Journalism with History
Journalism is part of the combined campus subject programme at Ulster, Coleraine. It is the only university degree programme in the subject in Northern Ireland and offers you the opportunity to study the theory and practice of journalism in context with determining factors such as law, economics, politics and technology. It provides you with a range of relevant practical and professional skills.
| Award Name | Degree - Honours Bachelor at UK Level 6 |
|---|---|
| NFQ Classification | |
| Awarding Body | Ulster University |
| NFQ Level |
| Award Name | NFQ Classification | Awarding Body | NFQ Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| Degree - Honours Bachelor at UK Level 6 | Ulster University |
Duration
Attendance
200 hours per module per semester as follows:
36 contact hours per module per semester.
164 independent study hours per module per semester.
FAQ: How many hours per week will I attend as journalism student at Ulster?
All full-time degree programmes in the Faculty of Arts require a minimum three hours contact time (e.g. lectures and seminars) per module. However, programmes with a practice component, such as Journalism, will demand, by their very nature, additional contact hours for attendance on practical workshops and may require occasional assignments off campus, e.g. to local court or council. In addition to attendance at teaching sessions, the programme will require up to 20 hours per module per semester of independent learning and study (e.g. library research and coursework preparation). In that light, the attendance requirement in part-time mode depends on how many modules taken per semester (one or two).
Entry Requirements
Irish Leaving Certificate
104 UCAS tariff points to include a minimum of five subjects (four of which must be at higher level) to include English at H6 if studied at Higher level or O4 if studied at Ordinary Level.
Careers / Further progression
Graduates from this course are now working for:
BBC - UTV
Local Radio
Media organisations
Newspapers
Local and National Government
The National Trust
Job roles
With this degree you could become:
Journalist
Media management
Public Relations
Reporter
Researcher
Civil and Public Service
Teacher
Career options
While a degree in Journalism at Ulster does not lead directly to a professional qualification in journalism, it will prepare you for application to higher degree and professional courses. In common with all other undergraduate Arts degree programmes, journalism offers you very real opportunities for personal growth and self-development.
Where these opportunities are taken with enthusiasm and determination, you will undoubtedly enhance your long-term employability and the skills developed while studying journalism will be valued by a wide range of employers.
It can also prepare you for entry into Ulster’s industry accredited programme at Masters level, MA Journalism.
For information on postgraduate research opportunities see: www.arts.ulster.ac.uk/rgs.
History at Ulster does not confine you to one career path. Our course develops talents which are transferrable across a variety of professions and industries. Our recent graduates are working in media, education, civil service, retail, banking and finance, the heritage sector, law, and many more.
Further information
Start date: September 2024
Deadlines for on-time applications
2024 entry application deadlines
For courses starting in 2024 (and for deferred applications), your application should be with us at UCAS by one of these dates – depending on what courses you apply for. If your completed application – including all your personal details and your academic reference – is submitted by the deadline, it is guaranteed to be considered.
16 October 2023 for 2024 entry at 18:00 (UK time) – any course at the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, or for most courses in medicine, veterinary medicine/science, and dentistry. You can add choices with a different deadline later, but don’t forget you can only have five choices in total.
31 January 2024 for 2024 entry at 18:00 (UK time) – for the majority of courses.
Some course providers require additional admissions tests to be taken alongside the UCAS application, and these may have a deadline. Find out more about these tests at https://www.ucas.com/undergraduate/applying-university/admissions-tests
Check course information in the search tool to see which deadline applies to you at the application weblink below.
Apply as soon as possible: Student funding arrangements mean that as offers are made and places fill up, some courses may only have vacancies for students from certain locations. It’s therefore really important that you apply for your chosen courses by the appropriate deadlines mentioned above, as not all courses will have places for all students.
All applications received after 30 June are entered into Clearing - find out more about Clearing at https://www.ucas.com/undergraduate/clearing-and-results-day/what-clearing
Overview
Journalism theory and practice: news-gathering, reporting, writing and editing for television, radio, print and online, in a changing media landscape.
Summary
Journalism is part of the combined campus subject programme at Ulster, Coleraine. It is the only university degree programme in the subject in Northern Ireland and offers you the opportunity to study the theory and practice of journalism in context with determining factors such as law, economics, politics and technology. It provides you with a range of relevant practical and professional skills.
As a major subject programme (four modules per full-time year), Journalism at Ulster is combined with another, minor subject in the Arts (two modules per full-time year) to make up a full degree programme.
History at Ulster will stimulate your intellectual curiosity and challenge you to think critically about the world around you. You will develop a wide range of written, verbal, and analytical skills through the study of the historical processes that have shaped modern society. You will explore topics such as Film and the Vietnam Conflict, Witchcraft and Magic, the Russian Revolution, United States’ Foreign Policy and many more.
We are the highest ranked History course in Northern Ireland and amongst the highest ranked in the UK for student satisfaction meaning you will study with leading historians who are nationally recognised for the quality of their teaching.
Our recent History graduates are in high demand from employers who recognise the fundamental skills of writing and presentation, research and time management, critical thinking and independence, that our History degree provides. If you have a passion for knowledge, are a critical thinker and want to better understand the past and its influence on the present and the future this course is for you.
About
In Year 1, you will take modules that give you a good basic grounding in the academic study of the media and in practical journalism skills that you will need to underpin your more advanced modules in Years Two and Three. At this level, you will take modules that introduce you to critical issues in journalism (history, sociology, economics and technology), journalism law and regulation, and journalism practice (newsgathering, report writing, sub-editing, newspaper design and production and broadcast journalism techniques).
