BA Honours Creative Writing and Journalism

Introduction to the Programme

Our Creative Writing and Journalism programme offers the unique experience of combining both subjects to enable you to fully explore and develop your skills across different styles of writing such as fiction, screenwriting, short story, long form journalism and multimodal journalism.

You will learn how to critically examine different types of writing and be given plenty of opportunities to experiment with language, styles and formats. You also learn about the life of a journalist – whether you want to write for a newspaper, magazine, or online platforms.

The course will provide you with a solid foundation to enter a variety of industries of which require excellent writing, research and analytical skills.

Course Highlights

This course is ideal if you want to improve your skills as a writer and develop a theoretical foundation of best writing practices. You’ll study all forms of writing, both fiction and non-fiction, as well as drama and screenwriting. You’ll also take an in-depth look at the way journalism and various other writing industries are growing and changing.

Learning to communicate effectively, you’ll learn creative writing skills such as narrative, character, developing dialogue, creating conflict, along with essential journalism skills such as investigative writing and research.

Later in the course, you’ll undertake a work placement in order to put your new skills to practice in a work environment. Previously, we have placed our students with some of the most prestigious media outlets in the UAE and beyond.

Programme Content

The BA Creative Writing and Journalism progamme will give you a solid grounding in language and communication across a range of creative and journalistic genres and through a variety of media. You will also explore the worlds of media, journalistic and literary employment.

The first year of the course introduces you to essential creative writing and journalism skills that you can apply across a range of media, including narrative storytelling, finding your voice and exploring character, dialogue and conflict.

In the second year you will have the opportunity to develop your creative strengths in such fields as fiction, scriptwriting (with the opportunity to have your script turned into a shot film by BA Film students), and storytelling for games, as well as to develop and deepen your journalistic knowledge and skills across print, broadcast, online mobile and emergent technologies.

The third year gives you the opportunity to work in-depth on an independent project, as well as to boost your employability through our innovative Entrepreneurship and Work Placement modules.

Year 1
- Journalism Skills (30 Credits) - Compulsory
  
  This module will teach you the core journalism skills, techniques and knowledge that will lay the foundation for your degree and journalism career. Providing a firm grounding in news gathering, research, news and feature writing, these skills will be applicable to print, broadcast, online, mobile and emergent technologies.
- What is Journalism? (30 Credits) - Compulsory
  
  This module introduces you to key journalism theories, concepts, codes and conventions, both historic and current, and develops your understanding of the news media industry. You will develop your own views and versions of journalism, bridging the link between theory and practice.
- Character, Conflict and Dialogue (30 Credits) - Compulsory
  
  This module will introduce you to key elements in the field of imaginative writing – building characters, writing dialogue, creating and building conflict situations. You will investigate the appropriate forms of character, dialogue and conflict writing for different media – stage, page, screen and radio and develop your skills in collaborative writing for radio and other media. You will also develop your research skills appropriate to the imaginative work in hand.
- Writing Creatively (30 Credits) - Compulsory
  
  This module explores the different ways in which we make sense of the world and communicate with others through creative or professional writing. On this module, you will develop your reading and writing skills through exploration of a wide range of literary or journalistic forms and through writing practice in these forms. It introduces the importance and practice of reflective evaluation of your own and other’s creative work through self and peer review.
Year 2
- Multimodal Journalism (30 Credits) - Compulsory
  
  Building on skills learned during the first year, this module enables you to apply your skills in news gathering, production and distribution in print, broadcast, online, mobile and emergent technologies across multiple platforms individually and collaboratively. It considers how factors such as monetisation, non-linear design, audience interaction and mode of dissemination affect the journalistic editorial and production process.
- Political Communication (30 Credits) - Optional
  
  This module will introduce you to a range of debates and discussions about the relationship between the media, political actors and audiences/citizens in contemporary society. You will develop your skills in political communications practice, including presentational and deliberative skills, working both independently and as a team.
- Arts, Lifestyle and Sports Journalism (30 Credits) - Optional
  
  Teaching you the knowledge, skills and techniques needed to be an arts, lifestyle and/or sports reporter, this module explores the role of these journalism specialisms in the modern media. You will further develop core journalistic skills (research, reporting, storytelling) and the more specific techniques and approaches required for different specialisms as well as build an understanding of the context and pressures under which arts, lifestyle and sports journalism is produced in the modern media.
- Storytelling for Games (30 Credits) - Optional
  
  This module will provide you with a knowledge of the principles of storytelling in relation to games design as well as the ability to use narrative structures in the design of game worlds. You will develop your ability to apply both game and storytelling knowledge to the creation of an interactive story and develop story language for games design.
- Fiction: The Short Story (30 Credits) - Optional
  
