Masters degrees in Electronic Media offer advanced training in the theory, management and practise of human communication through digital means. Consideration is particularly given to economics and the financial aspects of the digital industries.
Courses range from taught MA and MSc degrees to research oriented MRes and MPhil programmes. Entry requirements normally include an undergraduate degree in a relevant subject such as Media Studies or Journalism.
The Digital Media, Culture and Society MA is an innovative programme that stays responsive to key developments in contemporary digital media, culture and society.
It engages with some of the most exciting and pressing cultural and social issues of our time, such as activism, big data, the cultural and creative economy, everyday life, future cities, social wellbeing and identity.
It covers key theoretical debates in media and cultural studies and draws from local, national and global contexts to help you develop the critical and methodological skills that are necessary for researching the role of digital technologies in culture and society.
You will be taught by leading academics in visual communication, social media, smart technologies and media production for social change. Our knowledge-exchange activities engage us with diverse businesses, communities and policy actors including media, publishers, digital companies, community groups and NGOs, which will allow you to make professional contacts during your studies.
The course offers flexible modes of study through online distance or campus learning – full-time or part-time – with entry points in September and February. There are also opportunities to complete shorter programmes at both certificate and diploma level.
What is the difference between this course and the Digital Media Arts MA?
The Digital Media, Culture and Society MA has a broader syllabus and is particularly suitable for mid-career professionals who would benefit from flexible modes of study. The Digital Media Arts MA has more of a focus on media technology, with many graduates now working in digital development and design.
The Digital Media, Culture and Society MA is structured as follows:
Core modules
Options
(*On-campus-only mode)
It is possible to complete shorter programmes in Digital Media, Culture and Society at postgraduate certificate and postgraduate diploma level.
Making sure that what you learn with us is relevant, up to date and what employers are looking for is our priority, so courses are reviewed and enhanced on an ongoing basis. When you have applied to us, you’ll be told about any new developments through our applicant portal.
During your studies, you'll be granted flexibility in content, form and delivery. This flexibility is increased through the availability of online distance education modules. Not only is it possible to switch modes from on-campus to Distance Learning, you may also choose to complete the entire degree through Distance Learning.
Students can complete the Digital Media, Culture and Society MA in online distance mode, either through part-time of full-time study. Distance learners follow the same weekly syllabus as on-campus students and engage online on a continuous basis with the teaching staff and their peers.
Each module has a guide that contains detailed information about the module content, readings and assessments, as well as clear instructions on how to engage with it. The University of Brighton’s student intranet system, studentcentral, is used to teach and deliver the modules.
If you are a distance learner, each module sees you: reading the module guide and collected readings to grasp the shape, content and pathway through the teaching material; participating in asynchronous online discussion boards to engage with the weekly topics; and conducting independent research and background reading to support all parts of your module study in preparation for the assessment.
Module tutors facilitate discussion and offer guidance throughout.
Provisions
Creative media is both a description of what we do and an instruction for future practice. We take the best elements of media education, creative industries, communication/media studies and literacy theory and offer students a suite of modules that can be customised to fit career goals, family and working patterns, and personal interests.
Graduates of the MA will be able to:
Previous students include PhD candidates at Salford and Brighton, a lecturer at the University of Sussex, a journalist and presenter at the Chongqing Broadcasting Group, an employee in the public diplomacy division at NATO, the founder of Australia's Swarn Conference, a project manager at Agile Impact Group, and a creative producer at the International Symposium of Electronic Art.
This advanced Master's programme in Mobile Application Development prepares students to develop applications for these devices, equipping you to become highly skilled professionals for the Mobile Industry with the latest skill set.
The programme combines technology, interface design and application development for mobile platforms, with a particular emphasis on developing iPhone and iPad apps and creating apps with high usability and reliability.
On completion of the course, you will have gained skills in the latest technologies in this rapidly expanding and developing field.
Visit the website https://www.kent.ac.uk/courses/postgraduate/257/mobile-application-development
The School of Engineering and Digital Arts successfully combines modern engineering and technology with the exciting new field of digital media.
Established over 40 years ago, the School has developed a top-quality teaching and research base, receiving excellent ratings in both research and teaching assessments.
The School undertakes high-quality research that has had significant national and international impact, and our spread of expertise allows us to respond rapidly to new developments. Our 30 academic staff and over 130 postgraduate students and research staff provide an ideal focus to effectively support a high level of research activity. There is a thriving student population studying for postgraduate degrees in a friendly and supportive teaching and research environment.
