While academic achievement and excellence is important, sometimes it seems as though this is the primary focus of most universities. For a more balanced outlook, City University London also teaches valuable skills that can actually be used out in the workforce. It is a place where students can strive for their personal best while studying, and graduate with all the tools that they need for further development in their careers.

City University London is a world-renowned educational institution that offers courses in a variety of areas. Its School of Arts is one of the top 25 in the world and focuses on the fields of arts, media and cultural enterprise. Because of its reputation, the university boasts extensive links throughout the global arts community and has a vast number of visiting professors and guest speakers who frequent the school on a regular basis.

City University London also has an outstanding track record when it comes to graduate opportunities. It was ranked 10th in the UK in the Times University Guide 2011 for graduate employment and 10th in the Sunday Times University Guide 2011 for graduate starting salaries. Through a combination of skilled teachers, a solid reputation and a balanced curriculum, City University London provides students with the right foundations.

City University London

Pic: City University London.

The community at City University is highly multicultural, a fact that the faculty there is proud to admit. The Arts School is especially popular with students from Asia. This year, 2010/1, it is hosting students from China, India, South Korea, Russia, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Taiwan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Nepal. As part of the ‘World Cities World Class’ network, it is connected with a number of Asian institutions, such as Seoul National University and Hong Kong Polytechnic University. This year saw a number of students from Asia enrolling in the school, including 20 students within the MA Culture Policy and Management programme (eight of whom came from South Korea).

City University also hosts the popular City Concert Series, musical events that are held several times each month. One of the university’s most popular Asian musical groups is the City Gamelan Ensemble, which holds Balinese and Javanese gamelan concerts both on site at the university and elsewhere around London. Overall, the musical facilities that are found within the campus are highly professional, from the university’s state-of-the-art Music Centre to other, smaller performance spaces.

Academic Programmes
City University London boasts a wide range of undergraduate and postgraduate courses that cover arts, media and cultural enterprise. Here is a selection of the many offerings that are currently available:

Undergraduate
The undergraduate courses within the School of Arts at City University will give you the proper foundations for a career in journalism, music or social science. By combining an academic focus with a range of practical skills, graduates will learn all that they need to succeed in their chosen career path.

Here is an overview of the courses offered at City University London:

  • Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in Journalism
  • Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in Journalism and Social Science
  • Bachelor of Music (Hons)

Interested students will find more information on these courses and many more by attending one of the Open Days scheduled by the university.

Postgraduate
Most of the postgraduate offerings at City University’s School of Arts are MA programmes. These courses focus on practical skills, research, and innovative thinking, and can also encourage cooperation across disciplines. This allows students to reach their full potential within their own areas of expertise.

The School of Arts offers an extensive selection of postgraduate programmes. Here are just some of the options available to future students:

MA Music: This programme offers students the chance to delve into a wide range of musical repertoires, covering different styles from all over the world. It focuses on understanding and evaluating the music scene in the past and present, and examines how this area influences both the individual and the world as a whole. City University currently offers four pathways to this programme:

  • MA Music
  • MA Ethnomusicology
  • MA Composing for Moving Images
  • MA Performance

MA Culture Policy and Management: Aimed at those who wish to leave their mark in the creative industries, this programme teaches students how to inform policy and practice in line with the current demands of the field. The course can also be tailored to a student’s individual preferences, whether they want to focus on taught modules, work placement, or research.

MA Creative Writing (Novels): This offering encourages the development of writing skills, experimentation with new techniques and ideas, and in-depth study about how the industry works. In addition to this, once students have completed the course, they will also have written their very first novel, which can then be sent off to publishers and agents around the UK.

MA Investigative Journalism: This offering is perfect for those interested in starting a career in print, online or broadcast journalism. On completion, graduates will have learnt a range of useful writing, research and investigation skills and techniques, which will then provide them with a solid foundation for their first workplace position.

MA Audiovisual Translation: Designed for those who wish to work as a translator in film and television, this programme has been developed by current industry leaders so that it properly reflect its needs. Covering subtitling, dubbing and audio description, the course can be studied using a number of language pairs, such as English with Arabic, German, Italian or Russian.

Short Courses
City University also offers a number of professional development courses and summer modules for those looking for a way to brush up on their skills, as well as business owners searching for an easy way to give their staff some additional knowledge. Here are a few of the short course offerings now found at the School of Arts:

Global Music: A summer school module that looks at the impact of globalisation on the music industry, focusing on the multi-cultural nature of London’s music scene.

Historic London: Another summer school module in which students learn all about London’s past through literary works, museums, exhibitions and more.

Company and Commercial – Legal Principles and Translation: This four-day course covers the fundamentals of company law in countries such as the UK, France and Spain, and how this applies to document analysis and translation.

Terminology and Translation of Contracts: A four-day course that looks at the connection between contracts and company law in the UK, France, Spain and elsewhere, and how this affects the analysis and translations of these important documents.

A World of Connections
As well as emerging with an outstanding education, City graduates benefit from City University London’s links with professional sectors in arts, media and cultural enterprise in the UK and internationally, mainly through its alumni network and its vast list of industry-based guest speakers and visiting professors. Here is just a sample of the notable positions the university’s alumni hold in the arts scene in Asia:

  • Assistant Manager (orchestra and Operations), Hong Kong Philharmonic Orcestra
  • Professor of Arts Management, Shanghai Conservatory of Music
  • Training and Development Officer, Discovery Museum Institute (Thailand)
  • Sound Engineer, Japan Broadcasting Corporation
  • Festival Director, Singapore Arts Festival
  • Arts Administrator, Biwako Hall Foundation (Japan)
  • Sector Development Executive, National Arts Council Singapore
  • Dance Development Manager, Hong Kong Children’s Choir

City University London

Pic: City University London.

A Student-Oriented Campus
Whether living within City University’s Hall of Residence or renting a house or apartment in the nearby area, students will gain more than just a range of world-class academic and practical skills while there. The campus itself offers a number of services to benefit and enhance the lifestyle of all students regardless of their discipline.

With over 50 clubs and societies, plus the nearby Saddlers Sports Centre, students will find plenty of extra-curricular activities to fill their spare time. Arts students may be interested in joining the student media group or the City Concert Series, depending on their discipline. For those searching for something more physical, the university offers a number of sports, including fencing, hockey, football and cricket.

The university library occupies five storeys and is crucial to any student’s successful graduation. Those studying in the School of Arts will find a wealth of knowledge within its walls, including over 280,000 book titles and other publications. There are also individual study spaces, group study rooms, as well as print and photocopying facilities.

Living in London
Because City University is situated in the heart of London, students will never find that transportation is an issue. The campus is located close to several Underground stations and is a few minutes’ away from the West End, the British Library, and the Square Mile.

While living in London, students will find a great deal to do in the local area. From shopping at major department stores and street markets to visiting local art galleries or watching the latest football matches, London certainly has plenty of activities to indulge those of all tastes and personalities. There are also a large number of museums, churches and other historical attractions within the region.

The city of London boasts an impressive range of restaurants and bars to cater for those studying at City University, regardless of where they are from. With enough variety, from typical British cuisine to more exotic flavours from regions such as Asia and Africa, there is plenty of choice and enough good food to please any student’s palate from the time of their university orientation to their final graduation.

You can connect with City University London on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube