University of British Columbia Masters Degrees in Communication & Media Studies

Program Overview

Technology Studies Education provides a forum for exploring and studying information and communication technologies (ICT), new media, and the philosophy of technology. Curriculum, pedagogy, research, and development interests of faculty and students include affective computing, cyberculture and cyborg relations, digital ecology and diversity, distributed cognition, gaming, ICT integration in K–16 formal and informal learning environments (face-to-face, hybrid, and online distance education), intellectual property, open source, and cultural studies. The program offers a common core of courses, a range of electives, and a variety of professional education opportunities.

Quick Facts

- Degree: Master of Arts (research-based), Master of Education (course-based)
- Specialization: Media and Technology Studies Education
- Subject: Education
- Mode of delivery: On campus
- Faculty: Faculty of Education

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The Master of Digital Media program (MDM) is an internationally recognized, research informed, and industry relevant professional graduate program that engages students in the development of digital media products.

The MDM is Canada’s first professional graduate program in digital media focusing on the creation of digital media solutions for real world problems. Students come from a variety of backgrounds including filmmaking, engineering, game design, business analysis, architecture, software engineers, artists, primatology, biology, and advertising to name a few.

Housed at the Centre for Digital Media in Vancouver BC, this intensive 12 month program engages students through coursework and projects to develop essential communication, collaboration & leadership skills. The unique curriculum meets the needs of the new and expanding digital media markets across all business verticals including but not limited to healthcare, education, business and the entertainment industry.

Guided by top-level faculty and industry mentors, students work closely with clients and peers on team-based, industry supported digital media projects. This experience allows graduates the know-how and confidence to work at the highest level across all sectors as creators, producers, innovators or entrepreneurs.

Graduates gain the skills and knowledge that help them to:
- Collaborate and communicate effectively in multidisciplinary teams.
- Create comprehensive business strategies and manage development projects.
- Design and deliver innovative, high-grade products to clients on time and on budget.

The program also helps develop six core competencies valued in the digital media industry:
- Self-Awareness
- Articulation
- Design process
- Time management
- Information literacy
- Teamwork

WHAT IS DIGITAL MEDIA?

Digital Media blends many media forms and requires working in multi-skilled teams. The MDM program teaches people from different backgrounds and with different skill sets to understand each other, work together and execute a digital media project with a cohesive vision.

Quick Facts

- Degree: Master of Digital Media
- Specialization: Digital Media
- Subject: Information Technology
- Mode of delivery: On campus
- Program components: Coursework only
- Faculty: Faculty of Arts

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[UBC Film Mandate]]
At the UBC Film Production Program, our objective is to develop the student’s intellectual, creative and technical skills as they prepare to embark on professional careers in the film industry. Courses provide students with core disciplines and filmic knowledge as well as practical experience in filmmaking. BFA and Diploma students produce and work on several films while in the Program. As their thesis, MFA students make an original film.

The Film Production faculty is made up of dedicated working professionals who maintain strong connections to the Vancouver film, television and new media industries.

MFA

The MFA in Film Production Program focuses on the areas of directing, screenwriting and producing for students who already have a comprehensive background in filmmaking and wish to pursue a specific creative or intellectual vision in an academic environment.

The Program is very small. Normally only 2-3 students are admitted per year. This total includes students in the Joint MFA in Film Production and Creative Writing. There are normally 30-40 applications for these positions.

The MFA is a two-year course of resident study. However, many students find it may take 3-4 years to complete the thesis requirement, as students must fund their thesis films entirely on their own.

Quick Facts

- Degree: Master of Fine Arts
- Specialization: Film Production
- Subject: Creative and Performing Arts
- Mode of delivery: On campus
- Program components: Coursework + Thesis required
- Faculty: Faculty of Arts

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MFA Film/Creative Writing

The MFA in Film Production and Creative Writing Program is primarily a film production degree with an additional focus on screenwriting. The final thesis for the Joint MFA is a completed film which the student normally writes, directs and produces.

The degree is designed for students who already have a comprehensive background in filmmaking and some screenwriting who wish to pursue a specific creative or intellectual vision that includes screenwriting, in an academic environment.

The Program is very small. Normally only 2-3 students are admitted per year. This total includes students in the MFA in Film Production. There are normally 30-40 applications for these positions.

The MFA is a two-year course of resident study. However, many students find it may take 3-4 years to complete the thesis requirement, as students must fund their thesis films entirely on their own.

Applicants must first apply to the Film Program and be accepted by the MFA in Film Production Program. The Film Program will then arrange for the application and materials to be sent to the Creative Writing Program for consideration for the Joint Degree.

Please note: In order to be accepted for the Joint MFA in Film Production and Creative Writing, students must already be experienced filmmakers and have completed films on which they were a principal creator to submit as part of their portfolio.

Quick Facts

- Degree: Master of Fine Arts
- Specialization: Film Production and Creative Writing
- Subject: Creative and Performing Arts
- Mode of delivery: On campus
- Program components: Coursework + Thesis required
- Faculty: Faculty of Arts

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Film Studies

Since 1984, UBC’s Department of Theatre and Film has granted MA degrees in Film Studies. The MA is a two year program with thesis. We’re looking for recent and upcoming graduates of undergraduate film and media studies programs.

