Media & Communication and Sociology

Media and communication and sociology are disciplines that shed mutual light on each other in illuminating ways. Media shapes how societies understand themselves, how political power is exercised and contested, and how cultural norms are produced and challenged. Sociology provides the theoretical tools to analyse those processes, examining how social structures, inequalities, and institutions operate, and how individuals navigate the worlds those structures create.

Studying them together gives you a dual perspective: close attention to how media works and critical thinking about the social contexts in which it operates.

At Liverpool Hope, this four-year programme explores the relationship between media, communication, and social life across a range of contexts and through a variety of analytical lenses. You will study the history and theory of media, analyse how different forms of communication operate in practice, and examine how social factors such as class, gender, race, and power shape both media production and its reception. Liverpool's vibrant cultural and media scene is a resource in itself, providing direct access to the creative industries and the social dynamics that the programme encourages you to analyse.

A sandwich year in industry and a work placement are built in, giving you professional experience alongside academic study, and a year abroad broadens your comparative perspective on how media systems differ across cultural and political contexts.

Graduates from this combination go on to work in journalism, broadcasting, communications, public relations, social research, policy, education, and the voluntary sector. The sociological grounding makes graduates particularly valuable in roles that require understanding the social dimensions of communication, including research, policy analysis, community engagement, and advocacy. Many continue to postgraduate study in media, sociology, social policy, or journalism.