Faculty of Arts and Education
Deakin University
Honours in Media and Communication studies will give you the chance to both broaden and deepen your interest in an area of media and communication studies of your own choosing, by reading more widely in communication and media theory, and applying this reading to the analysis of those particular aspects of film, television, print media, journalism, public and organizational communication, new media and technologies and the Internet, which are of particular interest to you.
You will develop skills in communication research which you can either bring to further study in a Higher Degree by research or which can give you a competitive edge in the context of rapidly changing career opportunities requiring you to demonstrate excellent communication and critical analysis skills. Your reading and research in this year can be negotiated with your supervisor to mirror your own individual interests.
If you are interested in pursuing a higher degree by research then an Honours year is often, in most universities, a formal requirement for admission. The skills in developing research questions in this year enables you to have the confidence to shape and frame more detailed and developed research in your higher degree. But those same skills can also be a distinct advantage if you choose to begin work in the many industries and workplaces that are constantly calling out for the very highest of communication skills and analytic thinking.
An Honours year, more than anything else, teaches you to be able to think critically and analytically, and whatever field of work you may be interested in, this ability is always at the very top of employer requirements.
Successful completion of an Honours degree also positions students for postgraduate study, whether immediately following or after settling into a career and wishing to develop further their expertise and prospects for professional advancement. Honours students have gone on to further study through Masters Degrees by Coursework, Masters Degrees by research, and PhD.
The recommended pattern would be to complete two core units (AAR410 and AAR411 or equivalent) and two reading units (ALW 484 or 485) in the first semester (4 credit points) and thesis units (AAM 497, or AAM495 plus AAM 496) in second semester (4 credit points in total).
The thesis (approx 10 -15,000 words) in a media and communication honours year would normally be a focussed analysis of some aspect of popular culture, media or communication, framed by a well developed theoretical position drawing upon established thinkers and analysts in the appropriate field.
The general direction of the thesis should be worked out in consultation with your supervisor at the start of the first semester in order to enable the two reading units you will take to be developed individually for you. The development of the two reading units and thesis in negotiation with your supervisor is a unique opportunity for you to individually shape the research you wish to spend your honours year doing to your own very specific interests.
Further information including units of study can be found in the Deakin course search.
Honours Course Adviser
Tel (03) 9251 7331
estelle.barret@deakin.edu.au
Campus: Burwood
Tel (03) 9244 3931
david.birch@deakin.edu.au
Tel (03) 9251 7331
estelle.barret@deakin.edu.au
Campus: Burwood
Tel (03) 9251 7655
david.ritchie@deakin.edu.au
Campus: Burwood
Tel (03) 9244 6009
sanjay.srivastava@deakin.edu.au
Campus: Burwood
Tel (03) 9251 7347
lynne.star@deakin.edu.au
Campus: Geelong (Waurn Ponds)
Tel (03) 5227 1340
nina.weerakkody@deakin.edu.au
Campus: Burwood
Tel (03) 9244 6083
adrian.bruch@deakin.edu.au
Campus: Burwood
Tel (03) 9251 7658
dirk.debruyn@deakin.edu.au
Campus: Burwood
Tel (03) 9244 6167
lienors.torre@deakin.edu.au
Campus: Burwood
Tel (03) 9251 7765
rosemary.woodcock@deakin.edu.au
Campus: Burwood
Tel (03) 9244 6793
kevin.anderson@deakin.edu.au
Campus: Burwood
Tel (03) 9251 7660
liz.baulch@deakin.edu.au
Campus: Burwood
Tel (03) 9251 7644
john.cumming@deakin.edu.au
Campus: Burwood
Tel (03) 9251 7645
stephen.goddard@deakin.edu.au
Campus: Burwood
Tel (03) 9251 7765
simon.wilmot@deakin.edu.au
Campus: Burwood
Tel (03) 9251 7656
daniel.armstrong@deakin.edu.au
Campus: Burwood
Tel (03) 9251 7851
torika@deakin.edu.au
Campus: Burwood
Tel (03) 9251 7851
rozalind.drummond@deakin.edu.au
'I am making a documentary in France at the moment. Honours enriched my confidence to write a funding application, and to fill it with worthwhile, original research.' |