We have research funding from the Research Councils UK, European research programmes, a number of industrial and commercial companies and government agencies including the Ministry of Defence. Our Electronic Systems Design Centre and Digital Media Hub provide training and consultancy for a wide range of companies. Many of our research projects are collaborative, and we have well-developed links with institutions worldwide.
The MA in Digital Media is unique in its combination of practical and theoretical approaches to contemporary media and technology.
The established and exciting degree is designed to help you understand digital transformations in media, culture and society and apply this understanding in practice, in the media and creative industries and in further research. You will be equipped with skills that can be applied to current and future developments in digital media, social media, computing and other aspects of technology.
The MA in Digital Media educates aspiring media practitioners and academics as well as early and mid-career professionals who seek to reflect on their roles in a structured and stimulating learning environment designed to give all students up-to-the-minute knowledge of digital media and the skills to apply that knowledge to future developments.
The MA offers two pathways:
Pathway 1 is a theory programme where you learn about developments in digital media and technology from a wide range of perspectives
Pathway 2 is a theory and practice programme where you can explore transformations in media, culture and society through the practice of contemporary digital communication. You will work with one or more of the following to create installations, apps and single- and multi-screen work that's responsive to the continually changing digital landscape:
Acclaimed academics and practitioners
Benefit from the experience and expertise of one of the world’s leading media and communications departments. The programme is co-convened by Professor Joanna Zylinska and Daniel Rourke, and you will be taught by theorists and practitioners of international standing.
Work placements and internships
The MA in Digital Media regularly attracts offers of work placements and internships. In the past these have come from Google, The Science Museum and N1creative.com. There is also £6,000 bursary available for UK students studying this course. Find out more about the Stationers' Postgraduate Bursary Scheme on our departmental awards page.
Facilities
Our students have access to state-of-the-art facilities including well-equipped lecture and seminar rooms, exhibition spaces, computer facilities and digital media suites.
The department is also currently host to the renowned philosopher of media and technology, Bernard Stiegler and students will have access to his modulein Media Philosophy as well as priority access to the innovative and popular option After New Media. Designed to complement the MA in Digital Media, this course provides a framework for thinking about the current media environment as well as future forms of human and computer interaction.
An established record
The MA in Digital Media has been redefining media theory and practice since 2004. Our students become proficient in:
MA Digital Media students have access to the pioneering option ‘After New Media’, currently a non-assessed online module which explores the themes of self mediation, ethical mediation and intelligent mediation, and develops a framework for thinking about 'life' after new media. As well as accessing a series of podcasts, students are offered reading groups and a masterclass with Professor Sarah Kember co-author of the book Life After New Media on which the course is based.
Overview
The programme consists of:
Core modules
Seen take-home paper; essays; dissertation or practice/theory project and other production work for image-making.
We provide graduates with skills that are cutting edge: in the critical analysis and/or creative production of digital media; in the disciplinary knowledge and conceptual frameworks necessary for current and future forms of media and technology; in the awareness of how digital media and technologies are re-shaping society from the ways we communicate (through social media and web 2.0) to the increasingly ‘smart’ environments in which we live.
Our programme provides a theory and practice pathway and prepares students for work in the following areas:
Gaming and multimedia have assumed an important place in our society, giving rise to a booming industry with turnovers exceeding those of the movie industry and generating leaps in computer software and hardware development. The Master’s programme in Game and Media Technology focuses on the technological aspects of gaming and multimedia in the context of computer science.
In the research programme of gaming and simulation, you will explore:
It also incorporates such aspects as drama, style, and emotions, with a focus on the technical aspects. Simulating the physics, biology, and psychology of the real world and bringing it to life in multi-sensory simulations are major challenges you will explore in our dynamic programme.
New types of games and hardware reach the market regularly. Moreover, there is increasing recognition of the value of games as an educational tool and the integration of multimedia tools into everyday life is continuing. This creates fertile grounds for those with an advanced degree in the area of Game and Media Technology.
This Master’s programme in Game and Media Technology provides you with both fundamental and applied knowledge of the techniques for handling spatial data. You will gain the skills to perform research, analyse, and solve scientific problems — and to keep up with research progress in the fields of geometry, imaging, and virtual environments. Game and Media Technology graduates are highly valued employees in many companies and research facilities.
This programme lets you explore the space of contemporary philosophies as they influence and are impacted by computers, networked communications and ubiquitous media. It includes compulsory coursework, option courses and the opportunity for original research, packaged in manageable work units.
