Course overview
How to communicate effectively with people in a society, organisation, or community? How to reach out, make contact, and get their attention? How to make complex information attractive and engaging? How to enhance dialogue, collaboration, and mutual understanding? How to influence public opinions and promote behaviours that have a positive impact on people's lives?
The Communications BA seeks to address the growing demand for expertise in effective, inclusive communication with a socially, culturally, and linguistically diverse population. To meet their social responsibilities governments, charities, public services, and other organisations need to connect with, understand, listen to, inform, mobilise, and persuade people. This requires critical understanding of, and practical skills in, the use of contemporary means of communication.
You will be introduced to theories and strategies of communication and media, and their application across different substantive areas. You will also develop social research and digital media production skills and gain work experience through placements. By the end of the course, you will be equipped with the knowledge and skills to develop and deliver effective, accessible and influential public communications.
The programme will explore the significant developments in recent decades in the landscape of communication. It will draw on existing knowledge and expertise in language, discourse and communication, including visual, multimodal and multisensory communication, digital media and technology, intercultural communication, online communication, and inclusive communication. It will also offer opportunities for developing knowledge in different domains of application, including health and wellbeing, education, inequality, and sustainability.
What this course will give you
UCL’s Communications BA will equip you with a critical understanding of current research, knowledge, and skills in communication. You will learn how to engage with diverse audiences using different technologies, modes of communication, and social media platforms.
A key benefit of the course is the applicability of learning for a wide range of communicative and professional settings. We see our students as future leaders in a broad range of fields, and we provide learning experiences that will deepen your awareness of key global issues and commitment to social impact.
The interdisciplinary programme offers core modules in applied linguistics, media studies, multimodal studies, and intercultural studies. There is also a wide choice of optional modules in the social sciences through which you will be able to pursue your own interests. Examples of topics include inequality, health, sustainability, education, learning, identity formation, behaviour change, literacy, and languages.
As London’s global university, we are well placed to facilitate contextualised learning using our local, national, and international networks. Whether harnessing our collaborative work with government organisations, industry, social enterprises, or charities, we see our London and international links as a rich resource for enabling a student learning journey that strongly embeds employability experiences. You will also have the opportunity to take part in a work placement in your second year of study.
The programme emphasises research-led teaching that will include a broad variety of assessments tailored to careers in communications (e.g., podcasts, blogs, infographs, campaign plans, reports, and reviews). Modules will be led by leading experts who each offer unique disciplinary perspectives and experiences to shape diverse learning and environments for our students.