Moving pictures dominate today’s world. Whether accessed via the internet, home media systems, or the traditional theatre, the reach of the moving picture industry is truly global, and its impacts are felt on every level: locally, nationally, and internationally. The study of moving images provides a major way of thinking about our approach to reality. In this context, it is essential to analyze film forms, theories, aesthetics, receptions, and policies and to thoroughly understand cinema in relation to history and culture.

In our BA in Film Studies and MA in Film Studies programs, our mission is to educate students in the diversity of cinematic practices, and in their historical and contemporary formats. We aim to provide a supportive environment in which students can discuss the role that moving pictures play in various societies, and how they mediate our perceptions of the world. Our aim is to teach students in a liberal arts context that will help to prepare them for a wide range of careers, including teaching, curating, policy-making, programming and distribution, preservation, filmmaking, writing, consulting, and arts administration.

UBC Vancouver is a remarkable place to study film. In addition to the resources of the university, we benefit from the fact that the Vancouver region has the largest film industry activity in Canada, popularly known as “Hollywood North”. The city also hosts several high-profile festivals and dedicated institutions that program independent international and Canadian cinema.

The Film Studies Faculty members are renowned experts in the various specialties of film studies. They are actively engaged in researching and publishing on cinema in its diverse forms. They chair academic conferences, and they maintain a public profile as intellectuals concerned with the heritage and future of moving pictures. Their dedication provides a stimulating intellectual environment for students.

The Film Studies faculty founded and operates The Centre for Cinema Studies at UBC, which aims to advance the scholarly study of film and film culture. Graduate students in the MA in Film Studies Program edit and publish a freeʪournal of film studies, entitled Cinephile. Our Visual Resources Centre houses over 5,000 film titles in various formats, and is an essential research resource for students and faculty.

Quick Facts

- Degree: Master of Arts
- Specialization: Film Studies
- Subject: Creative and Performing Arts
- Mode of delivery: On campus
- Program components: Coursework + Thesis required
- Faculty: Faculty of Arts

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About UBC Journalism

UBC Journalism is a unique, boutique journalism masters program in one of the most beautiful, diverse and progressive cities in the world. It is one of only four masters-only journalism programs in North America, and the only graduate journalism program in western Canada.

Faculty members come from the highest levels of major media organizations, as well as leaders in digital journalism and media scholarship. We pride ourselves on our one-on-one approach with students, working closely with the aspiring journalists who go through our program, and often continuing to mentor them long after they graduate.

The Master of Journalism degree is a full-time, intensive program that runs over five semesters, including a summer internship. It is designed to provide graduates with professional experience and academic grounding, to help students succeed as a journalist in any medium. Students learn everything from long-form writing to web, video and audio production, social media analytics, investigative reporting skills and critical analysis of news.

Our distinctive approach to journalism education has two components: academic specialization and applied training. This involves creating a program of study focused on an academic area — relevant to your background and interests —along with courses in media theory and ethics. Paired with the academic training is hands-on work with professional equipment alongside experienced professionals.

Students have the opportunity to study with excellent scholars in disciplines throughout the University of British Columbia, a university consistently ranked in the top 40 academic institutions in the world.

The Graduate School is modeled on a small Liberal Arts college with small class sizes and one-on-one attention. Students have contact with professors both in and outside of the classroom on a regular basis. Faculty and staff mentor students on freelancing opportunities, international internships and career options.

Degree Requirements

The program of study for the M.J. degree in Journalism is challenging and requires full-time study. Students are required to complete between 42-45 credits of course work, including a three-month internship.

Students learn to be journalists across all media — print, online, television and radio — in the first year. Most programs separate training by medium. We believe that in today’s digital environment, graduate journalists have to be proficient across many media platforms.

Therefore, theory and practice are integrated across the curriculum. This means applying ethics, media theory and academic knowledge to the journalism skills of interviewing and reporting in a real-time multimedia environment.

Journalism training starts in the first week of classes when students are assigned urban beats in Vancouver as part of our core Integrated Journalism course. This course is taught by a team of faculty: senior journalists working both locally and internationally as well as media studies professors.

Theory and graduate-level research is integrated into the curriculum through assignments and course content, as well as in specific courses such as Media Ethics and Media Law. There is also an option to complete an academic research or thesis project.

Specialization

Students specialize in key disciplines relevant to their professional careers. These include but are not limited to: environmental and health studies, international relations and political science, arts and cultural studies, English, sports, economics and science.

Students also engage issues surrounding race, gender and ethnicity through partnerships with other UBC departments.

Students take these specialties in courses outside of the School in order to obtain the knowledge necessary to report on an increasingly complex public sphere.

Popular academic specialties include: International Journalism and Political Science, New Media and Society, Solutions-Focused journalism and Science Journalism, which includes specialties in environment, health and social issues, as well as media theory.

Quick Facts

- Degree: Master of Journalism
- Specialization: Journalism
- Subject: Specialty
- Mode of delivery: On campus
- Program components: Coursework + Major Project/Essay required
- Faculty: Faculty of Arts
- School: School of Journalism

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