You will be researching alongside students studying more technical courses, and can dip into these. The programme examines theories and philosophies of digital media, technological change, the mass media, gaming, data mining, computation, artificial intelligence, and the social and cultural contexts in which such developments take place.
Students of this programme will be part of a dynamic community of researchers, exploring many aspects of computing: its social ramifications, social media, the world of e-commerce, e-entrepreneurship, e-learning, project-based composition and artistic works, digital architecture and urbanism, new media consumption practices, the co-creation of media, changes to the household, links between vision and sound, and more.
Students on the programme benefit from access to a broad range of expertise and research in digital media and culture.
All of our research students benefit from ECA’s interdisciplinary approach and all are assigned two research supervisors. Your second supervisor may be from another discipline within ECA, or from somewhere else within the College of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences or elsewhere within the University, according to the expertise required. On occasion more than two supervisors will be assigned, particularly where the degree brings together multiple disciplines.
A research-methods course, reading courses, and selections from an interdisciplinary menu of course options.
The programme comprises the following components:
Graduates will be able to contribute knowledgeably and critically to debates on digital media and its social, cultural and theoretical contexts.
The Digital Media, Culture and Education MA explores the theory and practice of media in society, with a particular focus on education and emergent new literacies in the digital age. The programme combines theory with practical opportunities for media production. Students will critically examine new developments within digital media and work with partners including the British Film Institute (BFI).
This programme provides the opportunity to explore different media forms, media education, media literacy and related fields. It combines theory with practical opportunities in moving image production, Internet cultures and game design. Students will critically examine developments in the fields of new media, including the impact of new technologies on education, and debates about the place and purpose of media in society.
Students undertake modules to the value of 180 credits.
The programme consists of two core modules (60 credits), two optional modules (60 credits), a dissertation (60 credits) or a report (30 credits) and an additional optional module (30 credits).
Core modules
Recommended optional modules include:
Dissertation/report
All students undertake an independent research project, which culminates in a dissertation of 20,000 words or a report of 10,000 words. Either the dissertation or the report can be part-production based, in which case the production element replaces 50% of the wordcount.
Teaching and learning
Teaching is delivered by face-to-face lectures and seminars, practical workshops combined with online-learning. Students are assessed by coursework assignments of up to 5,000 words, plus practical work for some modules, and a 20,000-word dissertation or 10,000-word report.
Further information on modules and degree structure is available on the department website: Digital Media, Culture and Education MA
Graduates of this programme are currently working across a broad range of areas. Some are working as teachers in primary, secondary schools and further and higher education, while others have jobs as within areas related to digital media. Graduates can also be found working as museum and gallery education officers and in other informal learning spaces.
Employability
The course provides students with skills relevant to media work in a wide variety of employment contexts, including education, museums and galleries, social media, cultural organisations. It provides experience of digital media production relevant to these contexts, but not professional production traiinng for the media industries.
This programme will equip students with skills, knowledge and experience related to the rapidly-changing worlds of digital media, culture and education. It will therefore support career development in a variety of media contexts, including educational settings, broadly-defined.
Students are able to work with the BFI, our partner for part of the course, as well as leading researchers from the DARE Collaborative, a research partnership focussed on the digital arts in education led by UCL Institute of Education (IOE) and the BFI.
The course is based at the UCL Knowledge Lab, which conducts research, design and development across a broad range of media, systems and environments and brings together researchers from the areas of education, sociology, culture and media, semiotics, computational intelligence, information management, personalisation, semantic web and ubiquitous technologies.
The Research Excellence Framework, or REF, is the system for assessing the quality of research in UK higher education institutions. The 2014 REF was carried out by the UK's higher education funding bodies, and the results used to allocate research funding from 2015/16.
The following REF score was awarded to the department: Culture, Communication & Media
78% rated 4* (‘world-leading’) or 3* (‘internationally excellent’)
Learn more about the scope of UCL's research, and browse case studies, on our Research Impact website.
Our MA Graphic Design course encourages designers to explore ways of developing understanding between co-communicators.
Recognising the individual and their aspirations, and celebrating ideas and risk-taking, our approach and experience of encouraging inter-disciplinary and collaborative activity lies with the provision of a meaningful journey for you beyond the obvious.
You will meet the fresh, often unpredictable and certainly challenging possibilities that are offered as you test, develop, progress, interrogate, ‘make’ and confidently reflect on your practice.
Our guiding principle is to offer distinctive and exciting opportunities for you to engage in your respective subject discipline in order to redefine your particular individual approach to your practice and position it within your chosen external creative economic and cultural environment.
