Undergraduate Major – Department of Communications and New Media

Major in CNM

The core of the CNM Programme is new media studies, which focus on the societal impact of new technologies on our social, cultural, political and economic landscape. The Programme integrates media studies, mass communications, computational communication, communication management, interactive media design and cultural studies. The Programme cuts across the interdisciplinary intersections of social sciences, humanities, arts and computing, and prepares students as future hybrid media professionals through mastery in critical, creative, qualitative, quantitative and computational research. Our horizontal training will ground students in foundational, transferable and job-specific skills.

The learning outcomes of the CNM major are:

To train students for advanced understanding of the discipline and application in communication and new media studies;
To equip students with theory-based practices by integrating theory and practice;
To professionalise students through industry immersion and work-integrated learning;
To prepare students to be critically-engaged global citizens and understand the role of communication in the broader context through media and cultural literacies;
To instil students’ ethical awareness and understanding of the workings of power, difference, diversity and inclusion;
To foster students’ intellectual curiosity for socially impactful engagement;
To build a learning community of practice in new media communication.

As part of CNM’s pedagogical commitment to integrate practice into theory, CNM introduced work-integrated learning into its curriculum. In 2018, CNM rolled out its Compulsory Internship Programme (CIP), a 20-week, 12 Units course to be undertaken by majors in their third year. CNM is the first department in the FASS to implement a compulsory internship programme in order to integrate experiential work learning into students’ undergraduate journey.

Key to the integration of practice and theory is the creative making and doing of design-led teaching. This is evident in our computational coding and interactive media courses on user experience design, game design, mobile interaction design, and digital storytelling. Design-led teaching is conducted in our CNM Studio: Multimedia Production Makerspace.

Graduation Requirements

The graduation requirements for CNM majors differ depending on the year in which a student is enrolled into NUS. Please click on the respective cohort to view its respective graduation requirements for all types of majors.

Students can read CNM as their primary or second major. A second major is taken on top of the primary major to broaden and complement students’ undergraduate education by allowing them to gain expertise in multiple subjects with interdisciplinary insights. A primary major under the College of Humanities and Sciences (CHS) comprises 15 courses, and a second major comprises 10 courses. Students can choose to declare a major when entering CHS, but have the option to change its later, or enter CHS with an undeclared major.

You may refer to the following sample study plan documents for some advice regarding your academic planning:

Study Plan for Cohort 2018-2020
Study Plan for Cohort 2021 (updated 6 Dec 2021)

If you have any specific query about majoring in CNM, please write to cnm.undergraduate@nus.edu.sg, or call +65 6516 4670.

For Cohort 2021 (CHS Students)

Single Major [B.Soc.Sci.(Hons)]

To graduate with B.Soc.Sci (Hons), students need to pass at least 60 Units of NM or NM-recognised courses, in addition to an 8 Units internship course (NM3550C) which falls under the CHS 'project requirement':

NM1101E / NM1101X Gateway Course
NM2101
NM2103
NM2104
NM3550C (see note below)
A minimum of 16 Units from Level 3000 (not inclusive of NM3550C)
A minimum of 20 Units from Level 4000 or above (up to a maximum of 2 Level 5000 NM course, subject to department's approval)

Note:

a) This is the 8 Units compulsory internship course which does not count towards the 60 Units of NM or NM-recognised courses. It instead counts towards the CHS curriculum requirements, meaning that CNM students must take these 8 Units in addition to the usual 52 Units of CHS common curriculum courses needed by other CHS students (total of 60 Units). This also means that CNM students have 8 fewer Unrestricted Electives (UE) to take than most other CHS students, i.e. 40 Units instead of 48 Units. In summary, CNM first majors will be required to complete:

60 Units of CHS common curriculum, which includes:
- 52 Units of CHS common curriculum
- 8 Units of Project requirement for CNM major (NM3550C)
60 Units of NM major requirements (see above)
40 Units of Unrestricted Electives requirements

b) NM3550C Single-major students may read TR3201(N) (8 Units) in place of NM3550C.

