Programme Specification
MA Social Media and Political Communication
Academic Year: 2020/21
This specification provides a concise summary of the main features of the programme and the learning outcomes that a typical student might reasonably be expected to achieve and demonstrate if full advantage is taken of the learning opportunities that are provided.
This specification applies to delivery of the programme in the Academic Year indicated above. Prospective students reviewing this information for a later year of study should be aware that these details are subject to change as outlined in our Terms and Conditions of Study.
This specification should be read in conjunction with:
- Reg. XXI (Postgraduate Awards) (see University Regulations)
- Module Specifications
- Summary
- Aims
- Learning outcomes
- Structure
- Progression & weighting
Programme summary
| Awarding body/institution | Loughborough University |
| Teaching institution (if different) | N/A |
| Owning school/department | School of Social Sciences and Humanities |
| Details of accreditation by a professional/statutory body | N/A |
| Final award | MA |
| Programme title | Social Media and Political Communication (CXPT53) |
| Programme code | CXPT53 |
| Length of programme | One year full-time |
| UCAS code | N/A |
| Admissions criteria | MA - http://www.lboro.ac.uk/SSPT53 |
| Date at which the programme specification was published | Tue, 04 Aug 2020 16:11:59 BST |
1. Programme Aims
To enable students to gain a systematic knowledge of research and practice at the nexus of social media, political influence, and political power.
To develop students' skills and competencies in a comprehensive range of research methods and techniques relevant to the investigation of media communications and related disciplines.
2. Relevant subject benchmark statements and other external reference points used to inform programme outcomes:
QAA Subject Benchmark Statement: Communication, Media, Film and Cultural Studies: Draft for consultation, April 2016: http://www.qaa.ac.uk/en/Publications/Documents/SBS-Communication-Media-Film-and-Cultural-Studies-consultation-16.pdf
SEEC Credit Level Descriptors for Higher Education 2016: http://www.seec.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/SEEC-descriptors-2016.pdf
UK QAA Quality Code for Higher Education, 2014, Part A: Setting and Maintaining Academic Standards: http://www.qaa.ac.uk/assuring-standards-and-quality/the-quality-code/quality-code-part-a
Loughborough University Academic Quality Procedures Handbook: http://www.lboro.ac.uk/services/registry/pqtp/aqphandbook/
3. Programme Learning Outcomes
3.1 Knowledge and Understanding
On successful completion of this programme students should be able to demonstrate:
K1. Systematic understanding of knowledge at the forefront of scholarship in the relationships between social media and political communication.
K2. Comprehensive understanding of techniques applicable to students’ own research and scholarship on social media and political communication
K3. Originality in the application of knowledge, together with a practical understanding of how established techniques of research and enquiry are used to create and interpret knowledge in the field of social media and political communication.
K4. Conceptual understanding that enables the student to evaluate critically current research and advanced scholarship in the field of social media and political communication and to evaluate methodologies and develop critiques of them and, where appropriate, to propose new hypotheses.
K5. The ability to critically synthesise material from a range of sources, including primary sources.
K6. The ability to critically examine the links between theories, evidence and explanation in political communication research.
3.2 Skills and other attributes
a. Subject-specific cognitive skills:
On successful completion of this programme students should be able to:
C1. Use ideas at a high level of abstraction, develop critical responses to existing theoretical discourses, methodologies or practices and suggest new concepts or approaches in the field of social media and political communication.
C2. Design and undertake substantial investigations to address significant areas of theory and/or practice in the field of social media and political communication and select appropriate advanced methodological approaches and critically evaluate their effectiveness.
C3. Flexibly and creatively apply knowledge in unfamiliar contexts, synthesise ideas or information in innovative ways and generate transformative solutions in the field of social media and political communication.
C4. Undertake analysis of complex, incomplete or contradictory evidence/data and judge the appropriateness of the enquiry methodologies used in the field of social media and political communication.
C5. Interpret industry data and policy documents.
b. Subject-specific practical skills:
On successful completion of this programme students should be able to:
P1. Engage with major thinkers, debates and intellectual paradigms, productively employ insights in the form of essays, case studies, reports, and/or student research blogs containing text, images, infographics, and video.
P2. Work effectively in teams to mind map the main themes of topic areas in social media and political communication.
P3. Present effectively in class the results of analysis, using presentation software.
P4. Work effectively as a member of a team on social media data analysis and/or designing a simulated online campaign.
c. Key transferable skills:
On successful completion of this programme students should be able to:
T1. Critically evaluate a range of academic and public communication sector case studies and sources and apply these evaluative skills as if working as a professional in the public communication sector.
T2. Communicate effectively to specialist and non-specialist audiences in the public communication sector.
T3. Effectively design online campaigns as if working in the public communication sector.
T4. Plan, organise and manage, with appropriate supervision, a significant self-directed project.
T5. Work flexibly, creatively and independently, displaying a high degree of self-direction and initiative.
T6. Use skills and abilities expected of a professional in the public communication sector.
4. Programme structure
SOCIAL MEDIA AND POLITICAL COMMUNICATION CXPT53
COMPULSORY MODULES (Total modular weight 135)
|
Code |
Module Title |
Modular Weight |
Semester |
|
CXP306 |
Social Media and Political Communication |
15 |
1 |
|
CXP307 |
Data, Power, and Democracy |
15 |
2 |
|
CXP323 |
Marketing Politics |
15 |
1 |
|
CXP352 |
Key Debates in Social Media and Political Communication |
10 |
1+2 |
|
SSP503 |
Researching Communication 1: Media Users and Cultural Institutions |
15 |
1 |
|
CXP317 |
Researching Communication 2: Texts and Digital Platforms |
15 |
2 |
|
CXP396 |
CXP396 Dissertation in Social Media and Political Communication |
50 |
1+2 |
OPTIONAL MODULES (combined modular weight 45)
One optional module must come from semester 1 and two must come from semester 2.
|
Code |
Module Title |
Modular Weight |
Semester |
|
SSP318 |
Digital Economies |
15 |
1 |
|
CXP302 |
Media and Cultural Industries: Political Economy and Public Policy |
15 |
1 |
|
SSP319 |
Digital Cultures |
15 |
2 |
|
SSP303 |
The Politics of Representation |
15 |
2 |
|
CXP316 |
Media and Cultural Work: Inequality and Discrimination in the Creative Industries |
15 |
2 |
|
CXP304 |
Introduction to Strategic Communication |
15 |
1 |
|
CXP301 |
Understanding Modern Media |
15 |
1 |
5. Criteria for Progression and Degree Award
In order to be eligible for the award, candidates must not only satisfy the requirements of Regulation XXI but are also required to accumulate the following:
(i) PGCert – 60 credits from modules other than CXP396 Dissertation.
(ii) PGDip – 100 credits from modules other than CXP396 Dissertation and not less than 40% in the remaining modules.
(iii) MA – 150 credits and not less than 40% in the remaining modules.
6. Relative Weighting of Parts of the Programme for the Purposes of Final Degree Classification
This section relates to undergraduate degrees only.
