I was really enjoying “For the greater good” (Opinion, March). It was, I thought, a well-argued solution to how the government should use the funding system to align the interests of students, universities, employers and wider society – until I read: “even media companies…would rather employ a well-rounded philosophy graduate than a media studies one any day”.
The only-too-familiar view that media studies is puffed-up nonsense masquerading as an academic discipline and is an instant turn-off to employers was back. Media studies courses in the UK cover such a broad spectrum that to represent them as offering a narrow immersion in vocational training is simply founded on ignorant misrepresentation. This is particularly disappointing coming from the director of Push, “the ruthlessly independent guide to UK universities”, without whose efforts we might never have known that the University of York has the highest duckto-student ratio of any campus in Europe.
Anna Notaro
Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design
University of Dundee