offer modules on their research areas of expertise. This means that students engage with new, up-to-date ideas that are helping to shape and define the future of the discipline.

• Diverse. There are no compulsory modules. You have the freedom to use any critical, theoretical perspective to analyse any type of (aesthetic, cultural, historical) material.

• Engaged. The MA in English Literature is a successful programme of study that has a strong reputation for offering a comprehensive range of modules from all periods and genres that bring the latest developments in literary and critical theory to bear upon the reading of literary and cultural texts.

Distinctive features

• A wide-ranging programme of research-led modules taught by specialists in the field
• A series of dedicated research pathways, including Medieval and Renaissance Studies; Romantic and Victorian Studies; Modern and Contemporary Literature; Gender and Sexuality Studies; Cultural and Critical Theory
• Access to skills training and various research activities
• The freedom to assemble a programme of study tailored to personal and professional interests
• High-level training in the latest research methods, critical theory and scholarly writing and presentation skills in a non-assessed core module
• Popular two-day residential conference and workshop at Gregynog Hall, where you will present short 15-minute papers in a supportive and lively atmosphere
• One-day symposium dedicated to increasing your employability skills
• Opportunities to take part in a series of dynamic research seminar series
• Access to specialist library collections

Structure

Our flexible structure allows you to assemble programmes of study tailored to your personal and professional interests. You can opt for the open pathway, or choose one of our specialist pathways: Medieval and Renaissance; Romantic and Victorian Studies; Modern and Contemporary Literature; Gender and Sexuality Studies; Cultural and Critical Theory, which groups together groups of taught modules with related research activities and skills training available in the School.

The degree is structured in two parts.

• Part one

You choose four modules from a range of specialist options. You take two modules per semester (one module per semester for part-time study)

All teaching is by seminars and workshops structured around student participation, featuring opportunities to present your work. Each module consists of a two-hour seminar per week and is assessed by a 4,000-word essay (or equivalent).

In addition to the taught modules, you attend weekly workshops on research methods and scholarly presentation.

• Part Two

You undertake a dissertation of 16,000-20,000 words on a subject of your choice, developed in consultation with a supervisor in the field. You begin to plan and research your dissertation in the second semester for submission in September.

Core module:

English Literature Ma Dissertation

Optional modules:

The Myth of King Arthur in The Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries
Violent Death in Renaissance Drama
Reading/Theory
Constructing Shakespeare
Neo-Victorian Metatextualities
Writing and Experimentation
Heroes and Villains from Chaucer to Shakespeare
Spectral Femininities
Writing Victorian Science
Children's Fantasy Fiction Since 1900
Before Homosexuality? Representing Same Sex Desire from Smollett to Sexology
Romantic Poetry and Place
Project Management and Advanced Research Skills
Narrative and Nation: Romantic Prose 1980-1830
White
Virginia Woolf's Modernism
Ecotheories
Digital Theory

Teaching

Teaching is delivered in seminar groups for all modules. The teaching for each module is text-based and revolves around the exploration of concepts and ideas from a range of literary, historical, and theoretical perspectives within the broad field of English Literature.

The learning activities vary from module to module as appropriate, but will include such as activities as interactive discussions of prepared texts/topics and, in some cases, student-led presentations.

Encouraged to explore our excellent library resources, you are expected to undertake preparation including wide-ranging reading to enable full participation.

Assessment

Each module on Part One is assessed by a 4,000-word essay or equivalent (which can include up to 10% of the module being assessed by oral presentation).

Part Two is examined by a 16,000-20,000-word dissertation.

Career prospects

Postgraduate study is a gateway to many careers within and beyond academia.

Many of our alumni enter (or return to) various professions including academia, primary and secondary education, journalism, publishing, archival and library work, the Civil Service, arts administration and the creative industries.

In addition to taught modules and academic workshops, we also offer dedicated sessions to increase your transferable skills and employability prospects. We also encourage all students on the programme to work closely with the University’s Careers and Employability office.

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Why take this course?