Whatever your background, you will be required to reflect on your worldview; the underlying assumptions and understanding that guides and constrains your practice, and to use this reflection as a starting point from which to further develop. Your practice can take many forms: it can be self-expressive, or socially orientated; print, screen-based or three-dimensional.
You can focus on an aspect of a well-defined area of design, such as branding, experimental typography, publishing, and user-centred design, or on something more unconventional defined as part of your study.
You will develop a Professional Development Portfolio (PDP) that documents your practice and provides a way of capturing the skills and understanding that you acquire.
Graphic designers often work in groups, sometimes comprising members from different disciplines. The MA Graphic Design course provides many opportunities to work in interdisciplinary ways as it sits alongside the courses of other disciplines. Many of the taught sessions occur in these interdisciplinary groups. At other times however you will be developing your project with your supervisor and other students on your course. This will require you to develop a theoretical framework, methodology and research methods that support your research focus.
As a graphic designer you should anticipate the possible consequences of your design interventions, including the meanings constructed through your practice, in relation to ethical and sustainability issues as well as to other relevant contexts. Creative approaches are required that respond to complex situations in which many problems reside. Outcomes are not constrained by media or by limited interpretations of what it is to be a graphic designer.
Consequently, an outcome might involve the design of an experience or service, as much as it might concern more conventional forms of graphic production.
You can view our student work on our course gallery.
Visit our website for more information on fees, scholarships, postgraduate loans and other funding options to study Digital Media at Swansea University - 'Welsh University of the Year 2017' (Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2017).
The MA in Digital Media offers an innovative interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary approach to contemporary technology and new media, drawing upon expertise in Media and Communication Studies.
The MA in Digital Media examines some of the key issues confronting twenty-first century global societies through a dynamic programme that combines theoretical and applied perspectives.
Digital Media students will be encouraged to apply media theory, political and social theory and research tools in analysing and understanding digital media. The MA in Digital Media explores key historical, policy and practice dimensions of new media as well as focusing on research methodologies for those undertaking research on digital media and technology.
The Digital Media course is split across the year. Students will take three modules in each academic semester (a total of six modules) and then complete a dissertation over the summer. The dissertation component allows you to write a 16,000 word dissertation, which will draw on issues and themes developed throughout the year.
Modules on the MA in Digital Media typically include:
• Thinking About Digital Media
• The Digital Edge
• PR Branding and Promotion
• The Business and Politics of Digital Media
• Global Media
• Professional and Promotional Writing
• Digital Skills and Defence
• Online Journalism
Students interested in digital media and new media technologies, from a media studies, politics and international relations, humanities, social science, computer science or related background. Professionals interested in the challenge of digital media both in terms of their professional practice, but also related to fields in policy research and public administration. Students interested in
preparation for postgraduate research, MPhil or PhD, or who wish to develop skills and knowledge related to digital media.
-To enable you to develop an advanced understanding of digital media, through contemporary theories and advanced research work.
-To help you to understand the development of digital media and technology historically, through a number of theoretical perspectives, which give a context to contemporary discussions and controversies in the field.
-To appreciate the role of digital media technology within wider social, political and economic contexts, including the implications for policy formation.
-To enable you to acquire research skills enabling you to conduct thorough research into digital media; also to enhance your critical, theoretical and analytical abilities, and your written and oral communication.
Career expectations are excellent for Digital Media graduates. Companies, nonprofit organisations, government and the public sector value the fact that our students have developed a range of critical abilities, a creative and innovative approach to problem solving, and skills in detailed analysis and presentation of research. Our Digital Media Graduates go on to work in journalism, broadcasting, web-design, advertising, publicity, arts and cultural bodies, or even to go on to study a PhD.
“I thoroughly enjoyed studying the MA in Digital Media. The course and its faculty have broadened my horizon not only in new media but other subjects, such as computer science and politics. If I haven’t yet succeeded in making the reader envious and inspired to take this course, I would only conclude by mentioning that you would miss out on lectures worth experiencing.”
Tejeswini Krishnan, Digital Media, MA
The Digital Media Practice programmes at Winchester are designed to accommodate a wide range of specialist interests within the digital media industry. Build your theoretical understanding within the context of honing practical skills in a range of specialist careers. Develop new ideas and theories through your engagement with several live client projects, which may culminate in the real-time release of output through different media platforms.
Your practical work is supported and enhanced through masterclasses, seminars, discussions, workshops, tutorials and self-directed study, and work in professional contexts. Partnerships with professional practitioners and bodies give you the starting point to develop your own network of professional contacts. There is a dedicated, fully equipped digital design studio, with practitioner-based lecturers on hand to support you.
