- UCAS course code
- PW30
- UCAS institution code
- M20
Bachelor of Arts (BA)
BA Film Studies and Music
Duration: 3 years
Year of entry: 2025
UCAS course code: PW30 / Institution code: M20
- Typical A-level offer: AAB including specific subjects
- Typical contextual A-level offer: ABC including specific subjects
- Refugee/care-experienced offer: BBC including specific subjects
- Typical International Baccalaureate offer: 35 points overall with 6,5,5 at HL
Fees and funding
Fees
Tuition fees for home students commencing their studies in September 2025 will be £9,535 per annum (subject to Parliamentary approval). Tuition fees for international students will be £26,500 per annum. For general information please see the undergraduate finance pages.
Policy on additional costs
All students should normally be able to complete their programme of study without incurring additional study costs over and above the tuition fee for that programme. Any unavoidable additional compulsory costs totalling more than 1% of the annual home undergraduate fee per annum, regardless of whether the programme in question is undergraduate or postgraduate taught, will be made clear to you at the point of application. Further information can be found in the University's Policy on additional costs incurred by students on undergraduate and postgraduate taught programmes (PDF document, 91KB).
Scholarships/sponsorships
- Find out more from student finance
- Eligible UK students can apply for bursaries and scholarships
- Funding for EU and international students is on our country-specific pages
- Many students work part-time or complete a student internship
Course unit details:
Introduction to Participatory Music
| Unit code | MUSC20802 |
|---|---|
| Credit rating | 20 |
| Unit level | Level 2 |
| Teaching period(s) | Semester 2 |
| Available as a free choice unit? | No |
Overview
This unit aims to give students a basic grounding in the field of participatory music practice.
It provides an introduction to the broad range of settings for the application of participatory music practice and a theoretical grounding in key areas such as group process, behaviour management and ethical practice in social contexts. Highly skilled and well-respected practitioners share their expertise and insight from their work in a range of settings, providing practical experiences and first-hand insights for students.
The weekly sessions will challenge as well as inform. Assessment is undertaken through (1) a group presentation (with written submission) in which students pitch their ideas for a project, and (2) an individual coursework essay.
Aims
- To provide a foundation of knowledge upon which students can develop their skills in participatory practice
- To broaden the range of ways and settings in which students are able to apply their skills and learning in further study and upon graduation
- To contribute to society through the development of people-centred practice
Knowledge and understanding
By the end of the course, students will be able to:
- Describe a range of settings in which participatory music can be applied
- Understand some of the key issues of participatory music practice, particularly in regard to its social, economic and/or historical contexts
- Draw upon a range of experiences and resources to inform their writing, thinking and/or own practice
Intellectual skills
By the end of the course, students will be able to:
• Develop and apply critical interrogation skills to issues relating to participatory music practices
• Synthesise a wide range of theoretical materials relating to the topic
• Begin to evaluate the relationships between theory and practice in participatory music
Practical skills
By the end of the course, students will be able to:
• Demonstrate group-work and presentation skills
• Show experience in workshop design and delivery
• Demonstrate some understanding of the intersections of theory and practice relating to participatory music
Transferable skills and personal qualities
By the end of the course, students will be able to:
- Demonstrate a developing understanding of employment opportunities in which participatory music skills can be utilised, and skills that are directly transferable to that employment market
- Produce high-quality work independently, showing evidence of critical engagement with relevant source materials
- Articulate, discuss and support findings coherently in both written and verbal form, and in both individual and group-work contexts
Employability skills
- Analytical skills
- Surveying institutional and policy contexts in relation to participatory music; identifying needs of particular constituent groups and considering ethical imperatives.
- Group/team working
- Team-work: developing an idea for a participatory music project in collaboration with others
- Innovation/creativity
- Initiative: developing ideas for a project brief
- Leadership
- Leadership skills: leading activities and understanding group process
- Project management
- Time management: setting and achieving goals, working to deadlines
- Oral communication
- Presentation skills: personal communication and use of technology
- Problem solving
- Creative problem-solving: responding to the challenges of a set task with limited resources and complex needs
- Other
- Self-awareness: developing good practice through critical interrogation
Assessment methods
| Assessment task | Formative or Summative | Weighting within unit |
| Group presentation (group mark) | Formative and Summative | 40% |
| Essay | Summative | 60% |
Feedback methods
| Feedback method | Formative or Summative |
| Written feedback on group presentation using SALC presentations feedback form | Formative and summative |
| Written feedback on essay via Turnitin | Formative and summative |
| One to one oral feedback available by appointment at any time during the course. | Formative |
Recommended reading
- Caulfield, L. (2021). ‘The Role of the Arts in the Criminal Justice System’. In G. Towl and D. Crighton (eds.), Forensic Psychology, 3rd edition (New York: Wiley), pp.514–528.
- Friere, P. (1970) Pedagogy of the Oppressed (London: Continuum).
- Hawley, R. (2024). ‘1000 Days Project: An A/r/tographic Inquiry of Hospital Music-making’. In The Routledge Companion to Music, Autoethnography, and Reflexivity (London: Routledge).
- Mullen, P. (2021). Challenging Voices: Music Making with Children Excluded from School (Oxford: Peter Lang).
- Tuckman, B. W. and M. A. C. Jensen (1977). ‘Stages of Small-Group Development Revisited’, Group and Organization Studies, 2 (4): pp. 419–427.
Study hours
| Scheduled activity hours | |
|---|---|
| Practical classes & workshops | 33 |
| Independent study hours | |
|---|---|
| Independent study | 167 |
Teaching staff
| Staff member | Role |
|---|---|
| Caroline Bithell | Unit coordinator |