  In this module you will develop your fiction-writing skills in the context of the distinctive aesthetics of the short story, with group study of seminal texts in the history of the modern short story forming a context for work-shopped exercises. You will explore such techniques of fiction as voice, setting and atmosphere, narrative tension, character and dialogue, as foregrounded by the short form, and you will also learn about the distinctive publishing environment for short fiction.
- Screen Writing for Shorts (30 Credits) - Optional
  
  This module will help you to understand the particular demands, constraints and potentials of the short film form. It will help you to understand the significance of story structure, visual storytelling and characterisation in conveying meaning and affect, and how screenplays are written on the page. You will conceive, research and develop a short screen story, write and rewrite a short dramatic script, taking account of and evaluating feedback, including peer group feedback, and evaluate the completed work critically and analytically, formatting your screenplay to industry standards.
Year 3
- Working as a Writer (30 Credits) - Compulsory
  
  This module enables you to develop skills and practices at an appropriate professional level for the workplace, in industries relevant to the rest of your work in the BA Creative Writing and Journalism programme. It aims to prepare you for possible future career paths in such fields as publishing, the media and journalism, as well as being preparation for the professional publishing and media environment that will form the context for your future activity as writer and journalist.
- Creative Writing Project (30 Credits) - Compulsory
  
  The Creative Writing Project provides you with the opportunity and support to develop a major independent project that can be in any of the genres of creative writing (e.g. fiction, film, play or games script, life writing). You should aim to produce a piece of work that explores your own particular interests and that can be used as a summation of your capabilities (a “calling card”) beyond university.
- Global Journalism and News Cultures (30 Credits) - Optional
  
  This module will introduce you to global journalism as a concept, a way of researching the expanding news media landscape, and of practicing journalism. Throughout the module, you will explore the ethics and nature of journalism that is being created in, and exported by, different countries and compare the approach of journalists, as well as the quality and style of reporting of global news media outlets.
- Long Form Journalism (30 Credits) - Optional
  
  This module enables you to identify and apply relevant critical frameworks to the concept of long-form journalism. You will demonstrate your high level practical skills in the execution of a complex and large-scale project relevant to the field of journalism and develop professional competence in researching, planning and producing long-form journalism.
- Popular Non-Fiction (30 Credits) - Optional
  
  This module develops your understanding of how close reading of non-fiction, including forms such as travel and history writing, biography and memoir, can help develop your own creative writing abilities within these genres. It explores the nature of the self, its presentation in text, and the depiction of other lives, with the aim of helping you use different narrative structures and styles in your own work. The module explores the notion of place and voice in non-fiction writing and aims to give an understanding of how research informs practice.
- Genre Fiction (30 Credits) - Optional
  
  This module will provide you with knowledge and practice of the tropes and subjects of popular fiction, including romance, historical, horror, crime, fantasy, science fiction, with the specific genres covered being agreed in accordance with staff expertise. You will consider a range of texts, such as literature, radio, film and TV and include the emergence of cult video/DVD, developing your ability to recognise the characteristics and requirements of each genre.

Teaching

Classes are held at our Dubai Knowledge Park campus Sunday to Thursday between 8:30am and 6:30pm. Additional sessions may be scheduled over the weekend or holiday periods and you should expect to receive notice of these in advance.

You will be actively involved in a range of learning, teaching and assessment approaches as part of your programme. These approaches ensure that you are involved and engaged by placing you at the centre of your own learning. You will be required to actively participate in learning activities and engagement with your fellow students, both individually and collaboratively. Faculty increasingly use existing and emerging technologies and your programme will be facilitated using a variety of media and online tools (My Learning on UniHub, podcasts, wikis, etc.) which will allow you access to a diverse range of online resources and learning materials. By engaging in e-learning you will also be developing skills of which are essential for your learning and highly valued by employers. Such skills including flexibility, communication, IT skills and team work.

Entry requirements

We accept students with a diverse range of entry qualifications and from varying backgrounds.The following international qualifications are normally considered for admission:

Middlesex University International Foundation Programme (IFP)

Successful completion of the Middlesex University International Foundation Programme (IFP)*** (equivalent programmes from other Universities/Colleges/Institutes will be considered).

Indian Secondary School Certificates

Indian Secondary School Certificates issued by the CBSE/ISC boards/NIOS/All State Boards may be considered: minimum grade of 60% overall

British A-Levels

Minimum two, maximum three subjects, with grades of B,B,C (three subjects) or with A*, A* (two subjects)

International Baccalaureate

You must have passed the full IB Diploma. In some cases applicants will also need to have studied certain subjects at Standard or Higher Level. If you are unsure about the suitability of your qualifications or would like help with your application, please contact admissions@mdx.ac.ae for support.

GCSE

Students who have completed their GCSEs are eligible to join our International Foundation Programme – a one year programme to prepare students for entry onto our Undergraduate Programmes. Please note that students must meet the British AS and A Level entry requirements in order to gain entry into the First Year of any one of our Undergraduate Programmes.

