Spanish mandatory modules
Post-A level pathway
- Spanish 1
- Literature in Spanish
- Modern Latin American History
Beginners' pathway
- Spanish 1: Beginners
University Park Campus, Nottingham, UK
Qualification | Entry Requirements | Start Date | UCAS code | Duration | Fees |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
BA Jt Hons | ABB | September 2025 | RP4X | 4 years full-time | £9,250 per year |
Qualification | Entry Requirements | Start Date | UCAS code | Duration | Fees |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
BA Jt Hons | ABB | September 2025 | RP4X | 4 years full-time | £9,250 per year |
if taking then Higher Level 5 in Spanish or Standard Level 6 in Spanish
6.5 overall (with no less than 6.0 in any element)
Check our country-specific information for guidance on qualifications from your country.
Beginners pathway
No language qualification required
Non-beginners pathway
A level - grade B
English grade 4 (C).
All candidates are considered on an individual basis and we accept a broad range of qualifications. The entrance requirements below apply to 2024 entry.
Please note: Applicants whose backgrounds or personal circumstances have impacted their academic performance may receive a reduced offer. Please see our contextual admissions policy for more information.
Open to beginners and A level students of Spanish.
We recognise that applicants have a wealth of different experiences and follow a variety of pathways into higher education.
Consequently we treat all applicants with alternative qualifications (besides A levels and the International Baccalaureate) on an individual basis, and we gladly accept students with a whole range of less conventional qualifications including:
This list is not exhaustive. The entry requirements for alternative qualifications can be quite specific; for example you may need to take certain modules and achieve a specified grade in those modules. Please contact us to discuss the transferability of your qualification. Please see the alternative qualifications page for more information.
RQF BTEC Nationals
Access to HE Diploma
As well as IELTS (listed above), we also accept other English language qualifications. This includes TOEFL iBT, Pearson PTE, GCSE, IB and O level English. Check our English language policies and equivalencies for further details.
For presessional English or one-year foundation courses, you must take IELTS for UKVI to meet visa regulations.
If you need support to meet the required level, you may be able to attend a Presessional English for Academic Purposes (PEAP) course. Our Centre for English Language Education is accredited by the British Council for the teaching of English in the UK.
If you successfully complete your presessional course to the required level, you can then progress to your degree course. This means that you won't need to retake IELTS or equivalent.
International students must have valid UK immigration permissions for any courses or study period where teaching takes place in the UK. Student route visas can be issued for eligible students studying full-time courses. The University of Nottingham does not sponsor a student visa for students studying part-time courses. The Standard Visitor visa route is not appropriate in all cases. Please contact the university’s Visa and Immigration team if you need advice about your visa options.
Beginners pathway
No language qualification required
Non-beginners pathway
A level - grade B
English grade 4 (C).
if taking then Higher Level 5 in Spanish or Standard Level 6 in Spanish
All candidates are considered on an individual basis and we accept a broad range of qualifications. The entrance requirements below apply to 2024 entry.
Please note: Applicants whose backgrounds or personal circumstances have impacted their academic performance may receive a reduced offer. Please see our contextual admissions policy for more information.
Open to beginners and A level students of Spanish.
We recognise that applicants have a wealth of different experiences and follow a variety of pathways into higher education.
Consequently we treat all applicants with alternative qualifications (besides A levels and the International Baccalaureate) on an individual basis, and we gladly accept students with a whole range of less conventional qualifications including:
This list is not exhaustive. The entry requirements for alternative qualifications can be quite specific; for example you may need to take certain modules and achieve a specified grade in those modules. Please contact us to discuss the transferability of your qualification. Please see the alternative qualifications page for more information.
RQF BTEC Nationals
Access to HE Diploma
We make contextual offers to students who may have experienced barriers that have restricted progress at school or college. Our standard contextual offer is usually one grade lower than the advertised entry requirements, and our enhanced contextual offer is usually two grades lower than the advertised entry requirements. To qualify for a contextual offer, you must have Home/UK fee status and meet specific criteria – check if you’re eligible.
If you have already achieved your EPQ at Grade A you will automatically be offered one grade lower in a non-mandatory A level subject.
If you are still studying for your EPQ you will receive the standard course offer, with a condition of one grade lower in a non-mandatory A level subject if you achieve an A grade in your EPQ.
You can also access this course through a Foundation Year. This may be suitable if you have faced educational barriers and are predicted BCC at A Level.
At the University of Nottingham, we have a valuable community of mature students and we appreciate their contribution to the wider student population. You can find lots of useful information on the mature students webpage.
On this course, subject to you meeting the relevant requirements, your third academic year will be spent in Spain and/or Spanish America doing one of the following (please note: not all options may be available in all locations):
If you intend to carry on with Portuguese after year two you may also spend the year in Portugal and/or Brazil
For more information, see your year abroad options.
Please note: In order to undertake a compulsory year abroad, you will need to achieve the relevant academic requirements as set by the University and meet the selection criteria of both the University and the partner institution. The partner institution is under no obligation to accept you even if you do meet the relevant criteria.
You could gain professional experience in film, television and other creative industries, create a network of contacts and boost your employability through our Creative Student Network internship scheme.
Please note: In order to undertake a placement or internship, you will need to achieve the relevant academic requirements as set by the University and meet any requirements specified by the placement host. There is no guarantee that you will be able to undertake a placement or internship as part of your course.
Please be aware that study abroad, compulsory year abroad, optional placements/internships and integrated year in industry opportunities may change at any time for a number of reasons, including curriculum developments, changes to arrangements with partner universities or placement/industry hosts, travel restrictions or other circumstances outside of the university’s control. Every effort will be made to update this information as quickly as possible should a change occur.
On this course, subject to you meeting the relevant requirements, your third academic year will be spent in Spain and/or Spanish America doing one of the following (please note: not all options may be available in all locations):
If you intend to carry on with Portuguese after year two you may also spend the year in Portugal and/or Brazil
For more information, see your year abroad options.
Please note: In order to undertake a compulsory year abroad, you will need to achieve the relevant academic requirements as set by the University and meet the selection criteria of both the University and the partner institution. The partner institution is under no obligation to accept you even if you do meet the relevant criteria.
