English and New Media Studies Major - Bachelor of Arts

If you love writing and using digital and social media to communicate, the English and New Media Studies major can help you turn your passion into a rewarding career.

Social media, the internet and digital technologies have massively changed how we communicate. There’s high demand for people who can communicate across different digital and social media channels – from blogs to wikis and web pages.

You’ll develop skills in web-based writing, theories of language, digital media, storytelling, language and culture, information and communication technologies, online research, new literatures, and digital performance.

This is part of the Bachelor of Arts.

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What you study
Career opportunities
Related programmes

You'll learn how language is linked to power and how to communicate powerfully and persuasively. Many assessments are submitted in new media, including enhanced podcasts, videos, blogs and webpages.

Core courses

All students in the Bachelor of Arts complete core courses that cover effective communication, critical thinking and other transferable skills you'll need for your future career. For a list of core courses refer to the Bachelor of Arts overview.

Bachelor of Arts

English and New Media Studies courses

Courses you could take over your three years of study include:
ENGL500 Contemporary Language Studies
ENGL502 Reading New Zealand
ENGL600 Literature/Desire
ENGL601 Language and Communication
ENGL602 Popular Genres
ENGL700 Global English
ENGL701 New Literatures
ENGL702 Modern Rhetoric

Additional/Elective courses

CLSY501 Film Club: Flashforward
ENGL501 Critical Media Studies
ENGL503 A Pacific Reader
LNGT601 Methodology of Language Teaching
LNGT602 Classroom Practice
COMM651 WeSpeak: Pronunciation, Phonology and Effective Communication
ENGL603 Language in Society
COMM701 Graduate Academic Writing
COMM702 Graduate Oral Communication
LNGT701 Focus on Language Teaching

Workplace experience

Workplace experience (the Work Integrated Learning course) is the final part of your degree and takes a full semester. This is a supervised work placement related to your major(s), for an organisation of your choice.

Recent placements included:

United Nations Association of New Zealand
Global Gurus
Namseoul University
Citizens Advice Bureau
Gaming narrative designer
Virtual and augmented reality content producers
Immersia Ltd
Booktrack, San Francisco

Social media management
Web content management
Advertising
Diplomacy
Education
Journalism
Media
Public relations
The arts and cultural industries
Trade
Travel and tourism
Gaming narrative designer
Virtual and augmented reality content producers

Find out more about industry trends, job descriptions and what employers may be looking for.

English & New Media Careers

Other majors in the Bachelor of Arts

Key features

Communicate effectively through podcasts, prezis and blogs, wikis and webpages
Only major of its kind in New Zealand
Develop an e-portfolio to show your achievements
Workplace experience in your final semester

See yourself as

Innovative
Media informed
Connected and confident in the digital world
A communicator and writer

Great graduatesHayley BurrowsAccount Director, SocialitesPostgraduate Diploma in Communication Studies
Bachelor of ArtsWhen she visited the City Campus she knew AUT was the university for her, says Hayley Burrows who studied a Bachelor of Arts in English and New Media Studies.As soon as she visited the AUT City Campus she knew AUT was the university for her, says Hayley Burrows who studied a Bachelor of Arts in English and New Media Studies. Now working as an account director for award-winning social media agency Socialites, Hayley loves the variety of her role.

Great graduatesJason Jia WangLecturer/Deputy Director of the Business English Major Administration Office, Faculty of Language and Law, Tianjin University Renai College, Tianjin City, ChinaBachelor of ArtsHis biggest achievement is the number of university graduates he trains every year, says AUT alumnus Jason Jia Wang who now teaches in China.His biggest achievement is the number of university graduates he trains every year, says AUT alumnus Jason Jia Wang who is now a lecturer in the Faculty of Language and Law at Tianjin University Renai College in China. Jason initially came to AUT to study business, graduating with a Bachelor of Business in Accounting in 2009, followed by a Bachelor of Arts in English and New Media Studies in 2011.

The information on this page was correct at time of publication. For a comprehensive overview of AUT qualifications, please refer to the Academic Calendar.