Second Major

To graduate with a Second Major in CNM, students need to pass at least 40 Units of NM or NM-recognised courses, which include:

NM1101E Gateway Courses
NM2101
NM2103
NM2104
A minimum of 16 Units from Level 3000

Note: Level-5000 NM courses are not allowed for second majors.

To track your graduation requirements, you can download an Excel tracking spreadsheet here (updated Apr 2022).

For Cohort 2019 and 2020

Single Major [B.A.]

To graduate with a single major [B.A.] in NM, students need to:

Pass NM1101E or NM1101X. This will be counted towards the Faculty Core or UE requirements.
Pass at least 44 Units of NM courses or NM-recognised courses which includes the following:

1. NM2101
2. NM2103
3. NM2104
4. NM3550Y (see note 1 below)
5. A minimum of 20 Units from level-3000 courses or higher (inclusive of NM3550Y).
6. A maximum of 2 level-4000 NM courses.
7. A maximum of 8 Units of NM-recognised courses.

Notes:

Students may read TR3202 (12 Units) in place of NM3550Y.
Level-5000 or NM courses are not allowed.
NM3550Y is only compulsory for FASS students. Non-FASS students must read other level-3000 or higher NM or NM-recognised courses in lieu of NM3550Y.

Single Major [B.Soc.Sci.(Hons)]

To graduate with a single major [B.Soc.Sci.(Hons)] in NM, students need to:

Pass NM1101E or NM1101X. This will be counted towards the Faculty Core or UE requirements.
Pass at least 84 Units of NM or NM-recognised courses, which include the following:
1. NM2101
2. NM2103
3. NM2104
4. NM3550Y (see note 1 below)
5. NM4102 (no longer compulsory for Cohort 2017 onwards, except for students doing Honours Thesis)
6. A minimum of 20 Units of level-3000 NM or NM-recognised courses or higher (inclusive of NM3550Y), with
7. A minimum of 40 Units from level-4000 or higher, with NM4102 compulsory for those from Cohort 2016 and before.
8. A maximum of 2 level-5000 NM courses (subject to department’s approval).
9. A maximum of 12 Units of NM-recognised courses.

Note:

Students may read TR3202 (12 Units) in place of NM3550Y.
NM3550Y is only compulsory for FASS students. Non-FASS students must read other level-3000 or higher NM or NM-recognised courses in lieu of NM3550Y.
Level-5000 courses subject to department's approval.

Second Major

To graduate with a second major in NM, students need to:

Pass NM1101E or NM1101X. This will be counted towards the Faculty Core or UE requirements.
Pass at least 36 Units of NM courses or NM-recognised courses which includes the following:

1. NM2101
2. NM2103
3. NM2104
4. A minimum of 16 Units from Level 3000.

Note:

NM3550Y is only compulsory for CNM primary majors. Students who are on NUS Overseas College (NOC) may read TR3202 in lieu of NM3550Y.
Level-5000 courses are not allowed.

To track your graduation requirements, you can download an Excel tracking spreadsheet here.

For Cohort 2016 - 2018

Single Major [B.A.]

To graduate with a single major [B.A.] in NM, students need to:

Pass NM1101E or NM1101X. This will be counted towards the Faculty Core or UE requirements.
Pass at least 44 Units of NM courses or NM-recognised courses which includes the following:

1. NM2101
2. NM2103
3. NM2104
4. NM3550Y (see note 1 below)
5. A minimum of 20 Units from level-3000 courses or higher (inclusive of NM3550Y).
6. A maximum of 2 level-4000 NM courses.
7. A maximum of 8 Units of NM-recognised courses.

Notes:

Students may read TR3202 (12 Units) in place of NM3550Y.
Level-5000 or NM courses are not allowed.
NM3550Y is only compulsory for FASS students. Non-FASS students must read other level-3000 or higher NM or NM-recognised courses in lieu of MN3550Y.

