Curious about studying Film & Media and History - BA (Hons)at University of Stirling? We've gathered all the key details—entry requirements, modules, fees, and more. Hear from real students by checking out reviews, or take the next step by booking an open day to explore it for yourself.
Bachelor of Arts (with Honours) - BA (Hons)
Stirling Campus
Full Time
Sep 2027
4 Year
Bringing together theory and practice, our Film and Media course draws from the University of Stirling’s legacy as a pioneer in Film and Media research and teaching. This course not only ensures you’re well-versed in theoretical and critical aspects of the subject area, but also have the opportunity to become fully trained in practicalities such as audio production, video editing, screenwriting and more. Our emphasis on all-round training means you’ll graduate ready to follow in the footsteps of previous Stirling students who have forged successful careers in a range of media roles – from broadcasting and publishing, to advertising and public relations. Adding flexibility to your studies, you can combine Film and Media with a wide range of other courses, and tailor your degree to match your unique interests and ambitions.
History could not exist as a discipline without concepts. Concepts are the main analytical tools of the historian. They are applied to the raw materials of historical research (the information mined from primary sources),in order togive these materials a legible shape. It is by applying recognised concepts that we can explore common themes in History and understand the causes of historical transformations.
This introductory, survey module aims to provide students with an overview of Scottish medieval history in the period c.1100-1542, through a variety of approaches to the past, in particular viewing Scotland as a European kingdom. The themes covered range from the origins of the Kingdom, the medieval Church, the medeival Economy and Environment, the Wars of Independence, late medieval kingship, medieval cultures and courts, and Renaissance monarchy. Through lectures, small group tutorials, online exercises and reading, it seeks to deepen history-specific intellectual skills already acquired or to assist those studying history as a discipline for the first time in acquiring such skills.
Every day we are surrounded by media. There are now more ways to watch television than ever before, and popular films continue to be part of casual conversation and serious debate. We have access to almost limitless sources of news and are bombarded by advertising images in public and private settings, but also have increased means to discuss and contest these messages. In all these cases, the images and messages we encounter are the product of complex industries. In order to understand how media practices are changing, we need to look at their underlying structures, including funding, regulation, work, and equalities. This module provides students with the tools and theoretical underpinnings needed to analyse a diverse range of media content in greater depth by understanding its foundations and contexts.
In covering the era of the Renaissance, the Reformation and Revolutions in Scotland, students will focus on the reigns of successive Stewart monarchs and their subsequent succession to the English and Irish thrones as well as the problems associated with regnal union and resistance to an increasingly authoritative style of governance. Alongside the various revolutions of the seventeenth century, the creation of a British commonwealth, the emergence of Jacobitism, and parliamentary union in 1707, Scotland?s contact with Europe and the world will form a core theme throughout ensuring students understand Scotland?s development within a wider context. Political history will be studied in the light of the social, religious, economic, intellectual and cultural developments that lend early modern Scotland its distinct identity.
The module aims to provide students with both knowledge and understanding of how and in what way Britain modernised, and the role and significance of both primary secondary source material in historical research and debate (with a particular emphasis on secondary sources). J. Vernon,Distant Strangers: How Britain Became Modern(2014) provides the start and end point of the module. Vernon argues that modernity did not arise through the traditionally accepted factors such as industrialisation or the enlightenment. Instead he suggests that it was an adaptive response to the creation of ?a society of strangers? that resulted from rapid population growth and increased mobility over longer distances which necessitated new economic, social and political relationships. The module will explore the traditional drivers of modernity using a themed approach in order to examine the validity of Vernon?s argument. Running parallel to the module is a series of podcasts that are designed to provide the student with the basic historical skills necessary to complete the module. These include, secondary sources: what they are, how to analyse them and where to find them; how to write a critical review; how to write an academic essay; how to reference, what is plagiarism and how to understand Turnitin scores
This moduleequipsyouwith fundamental skills in the textual analysis of film and television. Through screenings,teaching and discussions, youare introduced to the key elements of form and style and provided with a range of techniques to study them in more detail. These skills will continue be useful in later modules when combined with other approaches to studying film and television. Although this module does not contain any practical elements, students interested in production may benefit from the module?semphasis on the close study of technique.
This module deals with Africa between c.1800 and 1945 and focuses on the precolonial nineteethn century, the onset of colonial rule, and the impact of colonial rule on Africa up till 1945. It aims to explore in more depth both the changes and the continuities between pre-colonial and colonial Africa.
This module explores the political transformation of the United States during the nineteenth century, focusing on major national debates and the crisis of the Union that tore the nation apart during the Civil War of 1861-65.
This module examines how the past is put to work in various aspects of economy and societyand will help you understandhow forms of historical enquiry inform specific professional sectors and areas of employment.