This course is designed to produce highly competent communicators for the modern business and media world. Combining the theory with the practice of communication, it has a distinctive vocational orientation and focuses on English as the medium of communication.

The course can be studied through campus-based learning or through distance learning.

What will I experience?

On this course you can:

Study the nature and function of communication in the modern world, so you will be able to produce text (written, spoken, printed and broadcast) for different purposes
Better understand and use modern communication technologies

What opportunities might it lead to?

The course is designed for graduates from any discipline who wish to work in business, commerce and the media as highly competent communicators. The course combines the theory of communication with the practice of communication, has a distinctive vocational orientation and focuses on English as the medium of communication.

Module Details

MA Communication and Applied Linguistics balances theory and practice and features units that have a high degree of professional relevance and training.

The course is structured on the basis of core units and optional units.

Core:

Theory and Practice of Communication: This unit deals examines communication theory and practice in a range of contexts. Students will use various analytical tools to examine different areas of communication (e.g. corporate communication, mass communication and semiotics. Through engaging with this unit, students can gain a practical understanding of communication which they can apply to their professional lives.

Analysing Discourse: This unit introduces various analytical tools (e.g. appraisal, speech acts, modality, metaphors, transitivity, cohesion, theme-rheme) which are valuable in the analysis of authentic discourses and texts (e.g. courtroom discourse, social media, educational science texts, newspaper texts, political speeches, advertisements, etc.). The importance of context in any analysis is emphasised.

Dissertation: Students undertake a piece of significant research, reported and analysed in an appropriate manner in an area of professional relevance. A research proposal will be produced in the first instance and supervision from a tutor will be available throughout the process.

2 options:

Technical Communication: This unit is designed to develop students’ ability to communicate technical information effectively to specific audiences. It will examine a range of factors that can influence the effectiveness of communication and provide strategies to overcome communication problems.

Intercultural Communication: This unit deals with intercultural communication issues in a global setting. Students can benefit from an awareness of the various factors including cultural factors, which influence communication in order to improve their own knowledge and practice of communication.

Communication in the Workplace: This unit examines how language is used in workplace settings. Analysing and evaluating a range of spoken, written and digital texts, can help students to reflect on and improve their own knowledge and practice of communication.

Digital Communication and Media Development: This unit is designed to give students a theoretical and a practical knowledge of digital media development and implementation. Students will use a range of software applications to design or develop their own digital marketing applications.

Second Language Acquisition: This unit reviews relevant research on the topic of SLA and builds on students’ previous experience of language learning, applying this to areas such as individual differences and types of learning, as well as to more formal approaches to SLA.

Professional Portfolio: This unit offers students the opportunity to profile their degree to their own professional and/or personal interests, allowing students the chance to study areas not covered elsewhere in the curriculum. Students negotiate an area for study and then pursue this with the support of a supervisor.

Please note. All optional units are subject to staff availability and student demand.

Exit levels

The credit system creates a flexible framework in which you can graduate with one of the following awards, depending on the number of credits gained:

MA Communication and Applied Linguistics (four core units plus the research management and dissertation units) 180 credits
Postgraduate Diploma in Communication and Applied Linguistics: 120 credits
Postgraduate Certificate in Communication and Applied Linguistics: 60 credits

Programme Assessment

Full time study is one full academic year, consisting of a taught part from October to June and a research part, in which the dissertation is written, from June to September. Part time students study for a period of two years. The dissertation is written in the summer period of the second year of study.

There are no formal examinations. A variety of different assessment methods are used which include essays, projects, portfolios, presentations and your dissertation. The research management unit will prepare you for your dissertation and you will be allocated a dissertation supervisor who will oversee your work throughout the process. You will also be encouraged to start thinking about it from the start of the course and submit a series of interim documents.

Student Destinations

Graduates will be able to progress to jobs in the public and private sectors in various areas of communication including, advertising, publishing, human resources departments, in higher education in their own country or elsewhere, or continue on to undertake doctoral research. Possession of a Masters qualification is often viewed as a requirement for promotion to a more responsible position where you may already be working.

