Course summary

Our BA Digital Media and Language combines the study of a modern language (French, German, Italian, Japanese, Spanish) with the development of academic knowledge and skills in the fast-changing field of digital media. Not only will you become highly competent in your chosen language, but you will also gain advanced knowledge of the cultures and societies of the countries in which the language is spoken. Our world today is increasingly digital. We can know our city’s iconic places through location-aware apps. We shape our identity alongside social media influencers. We fuel the growth of platform monopolies through small, daily gestures like posting videos or ‘liking’ friends’ jokes. We are learning that biases around race, class, gender and sexuality are embedded into algorithms that need to be challenged. The digital media modules are taught by leading academic researchers, as well as industry professionals with professional knowledge and aptitudes in areas such as social media, digital design, video editing and entrepreneurship. By the end of this digital media and language degree you will have developed high-level skills using digital technologies, and an understanding of the cultural, political and historical contexts of digital culture. You will also have the opportunity to study a number of cross-cultural modules which will allow you to explore specific themes across a variety of language-speaking areas. If you opt for the Foundation Year route, this will fully prepare you for undergraduate study. It is ideal if you are returning to study after a gap, or if you have not previously studied the relevant subjects, or if you didn't achieve the grades you need for a place on your chosen undergraduate degree. Highlights

• Birkbeck was ranked as one of the top four universities in the UK for its Art and Design research in the 2021 Research Excellence Framework.

• In film, media and cultural studies, Birkbeck fosters an especially research-intensive environment. We offer an extensive portfolio of internationally respected courses that span a variety of academic disciplines and engage with the latest ideas and techniques in journalism, media and cultural theory, arts policy and management, film and television studies, creative marketing, digital culture and East Asian cultural studies.

• Attend our dynamic programme of seminars, events and guest lectures organised by affiliated research centres and networks such as Birkbeck Interdisciplinary Research in Media and Culture, the Birkbeck Institute for the Moving Image and the Vasari Research Centre for Art and Technology.

• Make yourself at home in our Bloomsbury campus, which includes facilities such as the award-winning Birkbeck Cinema, the Peltz Gallery, and computer labs equipped with video editing, print layout and web design software packages.

• Learn from leading academic researchers in the field such as Scott Rodgers, Joel McKim, Rebekah Cupitt, Silke Arnold-de Simine, Lina Džuverović, Robert Topinka, Sophie Hope and Professor Tim Markham. Acquire up-to-date skills and knowledge from experienced industry practitioners at the heart of London's global media industry.

• translation work

• digital design and management

• film and television

• curatorial practice

• news media and PR

• cultural and educational institutions

• public policy or professional communications.