You could gain professional experience in film, television and other creative industries, create a network of contacts and boost your employability through our Creative Student Network internship scheme.
Please note: In order to undertake a placement or internship, you will need to achieve the relevant academic requirements as set by the University and meet any requirements specified by the placement host. There is no guarantee that you will be able to undertake a placement or internship as part of your course.
Please be aware that study abroad, compulsory year abroad, optional placements/internships and integrated year in industry opportunities may change at any time for a number of reasons, including curriculum developments, changes to arrangements with partner universities or placement/industry hosts, travel restrictions or other circumstances outside of the university’s control. Every effort will be made to update this information as quickly as possible should a change occur.
All students will need at least one device to approve security access requests via Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA). We also recommend students have a suitable laptop to work both on and off-campus. For more information, please check the equipment advice.
Essential course materials are supplied.
You'll be able to access most of the books you’ll need through our libraries, though you may wish to buy your own copies of core texts.
A limited number of modules have compulsory texts which you are required to buy.
We recommend that you budget £100 per year for books, but this figure will vary according to which modules you take.
The Blackwell's bookshop on campus offers a year-round price match against any of the main retailers (for example Amazon, Waterstones, WH Smith). You can often buy second-hand copies of textbooks through them as students from previous years sell their copies back to the bookshop.
As a year abroad student, you will pay reduced fees. For students spending their year abroad in 2023 this was set at:
These vary from country to country, but always include:
Depending on the country visited you may also have to pay for:
There are a number of sources of funding:
Your access to funding depends on:
You may be able to work or teach during your year abroad. This will be dependent on your course and country-specific regulations. Often students receive a small salary or stipend for these work placements. Working or teaching is not permitted in all countries. More information on your third year abroad.
For volunteering and placements, for example work experience and teaching in schools, you will need to pay for transport and refreshments.
Field trips allow you to engage with source materials on a personal level and to develop different perspectives. They are optional and costs to you vary according to the trip; some require you to arrange your own travel, refreshments and entry fees, while some are some are wholly subsidised.
Faculty of Arts Alumni Scholarships
Our Alumni Scholarships provide support with essential living costs to eligible students. Find out more about eligibility and how to apply.
University of Nottingham bursaries and scholarships
The university offers a wide range of funds that can provide you with an additional source of non-repayable financial help. See our bursaries and scholarships page for what's available.
International students
We offer a range of international undergraduate scholarships for high-achieving international scholars who can put their Nottingham degree to great use in their careers.
All students will need at least one device to approve security access requests via Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA). We also recommend students have a suitable laptop to work both on and off-campus. For more information, please check the equipment advice.
Essential course materials are supplied.
You'll be able to access most of the books you’ll need through our libraries, though you may wish to buy your own copies of core texts.
A limited number of modules have compulsory texts which you are required to buy.
We recommend that you budget £100 per year for books, but this figure will vary according to which modules you take.
The Blackwell's bookshop on campus offers a year-round price match against any of the main retailers (for example Amazon, Waterstones, WH Smith). You can often buy second-hand copies of textbooks through them as students from previous years sell their copies back to the bookshop.
As a year abroad student, you will pay reduced fees. For students spending their year abroad in 2023 this was set at:
These vary from country to country, but always include:
Depending on the country visited you may also have to pay for:
There are a number of sources of funding:
Your access to funding depends on:
You may be able to work or teach during your year abroad. This will be dependent on your course and country-specific regulations. Often students receive a small salary or stipend for these work placements. Working or teaching is not permitted in all countries. More information on your third year abroad.
For volunteering and placements, for example work experience and teaching in schools, you will need to pay for transport and refreshments.
Field trips allow you to engage with source materials on a personal level and to develop different perspectives. They are optional and costs to you vary according to the trip; some require you to arrange your own travel, refreshments and entry fees, while some are some are wholly subsidised.
Faculty of Arts Alumni Scholarships
Our Alumni Scholarships provide support with essential living costs to eligible students. Find out more about eligibility and how to apply.
University of Nottingham bursaries and scholarships
The university offers a wide range of funds that can provide you with an additional source of non-repayable financial help. See our bursaries and scholarships page for what's available.
Home students*
Over one third of our UK students receive our means-tested core bursary, worth up to £1,000 a year. Full details can be found on our financial support pages.
* A 'home' student is one who meets certain UK residence criteria. These are the same criteria as apply to eligibility for home funding from Student Finance.
Communication defines us as human beings.
This degree gives you a chance to think critically about media and communication in your own society, globally and in a Spanish-specific context.
Communication defines us as human beings.
This degree gives you a chance to think critically about media and communication in your own society, globally and in a Spanish-specific context.
Drawing on a range of approaches (such as sociology, communication theory, politics and cultural studies), you’ll explore areas such as:
With the focus being on media theory and cultural history you'll develop critical skills in:
You can start the degree with A-level Spanish or as a beginner. Whichever pathway you take you'll build your language skills to near-native competence by the end. As well as building language skills you'll also get a full appreciation of the Spanish-speaking world through modules on:
Your third year will be spent abroad in a Spanish-speaking country, subject to you meeting the relevant requirements. This exciting experience develops your communication skills and really helps you stand out to future employers.
This course is perfect for a career in the creative industries. At Nottingham, you can gain valuable experience through internships, placements, and work opportunities. No more so though than with our prestigious Hollywood Internships programme, unique to Nottingham. Previous internships have involved:
Indicative partner organisations include A24, CAA, Disney, Warner, Paramount, Sony, Lionsgate, UTA, and WME.
Our partners, and the number and nature of the internships, change each year. Vacancies are advertised in the Autumn term for students in years two and above. These are highly competitive positions, and places are not guaranteed. Terms and conditions apply.
The internships are supported through the generosity of Peter Rice, Nottingham graduate and former Chair of Disney General Entertainment Content
The awards are competitive and open exclusively to our students.
This joint honours degree is a collaboration between two departments. Find out more about what it’s like to study in the:
Department of Cultural, Media and Visual Studies
Department of Modern Languages and Cultures
Important Information
This online prospectus has been drafted in advance of the academic year to which it applies. Every effort has been made to ensure that the information is accurate at the time of publishing, but changes (for example to course content) are likely to occur given the interval between publishing and commencement of the course. It is therefore very important to check this website for any updates before you apply for the course where there has been an interval between you reading this website and applying.