Your commitment in time and effort will be intensive and demanding, much more so than those subjects that have no practice component. As well as on-campus activities, you will also learn about reporting from the local court and council offices. During your second year, you will be helped to obtain a placement with a local newspaper or other news based outlet.
The programme uses a range of teaching methods including lectures, small group seminars and practical workshops. These are delivered and supervised by experienced teaching staff, including former journalists and conducted in state-of-the art newsrooms and high definition TV and radio studios.
You will have access to a wide range of learning resources, including professional standard production and design software such as Adobe InDesign, and digital sound and video software.
Our History course gives you the freedom to choose the topics that interest you most. We teach early modern, modern and contemporary histories and provide a broad range of optional modules. You can study the histories of Britain and Ireland, the United States, Russia and the Soviet Union, the Middle East, and many more. In your final year, you can design your own research project We have expertise in medical history, gender history and social and political history.
Modules
Here is a guide to the subjects studied on this course.
Courses are continually reviewed to take advantage of new teaching approaches and developments in research, industry and the professions. Please be aware that modules may change for your year of entry. The exact modules available and their order may vary depending on course updates, staff availability, timetabling and student demand. Please contact the course team for the most up to date module list.
Year 1
Media, Culture, Politics
Public Affairs for Journalists
Introduction to Journalism
Introduction to Multi-platform Journalism
Irish Government and Politics since 1922 - Optional
Making History: Skills for Historians - Optional
Defining America: Themes in American History, C17th -C20th - Optional
The Making of Modern Britain and Ireland, 1800-1945 - Optional
The Ages of Extremes: International History 1914-2020 - Optional
Disenchanted Land? Culture and Society in Early Modern Europe - Optional
Revolutionary Russia, 1894-1939 - Optional
Year 2
Media Law and Regulation
Innovation and Work Based Learning
Exchange programme 1 - History Abroad - Optional
Family, Sexuality and the State 1850-1925 - Optional
Politics and Society in early modern Britain and Ireland - Optional
War and Peace: the Ying and Yang of human history - Optional
The Great Powers and the Middle East since 1880 - Optional
Film and the Vietnam Conflict - Optional
The Myth and Reality of Imperial Spain, 1492-1700 - Optional
Death, Disease, and Medicine in Britain, 1800-1914 - Optional
'Good Trouble': Struggle, Resistance and the African American Experience - Optional
Beyond Belief: The Global Supernatural, c.1700-2000 - Optional
The Fighting Irish: The Irishman at War since 1534 - Optional
The Irish Outlaw: The Making of a Nationalist - Optional
History in the Workplace: Work-Based Learning - Optional
Media: Study Internationally (2nd yr) - Optional
Advanced Multi-platform Journalism - Optional
Year 3
Hollywood Histories
Workers and radicalism in Ireland, 1700-1939
International Academic Studies - English - Optional
Industrial Placement - Diploma in Professional Practice (DPP) - Optional
The Irish Revolution, 1913-1923 - Optional
Late Soviet Communism, 1953-1991 - Optional
United States Foreign Policy Since 1945 - Optional
Saints and Sinners: Women in Nineteenth and Twentieth Century Ireland - Optional
Imperial Retreat: The Decline and Fall of the European Overseas Empires - Optional
America in the Depression, 1929-1941 - Optional
The Post-War Body: Medicine and Society in Britain and America, c.1945-90 - Optional
Witchcraft and magic in early modern Europe and Colonial New England, c.1550-1780 - Optional
Media: Study Abroad (DIAS) - Optional
Year 4
Journalism Major Project (MAJOR ONLY)
Journalism Dissertation (MAJOR ONLY)
Investigative Journalism
Journalism Research in a Global Context
Assessment methods vary and are defined explicitly in each module. Assessment can be a combination of examination and coursework but may also be only one of these methods. Assessment is designed to assess your achievement of the module’s stated learning outcomes. You can expect to receive timely feedback on all coursework assessments. This feedback may be issued individually and/or issued to the group and you will be encouraged to act on this feedback for your own development.
Coursework can take many forms, for example: essay, report, seminar paper, test, presentation, dissertation, design, artefacts, portfolio, journal, group work. The precise form and combination of assessment will depend on the course you apply for and the module. Details will be made available in advance through induction, the course handbook, the module specification, the assessment timetable and the assessment brief. The details are subject to change from year to year for quality or enhancement reasons. You will be consulted about any significant changes.
Normally, a module will have 4 learning outcomes, and no more than 2 items of assessment. An item of assessment can comprise more than one task. The notional workload and the equivalence across types of assessment is standardised. The module pass mark for undergraduate courses is 40%. The module pass mark for postgraduate courses is 50%.
Associate awards
Diploma in International Academic Studies DIAS
Work placement / study abroad
We have partnerships with universities throughout North America, Europe and Asia and you can choose to study abroad for one semester or for a year. Some of our current students have studied in New York, Hong Kong, Singapore, Toronto and many more. See: https://www.ulster.ac.uk/goglobal
We provide full careers support, from CV preparation, to interview skills, and help with applications to all graduate internships, apprenticeships and full-time positions. You can continue to make use of our extensive careers support services for up to three years after you graduate. For more information: https://www.ulster.ac.uk/campus-life/careers
Ulster University,
Cromore Rd,
Coleraine
BT52 1SA
T: 02870 123 456