Single Major [B.Soc.Sci.(Hons)]

To graduate with a single major [B.Soc.Sci.(Hons)] in NM, students need to:

Pass NM1101E or NM1101X. This will be counted towards the Faculty Core or UE requirements.
Pass at least 84 Units of NM or NM-recognised courses, which include the following:
1. NM2101
2. NM2103
3. NM2104
4. NM3550Y (see note 1 below)
5. NM4102 (no longer compulsory for Cohort 2017 onwards, except for students doing Honours Thesis)
6. A minimum of 20 Units of level-3000 NM or NM-recognised courses or higher (inclusive of NM3550Y), with
7. A minimum of 40 Units from level-4000 or higher, with NM4102 compulsory for those from Cohort 2016 and before.
8. A maximum of 2 level-5000 NM courses (subject to department’s approval).
9. A maximum of 12 Units of NM-recognised courses.

Note:

Students may read TR3202 (12 Units) in place of NM3550Y.
NM3550Y is only compulsory for FASS students. Non-FASS students must read other level-3000 or higher NM or NM-recognised courses in lieu of MN3550Y.
Level-5000 courses subject to department's approval.

Second Major

To graduate with a second major in NM, students need to:

Pass NM1101E or NM1101X. This will be counted towards the Faculty Core or UE requirements.
Pass at least 44 Units of NM courses or NM-recognised courses which includes the following:

1. NM2101
2. NM2103
3. NM2104
4. NM3550Y (see notes 1 and 2 below)
5. A minimum of 20 Units from level-3000 courses or higher (inclusive of NM3550Y).
6. A maximum of 2 level-4000 NM courses.
7. A maximum of 8 Units NM-recognised courses.

Note:

NM3550Y is only compulsory for FASS students. Non-FASS students must read other level-3000 or higher NM or NM-recognised courses in lieu of NM3550Y.
FASS students may read TR3202 (12 Units) in place of NM3550Y.
Level-5000 or NM courses are not allowed.

To track your graduation requirements, you can download an Excel tracking spreadsheet here.

For Cohort 2012 - 2015

Single Major [B.A]

Pass at least 60 Units, which include the following:

Read and pass the following courses:
1. NM1101E or NM1101X
2. NM2101
3. NM2103
4. NM2104
A minimum of 20 Units from level-3000 courses or higher.
A maximum of 2 level-4000 NM courses.
Students may read a maximum of 16 Units of NM recognised courses.

Note:

1. Level-5000 or higher NM courses are not allowed.

Single Major [B.Soc.Sci.(Hons)]

Pass at least 100 Units, which include the following:

Read and pass the following courses:
1. NM1101E or NM1101X
2. NM2101
3. NM2103
4. NM2104
5. NM4102
A minimum of 60 Units of level-3000 courses or higher NM or NM-recognised courses, of which a minimum of 40 Units are level-4000 or higher (including NM4102).
A maximum of 2 level-5000 NM courses.
(Subject to department's approval) (IMPORTANT: see note 5 below)
Students may read a maximum of 20 Units of NM recognised courses.

Note:

To declare an Honours track, students must have completed 110 Units, including 60 Units in the Major, with a GPA of 3.20 and above.
In order to obtain Honours (Highest Distinction), students must achieve a minimum GPA of 4.50 and pass Honours Thesis.
To qualify for Honours Thesis NM4401 (15 Units), students must pass NM4102 AND complete 110 Units including 60 Units of NM major requirements with a minimum SJAP of 4.00 and GPA of 3.50.
Students who do not attempt the Honours Thesis will read Level-4000 courses to fulfil the Honours Requirements.
Level 4000 Independent Study Course (ISC) NM4660 precludes Honours Thesis NM4401.
All level-4000 courses carry a general pre-requisite of having completed 80 Units, including 28 Units in the Major, with a minimum GPA of 3.20 OR being on the Honours track. (Some level-4000 courses may have additional pre-requisites).

Second Major in CNM

Pass at least 48 Units, which include the following:

Read and pass the following courses:
1. NM1101E or NM1101X
2. NM2101
3. NM2103
4. NM2104
A minimum of 16 Units from level-3000 courses or higher.
A maximum of 2 level-4000 NM courses.
Students may read a maximum of 8 Units of NM recognised courses.

Note

Level-5000 or higher NM courses are not allowed.

Click on the photo above to learn about our labs and studios, which provide resources for usability testing, prototyping, video production, UX and game design, statistical analysis, and more.