Mandatory
Year 1
Spanish 1: Beginners
Mandatory
Year 1
Literature in Spanish
Mandatory
Year 1
Modern Latin America
Mandatory
Year 1
Spanish 1
Mandatory
Year 1
Questioning Culture: An Introduction to Research
Mandatory
Year 1
Media and Society
Mandatory
Year 1
Cultures of Everyday Life
Mandatory
Year 2
Spanish 2
Mandatory
Year 2
Spanish 2: Beginners
Mandatory
Year 2
Luso-Hispanic Cinemas
Mandatory
Year 2
Researching Media and Culture
Optional
Year 2
Modern Spanish and Spanish American Literature and Film
Optional
Year 2
New World(s): Contacts, Conquests and Conflict in Early Modern Hispanic History and Culture
Optional
Year 2
Understanding Cultural Industries
Optional
Year 2
Media Identities: Who We Are and How We Feel
Optional
Year 2
Transnational Media
Optional
Year 2
Political Communication, Public Relations and Propaganda
Optional
Year 2
Memory, Media and Visual Culture
Optional
Year 2
Los Angeles Art and Architecture 1945-1980
Optional
Year 2
Art and Architecture in Nottingham
Optional
Year 2
Black Art in a White Context: Display, Critique and The Other
Optional
Year 2
European Avant-Garde Film
Optional
Year 2
The Sixties: Culture and Counterculture
Optional
Year 2
Film and Television in Social and Cultural Context
Optional
Year 2
Work placement
Optional
Year 2
After Empire: Colonisation and its Legacies
Optional
Year 2
New Media and Digital Culture
Mandatory
Year 3
Year abroad
Mandatory
Year 4
Dissertation in International Media and Communications Studies
Mandatory
Year 4
Dissertation in Hispanic Studies
Mandatory
Year 4
Spanish 3
Optional
Year 4
Brazilian Slave Society
Optional
Year 4
Making the Cuban Revolution: Ideology, Culture and Identity in Cuba since 1959
Optional
Year 4
Literature and Film under Franco
Optional
Year 4
Painting in Spain
Optional
Year 4
Business and Society in Spain
Optional
Year 4
Communicating and Teaching Languages for Undergraduate Ambassadors
Optional
Year 4
Photographing America
Optional
Year 4
Mediating Disaster
Optional
Year 4
Global Cinema
Optional
Year 4
Working in the Cultural Industries
Optional
Year 4
Teaching Film and Media Studies for Undergraduate Ambassadors
Optional
Year 4
Film and Television Genres
Optional
Year 4
Gender, Sexuality and Media
Optional
Year 4
Public Cultures: Protest, Participation and Power
Optional
Year 4
Self, Sign and Society
Optional
Year 4
Creative and Cultural Industries Research Project
Optional
Year 4
Global Media Franchises
Optional
Year 4
Sound and Experience
Optional
Year 4
Politics and Visual Culture
Optional
Year 4
Contested Bodies: Gender and Power in the Renaissance
Optional
Year 4
Screen Encounters: Audiences and Engagement
Optional
Year 4
Performance Art
The above is a sample of the typical modules we offer, but is not intended to be construed or relied on as a definitive list of what might be available in any given year. This content was last updated on Wednesday 4 September 2024. Due to timetabling availability, there may be restrictions on some module combinations.
Spanish mandatory modules
Post-A level pathway
Beginners' pathway
Spanish mandatory modules
Post-A level pathway
Beginners' pathway
Your third academic year is spent in Spain or a Spanish-speaking country doing one of the following:
For full details of possible destinations, finance and impact of Brexit see our dedicated Year Abroad page.
Cassie explains what the Year Abroad is really like for a language student.
Welcome to Spanish at the University of Nottingham — this is where your journey to Spanish fluency begins!
Designed for students who have little or no prior experience of the language, this module will support you as you develop all the key areas of language acquisition: reading, writing, listening and speaking. To keep the classes interesting and relevant we'll use a wide range of source material from newspapers, audio-visual content and websites.
Through this, not only will your speaking and comprehension skills improve, but also your grammar usage and ability to understand the language in different contexts. By the end of this module, you'll be able to read basic texts, follow everyday conversations and engage in social conversation.
You'll also become more culturally aware of the countries that make up the Spanish-speaking world and get a better understanding of their varying current affairs and cultures.
This module is designed as a foundation for all later modules covering Spanish and Portuguese literatures. The main aims of this module are to give you a general introduction to literature and the study of literature, while providing you with a partial overview of literary writing in the Spanish language. As well as to introduce some of the key theoretical issues of literary study and instil good reading and critical habits. Through this you will be tested on your skills in close reading, textual analysis, seminar participation and the ability to write cogent and convincing commentaries and essays. This module is worth 20 credits.
Through a combination of lectures, guided reading and research you'll explore the main patterns of Latin American political, economic and social history, between independence in the 1820s and the end of the twentieth century.
We'll focus on specific concepts, terminology, events and people, so as to develop an understanding of different perspectives and interpretations of the history in question. We'll also encourage you to appreciate the interaction between the ‘political history’ of major events and protagonists in official positions of power, and the ‘social history' of populations who both contributed to, and were affected by, political change.
You will learn to develop a critical approach to the study of history through a variety of materials; gain an ability to distinguish between the particular and the general and to develop the tools for comparative analysis.
Welcome to Spanish at the University of Nottingham — this is where your journey to Spanish fluency shall really begin to take off!
Designed for students who have completed an A level in the language, this module will support you to improve in all the key areas of language acquisition: reading, writing, listening and speaking. To keep the classes interesting and relevant we'll use a wide range of source material from newspapers, audio-visual content and websites.
Through this, not only will your speaking and comprehension skills improve, but also your grammar usage and ability to understand the language in different contexts.
You'll also become more culturally aware of the countries that make up the Spanish-speaking world and get a better understanding of their varying current affairs and cultures.
This module supports first year students as they make the transition into degree level work. You will gain skills in independent and collaborative learning with the aid of guided and self-directed learning tasks and individual and group research projects. The module prepares the ground for subsequent research training and for the final year dissertation.
