Media Studies

About Media Studies

Media Studies at Carlow College is covered on a range of programmes, where you can explore a variety of forms of media, including social media, film, television and media arts. Our vibrant modules give you the opportunity to study the evolution and development of modern and contemporary forms of media, and give you all the skills you need to understand how media shapes our world. From the discovery of some of the greatest works on screen to an appreciation of the power and nature of mass communications, Media Studies is one of the most exciting and important fields of study in today’s world because it helps us to understand the images, sound, writing, technology and infrastructure required for communication. Through our modules you can explore the history of media, deepen your knowledge of local, global and digital media cultures, and develop methods of understanding the role of media in our everyday lives. Media Studies also gives you the transferable skills, such as critical and creative thinking, that are highly sought by employers.

Partnerships & Events

In Carlow College St Patrick’s the Creative Arts are explored through a close-knit collaborative community of students, staff and external partners. Foremost among the College’s partnerships is our relationship with the VISUAL Centre for Contemporary Art. This on-campus world class arts space includes the 335-seater George Bernard Shaw Theatre and the largest white cube gallery space in Ireland. VISUAL regularly holds exhibitions, plays, screenings, concerts and readings. Their arts practitioners and industry experts frequently work in intimate group settings with Carlow College students on a range of modules. These students even take some of their lectures and workshops in VISUAL.

Extra-curricular opportunities in the arts are an integral part of the student experience at Carlow College. In partnership with Carlow County Council, the College runs the Writer-In-Residence programme. This programme has enabled the College to facilitate workshops and guest lectures with writers such as Peter Murphy (fiction), Oonagh Kearney (film), Darren Donoghue (drama/poetry), Colm Keegan (poetry); Jessica Traynor (poetry); Mick Hanley (Music). The College has, for many years, also been home to the Carlow Arts Festival, the premiere cultural event in County Carlow.

Carlow College hosts the Annual Literary Awards at VISUAL each year celebrating creative writing talent from across the College. The awards have been presented by internationally acclaimed luminaries, including the Ireland Professors of Poetry: Michael Longley, Harry Clifton, Paula Meehan, and Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin. Student prizewinners have since been published, including recent poetry publications in The Irish Times (Clifton Redmond – poetry) and The Honest Ulsterman (Lourda Delaney – poetry).