The Bachelor of Arts (BA) is Otago's most flexible undergraduate degree programme, enabling students to study from a selection of more than 40 arts and social science subjects, as well as papers offered elsewhere in the University. Academic breadth is complemented by in-depth knowledge gained through majoring in one or two subjects with the option of minors in one or two others. Students are taught by research-active scholars, are expected to undertake a diverse range of learning tasks and are challenged to develop their intellectual independence. Graduates of the programme are well-informed, versatile, independent thinkers with the information literacy, communication, research and interpersonal skills necessary for a career or further academic study. The completed BA is an entry qualification for the PGDipArts in the major subject of the degree. Communication Studies Communication Studies may be defined as the study of the processes and effects of interpersonal and mass communication involving the production, reception, and human processing of aural, verbal and visual messages in their cultural contexts. The interdisciplinary programme has been developed in response to the recognised need for graduates who understand the processes, effects, and cultural implications of communication in the Information Age. The revolution in information and communications technology has wrought profound changes in the way we experience the world and conduct our social, political and commercial affairs. It has produced more powerful systems of mass communication than have ever been seen before, which manipulate the ways in which we impart and receive information, and influence the ways in which we construct our individual and collective identities. It has resulted in a globalized economy with new pressures for increased understanding of intercultural communication, as well as the implications of modern technology and media for commercial and political interactions. Above all, it has introduced new interfaces with technology that affect every one of us in our daily lives. Programme Requirements 100-level MFCO 102 Understanding Contemporary Media MFCO 103 Introduction to Communication Studies 200-level MFCO 202 Theory of Communication Studies Two further papers from 200-level MFCO papers, GEND 205 Gender and the Media 300-level MFCO 303 Advanced Communication Theory Three further papers from 300-level MFCO papers, GEND 305 Gender and the Media Plus 198 further points; must include 54 points at 200-level or above. Up to 90 points may be taken from outside Arts