In this module you will critically examine the social forces that have shaped different media, focussing on the press, broadcasting, the internet, and film & television. You will explore key debates surrounding the development, composition and function of these different media forms, and examine the social, political, economic and cultural conditions that shaped their evolution.
You will be introduced to a range of theoretical approaches to understanding the production, content and reception of media messages and representations, with a particular focus on the social and political role of the mass media.
This module is worth 20 credits.
Explore ‘everyday life’ from a range of 19th, 20th and 21st century cultural theories and representations.
While we might take the ‘everyday’ for granted, associating it with routine experiences, our everyday lives are simultaneously affected by the exceptional, the random and the disruptive. Cultural theorists have identified everyday life as a rich terrain for analysis and politicisation, finding in it a unique way to make sense of historical change and personal experience.
Traditional theoretical attempts to account for the everyday tend to overlook aspects of daily life that refuse system and order. This module emphasises the everyday world as problematic and fraught with difficulty in terms of seeing, theorising and representing. It looks at a wide range of attempts to register day-to-day existence, including photography, film, sound recording, and writing.
By the end of the module, you will have built:
This module is worth 20 credits.
This module will build on the language and cultural skills developed in year one and get you started on your exciting journey towards degree-level Spanish. Over the year, we're going to take you to the next level so by the end of the module you'll be ready to spend time living in a Spanish-speaking country.
We'll further develop your grammar and communication skills, building your confidence so that you feel happy working or studying abroad during year 3. We know the thought of essay writing in another language may feel daunting, but we will help you develop these skills to competence.
To prepare you for participating in conversation with fluency we'll pay special attention to developing your ability to use complex sentence structures and rhetoric. You'll get plenty of practice during laboratory classes where you'll have access to a wide range of contemporary audio-visual materials.
This module will build on the language and cultural skills developed in last year's beginners' classes and will get you started on your exciting journey towards degree-level Spanish. Over the year, we're going to take you to the next level so by the end of the module you'll be ready to spend time living in a Spanish-speaking country.
We'll further develop your grammar and communication skills, building your confidence so that you feel happy working or studying abroad during year three. We know the thought of essay writing in another language may feel daunting, but we will help you develop these skills to competence.
To prepare you for participating in conversation with fluency we'll pay special attention to developing your ability to use complex sentence structures and rhetoric. You'll get plenty of speaking and writing practice during classes, collaborative projects and on your own time through a wide range of online and in-person interactive activities.
Take your understanding of Spanish and Portuguese further by delving into the rich history of cinema in Spain, Portugal, Latin America and Portuguese-speaking Africa. This will assist your language skills and also deepen your knowledge of a diversity of global cultures.
In the first semester we'll examine cinema from Spanish America since the 1960s, then, in the second semester, cinema from Brazil, Portugal and Africa. In so doing, we'll address questions of cinematic style and technique, socio-historical contexts and the politics of film-making.
Don't worry if you're just starting out on your language journey, the films will be available with English subtitles.
For this year-long core research module you'll spend two hours a week in lectures and workshops to become familiar with different approaches to investigating research topics which interest you. This will include learning about and trying out first-hand a range of research methods and techniques commonly applied in ethnographic, historical and textual study, and determining their suitability for different projects. You’ll learn about the kinds of research that a range of industry professionals from diverse sectors within the media, creative, entertainment and heritage industries pursue, and have opportunities to reflect on how you could incorporate that learning into your own research. You'll also investigate the interdisciplinary nature of culture, film, media, the arts and critical digital studies and demonstrate this knowledge by choosing your own research project and methods. This module is worth is 20 credits.
In this module you will explore a cultural period in the Hispanic world characterised by profound social change and the emergence of major world-figures of modern art (eg Pablo Picasso). It is structured around key literary and artistic movements from Spain and Spanish America from the early 19th century to the late 20th century, such as Romanticism, Realism, and Modernism. A large part of your focus will be reading literary and visual texts of the period in relation to the socio-economic and political context of Spain’s and Spanish America’s rapid, but hugely uneven, modernisation.
Individual novels, plays, films, paintings or poems will also be used to exemplify and explore particular movements and historical moments. You will develop skills in close analysis of complex texts, an understanding of some of the major directions of Spanish and Spanish American literature in the 20th century, and the ability to relate texts studied to historico-cultural contexts. This module is worth 20 credits.
Explore relations between early modern Spain, Portugal and their empires through art, cinema and historical documents to better understand the Spanish and Portuguese speaking countries in Latin America today.
Together we’ll study paintings starting from the mid-15th century in Portugal where voyages of ‘discovery’ were well under way, to Mexico and Brazil in the late eighteenth century.
To explore the political and cultural relations between the old countries in Europe and the new lands in the Americas we’ll read travelogues, testimonies and political discussion about the New World and look at modern cinematic and theoretical responses to the conquest and colonisation of the Americas.
These complementary areas of history and culture are perfectly balanced to help you understand how the Portuguese and Spanish empires are so relevant to contemporary global geo-politics.
In this module you'll learn how show business is broken down into 'show' and 'business' in film, television and promotional industries and examine how creative decision-making, technology and legislation influence those industries. You'll also learn about how advertising and market research influence the design and production of media in certain regions and how film and television industries have developed in different contexts and periods. This module is worth 20 credits.
This module develops critical modes of attention to the mediation of identity. On our screens and in our headphones, we shape and reshape our selves. Media do not reflect identities but play an active role in bringing them into being. This module takes up the question of 'identity politics', enhancing students' knowledge and understanding of key identity categories that have been advanced and problematized by media scholars, such as gender and sexuality, race and ethnicity, national, regional and local belonging, age, ability and disability, and more. The module also interrogates the mediated forms these identities take, considering the politics of looking and visual culture, the politics of hearing and auditory culture, and the politics of affect, emotions and embodiment. The module encourages historical as well as contemporary perspectives.
In this module you'll learn about the concepts of ‘transnational’ and ‘postnational’ media, taking into account the movement and interactions of people, finance, technology and ideas around the world. The module addresses in particular global media interactions emerging from tensions between forces of cultural homogenisation and heterogenisation. You'll also develop a foundation of theoretical knowledge to be applied to case studies in global film, television and other screen and print media. This module is worth 20 credits.
