Media and Sociology is a distinctive combined degree which enables you to explore the sociological implications of social media, popular culture, and the mass media, whilst offering opportunities to engage in creative media practice such as film-making and photography.

You will attend lectures led by an interdisciplinary team of experts in their field, participate in seminars, and get hands-on experience of media production including pre- and post-production techniques. You will have access to media production facilities and the opportunity to try a range of media forms including photography, digital video, magazine production, newsmaking and social media.

The media modules combine a distinctive balance of theory and practice so you can develop as a critical and thoughtful practitioner. You will study the role of media in society, the impact of the political economy on media content and the relationship between content and audiences. You will analyse popular cultural forms such as TV, memes, film and news, think about their meaning in contemporary social life and explore your ideas through media production.

Sociology has been taught at Keele for over 50 years and we are proud of our approach to the discipline that combines a recognition of the need to understand the tradition of the subject with a focus on creativity, innovation, and problem solving in real world social situations. This means that our students are taught by research active staff who are engaged in exploring the contemporary social world in the context of a subject that is characterised by the need to solve pressing social issues on both a local and global scale.

The compulsory sociology modules provide you with a grounding in the key areas of the discipline: inequalities, social theory, and research methods. You will cover a wide range of topics which could include families, activism and protest, social media, globalisation, and celebrity. Studying sociology will enable you to think independently, critically, and imaginatively about the issues that shape our everyday lives and our futures. 

Our graduates have entered occupations in creative industries, social care, the health sector, advertising and marketing. You might go on to work in broadcasting, the movie industry, journalism, publishing or web design. Some of our graduates choose to pursue further academic study at Master's or doctoral level.