This unit offers an introduction to the history and theory of media and communications studies. Students will gain a foundation in key concepts, methodologies and theorists in the field. They will also explore the interdisciplinary roots of media and communications studies and acquire basic research skills. By the end of the unit students should be familiar with major shifts in the history and theory of media and communications studies and with basic concepts and methodologies in the field.

This unit explores digital media and communications landscapes by teaching students to map and analyse policy settings, industry performance, and patterns of access, voice, diversity and engagement. Within this framework, the unit focuses on the immaterial and creative forms of labour found in networked landscapes, and on conceptual and practical means of negotiating workplace norms, hierarchies and routines. Students will have opportunities to extend their disciplinary literacy and create professional branding strategies using open source software and social media.

This unit will give students foundational skills in writing for the print and broadcast media. Students will learn the elements of journalistic style, how to structure news and feature articles, how to script basic broadcast and online news, and be introduced to the principles of interviewing and journalistic research.

This unit provides an introduction to the theory and practice of media production. It combines a holistic investigation of contemporary media practices with an exploratory first-hand account of media production techniques. Students will have the opportunity to create mixed media production using a variety of technologies. They will create a major media piece by the end of the semester and will also reflect critically on their practice.

This unit introduces audio production by exploring the principles of sound design. Beyond introducing the students to the principles of audio, the unit provides them with the ability to produce radio programs in the traditional broadcasting sense, while concentrating on the student's capacity to direct, produce and publish their own podcast. Students will have the opportunity to create sound design for moving image, broadcast radio segments, and podcasts using state of the art radio production facilities, audio recorders, and audio hosting services.

Are online encounters different from face-to-face encounters? What is the difference between the real and the virtual? How do online identities relate to offline identities? This unit of study introduces students to key perspectives, themes and debates in the expanding world of online interaction and cultural production including social media, art, games, virtual worlds, augmented reality and participatory culture. Is the term 'cyberworld' redundant in a world where online and offline experiences, cultural forms and identities have become increasingly enmeshed?

The Internet is an infrastructure that supports constant industrial and social change, while also becoming progressively integrated into the routines of everyday life. Internet Transformations critically examines the online technologies, platforms and industries at the heart of these changes. It introduces key skills in analysis, evaluation and critique of these objects, situated in a historical context. It also interrogates the implications of emerging internetworked phenomena such as the internet of things, augmented reality and algorithmic cultures.

This unit of study introduces students to strategic public relations: the use of effective communication to build mutual understanding and positive relationships between organisations (or individuals) and their publics. Students learn to develop a public relations campaign using appropriate strategies and tactics, and objective measurement metrics. Core topics include: media relations, issues management, crisis communication, communication plans, public relations strategies and ethical practice.

This unit will introduce students to the area of media, law and ethics through discussion of key legal, ethical, and cultural issues relevant to journalism and the professional fields of public communication. Students will be given an introductory survey of the main ethical theories in Western thought to establish a framework within which to examine specific ethical issues that relate to media. They will also be introduced to those aspects of the law that impinge on the work of media professionals.

The unit examines the social, political and economic dynamics of media and communication in global settings. It considers the interplay among the global,regional and local in communication systems as well as the role that new technologies play in contemporary formations of global media. It assists students in consolidating their critical understanding of the factors that play the greatest role in shaping the globalisation of informational capitalism.

Interdisciplinarity is a key skill in fostering agility in life and work. This unit provides learning experiences that build students' skills, knowledge and understanding of the application of their disciplinary background to interdisciplinary contexts. In this unit, students will work in teams and develop interdisciplinarity skills through problem-based learning projects responding to 'real world problems'.

MECO3606 aims to further develop students' writing, research and interviewing skills. The course is framed around the exploration of different feature genres of journalism that have developed in the print media (magazines and newspapers) and are now evolving online. We will explore various types of feature journalism via close reading and student writing. The unit aims not just to teach students how to write in various journalistic genres, but to think about journalism critically and creatively in order to respond to the challenges the profession is facing in the 21st century..

This unit explores social media as an increasingly important space across a broad and diverse range of industries and organisations. It will highlight developments within this communication space, while also providing a wide range of new and exciting employment contexts that include specific social media communication skills. The unit offers a unique interdisciplinary approach to provide theoretically informed and up-to-the-minute training in social media communication.

The unit gives students an advanced understanding of the foundational traditions in communications, media, and digital cultures. It relates these traditions to contemporary innovations, rethinking ideas to grasp present and future media and communications forms, practices, structures, and meanings. The unit features detailed reading and analysis of key ideas, texts, thinkers, and contexts.

This unit will develop students' knowledge of key research methods used in media, communications and digital cultures research. Students will be introduced to a range of research techniques and methods, including quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods, and will have the opportunity to reflect critically on these methods through practitioner presentations and directed discussion. The assessment tasks will help students develop their skills to design and undertake a supervised research dissertation and enhance their abilities as researchers and practitioners.

Research towards and preliminary writing of an Honours thesis of 18 000-20 000 words, in collaboration with a supervisor approved by the Honours Coordinator.

In this unit students complete and submit a substantial, independent research project in Media and Communications. Regular meetings with a supervisor approved by the Media and Communications Honours Coordinator will guide their progress. Students will continue to submit drafts at agreed times, and develop their expertise in relevant research methods and analytical skills as well as in the subject matter of their specialist topic.

This unit builds on knowledge and skills acquired in your media studies, writing and radio units. It extends both production skills (technical and management) and visual storytelling techniques. It introduces students to the history, theory and practice of video production (mainly field-based video), with a strong focus on broadcast journalism. The unit will equip students with practical skills in planning and researching a video production, as well as with skills in digital camera operation, video recording and digital video editing using desktop software. It has a strong production component and students will be expected to produce short video items in groups, and organise their time accordingly. The unit emphasises 'non-fiction', information, or 'factual' programming: news, current affairs, and documentary, and assumes some knowledge in news reporting techniques. This is an intensive unit combining production and theoretical elements.

This unit examines how uses of the Internet, the Web and other online media and devices, such as mobile phones and iPads, are changing the media landscape. Students will become familiar with key theoretical and professional issues in online and digital media, and learn to critically analyse online media production. They will also gain practical skills in writing and producing for the web through team development of blogs and online features.

This capstone unit of study is designed to draw together elements of theoretical and practical knowledge that students have acquired in their studies of media and communications. Students will produce a significant piece of work which demonstrates an awareness of how critical thinking and media production are capable of mutually informing each other in practice.

The internship consists of a work placement comprising a minimum of 140 working hours in a media organisation, assisted and supervised by both the workplace and the department. Placements include print, broadcast, and online, in journalism, public relations and advertising organisations. Students are required to submit a 2,000-word journal reflecting on and analysing their experiences during the internship. (Special conditions may apply to overseas fellowships conducted as part of this unit). The internship and internship journal are assessed on a satisfactory/unsatisfactory basis.

This unit introduces students to a range of research methods commonly used in media and communications. Students will participate in exercises to gain hands-on experience and will investigate the importance of methods in scholarly and professional settings. The unit provides an introductory understanding of key research methods and strategies relevant to media and communications 'clusters' such as social media, journalism, public relations, and radio. Students will also write a proposal for an essay or media project, which they have the option to complete in semester two as part of MECO3609.