We're bombarded with political messages every day and in every way. They aim to influence our thinking and affect our behaviour. Some are blatant ("Hands. Face. Space.") some are more subtle ("A report launched by a thinktank today highlights..."). Some don't seem like deliberate messages at all ("Have you seen this Boris GIF. 😂").
We'll explore this world of political communication, public relations and propaganda in its widest form. In particular we'll look at:
Taking a global approach we'll explore specific practices from around the world.
And with a focus on current political communication, you'll be expected to maintain an interest in recent events and to be able to discuss up-to-date examples.
This module is worth 20 credits.
Media, TV, film and visual culture play a central role in forming our knowledge of the past. There is no memory without its representation in language or images. Using a range of case studies, you will explore how different forms of remembrance add weight to what they represent. Who remembers what, when, where, why and to what purpose? Why do screen and other media retell certain stories over and over again, and how is such remembrance linked to the erasure of other pasts? What is the relationship between national and transnational memories, when set against memories of enslavement and its visualisations? These, and other questions, will guide our approach to an interdisciplinary field of media, film and visual studies. The module will also encourage you to reflect critically on regimes of visibility and narration, and on the distinct ways that memories of certain events are communicated via different genres, institutions, and artefacts. This module is worth 20 credits.
This module introduces a number of artistic and architectural practices that emerged in Southern California after 1945. Exploring their cultural and historical context, we will consider the role of Los Angeles in the development of post-1945 American art and architecture, including mid-century modernism, Pop Art, Conceptual Art and Light & Space Art. Central to this module is the question of whether all art made in Los Angeles can be classified as “Los Angeles Art” – that is, the extent to which the art and architecture of the region necessarily reflected the geographical location, climate, and expansive urban layout of Los Angeles. To this end, we will consider the critical reception of art of this period, investigating, amongst other critical constructs, the notions of centre and periphery, regionalism and the cultural construction of the American west that shaped much writing on California during the period.
A vital introduction to the first-hand study of art and architecture.
Through a series of weekly site visits you’ll explore:
We’ll examine how these change as a city develops and ask important questions about heritage and conservation.
The on-site study will be supported by archival material from Manuscripts and Special Collections. This might include architectural drawings, guide books, maps, newspapers, pamphlets, and photographs.
You will explore the works and practices of Black artists that have been displayed or produced in Europe and America from the nineteenth century to the present day. This includes how methods of display, tactics of critique and attitudes towards the 'Other' have defined and influenced how Black art is viewed and produced in the Western world.
Moving through time we'll:
To finish we'll consider the rise of contemporary African art within European and American art markets, and the related economic and political shifts that have occurred since the colonial era.
This module is worth 20 credits.
Explore how film can be regarded as an art form through the study of avant-garde cinema in early 20th century Europe.
We’ll start by looking at what is meant by the term ‘avant-garde’, and consider the development of experimental filmmaking in the context of artistic movements such as:
The focus will be on developments in Germany, France and the Soviet Union and consider key trends from abstract animation to Cinema Pur.
We’ll also explore some key concerns of non-mainstream cinema such as:
You’ll examine how experimental film engaged with modernity, including the aesthetic and political strategies of the European avant-gardes.
By the end of the module you’ll be able to:
This module is worth 20 credits.
Described variously as an era of dissent, revolution and experiment, the 1960s offers a unique vantage point from which to explore a range of issues and topics pertinent to media and cultural studies. The art of the period brings into view a volatile world where distinctions between different media were becoming blurred (as in performance art, for instance) and where inherited ideas, hierarchies and values were contested, if not exploded. Notions such as the Establishment, the underground, celebrity, obscenity, mass culture, alongside those of personal identity (gender, race, class, sexuality) were all subject to radical questioning in an era where events, such as those of the Civil Rights Movement and the Vietnam War, challenged the received order of things. This module critically evaluates the idea of the 1960s, starting with its status as a fabled decade that is said to cast its shadow today. Historiographical and geographical questions structure the module. When and, crucially, where were ‘the Sixties’? Was it primarily an Anglo-American phenomenon? Was it the 1950s until 1963? Did it end in the early 1970s, as some believe, with the Oz Trials? These and other questions will help us to demythologise the period and begin investigating it anew.
During this year-long module you'll:
Some of the specific questions we might look at together include:
This module is worth 20 credits.
Combine our in-depth sector knowledge with the Careers and Employability Service skills development experience to get noticed when applying for jobs and during interviews.
From constructing an outstanding CV to practicing graduate level interview skills we'll build on your existing abilities.
You'll also get something concrete to talk about through a multi-week work placement. This will be tailored as far as possible to your subject and career aspirations.
This sort of attention to detail is what makes Nottingham graduates some of the most sought after in the job market.
This module is worth 20 credits.
This module is divided into two parts, one per semester. Semester one addresses the colonial period from 1492 to 1945 (with some reference to the medieval era), and semester two focuses on independence and after.
The module examines all continents, including polar regions, and the key European colonising countries: France, Spain, Portugal, Russia, Britain, Netherlands, Germany, and Belgium. This unique module is delivered by people with both language and cultural competency from across those cultures, giving access to deep cultural knowledge, historical documents, critical perspectives and legacies.
The history of slavery and extractivist relations is at the module's core and is given its place as one of the defining forces of globalisation. You will study a range of materials (including diaries, novels, travel narratives, histories, ethnographic ideas, political speeches and broadcasts, films, audio recordings, artworks, and music) to develop the broad perspective of a multiple process of globalisation, often too hastily presented as monocultural. In addition, you will focus on particular cultural experiences, for example, the regions of Africa, or Central America.
The structure of the course will allow sections on landmark moments and documents from each cultural sphere of influence to build into a diverse yet identifiable model of hybrid global cultures. In line with current interest in decolonisation (long established as an idea outside of English-speaking cultures), this course both maintains knowledge of imperial histories and offers models for getting beyond them, to show how previously colonised countries are not bound by that history, even if often constrained by it to some extent.
New media and digital culture are significantly transforming the ways in which our societies operate. This module critically explores the key issues behind this transformation. In doing so, the module provides a historical overview of the emergence of new media and digital culture and engages with issues and practices that have been said to differentiate new media from older forms of media and their associated forms of communication. The module equips students with core knowledge of the theoretical and practical foundations of new media and their relationship to contemporary digital culture and related communicative acts.
