French and Journalism Studies - BA (Hons)

University of Stirling

This module continues to develop the linguistic and analytical skills fostered by the previous module FREU9A3. It comprises two components: language and culture. It focuses on the culture and history of the French and Francophone world from the 1960s to the contemporary period. You will explore the way Francophone societies in Europe and North America changed following the Second World War and the beginning of the period of decolonisation, through the study of literature and film as durable forms of cultural expression. The aim of studying these cultural artefacts is to develop your intercultural understanding of those nations and individuals who are French-speaking; it is also an opportunity to further expand your language proficiency, enabling you to build on your comprehension of spoken and written French and acquire new vocabulary and linguistic structures.

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 is an intensive course which builds on the foundations laid by courses FREU9B1 and FREU9B2. This module is the last module prior to joining the Advanced stream (FREU9A4) from which point there is no further differentiation between former-Beginners and non-former Beginners.

By the end of the module students will be able to: Demonstrate competence in the selection of photographic events and scenes and the depiction of symbolic visual discourses. Demonstrate capacity to recognise a visually newsworthy event keeping in mind its relevance to the audience. Demonstrate a medium level of ability to control and make effective use of photographic equipment, proving competence in procedures and techniques of photographic software processing and photography in general.

This module continues to develop the linguistic and analytical skills fostered by the previous module FREU9A2. It comprises two components: language and culture. It focuses on the culture and history of the French and Francophone world during the period from the start of World War II to the main period of French decolonisation in the early 1960s. This is achieved predominantly via the study of film and literature as durable forms of cultural expression. The aim of studying these cultural artefacts is to develop your intercultural understanding of those nations and individuals who are French-speaking; it is also an opportunity to further expand your language proficiency, enabling you to build on your comprehension of spoken and written French and acquire new vocabulary and linguistic structures.

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.

This practical module is an introduction to the fundamental skills required for professional journalism. Participants will develop an understanding of how news articles are structured, written and presented. As a core module for the journalism programme. In workshops, students will practice writing briefs, introductory paragraphs and short news stories. Attention will be paid to grammatical and language-oriented elements. On successful completion of the module, students will be able to write an appropriately structured news story quickly and accurately, one of the fundamental skills of professional journalism. The course involves weekly one-hour lectures and two-hour workshops.

This practical module introducesyouto different journalistic genres,general reporting and specialisms including sport, finance and business, travel and long form journalism.You willget the opportunity to develop interviewing and research skills as well as writing in a range of different formats. These skills build on the foundation created in earlier modules and expandyourwriting repertoires, creativity and confidence. Hands-on workshops giveyouthe opportunity to developyourown style of writing in different areas.

The news industry has a significant impact on our lives. It is a multi-billion poundglobal industry that helps set the political, social and cultural agenda. Thispracticalmodule looks behind the scenes at how news organizations determine what is news, and how they then present it to readers. It looks at who the key players are and how they operate.

This dedicated language module builds on the linguistic skills, written and oral, you developed during the second year. It is intended to be relevant to all students and it deals with general skills of comprehension, writing and speaking. The blogs and passages you study each week are selected as relevant examples of journalistic and discursive prose which feature a variety of registers; they are also chosen to provide you with an awareness of current affairs in the French-speaking world which will be of benefit in writing blogs and compositions, and in your spoken language classes. In dealing with the longer passages, you will be invited to improve your skills in extracting the gist of an argument in French, and you will prepare for your own compositions by noting and examining how the articles are structured. Writing blogs and compositions in French are interlinked components of the same fundamental skills, and the class will allow you to develop your accuracy, range, and the ability to exploit the possibilities of your written French.

This module provides generic, subject-specific and language-specific (French or Spanish) education on employability and careers skills of relevance to students whose degree involves the study of French or Spanish

An understanding of law, government and the regulatory framework is critical if you are to have a career in the media. Delivered by an expert in the field, this module will prepare you for the challenges of being a working journalist into today?slegal and regulatory minefield.

For many students, the dissertation is the culmination of their undergraduate study. This module will enable you to undertake your dissertation project: a sustained piece of research on a clearly defined topic that you will choose in consultation with a superviso

This module is designed to prepare students for the dissertation in semester 8. It will focus on the key skills required to devise and develop a research project: using library, archive and IT resources effectively to support research; distinguishing appropriate methodological approaches to research; formulating a research question; writing a proposal; referencing accurately and professionally; and presenting research findings to an audience. It supports students through the process of defining and scoping the dissertation topic which they will research in semester 8.

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.

FREU9L7 written and oral language work builds on the foundations laid down in the preceding years of study. The module deals with advanced skills of written and oral expression and comprehension, as well as with translation of both journalistic and discursive prose. The topics covered in written and langage parl?lasses also aim to further develop students? awareness of French and Francophone current affairs, through in-depth engagement with advanced written and oral/aural materials including editorial-style journalism, online media coverage and journalistic blogs.

This dedicated language module builds, not only on the foundations of grammar, syntax and lexical range laid down over the preceding years of study, but also on the advanced language skills of translation, composition and oral debate and presentation honed in your final semesters of study. The module incorporates advanced skills of written and oral expression and comprehension, through translation into English, composition in French and oral/aural work including individual presentations. Through the module you will develop an in-depth understanding of and engagement with political, social and cultural topics of relevance to France and the wider Francophone world.

In this module you will carry out and write up a research dissertation with one-to-one guidance from a supervisor. You will apply the knowledge of research methods and practice acquired in FMSU9A7 to complete the project proposed in the Autumn module.

This module is the culmination of the journalism programme and provides an opportunity foryouto showcase their talent. Producing a 10,000-word work of journalism requires tenacity, dedication, creativity and resilience and can be a very rewarding.You willwork one-on-one with a specialist supervisor on a topic ofyour choice.You willconduct interviews, evaluate information, gather data and research and then write up a substantial body of work in a journalistic style. Project participants often submit their work to student journalism awards and use their projects as a key component to their portfolios post-graduation.