Course information

Length

Three academic terms (September-June) equivalent to part-time study

Course overview

The Postgraduate Certificate in Race, Media and Social Justice aims to offer a rigorous and academic approach to deepen your understanding of contemporary issues regarding race and ethnicity, in order to form your own interventions that can contribute to social justice and equality.

Learn via a systematic exploration of research and scholarship into race and ethnicity across the overlapping fields of sociology, media and cultural studies. An interdisciplinary approach is used to provide you with the analytical tools and skills needed to enable you to explain and critique why contemporary understandings and representations of race take the shape that they do.

The programme is broadly framed in terms of issues of social justice, specifically the social ideals of equality, valuing diversity, and the right to live in dignity, and how this relates to the formation of racial and ethnic identities.

The PGCert consists of two main components:

Conceptual understanding

The first component is designed to give you a foundation in sociological and critical cultural approaches to race and ethnicity, offering a strong conceptual basis for understanding matters of race and racialisation historically and with regard to contemporary contexts and debates. This includes a critical analysis of the social/political theory of the liberal/ multicultural/postcolonial/cosmopolitan settlements of ‘race’. The aim is to deepen your understanding of the formation of ethnic and racial identities, racism and multiculturalism in relation to issues of social justice.

Contextual knowledge

The second component situates the study of race and racism more explicitly within the context of the media, looking at issues of representation and the persistence of historical constructions of Otherness. The unique intervention of the PGCert is in drawing attention to the context of production, exploring the experience of people of colour working in the cultural industries. This component will be enhanced by a series of industry talks from BAME practitioners working in the creative, cultural and communication industries, which will give you practical insight into the experience of race in the media.

The Department of Media, Communications and Cultural Studies has been ranked 2nd in the UK for 'world-leading or internationally excellent' research (Research Excellence Framework, 2021) and 12th in the world (2nd in the UK) in the 2022 QS World Rankings for communication and media studies.

Contact the department

If you have specific questions about the degree, contact Anamik Saha.

What you'll study

Aims of the programme

  • Demonstrate an informed understanding of the complexities of race, social justice, activism and research;
  • Understand the formation of ethnic and racial identities in relation to social justice specifically the social ideals of equality, valuing diversity, and the right to live in dignity;
  • Understand how modern understandings of race and ethnicity are shaped by history and the legacies of empire and colonialism, as well as contemporary forces of commercialism and global capital;
  • Develop a systematic understanding of key theoretical approaches to race and ethnicity and media apply them to critically examine current debates on race, ethnicity and racism;
  • Recognise the media as a key site where understandings of race and ethnicity are simultaneously reinforced and challenged;
  • Develop the critical and analytical skills to identify, explain and evaluate discourses of race and ethnicity, particularly in the media;
  • Develop knowledge and/or skills that can be applied in a practical work context

Compulsory Modules

Module title Credits
Race Critical Theory and Social Justice 30 credits
Race, Empire and Nation 30 credits

Download the programme specification.

Please note that due to staff research commitments not all of these modules may be available every year.

Entry requirements

Applicants will normally have, or expect to gain a first degree of at least upper second class standard (or equivalent).

International qualifications

We accept a wide range of international qualifications. Find out more about the qualifications we accept from around the world.

If English isn’t your first language, you will need an IELTS score (or equivalent English language qualification) of 6.5 with a 6.5 in writing and no element lower than 6.0 to study this programme. If you need assistance with your English language, we offer a range of courses that can help prepare you for postgraduate-level study.

Fees, funding & scholarships

To find out more about your fees, please check our postgraduate fees guidance or contact the Fees Office, who can also advise you about how to pay your fees.

Additional costs

In addition to your tuition fees, you'll be responsible for any additional costs associated with your course, such as buying stationery and paying for photocopying. You can find out more about what you need to budget for on our study costs page.

There may also be specific additional costs associated with your programme. This can include things like paying for field trips or specialist materials for your assignments. Please check the programme specification for more information.

Funding opportunities

Find out more about postgraduate fees and explore funding opportunities. If you're applying for funding, you may be subject to an application deadline.

How to apply

Similar programmes

MA Audio, Radio and Podcasting

Sound is the most dynamic part of the media industry right now and this long-standing MA in Audio, Radio and Podcasting will give you the theoretical knowledge and practical experience to navigate it and excel in it. We value what you have already achieved. Creativity in the audio medium is a uniquely personal experience and your existing knowledge and skills mean you'll be able to add diversity to the area of the industry you intend to join.

MA Brands, Communication & Culture

This unique programme introduces you to the variety of ways in which brands are developed and used, and helps you to understand how the growth of branding – in business, but also in politics, government, sport and culture – has changed the societies we live in.

MA Cultural Studies

The MA Cultural Studies offers an interdisciplinary approach to the study of contemporary to culture, politics and society.

MA Culture Industry

‘Culture is a paradoxical commodity. So completely is it subject to the law of exchange that it is no longer exchanged; it is so blindly consumed in use that it can no longer be used. [...] The whole world is made to pass through the filter of the culture industry.’ –Theodor W. Adorno and Max Horkheimer, ‘The Culture Industry’, 1947

Related content links