Lectures and seminars develop students' understanding of the cultural, political, economic, technical and regulatory contexts from which new media and digital culture have emerged and in which they continue to operate. In order to link the various conceptual frameworks learnt to real-life experiences and situations effectively, the module provides students with opportunities to explore the interactive forms and practices that result from the use of new media and related digital practices through a range of both individual and group activities and exercises.
Coursework assessment will replace all failed assessment components at the reassessment stage.
Subject to you meeting the relevant requirements, your third year will be spent studying at one of our partner institutions.
Please note: In order to undertake a year abroad, you will need to achieve the relevant academic requirements as set by the university and meet the selection criteria of both the university and the partner institution. The partner institution is under no obligation to accept you even if you do meet the relevant criteria.
Important information
Please be aware that study abroad, compulsory year abroad, optional placements/internships and integrated year in industry opportunities may change at any time for a number of reasons, including curriculum developments, changes to arrangements with partner universities or placement/industry hosts, travel restrictions or other circumstances outside of the university’s control. Every effort will be made to update this information as quickly as possible should a change occur.
This module gives students the opportunity to work independently on a chosen subject area of their choice, with an appropriate supervisor.
This module aims to provide you with the training necessary to be able to engage independently, under the guidance of a supervisor, in self-directed research on a topic that the student selects on the basis of an aspect of your Year Abroad experience.
Through a series of one-on-one tutorials, and the submission of a proposal, a literary review, and chapter draft, the student is advised on how to sustain an argument over up to 7,000 words, and how to underpin this argument with appropriate and innovative research.
This advanced module will be your final step towards fluency, training you in a more formal, sophisticated register of spoken and written Spanish.
We'll continue to use a wide range of authentic Spanish texts to further deepen your knowledge and confidence at this advanced level. We'll look at how the texts are put together so that you may use these skills within your written and spoken Spanish, taking you to the highest level of proficiency.
This module aims to provide students with an understanding of the centrality of the history of slavery in the study of Brazilian society and of the significance of Brazilian Slavery in both the transatlantic slave systems and slave societies in the Americas. In the first semester the module introduces students to the different disciplinary and intellectual approaches to the study of slavery in Brazil.
Through a combination of lecture and seminar work, students are encouraged to develop skills of analysis and interpretation through close reading of key texts. While the historiographical focus in on Brazil, the module attempts to accommodate students who have not studied Brazilian history or Portuguese. Mindful of the different skills sets and degree programmes of all students, the module draws on comparative contexts of slavery across the Americas both thematically and theoretically.
Topics covered in the first part of the module include the ideology of slavery, economics of slavery, systems of slave labour, slave culture and community, slave identity, and slave resistance. Within these topics we examine themes of agency, race, class, ethnicity and gender.
Over the course of the first semester students are expected to identify a topic for their second-semester research essay. The second semester is student lead, based on presentation work in a seminar setting. Students will be required to produce individual in-class presentations (work-in-progress) based on their book review.
Throughout the module close attention will be paid to the problems of sources and perspectives in the study of the history of slavery. The module encourages students to develop an awareness of how different historical sources are used and to think critically about them. In class discussions and in written work the expectation is that students apply comparative analysis and demonstrate an understanding and appreciation of historiography.
Free education from cradle to grave has been central to modern Cuba’s cultural and ideological identity. This module will encourage you to explore Cuba’s revolutionary change since 1959, through an examination of its evolving ideologies. You’ll review the critical factors of nationalism, dependency, radicalism and leadership which shaped developments from the original rebellion up to the present day.
Together we’ll discover the role of education policies and the ways in which a ‘cultural revolution’ was fundamental to the socialisation process of, and popular participation in (or dissent from) the Revolution.
This study will help you form conclusions about both the meaning of ‘ideology’ within the context of the Revolution, and the international geo-political significance of Cuba's self-definition and evolution.
This module will present a survey of the literature and film produced in Spain during the Franco period (1939-1975), focusing in detail on at least one literary work and one film from each decade of the Dictatorship. The chosen literary texts will include poetry and prose fiction, while the filmic ones belong to a variety of genres, including historical drama, neorealism and melodrama, comedy, and documentary.
The texts covered include some which reflect (and even help to propagate) the ideology of the rÉgime and others which stand in opposition to it. Each will, in its own way, provide an insight into the political, social and cultural attitudes of the decade to which it belongs as well as into the changing role and conditions of literary and cinematic production during this period.
This module will offer a panorama of painting in Spain from the late 16th century to the late 19th century taking in four themes: portraiture, history and genre painting, religion, and mythology and myths.
Artists covered will include Domenikos Theotocópoulos, Diego de Silva y Velázquez, Jusepe de Ribera and Bartolomé Esteban Murillo from the Spanish Golden Age and Francisco de Goya, Vicente López, Martín Rico and Marià Fortuny from the 19th century.
You will have the opportunity to study other painters in the preparation of assessments throughout the year. There will be an emphasis on designing exhibitions and on understanding the paintings both within the context of art history and the history and cultures of Spain.
Taught in Spanish, this module has been designed to give you a thorough insight into Spanish business including the contexts that have influenced its development and the ways it interacts with wider society.
We'll investigate a range of factors that have shaped the Spanish business landscape since the transition to democracy, such as:
You'll not only gain a historical understanding, but a contemporary perspective too by looking at case studies of both companies like Inditex (the owners of Zara and other important fashion brands) and important Spanish industries such as tourism. The module also explores some of the less positive impacts and criticisms of Spanish business practices relating to the environment, debt and corruption.
In this module students learn to devise and develop projects and teaching methods appropriate to engage the age and ability group they are working with. The module enables students to gain confidence in communicating their subject, develop strong organisational and interpersonal skills, and to understand how to address the needs of individuals.
