Master of Science in Product Design

at Manchester Metropolitan University United Kingdom

A degree in English and American literature offers the opportunity to study writers and writing from cultures both united and divided by a common language.

Reflecting the varied and flexible nature of English and American literature, this course enables you to explore both in equal depth, as you look at how writers from the entwined cultures have reflected and shaped the worlds around them.

You’ll explore English literature in all its major forms – prose, poetry and drama – and from all periods since the Renaissance. At the same time, you’ll look at literature from the USA, from its inception to the present day, relating it to key social and historical contexts, while considering American writers’ enduring struggle to articulate national identity.

The course engages with a range of theoretical perspectives on literature and culture, drawn from English and American Studies, and related disciplines. But, crucially, it also recognises that American literature is integral to, rather than separate from, the study of literature in English.

You may have the opportunity to spend a year expanding your horizons, either studying abroad with one of our partner universities, in the US or elsewhere, or working on placement within industry in Britain or abroad.

In your final year you will get the chance to explore your interests in depth with a substantial piece of project work presented as a thesis, building on the knowledge and skills you've been developing over previous years.

Our lively department is home to internationally renowned writers and critics, and there's a strong research culture, creating a learning environment that is both supportive and intellectually challenging. We pride ourselves on our excellent teaching and highly positive student feedback. And with our extensive cultural links both in Manchester and further afield, you'll be in the right place to begin building a creative network for your future.

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. At the Manchester campus, 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. Its 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.

Linguistics:
If you are interested in the way in which we communicate and how it can influence people, studying linguistics will help you unravel how language is inextricably linked to who we are. You will also experience the theoretical and applied use of linguistics in social, educational, and practical environments and contexts. We have been providing professional language courses for more than 30 years and our staff are nationally, and in many cases internationally, recognized experts in their field. Our strong local, national and global links will help to enhance your study and future employment opportunities.

From the written word to the silver screen, this joint honours course explores the middle ground between two of the world’s most important storytelling forms.

It is a fascinating combination of English literature, with its centuries-old roots, and the relative modernity of cinematic studies. Taught by staff that are internationally renowned writers and critics in a friendly, supportive and intellectually challenging environment, you'll study English literature in all its major forms - prose, poetry and drama - and cinema, in its large and small screen incarnations.

The film modules are grounded in close textual interpretation and the analysis of style, genre, historical context, and the politics of representation. As such, you’ll focus on key film genres, key directors, numerous film movements and national cinemas. With the sheer power, reach, longevity and endurance of American filmmaking over the last 120 years, much of the study of film focuses on 'Hollywood' style cinema, but you’ll also look at less commercial film-making from around the globe, challenging and pushing the medium to its limits.

You may have opportunities to study abroad and, if you wish, to do your third year as a placement - in Britain or abroad. And in your final year, you'll get a chance to explore your interests in depth with a substantial piece of project work that presents a thesis, building on the knowledge and skills you've been developing over previous years.

Our lively department 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 is a creative hub, with one of the biggest creative sectors in the UK, and along with our extensive cultural links both in the city and further afield, you’ll be ideally placed to begin building a creative network for the future.

There is politics in almost everything we do. It is the study of power: who gets it, why they seek it and by what means they obtain it. Its principal focus is on power relations among individuals, social groups and nations. Studying history will help you to understand how the past affects every aspect of our lives - from the language we speak, to the politics of race, gender, religion and identity. This Joint Honours degree will provide you with the skills to explore the social and political landscape of human consciousness throughout time and place. You will discover how people lived, and how they perceived and interacted with the world around them. Investigating past events, you will encounter war, injustice, new frontiers, political upheaval, ancient civilisations, invasions, conspiracies, catastrophes and revolutions. You will gain a firm grasp of political and current affairs, understand the news headlines, seeing beyond them to the real issues of politics, and be in a better position to comment upon and understand what the politicians are really saying.

The Joint Honours degree offers you an opportunity to study two subjects at degree level, enabling you to benefit from high quality teaching across more than one subject.

A wide variety of options means that you can pursue your own interests – with increasing flexibility as you progress through the course. With practical skills training, including advanced analytical approaches, – this degree opens up doors to a range of interesting and rewarding career possibilities and provides the skills needed to progress to higher research programs.

Placement options

You may have the chance to spend a year getting a taste of professional life. It is an opportunity to develop core skills and explore how this course can relate to the graduate world. It shows employers that you’re ready to get to work.

Students are free to choose Placement opportunities from a wide range of roles both in the UK and abroad. Students choosing this option are supported by a dedicated placement team who provide links to employers through presentations, events, and fairs, and provide a specialist program of guidance on recruitment procedures including CV and interview preparation, as well as work readiness and working overseas.

Proficiency in modern languages can 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. We have created our own multicultural community, including British, exchange and international students, along with foreign language assistants, allowing you to be absorbed into the everyday use of foreign languages.

We have been providing professional language courses for more than 30 years. Our strong local, national and global links will help to enhance your study and future employment opportunities. If you study French as a major or equal subject you will be required to spend a year abroad. The experience of being immersed in another culture for several months is one our students find both beneficial and rewarding. They return having made new friends, experienced new places and having grown in confidence.

This course places language learning within the wider context of French studies including culture, society, literature, film and history. The language units emphasise communicating effectively and developing transferable skills such as translating, interpreting and interview techniques, with practical language classes embracing speaking, listening, reading and writing.

TESOL is a practical branch of applied linguistics and it will help you understand language learning and teaching approaches, as well as the English language itself. You will develop a new understanding of different types of communication and other cultures.

