Course description

The Combined B.A. in Media Studies allows you to take an inter-faculty and thus interdisciplinary degree course. This means that you can specialise in two different cultures and their academic approaches.

Media Culture Studies acts as the “anchor” subject and is based in the Institute of Media Culture and Theatre in the Faculty of Arts and Humanities.
In Media Culture Studies you will investigate, for example, the following questions: What kinds of media are there? How can texts, media productions, films, TV programmes and games be analysed and categorised scientifically? Which economic and social features characterise the media market? How do media companies differ from other companies and what special challenges do they have to overcome?
Cultural and media theory will provide you with the basic knowledge to answer these questions. Therefore, the Media Culture Studies course involves analysing and discussing media and media content with a particular focus on using the approaches taken in cultural studies. Why is Shakespeare's Hamlet also referenced in the Simpsons, for example? Why do video games utilise, for example, the principles of theatrical design? In this way, the course focuses above all on questions dealing with the reciprocal relationship between media, culture and society. It not only examines distribution media such as writing, book printing, telegraphy and optical media but also the “new” media of the 20th and 21st centuries. The integration of theatre studies into Media Cultural Studies is a special feature of the degree offered at the institute in Cologne.

These approaches from Media Culture Studies are supplemented with a compulsory elective subject in the combined degree: Media Management and Media Economics, Media Informatics or Media Law.

In the elective subject Media Informatics at the Department of Digital Humanities, you will study the basics of modern media technology. This includes acquiring fundamental knowledge about information technology, basic information processing systems and software technology. Building on this knowledge, you will then cover media informatics, humanities computing and visual programming. You can write your bachelor thesis in either Media Culture Studies or in the elective subject of Media Informatics. You can find a detailed description of the contents of the course in the module handbook.

In the elective subject Media Management and Media Economics, you will study the fundamentals of business administration and economics at the Faculty of Management, Economics and Social Sciences. You will learn the basics of business management and economics, business informatics and statistics together with students of business administration and economics. Building on this knowledge, you will then study media regulations and media and technology management. In addition, you can choose from a wide range of compulsory elective modules – from an introduction to psychology or accounting through to media markets. You can write your bachelor thesis in either Media Culture Studies or in the elective subject of Media Management and Media Economics. You can find a detailed description of the contents of the course in the module handbook.

In the elective subject Media Law, you will study at the Faculty of Law. You will initially learn the basics of civil law, the law of obligations and basic rights under constitutional law and state organisational law together with law students. Building on this knowledge, you can then study administrative law and media law on your advanced courses. You must write your bachelor thesis in Media Culture Studies. You can find a detailed description of the contents of the course in the module handbook.