This module examines the development of photography in America from roughly 1945 onwards. The module breaks the period down into themes and considers:
1. the transformation of ‘documentary’ photograph;
2. the emergence and importance of colour photography;
3. experimental, conceptual and post-conceptual photography;
4. issues of serialism and seriality;
5. landscape photography;
6. the photobook
7. analogue/digital
The module will draw on the work of a diverse range of photographers, including Walker Evans, Robert Frank, Harry Callahan, Aaron Siskind, Ed Ruscha, Lewis Baltz, Robert Adams, Robert Heinecken, Stephen Shore, Todd Hido, William Eggleston and Doug Rickard.
This module critically evaluates the roles that media play in scenarios of disaster. From war and famine to train crashes and natural disasters, the media play a central role in our understanding of, and imaginative engagement with, disaster. From the disaster movie to documentary photography and news coverage, a variety of media forms regularly link us to the real and imaginary landscapes of disaster, war, conflict and emergency, particularly with the technological expansion of the means of image-making in the 21st century. The module investigates the aesthetics and ethics of representation where disaster is concerned, introducing students to research in fields concerned with the mediatisation of disaster, conflict and emergency.
Almost every country has a cinema industry. Yet what’s shown, and why, varies wildly.
We’ll look at how films outside Hollywood are made, distributed and received globally, and how these reflect local, regional and international trends.
We’ll ask how these cinemas:
We will also try to untangle categories such as national cinema, transnational cinema and world cinema, as well as to make sense of different filmic traditions, genres and modes around the world. Who creates these categories and who do they serve?
With an entire global cinema to draw from, the focus will narrow in any year to particular regions, filmic genres or movements.
This module is worth 20 credits.
The cultural and creative industries are at the forefront of government strategies across the world for developing post-industrial economies, are seen as exciting places to work, and regularly feature at the top of graduate employment destinations.
We’ll examine the structure, organisation and working patterns in the creative and media industries alongside more practical exercises designed to help you to identify and evaluate your own skills and interests. This combination of industry knowledge and personal reflection is aimed to help you to find a rewarding and exciting career when you leave university.
You’ll also examine key aspects of contemporary work including:
There will be plenty of opportunity to discuss and build upon your own experiences and aspirations, and to conduct independent research on areas of creative and media work that interest you.
This module is worth 20 credits.
This module is part of the nationwide Undergraduate Ambassadors Scheme, which works with universities to provide academic modules that enable students to go into local schools to act as inspiring role models. You will split your time between the university-based seminar and your allocated school, where you will be placed in an appropriate department as a teaching assistant. You will design and deliver a teaching project aimed at improving pupil understanding of selected aspects of media studies. You will be supported by the module convenor, the education specialist on campus, and the school's contact teacher. The module typically includes fortnightly seminars and seven half-days spent in school. Placements are in secondary schools and Sixth Form or FE colleges.
Many films share common traits. Together they might be classed as “action”, “made for television” or “low budget”. But how does as film get assigned a genre? Who does the assigning? And what impact does this assigning have?
During the module we’ll delve deep into a particular genre. We’ll examine it’s:
Building on what you’ve learnt in years one and two you’ll also look at the genre in the context of production and consumption.
As well as knowledge of a specific genre you’ll also develop the skills to apply your learning to other genres.
This module is worth 20 credits.
Examine how issues of gender and sexuality relate to media and popular culture.
Using the intersectional fields of feminism, queer theory, and media and cultural studies we'll ask some crucial questions such as:
This module is worth 20 credits.
Explore the relationship between public space, politics and technology using overlapping and interdisciplinary fields, including:
You will engage in debates about the changing nature and uses of public space, with an emphasis on urban environments and digital space.
A range of protest movements will also provide case-study material and offer a central focus for your theoretical and practical explorations of the role of new technologies in:
This module is worth 20 credits.
This module equips students you with the theoretical tools needed to explore how social identity is both asserted and challenged through the deployment of signs broadly conceived. 'Sign' is understood here primarily with reference to Saussurean linguistics, and the impact of the structuralist and then poststructuralist movements on disciplines such as anthropology, sociology, psychoanalysis, semiotics, postcolonial theory, cultural studies and visual culture.
This module will address these and other related questions by introducing students to the approaches of thinkers such as Freud and Lacan, Saussure and Greimas, Barthes and Baudrillard, Levi-Strauss and Geertz, Derrida and Bhabha, and Mirzoeff and Mitchell among others.
Students will work in small groups, led by a member of academic staff, on a collaborative research project. These projects will take one of two forms:
The specific nature of these projects will change each year, based on current staff research priorities and the concerns impacting the creative and cultural industries. This will allow students to work on areas that are at the cutting edge of film and television studies, history of art or media studies or that are directly relevant to cultural or creative sectors that many aim to enter after graduation. Specific topics will be made available in the Spring of the preceding academic year, when students make their module choices.
The module will be structured around independent and collaborative working practices, echoing the nature of work within the cultural and creative industries. Employability skills are embedded throughout the module. Each group will have an academic lead who will guide and support students throughout the module, but they will be expected to plan their work independently and collectively. Weekly meetings will act as a check that students are making good progress and allow staff to offer direction as necessary.
Franchises dominate the mainstream global media industries. Since the 1990s, franchising as a commercial, creative and industrial strategy has become increasingly prevalent across the cultural industries: for example, in 2022, all of the top 10 highest-grossing films worldwide are franchise instalments produced by global media titans such as Disney and Warner Bros. These powerful corporations have wings that spread across various media and cultural sectors, from screen industries such as film, TV and games, to audio industries such as music and podcasts, to tourism industries such as theme parks, and retail industries such as product licensing and merchandising.
The increasing global and mainstream production – and popularity – of franchises means that they are indelible parts of many media consumers’ lives, including our own. But how much do we understand about how franchising works as a commercial strategy, where it originated, and why it is so successful? How are franchises produced, distributed, sustained, marketed and consumed? What kind of textual and generic themes predominate and why?
Offering a detailed look into the contemporary media industries’ most lucrative and influential production strategy, this module will situate the rise of franchising within relevant historical, social, and industrial contexts, using a variety of global franchise case studies to shed light on broader developments that have shaped the media and creative industries we know today.
Sound is everywhere in our lives; from the music we play to the way that we speak.
This module introduces you to the new field of sound studies. It’s an interdisciplinary area that aims to understand the connections between different forms of sound - music, radio, podcasts, soundtracks, sound effects, voice, noise, and more - and the role that these play in media, culture, and society.
