Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in Photography

at Manchester Metropolitan University United Kingdom

English and journalism have long been a strong partnership. Today, with the multimedia element, our Joint Honours Degree puts a modern spin on this most enduring of relationships.

This exciting course offers the chance to bring the former together with an up-to-the-minute, multimedia version of the latter, reflecting the demands of the modern media environment.

Today’s journalists are expected to operate across broadcast, print and online networks. With a broad range of units, we’ll give you all the skills you need to compete in this fast-moving world. You’ll learn from accomplished reporters and editors, drawing on extensive newsroom experience to give you industry-relevant understanding and insights.

You’ll also build a set of complementary skills through our range of English units, including critical and cultural theories, and textual analysis. Then when you get to your final year, you’ll have the chance to put those skills into practice – by tackling a substantial piece of project work, whether a portfolio of journalism or an extended piece of critical writing.

Along the way, you may have opportunities to study abroad and, if you wish, to do your third year as a placement - in Britain or abroad. You will be based in a lively department that is staffed by internationally renowned writers and critics, and there's a strong research culture, creating a learning environment that is both supportive and intellectually challenging.

Manchester has one of the biggest digital and creative sectors in the UK. With MediaCityUK, home to the BBC and ITV, it’s an ideal place for an ambitious journalist to build a network, gain experience and boost your career prospects.

At the heart of the Manchester Writing School are our Master's programs in Creative Writing, available to study on campus in Manchester, and also from anywhere in the world via online distance learning.

On our Master of Fine Arts (MFA) program, you will explore and practice techniques and styles of modern and contemporary writing and apply these through the development of your own full-length book or script.

MFA students undertake all of the elements of our MA Creative Writing program (a taught element blending writing workshops with reading units, an elective, and a dissertation), then take an additional unit about the publishing, literary and arts industries and submit a full-length manuscript: a completed novel or short story collection, poetry collection, book for children or young adults, script for stage, screen or radio, or book of creative non-fiction.

You will be introduced to professionals from the publishing industries, which may include literary agents, publishers, broadcasters and arts practitioners, and the School has strong links with many major arts, educational and cultural organizations. Our MFA model is exceptional in coaching students through the development and completion of a full-length book under the sustained guidance of distinguished, practicing writers and seeing those students achieve success in publishing.

You will specialise in one of the following routes: Novel (including Short Fiction), Poetry, Writing for Children & Young Adults, Scriptwriting (for stage, screen or radio) or Creative Non-Fiction.

From ragworms and rhinos to locusts and lemurs, the animal world is an ever-changing and always fascinating place to explore. On our BSc (Hons) Animal Behaviour and Conservation degree you can delve in and discover it all – developing an understanding of the vast range and huge importance of animal behaviour.

With us, you’ll consider the drivers of different types of animal behaviour, looking at the interaction of genetics, evolutionary history and present-day environments. You’ll also investigate how and why behaviour changes over an animal’s lifetime, from genetic and hormonal factors to the physiological and environmental mechanisms. You will be equipped with the tools needed in conservation and will study real-world examples of how species and their habitats can be conserved.

Through a blend of laboratory and fieldwork, we’ll show you how to record behavioural data and use professional-grade software for its analysis – vital tools in improving the welfare and management of domestic, wild and zoo populations. Our animal behaviour course also provides the option of spending an extra year expanding your horizons, either studying with one of our partner universities overseas, or working on a placement with a business or non-governmental organisation. This will be subject to national and international travel restrictions.

Placement options
The four-year placement route gives you the opportunity to spend your third year on a placement with a relevant employer, like a conservation or environmental body, zoo or animal welfare organisation, or local government or a molecular diagnostics company. It’s a great chance to gain experience, build your network and develop transferable skills – all of which can boost your career prospects.

The Combined Honours program offers you an opportunity to study two subjects at degree level.