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The Education and Technology MA will teach students the practical and research skills to design, use and evaluate technology-enhanced learning interventions. They will learn how to embed technology within educational practice, explore key issues and debates in this field, and critically appraise educational theory.

Degree information

This programme will enhance a student’s theoretical insights in, and practical applications of, technology in education and professional practice. Students learn how to apply the latest educational theory to their everyday professional practice as well as developing research skills, allowing progression on to doctoral research.

Students undertake modules to the value of 180 credits.

The programme consists of two core modules (60 credits), and either two elective modules (60 credits) and a dissertation (60 dissertation), or a report (30 credits) and three elective modules (90 credits).

Core modules
-Education and Technology: Key Issues and Debates (online/mixed)
-Researching Digital Learning (online/mixed)

Elective modules - students choose two optional modules from across the UCL Institute of Education's Master's-level offering. The following are examples:
-Design and Use of Technologies for Education
-Technology and Education Beyond the Classroom

Dissertation/report
All students undertake an independent project culminating either in a dissertation of 20,000 words or a report of 10,000 words, supervised either on campus or online.

Teaching and learning
Teaching is delivered through individual and group working; lectures and podcasts, student presentations and group discussion of reading and writing undertaken in preparation for sessions, both online and face-to-face; collaborative activities in face-to-face and online contexts. All modules are assessed by written assignments.

Careers

Graduates of this programme are currently working as educators, university learning technologists, government education researchers and PhD students.

Top career destinations for this degree:
-International School Teacher (Head of ICT), Rainbow International School Uganda
-Research Officer, Institute of Education
-Secondary School Teacher, Notting Hill & Ealing High School
-Education Consultant, CfBT
-Lecturer / Instructional Designer, National University of Kaohsiung and studying MA Education and Technology, Institute of Education, University of London (IOE)

Employability
The Education and Technology MA is highly regarded within education and industry. Graduates from our programme have gone on to develop their careers in the education sector as senior teachers, learning technologists, education researchers, and to undertake PhD research.

Why study this degree at UCL?

This programme is run by UCL's Knowledge Lab (UCLKL) where social scientists engage in research on the future of learning with digital technologies in a wide range of educational settings. This brings together social scientists from a range of fields including education, sociology, and semiotics who explore design, development and evaluation across a broad range of digital media. The research is interdisciplinary in nature, with collaborations involving, for example, computer scientists, designers, and subject specialist educators.

This programme offers a number of opportunities for networking across different sectors in educational contexts: the Knowledge Lab runs regular seminars and talks from external academic visitors, which students are encouraged to attend, and are broadcast on Moodle for distance learners, providing networking opportunities with academics; several projects within the lab are in collaboration with tech companies, providing potential opportunities to link with industry; and the programme attracts students from across the world providing international networking links across different educational sectors.

The MA attracts students from a wide variety of backgrounds and nationalities, providing scope for broad intellectual discussion and debate, and opportunities for multidisciplinary working, and global networking.

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The Architectural Design MA is a pre-professional programme developing a specialist approach to architectural thinking, and design execution. This is an internationally popular course that attracts students globally and currently offers two streams:

• Philosophical Discourse and Architecture – this stream pursues a humanistic approach to architecture rooted in the humanities, that examines the epistemology of modern architecture in concert with modern continental philosophy, which allows you to integrate knowledge of specialized disciplines into a unified and meaningful whole.

Or

• Design Computation and Architecture – this stream will examine the concept of space and the problem of configuring space in architecture. Taking an interdisciplinary approach you will review literature and explore concepts from a range of fields, including theoretical biology, social science, systems theory, cybernetics, semiotics and computation to establish ways and means of rethinking and designing architectural space

Graduate careers

Graduates may either find employment with a leading architectural practice or progress onto professional qualification. Graduates are given the opportunity to complete the MArch with advanced standing, commencing in MArch Year Two, subject to portfolio review and interview. After the course, many students continue with their architectural education and aspire to qualify and register as an architect in the UK, or pursue academic research. The MA in Architectural Design offers access to careers in allied industries, such as planning, architectural conservation, urban design, facilities, estate and project management, or into other fields such as journalism, heritage and history studies, film, web design, lifestyle design, game design, event design and digital animation, strategic management, and political advocacy.