Your course consists of five core modules plus two optional modules, where you undertake individual projects and case studies relevant to your particular area of interest. Core modules include Digital Media Principles, Design Practice, and a project on Emerging Media. MA Digital Media Practice includes your choice of any two optional modules, while on the specialist pathways you choose two optional modules from a more specific selection. Examples of module choices include:
Choose from any of the modules available on the specialist pathways
Graduates pursue careers in the digital media industry as lead designers, design researchers, account directors, content writers and creative producers.
UK, EU, World
Start dates: September
Teaching takes place: Daytime
Students develop new ideas and theories through their engagement with several live client projects, which may culminate in the real-time release of output through different media platforms. Practical work is supported and enhanced through masterclasses, seminars, discussions, workshops, tutorials and self-directed study, and by undertaking work in professional contexts. There is a dedicated, fully equipped Digital Design Studio, with practitioner-based lecturers on hand during core hours.
Taught elements of the course take place on our King Alfred Campus (Winchester) or at our West Downs Campus (Winchester)
Our validated courses may adopt a range of means of assessing your learning. An indicative, and not necessarily comprehensive, list of assessment types you might encounter includes essays, portfolios, supervised independent work, presentations, written exams, or practical performances.
Through the undertaking of projects, students engage with real-world tasks, with assessment reflecting the solutions and outcomes expected in the digital media industry. Assessment takes place throughout the life of a project in order to test and offer feedback on the process and integration of skills. Students are required to complete a final substantial piece of work in the form of either an appropriate digital media project or a written dissertation.
We ensure all students have an equal opportunity to achieve module learning outcomes. As such, where appropriate and necessary, students with recognised disabilities may have alternative assignments set that continue to test how successfully they have met the module's learning outcomes. Further details on assessment types used on the course you are interested in can be found on the course page, by attending an Open Day or Open Evening, or contacting our teaching staff.
We are committed to providing timely and appropriate feedback to you on your academic progress and achievement in order to enable you to reflect on your progress and plan your academic and skills development effectively. You are also encouraged to seek additional feedback from your course tutors.
For more information about our regulations for this course, please see our Academic Regulations, Policies and Procedures.
With an industry-informed curriculum, this future-focused MA combines computing and media and communications to reflect digital journalism at its most current.
Imagine getting your work recognised by Tim Berners Lee, having your project featured in the The New York Times, or winning the Guardian’s student digital journalist awards. These are the kinds of things that happen on this dynamic programme.
From delivering news on wearables, to the latest developments in live reporting, the questions we ask are informed by an industry panel featuring the heads of digital at organisations including The Guardian, the Financial Times, and the BBC. We want to define the transformative nature of digital journalism so we explore critical and entrepreneurial approaches and get hands-on, experimenting with the latest journalistic innovations.
It’s really important for us that you graduate with a set of core digital journalism skills so half of the degree focuses on the computing side of the discipline and half on media and communications. This means you get a holistic MA, where you study the foundations of digital journalism and practise it in its most current forms.
You’ll have the chance to study multimedia and interactive journalism, look at interactive documentaries, digital reporting, and video journalism. You’ll also learn coding, so you can get to grips with using algorithms and data sets, and do social network analysis to monitor what’s going on behind the screens.
Through our partnerships with BBC news labs and The Times’ development team, we make sure we’re keeping up with industry but also working with it.
We want you to reimagine the medium while you’re here, so you get the chance to specialise in your own area of interest for your final project. This could be anything from an interactive website to a video production using interactive story telling and text. We offer a lot of support when it comes to the coding side of the course. A boot camp before the start of the programme gives you an introduction to some of the techniques and languages.
What you go away with are the core skills for news writing, video, and computational techniques and some amazing industry contacts.
Students without a technical background will be encouraged to take our pre-session Digital Bootcamp in September to gain a basic literacy in digital fundamentals, and to get to know fellow students.
The degree consists of modules taught by both departments in a truly interdisciplinary and collaborative style.
You will study the following core modules:
You are required to undertake and pass every element of the programme. Each module is individually assessed using a variety of provisions including digital projects, written work, and exam.
Our graduates have gone on to work within diverse roles from delivering communications for UNICEF in Bangladesh, to creating content for Rolling Stone magazine in New York.
Find out more about skills and careers at Goldsmiths
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Create your own story at the University of Hertfordshire’s School of Creative Arts!
