GLOBAL MEDIA AND COMMUNICATION - 2026/7

Module Overview

In this compulsory module in the BSc in Media and Communications degree, students will research, investigate and communicate knowledge about the global nature and implications of media and communications. Students will delve into theories and practical case studies around inequalities and diversities within media and communications, cross-media case studies from around the world, global mediated politics, mediated families, mediated childhood and societies. Students will develop significant digital capabilities through both their assignments. Students will be equipped to engage with media and communications scholarship from the global south and to mobilize theoretical lenses from communications studies across diverse national and cultural contexts. Students will use their digital, global and cultural capabilities to synthesize and communicate knowledge to a variety of sectors and stakeholders.

Module provider

Sociology

Module Leader

DAS Ranjana (Sociology)

Number of Credits: 15

ECTS Credits: 7.5

Framework: FHEQ Level 5

Module cap (Maximum number of students): N/A

Module Availability

Semester 2

Prerequisites / Co-requisites

N/A

Module content

• The need for global media and communications


• Methods of comparative research in media and communications


• Transnational and diasporic media and audiences


• Global mediated politics


• Children and the media in a global frame


• Media and the movement of people and communities


• Emerging digital technologies in a global context

Assessment pattern

Alternative Assessment

The alternative assessment is a recorded video presentation submitted on Panopto following the same topics, deadline and duration for the main summative in person assessment. 

Assessment Strategy

Assessment Strategy

The assessment strategy is designed to enable students to demonstrate that they have met the four learning outcomes associated with this module.

The assessments provide students with the opportunity to demonstrate that they can:

1. articulate key global implications of media and communications through oral and/or audio-visual means;
2. apply relevant theories and concepts from global media and communications to analyse and evaluate contemporary case studies in mediated societies;
3. communicate and present evidence, information and research confidently to diverse audiences.

The summative assessment for this module consists of an individual presentation-based task (addressing Learning Outcomes 1, 2 and 3).

Students will develop and deliver an individual presentation on a topic drawn from module themes. The task requires engagement with relevant theories, concepts, frameworks and case material, and demonstration of independent research and analytical ability. Students must communicate complex issues clearly, structure arguments effectively, and present evidence-based analysis within a defined time limit.

Further guidance on format and delivery will be provided within the module.

Students will have the opportunity to submit a formative plan midway through the semester. This ungraded submission supports the development of the summative assessment and provides an opportunity for feedback on argument structure, theoretical application and proposed case material.

Formative feedback is also embedded throughout weekly teaching and seminar activities to support assessment preparation.

Module aims

• Prepare students to research and evaluate the global nature of media and communications as a field
• Equip students to investigate and analyze global case studies and issues in relation to inequalities and diversities in media and communications
• Enable students to use and engage with frameworks, cases and concepts from diverse national and cultural contexts
• Develop students¿ competencies and capacities to communicate and present evidence, information and advice to a range of academic and non-academic audiences

Learning outcomes

Methods of Teaching / Learning

The learning and teaching strategy is designed to equip students with analytical and practical skills with which to research media and communications in a global framework, and to evaluate and present evidence on a range of media subjects across national and cultural contexts. In this module students will engage with methods involving comparative media research, and cases including mediated politics, societies and families. These topics are designed to support students’ journey into understanding the global nature of changing media environments and their unequal manifestations and implications across the world. The module content deals with cutting-edge and contemporary case studies and new foci often emerge as the media landscape evolves.

Lectures, seminars and workshops may include a range of methods including but not restricted to

Role plays

Flashcards

TED Talks

Video analyses

Policy analyses

Quizzes

Animations and concept-explainers

Indicated Lecture Hours (which may also include seminars, tutorials, workshops and other contact time) are approximate and may include in-class tests where one or more of these are an assessment on the module. In-class tests are scheduled/organised separately to taught content and will be published on to student personal timetables, where they apply to taken modules, as soon as they are finalised by central administration. This will usually be after the initial publication of the teaching timetable for the relevant semester.

Reading list

https://readinglists.surrey.ac.uk
Upon accessing the reading list, please search for the module using the module code: SOC2085

Other information

The Department of Sociology is committed to developing graduates with strengths in Employability, Digital Capabilities, Global and Cultural Capabilities, Sustainability, and Resourcefulness and Resilience. This module is designed to allow students to develop knowledge, skills, and capabilities in the following areas:

• Employability: Students will be supported to enhance their employability in a mediated age as they will be designing collections, conducting research and producing high-quality video outputs through the module, directly addressing the employability pillar.  
• Digital capabilities: In this module, students will focus on the global implications of changing media environments, working with global case studies that alter year on year to reflect the latest in terms of the media environment. Close to all lectures out of the 11 lectures address this pillar. Across the assessments (the Global Media Collection and the Vlog) students will develop specific digital capabilities as they will explore a diverse range of digital tools, enabling them to create visually engaging and professional content to effectively convey key concepts and information in a clear, concise, accessible and visually appealing manner.
• Global and cultural capabilities: This pillar is foundational to Global Media and Communications. Students will develop their global and cultural capabilities by engaging with global cases, frameworks, inequalities, diversities and build knowledge specifically centring the global South and data justice across diverse communities.

Programmes this module appears in

Please note that the information detailed within this record is accurate at the time of publishing and may be subject to change. This record contains information for the most up to date version of the programme / module for the 2026/7 academic year.