English:
English is a well-established humanities discipline, which explores the role of the written word in defining and transforming human experience. The modern discipline of English is rooted in the study of literature and the language in which it is written. Students of English can expect to study all major periods and forms of literature and to learn how to analyse literary texts by drawing on disciplines such as history, sociology and politics. The study of English develops strong critical thinking and communication skills, attributes that are highly valued in humanities graduates by employers. The English department has access to a community of internationally renowned writers and critics through the Manchester Writing School, one of the most successful of its kind in the UK. The Creative Director is Carol Ann Duffy DBE (Poet Laureate 2009-2019). You will develop the necessary skills in critical thinking and communication that are of value to graduates entering a wide array of career paths.

Spanish:
Proficiency in modern languages will give you the competitive edge in the global jobs market. In both the private and public sectors, there is demand for professionals with strong language skills who can work in culturally diverse environments. Studying Spanish at Manchester Met will give you the opportunity to learn from native speakers. Our languages department have created their own multicultural community, including British, exchange and international students, along with foreign language assistants, allowing you to be absorbed into the everyday use of your chosen language.

We have been providing professional language courses for more than 30 years and our staff are nationally, and in many cases internationally, recognised experts in their field. Our strong local, national and global links will help to enhance your study and future employment opportunities.

Placement options
If you take Spanish as a major or equal subject you will spend your third year in Spain or Latin America and we will assist you in choosing from a wide choice of partner universities where you can study.

Sport is part of Manchester’s DNA. It’s a big feature of the city’s history, character and economy. And it’s a big part of Manchester Met too. We created one of the first sports marketing degree in the country and we’ve worked with experts in the industry to make it as useful as possible for your career.

Throughout the course you’ll learn what makes sports marketing so special. You’ll develop key skills in areas like brand management, digital marketing and commercial sponsorship.

The course prepares you for real life in the industry. So, you’ll complete practical projects like developing a sponsorship proposal, creating a digital marketing campaign or putting together a business plan for a new sports enterprise. To add even more to your CV, you can spend a year on placement with an employer, or go abroad to study at one of our partner universities.

We provide plenty of opportunities for you to learn from experts in the industry. We organise guest lectures and help you volunteer at sports organisations and events. We have links with the likes of Manchester City Football Group, GB Taekwondo and British Cycling.

Study Abroad

Instead of a placement, you’ll have the opportunity to spend up to a year overseas, studying with one of our partner institutions across Europe, or beyond. Go abroad in the third year of your degree, and you’ll not only learn about other cultures, improve your language skills and discover more about yourself – you’ll also boost your career prospects.

Having first-hand knowledge of another country’s cultures and traditions can take you far in a range of careers. And, by going abroad you’ll also demonstrate the kind of independent spirit and adaptability that many employers want.

By bringing together our academic expertise with Manchester City F.C.’s City in the Community Foundation, this degree offers the very best of both worlds and an integrated path to rewarding career goals.

This course offers work-based learning in Premier League surroundings, equipping you with the skills, knowledge and experience you will need to find success as a coach or sports programme leader.

Academic experts deliver the programme, providing insight and support during your three years. In addition, you are continually mentored and supported by practitioners from City in the Community who provide perspectives from the real world of delivering community sport coaching and sport development initiatives.

You will learn how coaching sport improves aspects of mental and physical health. The programme will cover all angles of project development – from planning and delivering activity, through to measuring impact – to help understand the potential of sporting opportunities to make a positive difference in the community.  

Explore a fascinating area of biology: a microscopic world inhabited by single-celled organisms which drives all other facets of the natural world. While rooted in the fundamental theories of biological science, our BSc (Hons) Microbiology and Molecular Biology degree is also designed with practical applications in mind. As you progress, you’ll find a real emphasis on the environmental, industrial, clinical and research applications of microbiology and molecular biology and study current techniques, such as next-generation DNA sequencing technology and biotechnology.