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This MA explores language from a wide range of perspectives. It is designed to develop understanding of key concepts and issues related to applied linguistics and English language education globally, while also engaging students in the theoretical and empirical investigation of real-world situations, contexts and issues in which language plays a crucial role.

Degree information

This programme will provide students with insight into applied linguistics and language education from global, bilingual, cognitive, discourse, and socio-cultural perspectives. It will also develop students' capacity to analyse, evaluate and synthesise primary and secondary sources as well as helping them to design research.

Students undertake modules to the value of 180 credits.

The programme consists of one core module (30 credits), three optional modules (90 credits) and a research dissertation (60 credits).

For a PG Diploma the requirement is one core module (30 credits) and three optional modules (90 credits). For a PG Certificate the requirement is one core module (30 credits) and two optional modules (60 credits).

Core module - the core module for the MA Applied Linguistics is Discourse, Society and Culture (30 credits):
-Discourse, Society and Culture

Optional modules (indicative list) - up to 90 credits of options drawn from the following:
-English in Diverse World Contexts
-Fundamentals of Second and Foreign Language Teaching
-Intercultural Communication
-Language and Identity
-Language Teacher Identity and Development
-Language Testing
-Materials Development for Language Teaching
-The Multilingual Classroom
-Second Language Acquisition
-Education and Development in Asia
-Education and International Development: Concepts, Theories and Issues
-Contemporary Issues in English Education
-Early Childhood Education
-Internet Cultures: Theory and Practice
-Literacy Development
-Perspectives on Adult Literacy, Language and Numeracy
-Technology and Education Beyond the Classroom
-Theoretical Foundations of Educational Ideas
-Understanding Specific Learning Difficulties (dyslexia) Module I

Dissertation/research project
All students are required to write a 2,500-word research proposal which leads to the submission of a 15,000-word dissertation on a topic in applied linguistics.

Teaching and learning
This programme is delivered through a combination of lectures, workshops, projects, supervisory tutorials, student presentations, and student-led discussions. Within tutor-led sessions, students often engage in individual, pair and group tasks which are then fed back to the plenary. Students are assessed through written coursework, oral presentation, and the dissertation. Alternative modes of assessment may be a feature of some modules.

Careers

Graduates of this programme include university and college lecturers, senior managers and directors of study in private and state sector schools, textbook and materials writers, editors and publishers, education journalists, NGO project officers, education consultants, policy advisers and researchers, and consultants in the aviation industry.

Employability
This programme not only provides an outstanding foundation for those hoping to undertake PhD research and pursue an academic career, but is also popular with students wishing to go into education or develop their career internationally. Small group discussions and debates on the programme help students to acquire strong presentation and negotiation skills. Likewise, the analytical and research skills gained by students are highly valued by employers from a range of sectors. There are many additional activities available, both within the department and the wider UCL community, to help students focus on employability skills whilst they here, for example departmental talks and other networking opportunities.

Why study this degree at UCL?

The Department of Culture, Communication and Media (CCM) is committed to excellence in teaching, research and consultancy across a range of areas including applied linguistics.

One of the key aims of UCL Institute of Education’s Centre for Applied Linguistics is to seek external funding for high-quality research and consultancy in the broad field of applied linguistics, including discourse analysis, bilingualism and multilingualism, second language acquisition, intercultural communication, linguistic ethnography, semiotics, and language-in-education policy and practice, and undertake such research.

It also aims to provide research input into teaching programmes and doctoral supervision in areas of applied linguistics and global English language education.

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Introduction

A dynamic menswear course with an international reputation for challenging the conventions of fashion design, nurturing and refining talent to produce some of the most forward thinking creatives in menswear design today.

Content

MA FDT Menswear at London College of Fashion has built an international reputation for design that asks questions and presents unexpected solutions to the mainstays of fashion design and garment construction. It is a course where innovation and craft intersect at the crossroads of modernity to produce pioneering menswear designers.

