Environment, Culture and Communication with Foundation Year

The purpose of our innovative new BA Environment, Culture and Communication is to equip you with the environmental, emotional and cultural knowledge and skills to actively participate in climate change debates. Not only will you gain a foundational, scientific understanding of the human-driven causes of climate change, and its environmental impacts, you will also develop communication skills, creative faculties and cultural and emotional sensitivities - as well as a professional network - so that you graduate as an effective climate advocate.

Why choose this course?

• Birkbeck enjoys a strong, interdisciplinary and collaborative learning environment where social scientists work alongside scholars in the humanities - so vital when addressing a complex environmental issue like the climate emergency.

• Practical modules and a final-year work placement within a cultural or environmental organisation relevant to your course allow you to put your environmental education into practice.

What you will learn

Grounded in the humanities, creative arts, journalism and social sciences, this fascinating degree gives you the opportunity to study the environment through different lenses, combining current issues such as climate anxiety and its social and cultural ramifications with a grounding in geographic science and environmental data, or journalism practice, deepening your understanding of human/environment relationships or of print media landscapes as mechanisms for communication.

You will have the chance to develop your creative faculties through practice-based modules which discuss how poetry and theatrical adaptation can be used to address environmental issues, or take a philosophical approach to address the ethics of human-animal relationships, vegetarianism and veganism. A creative, practice-based module focuses on themes of landscape, climate, sustainability, conflict, adaptation and the natural world.

A wide range of options offered in environmental history, geography, film, literature, languages, business or law then give you the chance to tailor your degree according to your interests and passions and the knowledge you have developed.

How you will learn

You will be able to choose between full- and part-time study with evening teaching allowing you to balance your studies with work or other commitments.

Teaching is varied and interactive and is delivered through a combination of lectures (some pre-recorded), seminars, workshops, field trips and work experience.

Foundation Year

If you opt for the Foundation Year route, this will fully prepare you for undergraduate study. It is ideal if you are returning to study after a gap, or if you have not previously studied the relevant subjects, or if you didn't achieve the grades you need for a place on your chosen undergraduate degree.

Highlights

• The Birkbeck Research Centre for Environment and Sustainability (BRCES) supports cutting-edge research in environment and sustainability.

• You will have the opportunity to participate in the annual Birkbeck Climate Festival - a place for Birkbeck staff and students to collaborate on some of the most pressing environmental issues of our time.

• You may be eligible for a Legal & General Sustainable Leaders bursary.

Careers and employability

On successful completion of this course, you will have developed the following important transferable skills:

• the ability to work as part of a team

• high-level oral and written communication skills

• high-level emotional, cultural and environmental literacies

• research skills

• skills in evaluating and assessing information

• the ability to present yourself and an argument.

You will find BA Environment, Culture and Communication graduates in the following roles:

• media

• publishing

• environmental consulting/advocacy/law

• planning

• teaching

• politics

• local and national government

• business.