Study microbiology and molecular biology at Manchester Met and you’ll learn about how biomolecules enable cells to function, the genetics of microorganisms, biotechnology and environmental microbiology. You will explore specialist aspects within the subject as you progress, with the opportunity to specialise in areas like molecular biology, genetics, bioinformatics and microbial ecology.

Along the way, you’ll develop a valuable set of skills in our laboratories, with an emphasis on how to apply the tools and techniques within biotechnological, medical and environmental microbiology.

Our BSc (Hons) Microbiology and Molecular Biology degree also provides the option of spending an extra year expanding your horizons, either studying with one of our partner universities overseas, or working on a placement with a business or non-governmental organisation. This is subject to national and international travel restrictions.

Placement options

The four-year placement route gives you the opportunity to spend your third year on a placement with a relevant employer, like a conservation or environmental body, zoo or animal welfare organisation, or local government or a molecular diagnostics company. It’s a great chance to gain experience, build your network and develop transferable skills – all of which can boost your career prospects.

The four-year study abroad route gives you the opportunity to study overseas during your third year in Europe, North America or Australasia.

BSc Criminology and Sociology with Quantitative Methods offers exciting opportunities for you to combine the study of the cutting-edge disciplines of criminology and sociology in the vibrant city of Manchester, whilst gaining extensive quantitative skills. Joint Honours students are based in one department, the Department of Sociology, which teaches both specialisms.

The BSc Criminology and Sociology with Quantitative Methods course is aimed at students who are interested in both disciplines and want to study the causes, patterns, consequences and responses to crime by situating them in the wider context of society, as well as develop a specialism in quantitative research methods. The first year introduces you to the building blocks of criminology and sociology: key sociological and criminological theories, social divisions and problems, the criminal justice system, crime policy and practice, and key social transformations such as digital culture. You will receive training in a wide range of research methods, both qualitative and quantitative, during the first two years. In the final year, you will focus on quantitative methods for designing, implementing and analysing social and criminological research, and will complete an independent project.

The Textiles in Practice course enables you to experience textiles as a flexible and diverse subject. You will be taught from within core pathways offering the opportunity to specialise or combine the disciplines of print, weave, knit, embroidery and mixed media. We promote and encourage the interdisciplinary nature of contemporary practice where processes and techniques combine and complement one another. Specialist workshop provision offers hands-on traditional machinery and the latest digital technologies, supported by expert academic and technical staff who are actively engaged in research and are professional designers and artists. Emphasis is placed on the development of personal interests and ambitions that reflect the breadth, versatility and potential of textiles within contemporary art and design contexts.

Placement options

• You will be supported and encouraged to take advantage of work-based learning opportunities, with established links across a wide range of creative and commercial organisations.

An international relations degree will help you to gain appreciation of how states, international organizations, and non-state actors interact on the global stage. This course is about using theories and models to best explain and understand power in the world, why the world is the way it is, and how we can change it. This takes place at all levels, from individuals to whole global systems, and understanding this allows us to question what we think we know, what we think matters, and how we can develop a better world. Supported by knowledgeable and passionate staff, you’ll start by looking at the core critical and emancipatory theories of International Relations and their underlying methods.

You’ll get a broad grounding in the key issues of today’s world and the contested historical development of world politics; studying topics informed by staff research such as terrorism, security studies, human rights, cultural politics, and many others.

A wide variety of options means that you can pursue your own interests – with things becoming increasingly flexible as you progress through the course, and in your final year, you will engage more directly with current academic debates and contemporary political developments.

We place a heavy emphasis on employability and offer valuable practical skills training, including advanced analytical approaches, which many employers look for when offering placement opportunities. This, alongside the possible opportunity to study abroad – with all the experience that it brings – means that an International Relations degree opens doors to a range of interesting and rewarding career possibilities.

You can also combine international relations with another subject and broaden your outlook still further, and in your third year, you may have the opportunity to take a placement year with an employer or study abroad, broadening your horizons and boosting your employability.