Curious about studying Film & Media and Philosophy - 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)
Main Site
Full Time
Sep 2026
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.
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.
On successful completion of the module students will be able to: Use a range of philosophical techniques to analyze and evaluate the logic of arguments; Present and defend a judgment orally in a group setting; Acquaint students wit some of the central issues in metaphysics, philosophy of mind, philosophy of religion, and applied moral philosophy. Improve students? skills in critical reading and critical thinking. Provide students with an intellectual foundation for future philosophical study across both theoretical and practical philosophy.
The module is a general introduction to philosophy and presupposes no prior knowledge of the subject. It is designed to be of interest to any student, whether they have any experience of philosophy or not. with close attention paid to the importance of argument and criticism; and you will be encouraged to think critically about the set topics and to communicate your thoughts clearly and accurately in writing and in group discussion.
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.
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.
Aims and learning outcomes of the course: To introduce students to a range of important texts in the history of philosophy. To equip students with an understanding of how to read and study historical texts. To help students think critically about the set texts and to communicate their thoughts clearly and accurately in writing and in group discussion.
On successful completion of the module students will: have an understanding of the basic concepts of logical appraisal: validity and consistency; be familiar with the two formal notations of elementary logic, those of propositional and predicate (or first-order) logic; be familiar with the truth-table and truth-tree tree methods for evaluating validity and consistency; be familiar with models for predicate logic; understand some of the philosophical issues relating to logic.
On successful completion of the module students will be able to: use a range of philosophical techniques to analyze and evaluate the logic of arguments; present and defend a judgment orally in a group setting. critical reading; critical thinking; oral communication skills.
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.
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.
This course is an introduction to the philosophy of mind, covering a variety of central topics. You will consider such questions as: How does having a mind relate to having a brain? How can I know what is going on in someone else?s mind? How do mental goings on cause physical goings on? How should we understand consciousness? Do (non-human) animals have mental states?
This module will allow you to investigate central issues in metaphysics and epistemology through a study of selected major works in the early modern (17th and 18th century) history of philosophy. The chosen texts are Descartes; Meditations on First Philosophy and Hume?s Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding. Many of the problems systematically explored in these works (reason the module provides essential background to advanced work in philosophy.
In this year, Students will study only optional modules.
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.
By the end of the writing period you will have acquired a wide range of skills. These include independent research skills, the ability to reflect critically on relevant literature, the ability to utilise appropriate analytical frameworks and methodologies, the ability to organise time and resources effectively, the expansion of interpretative and analytical skills, the ability to manage learning through independent study, and the ability to produce a longer (8,000-10,000 words) piece of work on a single topic.
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,
AABB Grades/points required
Not currently available, please Contact University for up to date information.
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