Students investigate their own practice to define design methodologies that encompass key concepts of fabric, cut and silhouette. Based on rigorous research and analytical thinking, the course encourages fresh perspectives in menswear design.

Students come from a wide range of backgrounds bringing a breadth of experience to their peer group and discipline. Emerging from a diversity of practice and theory based undergraduate studies, including Womenswear, Fine Art, Architecture and Semiotics, they are able to explore the potential of their transferable skills and knowledge into menswear design methodologies.

Alumni have gone on to set up successful design labels, work for international brands or continue their research to PhD level. This is the course where menswear talent is nurtured and refined to produce some of the most forward thinking creatives in menswear design today.

Structure

15 months level 7 180 credits

Term One

Creative and Technical Innovation (40 credits)
Research Methods (20 credits)

Term Two

Collaborative Unit (20 credits)
Technical Analysis and Development (40 units)

Term Three

Masters Project (60 credits)

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About the course

This ERASMUS-MUNDUS Masters programme is a truly international course: EU funded, multilingual, multidisciplinary and taught by a consortium of European and North and South American universities.

Literature is the main subject. The approach is comparative. There are also modules in aesthetics, the history of ideas, semiotics, linguistics and communication.

You’ll study at three of the participating universities. They are: University of Sheffield, England; University of Bergamo, Italy; New University of Lisbon, Portugal; University

of Perpignan, France; University of Poznan, Poland; University of St Andrews, Scotland; University of Santiago de Compostela, Spain; University Iberoamericana, Mexico; University of Guelph, Canada; Entre Rios University, Argentina.

Your career

Our reputation for excellence means your MA will be highly respected by employers. You’ll develop the skills to work in translation, culture and communication internationally or in the UK. Recent graduates have gone on to work for employers such as SDL, Transact, The Big Word, Kaplan, the University of Leeds, the State University – Higher School of Economics in Moscow, Centre for French and Francophone Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University and as International Projects Director at a South Yorkshire College.

You may also choose to follow in the footsteps of students who have continued to PhD and have been awarded highly prestigious grants for PhD study such as Wolfson and WRoCAH scholarships.

About us

We constantly review and revise our degrees to make sure you keep on top of the latest developments in the field. You’ll learn academic theory and practical skills – and how to relate the two.

Sheffield is at the forefront of modern languages research. The 2014 Research Excellence Framework (REF) ranks us among the top ten Russell Group universities for impact in this field. Recent projects include e-learning and knowledge exchange with industry, and three initiatives looking at language teaching and learning.

Our facilities

You can practise your English, French, German, Italian or Spanish with native speakers at our Modern Languages Teaching Centre. Our specially designed building has modern spaces for teaching and research. We’re right next to the other arts and humanities departments, and there are lots of opportunities to share ideas.

Core modules

No core modules.

Examples of optional modules

These include: Critical Theory; Visual Culture and Society in the Soviet Union; French Cultural Studies; French Gender Studies; Modern Spanish Culture and Literature; Spanish American Literature and Society; Catalan Culture and Literature; Contemporary Portuguese Language and Literature; 19th-Century German Literary Studies; 20th-Century German Literature; Gender Studies in Europe; Concepts and Approaches in Translation Studies; Concepts and Approaches in Intercultural Communication; Intercultural Communication in Practice; Approaches to Translation Genres – plus a large range of School of English modules. You can also take language-learning modules and an internship option is available.

Teaching and assessment

Teaching takes place through lectures, seminars, small-group work and workshops. You’ll be assessed by coursework.

Important information

You can’t apply directly to Sheffield for this course. For further information visit:

http://www.munduscrossways.eu

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The MA in Broadcast Literacy at Queen's University Belfast offers:
• a comprehensive theoretical overview of the contemporary field of broadcasting, its development, policies and place in society;
• a semiotics of modern broadcasting, providing techniques for ‘reading’ broadcast texts;
• a practice-based introduction to the techniques and strategies used in generating content for television, radio and other broadcast media, taught by experienced writers and broadcasters;
• opportunities to explore the students’ own interests in broadcasting through guided study.

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