It is now often suggested that we are living in an age of ?convergent media? ? that is to say, media that bring users, content, technologies and experiences together in new and interesting ways in the digital realm. This module is about how networked digital media bring together people and ideas, texts and images, and technologies and industries in new ways. In FMSU9A4, we will explore such topics as interpersonal communication on social media, the relationships between media technologies and cultural change, and audiences as creative producers. We will discuss how media audiences are accessing, creating, editing, organising, sharing and collaborating on media in new ways. Most of you will already be familiar with many of these practices. This module will engage the concepts that underpin such practices and we will test these concepts by doing some of these things as part of our assignments, experimenting with a range of online media tools to bring theory and practice together. You should not think of this course as a series of separate topics, but should instead be alert to connections and continuities between weeks ? as you progress through the semester, compare and contrast, and try to make connections between ideas.
This module examines an epoch, Europe between 1789 and 1914, that began with huge optimism but ended in the despair of the first global war. The optimism was born out of two revolutions: one political that originated in France, and one economic, known as industrialisation. These ?twin revolutions? made constant social change and intellectual fermentation the characteristic features of the era.Kings, Churches, and Empires tottered, while new words that made sense of these changes, such as nationalism, constitutionalism, liberalism, feminism, and socialism, emerged for the first time. The contemporary resonance of these words shows why studying this period is so important for understanding our modern world.
Reading Film and Television builds on skills in close analysis learned on The Moving Image, introducing key theoretical approaches to films and television programmes through weekly screenings and readings.
This module will provide you with an understanding of the (changing) historical reputations of the lives of significant individuals ranging from William Wallace, the Scottish medieval figure, to Nelson Mandela, the radical 'freedom fighter' and statesman. Through lectures and participation in seminars you will learn how to appreciate the role played by historiography, politics and popular culture in sustaining, validating,questioning and reinventing the reputations of historical figures. Participation in this module will allow you to enhance skills in written communication, analysing and investigation, library research, evaluating sources, constructing arguments, planning and organising, time management and discipline knowledge.
This module offers the opportunity tostudy key events from Scotland?s past which still have a bearing on present-day politics and culture, in a location, here at Stirling,close to many of the key sites of the period. Your studies will be led byan acknowledged expert publishing in the field. It also takes a much-misused topic and sets it within its proper British Isles and European context.
If you want to create, share, or analyse media content, you need to consider who isengaging with it, how and why. Thismoduleputs the audience in the spotlight and looks at different approaches to media use as a social phenomenon undergoing significant transformations.Understanding the relationship between producers, media texts, and audiences is essential for those creating, circulating, and consuming media. But what makes people into an identifiable audience, and how can we find out about their/our experience? In this module we will be looking at different ways of thinking about the audience and at how researchers have tried to find out what and how audiences of different kinds think and act.
In this year, Students will study only optional modules.
Students have the opportunity to study optional modules in this year.
Enrolment in this module is a formal requirement for students undertaking Honours dissertations in Film and Media or Art and Design. Students will have already studied a number of research methods and processes in preparation to undertake the practicalities of dissertation research and writing during the Researching Media and Culture module (FMSU9A7) in Semester 7. During that module, which is a pre-requisite for the dissertation, you will have developed a proposal for a project that forms the basis for the dissertation. In this module, you will work independently on your project with the support and guidance of a supervisor.
Documentary Production is a dissertation level practical production module. Students work in groups to create short video or audio documentaries to a high technical and editorial standard. Work produced on this module has gone on to win national awards on several occasions.
The History dissertation is an extended piece of research and written work that provides students with an opportunity to identify and investigate a particular topic of interest and explore it systematically. With the agreement and guidance of a member of staff, in the role of supervisor, each student defines a topic, conducts the research, analyses the information and writes the dissertation.This is the capstone of your studies and something you will be justifiably proud of in years to come.
All students taking a History Special Subject in their final year should register for HISU977. In early June, students will be sent an email by the History Programme Director, Dr Michael Penman (m.a.penman@stir.ac.uk ). The email will contain instructions on choosing a final year Special Subject?the course to be studied over two semesters. Students will be able to select from a list of options (detailed below), and can rank their choices in order of preference.
A dissertation is an original piece of research that aims tomake a contributionto the field. Unlike an essay, in which you will probably be responding to existing positions on a topic set by your lecturer, a dissertation is an opportunity for you to conceive, design and carry out an original research project.The module is delivered by supervision. At the beginning of the process of developing your screenwriting project, you will be assigned a supervisor, whose supervision experience and research specialism best fits your proposal. The supervisor?s role is to ensure that your project is manageable, to monitor your progress, to provide feedback on work in progress, and to provide academic guidance and support. A Screenwriting dissertation is rather different to other ways of learning that you will have previously encountered during your degree programme as your workload is much more self-directed and self-motivated,
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