Communication, media, film and cultural studies have also developed wider understandings of the diversity of forms of culture, as well as new understandings of the Increasingly pivotal roles which communications, media and culture play in the social, economic and political organisation of contemporary societies. In exploring the centrality of forms of media. communicative and expressive practice in contemporary life, they have emphasised that the continuing regeneration and development of creative professional practice within the media and cultural industries requires systematic, critical and reflective education. Finally, they have reappraised received cultural traditions and canons and explored the ways in which media, communication and cultural activities and processes are central to the organisation of everyday social and psychological life and to the ways in which groups conceive their identities. Degree programmes in communication, media, film and cultural studies have expanded rapidly over the last decade. Often combining in innovative ways the search for thorough knowledge and understanding with the development of students' creative and reflective capacities, they have offered programmes relevant to their futures both in work and as citizens. There are now some 60 HE institutions which offer programmes in these fields, with a student population which numbers over 15,000. Student interest in these fields is strong and growing. Degree programmes are characterised by a diversity of emphases, drawing in different ways on the disciplinary and professional sources outlined above, and offering a range of approaches to theoretical, critical, practical and creative work within these fields.
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