We focus on the connection between ‘soundscapes’ - the sounds that surround us in our everyday lives - and ‘soundselves’, the identities and selfhoods that are produced by hearing.
By the end of the module, you will have built:
This module is worth 20 credits.
This module will explore, in the broadest sense, politics and visual culture:
We will be looking at different genres, modes, forms and styles to examine how we can understand the interaction of politics and visual culture.
You'll start with an introduction to women's history in the period 1300-1600 in an Italian context. This will include women's domestic and political roles across ages, marital status and class.
We'll then then look at the role of the Renaissance (1400-1600) woman in art:
Classes will focus on:
We'll use methodologies from a variety of disciplines, such as history, art history and gender studies.
Develop and expand your understanding of the relationship between screen media and their most important component – the audience.
We’ll explore widely across history including:
You’ll also consider the impact social and political factors, and changes in daily living, have on screen media’s relationship with its audience.
Alongside the theory you’ll also get practical experience by using questionnaires and focus groups to conduct your own audience research.
This module is worth 20 credits.
This module traces the development of performance art from the 1950s to the 1980s.
It considers the work of a number of artists in America and Europe in terms of:
Students will engage with a range of theories of:
Exploring performance art’s relationship with other visual art forms, including dance, experimental music, film and television, this module considers and evaluates the art historical genealogies of performance art and body art and examines the ways in which performance art has shifted the terms of art history.
In addition, it will consider the issues at stake in constructing a history of performance art, and in documenting, exhibiting, and writing about ephemeral, invisible, or indeterminate practices.
This module is worth 20 credits.
With such a diverse range of modules across both subjects you'll encounter a wide variety of teaching methods. You'll be part of large lectures, small seminars and individual tutorials - some will be in person and some will be online.
You'll work in groups on projects and presentations but also be responsible for doing a large amount of individual study. The majority of the language teaching you will experience will be led by native speakers.
We work hard at our teaching to give you the best experience possible.Tutor's contributions to high quality teaching and learning are recognised through our annual Lord Dearing Awards. View the full list of recipients.
They also both achieved over 90% student recognition that staff are good at explaining things in the 2022 National Student Survey. If you have worries abut your work we won't wait for them to become problems. You'll have a personal tutor from one department and a Joint Honours advisor from the other. They will support your academic progress and help find solutions to any issues.
"As a personal tutor, I work with you on your academic progress, but I also have a pastoral role with regards to your well-being. I see how you get on across all your modules, which enables discussions about you as an individual."
- Dr Gabriele Neher, Senior Tutor, Department of Cultural, Media and Visual Studies
A combination of essays and exams are the norm for most modules. Depending on the modules you choose you might also be asked to:
Following your year abroad your improved language skills and cultural understanding will be assessed through a mix of presentations and written assignments.
Assessment methods:
The minimum weekly scheduled contact time you will have is:
Weekly tutorial support and the accredited Nottingham Advantage Award provide further optional learning activities, on top of these class contact hours. Your lecturers will also be available outside your scheduled contact time to help you study and develop. This can be in-person or online.
As well as your timetabled sessions you’ll carry out extensive independent study. This will include course reading, seminar preparation, completing assignments and groupwork with fellow students. A typical 20 credit module involves three to four hours of lectures and seminars per week.
Your lecturers will be members of our academic staff in Modern Languages and Cultural, Media and Visual Studies, many of whom are internationally recognised in their fields.
Class sizes vary depending on topic and type. Typically,
You will have developed a critical understanding of the creative and cultural industries. This will allow you to explore a variety of careers in those sectors.
Combined with your advanced language skills you'll be well placed to work internationally.
Your skills will be those in demand by most professional organisations:
These skills will make your career:
Find out more about skills gained and career destinations:
Graduate profiles
Key fact
Only 14% of employers state that specific degree subjects are a selection criterion (Institute of Student Employers recruitment survey 2019).
78.8% of undergraduates from the Faculty of Arts secured graduate level employment or further study within 15 months of graduation. The average annual starting salary for these graduates was £23,974.
HESA Graduate Outcomes (2017 to 2021 cohorts). The Graduate Outcomes % is calculated using The Guardian University Guide methodology. The average annual salary is based on graduates working full-time within the UK.
Studying for a degree at the University of Nottingham will provide you with the type of skills and experiences that will prove invaluable in any career, whichever direction you decide to take
.Throughout your time with us, our Careers and Employability Service can work with you to improve your employability skills even further; assisting with job or course applications, searching for appropriate work experience placements and hosting events to bring you closer to a wide range of prospective employers.
Have a look at our careers page for an overview of all the employability support and opportunities that we provide to current students.
The University of Nottingham is consistently named as one of the most targeted universities by Britain’s leading graduate employers (Ranked in the top ten in The Graduate Market in 2013-2020, High Fliers Research).
University Park Campus covers 300 acres, with green spaces, wildlife, period buildings and modern facilities. It is one of the UK's most beautiful and sustainable campuses, winning a national Green Flag award every year since 2003.
University Park Campus covers 300 acres, with green spaces, wildlife, period buildings and modern facilities. It is one of the UK's most beautiful and sustainable campuses, winning a national Green Flag award every year since 2003.
The department has really helped me throughout my years at university by giving me useful and constructive feedback on various different projects as well as helping to guide me through my dissertation process, which can be quite daunting at times!
Daisy Slater
International Media and Communications Studies and Spanish BA
Faculty of Arts
3 years full-time (part-time option available)
Qualification
BA Hons
Entry requirements
ABB
UCAS code
P900
Faculty of Arts
4 years full-time
Qualification
BA Hons
Entry requirements
ABB - including B in one of Mandarin Chinese, French, German, Russian or Spanish
UCAS code
R900
Faculty of Arts
4 years full-time
Qualification
BA Hons
Entry requirements
BCC
UCAS code
Y14F
Faculty of Arts
4 years full-time
Qualification
BA Hons
Entry requirements
ABB
UCAS code
R410
If you’re looking for more information, please head to our help and support hub, where you can find frequently asked questions or details of how to make an enquiry.
If you’re looking for more information, please head to our help and support hub, where you can find frequently asked questions or details of how to make an enquiry.