When choosing a university program back in early 2020 I picked Media & Communication at the University of Surrey based on the offered modules and nothing else. I found it quite interesting that the Media course here is based on social science and theory when I was used to a more technical structure for Media courses in Egypt. In this blog I’ll talk a bit about studying a course under the Sociology student, as well as the different things on offer for Sociology students. The way Media & Communication is taught at Surrey is based on sociological and media theory, a lot of research, and a lot of real life examples. The course focuses a lot on the social aspect of different forms of media; how it affects society and how society affects it. Media is all around us, we learn about the implications of new technologies and new media on society, as well as gain insight on audiences, users, and how to make social life better using media.
The Media & Communication course at the University of Surrey is within the Sociology department. It’s one of a few other undergraduate courses in the department such as Sociology, Politics and Sociology, Criminology, Criminology and Sociology, and Criminology with Forensic Investigation. Each of these courses has its own core modules as well as modules you get to pick based on your interests. Many of the modules intersect. For example, in my first year, I had to take a Qualitative research module, one where students from other courses in the Sociology department were present in as well. So alongside the core classes, you get to pick and choose others to take, and you’re never just confined to your specific course!
After coming here I realised there is a lot more to explore than just the modules. The Sociology department is currently based in the Elizabeth Fry building on campus, also known as the AD building. It’s mainly the department offices and the students common room, while the actual lectures and seminars take place all over campus. The common room is called MySurrey Dot Sociology. A lot of common rooms around campus are named as MySurrey Dot. This one in particular is on the Sociology department floor, and is made to be a study and hangout space for sociology students. I’ve found it to be really handy when other spaces on campus like the Hive or the library are busy. Since it’s made specifically for Sociology students, it’s usually easy to find a spot there! It’s also quite helpful when you’ve got group work to do, and can’t seem to find a nice spot to sit and chat through your work with friends or coursemates. There’s also usually some fruit there – which is always nice – a hot water tap to make a warm drink, a cold water tap for drinking, and a microwave! So it’s a nice cozy room to hangout, have lunch, or study if you need to.
This is of course not all you can do as a Sociology student at the University of Surrey. There is also the Sociology Society, also known as SocSoc, which is currently being reformed and polished. Members of the department also make sure everyone feels included. For example, each year we have a picnic social where students and staff come together after a long summer vacation to chat and have lunch by the lake on campus! It’s always really nice to see new and old faces, and talk about what people were up to in the summer and what they’d like to achieve in the new academic year. The department also occasionally takes students on trips. The trips are always relevant to what we study, of course. Sometimes they are department or course specific, other times they are initiated by module leaders based on the learning goals. These are always incredibly insightful and mostly fun.
So as you can tell there’s a lot to educational and social life as a student under the Sociology department at the University of Surrey. I hope you found this a bit useful, I know I would have certainly liked to know more of these things before coming to Surrey. That’s all for now! See you around!