This course will help you improve your own fluency and accuracy in other languages. You will gain experience of how to help learners of all abilities to become fluent English speakers and you will be taught by highly qualified and experienced practitioners who have taught across the world. All of these skills will give you a head start if you decide to take a further qualification such as CELTA or Trinity Certificate TESOL.

Placement options

If you take French as a major or equal subject you will have the opportunity to spend your third year in France and we will assist you in choosing from a wide choice of partner universities or other approved organisations where you can study or work. After this, you will return to Manchester Met for your final year.

Games design offers a route into a form of entertainment that’s not only one of the world’s most popular but is also constantly evolving, innovating and redefining its own boundaries. In short, the games industry is an exciting place to be and our BSc (Hons) Games Design course can offer your route into it.

Throughout the course, you’ll find an activity-led approach focused on the practical processes of making games. So, with our support you’ll build up a strong portfolio of games and game-like artefacts. As you progress, you’ll have the chance to pursue the specialist areas of the discipline that interest you most, and with cutting-edge assessments like our ‘Game a Week’, you’ll also build up your abilities as a games designer. Then, in your final year, you’ll not only work solo on your own game, but also work on a large-scale game through a series of smaller projects within a simulated game studio.

The School of Digital Arts offers the perfect setting for that kind of collaboration. That’s because our innovative curriculum paves the way for the same cross-disciplinary teamwork you’ll find in the professional digital sector – by working with students in sound design, animation and media production as well as students from our Department of Computing and Mathematics. The result is an environment that fosters creativity and helps you build a varied, well-rounded skillset. And, because SODA is purpose built with industry-standard facilities, you’ll leave us equipped with industry-standard technical skills too.

As a Games Design student, you’ll find Manchester offers both the perfect backdrop for your studies and an ideal launching pad for your professional ambitions. It’s not only home to a rich heritage of games publishing, but today has the largest media and creative sector outside London. On our doorstep, you’ll find a globally recognised web and UX sector, as well as renowned CG, visual effects and VR/AR agencies and at MediaCityUK in Salford, the BBC’s digital and games teams. All in all, it provides a range of opportunities for a graduate ready to make a statement in the world of games development.

Placement options

SODA Placement Year
As part of your studies with SODA, you will have the chance to take a year working on placement within the industry. During your year, you will spend at least 36 weeks working within an organisation in the industry, developing workplace skills, practical understanding and genuine industry experience.

BA (Hons) Fashion Design and Technology has an excellent reputation for producing menswear, womenswear and sportswear graduates who combine design innovation with an in-depth knowledge of the technical aspects of fashion design and manufacturing.

The course reflects contemporary industry standards and encourages students to design and develop innovative fashion products and ranges using both manual and digital technologies. Students work on live projects with industry partners and also have opportunity to undertake a placement and/or overseas study combined with a year in industry.

Students have the option to graduate with a Menswear, Womenswear or Sportswear award, by selecting specialist units in year two and three, or they can work across multiple specialisms. However, all students are encouraged to direct their learning towards specialized target markets such as luxury, outerwear, denim, tailoring, performance or lifestyle sportswear. The practical aspects of the course are underpinned by the study of the business and cultural contexts of fashion and consideration of sustainable industry practices.

Students work towards an exit portfolio that showcases their creative and technical skills appropriate to their chosen careers. While many graduates enter design roles, the technical aspects of the program also prepare students for other careers such as pattern cutting, fashion innovation and product development.

The subject of Interiors is a dynamic and nimble discipline which moves between the fields of Architecture and Design, creating diverse responses that have a strong desire to improve the lives of those who interact with existing buildings and interior space.

You will investigate and interpret interior space, inside and outside of the traditional architectural envelope, considering adaptive re-use, human occupation, spatial experience and social innovation as potential catalysts for design propositions.

Projects may manifest in a variety of outcomes and allow you to work in-depth in your chosen speciality such as interior architecture, commercial interior design, exhibition design, branded environments, environmental graphics, performance or set design, temporary installations or ‘event’ design, furniture or artefact design.

Interiors students are best characterised by their ability to underpin conceptual enquiry and intellectual curiosity with design/architectural theory, combined with strong technical knowledge and communication tools. Collaboration, and the ability to work with a variety of disciplines, is a strong aspect of the course.

Political and economic developments such as Brexit mean that international trade agreements, foreign direct investment and the attractiveness of where a company does business and accesses talent are more important than ever.

In the digital age, almost every business operates on the world stage and supplies to multiple countries. To help you compete in a hugely competitive global landscape, our International Business Management degree will give you a greater understanding of the nuances, challenges and opportunities of operating overseas.

Exploring enterprise, entrepreneurship and emerging markets

We’ll help you gain specialist knowledge in managing people of different cultures and backgrounds, and the political and governing structures of different markets that influence how businesses operate.

You’ll also develop the cross-cultural management skills you need to build international business relationships in often volatile political, cultural and economic environments.

Our International Business Management degree offers four-year routes where you can spend your third year on placement or study abroad at one of our overseas partner universities. Past students have worked for Johnson and Johnson in Tokyo, Hellman Worldwide Logistics in the USA and Warner Bros in London.

By the time you leave our business school, you’ll have the business knowledge and cross-cultural management skills to kick-start your career in the UK and abroad.

International marketing is vital for businesses to connect with their customers in an increasingly competitive, and rapidly evolving, marketplace. This course will give you the expertise necessary to thrive in this dynamic landscape.

You’ll gain the knowledge, technical and personal skills to operate across a range of dynamic and competitive international marketing environments.

We’ll provide you with knowledge from experts with extensive links to industry, people who understand what it takes to succeed in this field, plus leading researchers at the cutting edge of knowledge. Their expertise will help you develop an understanding of international marketing and how it’s applied in industry.