The program offers multiple course options, each course is five quarter credits. Certain courses may satisfy SOJC major or minor requirements by petition, please review the SOJC Student page on study abroad for more details on the process.
All students will enroll in the following two courses:
Britain Today: Issues and Perspectives
JMS majors can use it towards a Media Studies track. MEST minors can use it for their minor elective. J/JAD/JPR majors would receive JCOM Elective credit.
The course aims to analyze key cultural, social, economic and political developments and provide students with a context for their time in London. It will provide students with the grounding and analytical tools to compare and contrast contemporary Britain with the United States. It will also look at the increasing polarisation in Britain’s news media: the decline of print and broadcast; the rise of new platforms sympathetic to populist movements; and the sharp increase in the reach of social media influencers at the expense of the ‘legacy’ media.
Media in the United Kingdom
J/JAD/JMS/JPR majors can substitute this course for the “JCOM 305 Media History or JCOM 306 Global Communication requirement." MEST minors may use it as minor elective course. If students have already completed the JCOM 305/JCOM 306 requirement, then the course would be JCOM Elective credits.
This course equips students with an overview of the British media evolution and its relationship with society in the UK. Within this framework, the course explores how political, cultural, commercial, regulatory, and editorial issues shape the media we manufacture and consume Britain. This objective is achieved as students engage with industry professionals in class, make fieldstrips to operational media hubs in London, and audio-visual case studies of programme that will include news, current affairs, entertainment, education, advertising and creative digital innovation across all terrestrial media platforms.
Additional course options include:
Independent Study
All SOJC students would receive JCOM Elective credit for this course.
This is an optional course designed for students in journalism and related disciplines. It is a programme of independent study which enables students to understand the development and current practise of journalism in Britain, and more particularly which supports students in undertaking journalistic assignments intended for a range of platforms and audiences. Students will have one-to-one weekly conversations with the course instructor to review progress and develop ideas. From this students will compile a portfolio which will include journalistic assignments and reflections or casebook entries.
Creative Writing in London
Modern and Contemporary Art in London
The Play’s the Thing: GEO Theatre Course
London: Biography of a City
History of Women and Gender in England and Wales