Film & Media and Politics

Film and media studies combined with politics is a degree that takes seriously the relationship between how societies represent themselves and how they are governed. Film and media shape public understanding of events, frame political debate, construct and challenge identities, and play a central role in the circulation of power and influence. Politics examines the institutions, ideologies and processes through which collective decisions are made and contested.

Studying them together gives you a lens that is both analytical and interpretive, capable of engaging with the structure of political systems and the cultural forms through which those systems are experienced, challenged and legitimised.

At the University of Stirling this four-year, full-time programme develops your expertise in both disciplines, examining political theory, comparative politics and international relations alongside the history and analysis of film and media, their institutions, their forms and their cultural significance. You will learn to analyse films, television and digital media as political and cultural texts, bringing critical theory and political analysis to bear on what you watch and read. At the same time you will develop your understanding of how political institutions work, how policy is made and how political communication operates in a media-saturated landscape.

The degree includes a year abroad, extending your experience internationally.

Graduates pursue careers in journalism, broadcasting, political communications, public relations, the civil service, NGOs and think tanks, documentary production, cultural policy, research and education. The ability to move between critical media analysis and political understanding is valued in roles that require both cultural intelligence and analytical depth. Many graduates also continue to postgraduate study in politics, media studies, film, international relations or communications.