UAE’s General Secondary Education Certificate Examination

UAE’s General Secondary Education Certificate Examination Grade 12 (Tawjihiya) plus successful completion of the Middlesex University International Foundation Programme (IFP)*** or equivalent programmes

Pakistani National Curriculum

Completion of Year 1 at a recognised post-secondary institution (university / college). Candidates that have successfully completed FSC/HSC are admitted to the Middlesex University’s International Foundation Programme (IFP)***

Iranian Pre-University Certificate

Minimum overall grade of 12. Students completing the High School Diploma are admitted to the International Foundation Programme (IFP)***

Nigerian Senior School Leaving Certificate

Candidates are admitted to the International Foundation Programme (IFP)***

National Curriculum of the countries of Russia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan

National Curriculum of the countries of Russia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan: Candidates are admitted to the International Foundation Programme (IFP)***

West African GCE

Candidates are admitted to the International Foundation Programme (IFP)***

American High School Diploma

Students with American High School Diploma are eligible to join our Foundation programme. However, if you have passed the American High School Diploma with the university required GPA and SAT or ACT or AP Scores you may be eligible for direct entry into Year 1 of the undergraduate programme. If you are unsure about the suitability of your qualifications or would like help with your application, please contact admissions@mdx.ac.ae for support.

BTEC Level 3

BTEC Level 3 qualifications***** (suite of qualifications known as Nationals) may be considered for direct entry into an undergraduate programme

***** BTEC qualifications (QCF) (suite of qualifications known as Nationals) are acceptable both on their own and in combination with other qualifications. Applicants are expected to have studied for the Diploma or Extended Diploma. The Certificate, Subsidiary Diploma and 90 Credit Diploma are expected to be studied in combination to equal that of at least the Diploma (for example, the Subsidiary Diploma would need to be offered in combination with either a Diploma or two GCE A levels).

Note: *** International Foundation Programme (IFP) is a one year programme to prepare students for entry to Undergraduate programmes

This list shows only a selection of qualifications. If your high school system does not appear here, please contact our Admissions Office admissions@mdx.ac.ae and we will be able to advise you further.

English Language Requirements (Undergraduate)

All programmes at Middlesex University Dubai are taught in English and applicants with previous education outside of English-speaking countries (such as the UK, the United States, Canada, England, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand), must demonstrate English language proficiency as follows:

English Language Test	Entry Requirement
IELTS Academic	6.0 (minimum 5.5 in each band)
TOEFL Internet-based	72 (17 in listening & writing, 20 in speaking and 18 in reading)
PearsonPTE Academic	51

Additionally, students with the following qualifications may be considered as having met the English language requirements:

English Language	Entry Requirement
GCSE/IGCSE/O-Level English (as a first or second language)	Grade C or Higher
CBSE/ISC boards/NIOS/All state boards	Minimum grade of 65% in English
International Baccalaureate	Minimum grade 5 in English A1 (Standard or Higher Level) in IB OR a minimum of grade 5 in English B (Higher Level)
West African/Nigerian Curriculum WAEC/WASSCE/SSSCE	Minimum grade “C6“

For admissions related enquiries, kindly contact our admissions team on 0097143678100 / 0097143751212 alternatively you can email on admissions@mdx.ac.ae

Future Careers and Employability

Graduates will be well prepared to go on to careers in creative writing and/or journalism, and across a wide range of industries wherever good writing and critical thinking are valued. The course is also particularly useful in areas where work on analysing and producing language is central. This could include roles in: screenwriting, playwriting, copywriting, advertising, website management, PR, marketing, branding, and journalism. Students are also able to use the skills they’ve developed to work on their own short stories and/or novels.

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Course Detail

Introduction to the Programme

Programme Content

Year 1

Journalism Skills (30 Credits) - Compulsory

What is Journalism? (30 Credits) - Compulsory

Character, Conflict and Dialogue (30 Credits) - Compulsory

Writing Creatively (30 Credits) - Compulsory

Year 2

Multimodal Journalism (30 Credits) - Compulsory

Political Communication (30 Credits) - Optional

Arts, Lifestyle and Sports Journalism (30 Credits) - Optional

Storytelling for Games (30 Credits) - Optional

Fiction: The Short Story (30 Credits) - Optional

Screen Writing for Shorts (30 Credits) - Optional

Year 3

Working as a Writer (30 Credits) - Compulsory

Creative Writing Project (30 Credits) - Compulsory

Global Journalism and News Cultures (30 Credits) - Optional

Long Form Journalism (30 Credits) - Optional

Popular Non-Fiction (30 Credits) - Optional

Genre Fiction (30 Credits) - Optional

Teaching

Entry requirements

English Language Requirements (Undergraduate)

Future Careers and Employability

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