The Media and Development MA is an interdisciplinary course that teaches main theories, concepts, case studies and practical media skills around the theme of media and development and its implications for less developed countries. The course will provide you with a unique blend of theory and practice teaching, aimed at deepening your knowledge of the history of communications within the development process of emerging economies. It will critically evaluate the impact of international and regional institutions from a critical political economic perspective. Teaching by academic staff, guest lecturers and other carefully selected staff from development organisations will provide you with an overview of the policies, actions and impact of state and non-state institutions within the area of communication media and development.
A distinctive feature is its emphasis on the practical role of communication media in development. You will participate in media production workshops and take part in our internship programme, offered in partnership with media and development organisations in London. As part of the work experience module, students participate in an extensive NGOs and media seminar series featuring experts and panel discussions. The work placement programme is in line with the University of Westminster’s strategy of nurturing of the critical practitioner.
The course team is led by Dr Winston Mano and includes Professor Daya Thussu, Professor Christian Fuchs, Professor David Gauntlett, Professor Naomi Sakr, Dr Anthony McNicholas, Dr Xin Xin, Dr Anastasia Kavada, Dr Maria Michalis, Dr Roza Tsagarousianou, Dr Tarik Sabry, Paul Majendie, Geoffrey Davies and Michaela O’Brien. Visiting Lecturers include Jackie Davies, founder and Director of the Communication and Development Network (C4D) (http://www.c4d.org), a community of professionals working in communication for development. As a peer network the C4D Network is aimed at communication for development practitioners plus allied development workers, donors, academics and communication experts from the BBC, UN and major development organisations. The joining criterion is an engagement in communication for development - either professionally or through academia. Students on the Media and Development MA have the option to join the C4D network and each can do a fellowship/internship with the network during the course.
The following modules are indicative of what you will study on this course.
Core modules
One Semester One module from the below:
Semester 1 (option modules)
One Semester Two module from the below:
Semester 2 (option modules)
We have strongly developed links with media and development organisations such as UNICEF, UNESCO, C4D, BBC Media Action, Internews Commonwealth Public Media Alliance.
Our large network of alumni keep our name and reputation alive in the industry.
Graduates apply for posts in development organisations based in London such as OneWorld, Oxfam, Save the Children, Red Cross, ActionAid, Panos, DfiD, Intermedia, BBC, Institute of War and Peace, Christian Aid and War on Want. Some students were able to build on knowledge, skills and their background in working for governmental, intergovernmental and non-governmental organisations (in Romania, Pakistan and India) and a range of international business organisations, including the BBC. The course also prepares students for further studies and for a higher degree, e.g., a PhD. Some students apply for PhD Scholarships advertised by the Faculty of Media, Arts and Design and they were all encouraged to join the Communication for Development Network (C4D) which meets once a month in London.
We are aware that the range of skills needed is exceptionally diffuse, and that students on the course hope to develop careers in a variety of fields in many different countries. We are also aware that we are preparing you for careers in a rapidly changing job market and the structure of the course allows you take advantage of change, and not to be its victim. It, therefore, would be misleading and unhelpful to place too much emphasis on acquiring a precise set of skills drawn from one part of the media and development sector. Finally, with a view to your professional development planning, the course is designed to give you a wide-ranging and critical knowledge of the development industry that you plan to enter.
Social Media, Culture and Society MA offers a flexible, interdisciplinary exploration of key contemporary developments in the networked digital media environment. It will benefit those seeking to develop their understanding of contemporary communication and its societal, political, regulatory, industrial and cultural contexts.
Social Media, Culture and Society MA provides students with the opportunity to focus at postgraduate level on:
This Master's is organised in the environment of the Communication and Media Research Institute (CAMRI) and its Centre for Social Media Research. CAMRI is a world-leading research centre that studies the role of media and communication in society. It has become known as the Westminster school of critical media and communication research. The analysis of social media, culture and society is one of its research specialisms. In the most recent UK government research audit, the 2014 Research Excellence Framework (REF), 42.2% of CAMRI’s research was classified as world-leading and 37.5% as internationally excellent, which makes it one of Britain’s four leading media and communication research institutions.
The following modules are indicative of what you will study on this course.
In semester one, students must select two elective modules from the two thematic groups below (any combination of modules is applicable):
In semester two, students must select two elective modules from two thematic groups below (any combination of modules is applicable):
More information on modules and groups to which they belong to can be found below.
Core modules (semester one)
Option modules (Semester One)
Core modules (Semester Two)
Optional modules (Semester Two)
The Social Media, Culture and Society MA will benefit those seeking to develop their understanding of contemporary communication and its social, political and cultural contexts. This degree will be of particular interest to those who plan to work in the creative industries, as well as those already working in this field. Social Media, Culture and Society MA will also be of interest to students working in non-profit sectors, including NGOs and advocacy groups. The degree will help those seeking a competitive edge in a careers market that values high-level skills in communication, research and critical thinking.
The course also provides an excellent preparation for those wishing to continue their studies to PhD level. Around 10% of graduates of the course are now undertaking PhDs. Others work in the social media start-up scene in London, or work as journalists and in a range of industries and non-profit sectors.
The course is designed for recent graduates seeking a career in traditional and new media organisations. It provides a combination of business and media skills designed to equip you to take up an entry-level position in today’s media organisations.
You will learn how media organisations are engaging with the challenges resulting from the emergence of digital media technologies and platforms. The course introduces you to the processes by which media organisations develop their corporate strategies, business plans, marketing and production operations as they respond to radical change in the commercial environment.
The course is designed to enable you to find and take up work placements and internships at media organisations in London during the course of your studies. Our students have successfully completed internships at TV production companies like the BBC, technology companies like Google, as well as many other multimedia, advertising and news organisations in London. Some have successfully started their own businesses in the UK.
Whether you are planning a career in a media organisation or seeking to create your own new business start up, the MA International Media Business aims to provide the analytical insight, operational knowledge and planning skills you will need to prosper. The course is taught alongside a suite of Masters courses in Westminster’s highly successful Centre for Creative Industries Management.
The following modules are indicative of what you will study on this course.
Core modules
Optional modules (Semester 1)
Optional modules (Semester 2)
International Media Business students have gone on to work for many social media business including Facebook, Youtube, Google as well as traditional media firms like Sky, Disney and Bloomberg. They have also worked as creatives and digital content producers for small and large business including Land Rover, AEG and BSI Global. Others have continued their education at PhD level.
This course is ideal if you wish to pursue media, communications and cultural inquiry in order to develop a media-based career.
On this course you will cover all aspects of media, communications and cultural studies, from exploring cultural theories and concepts such as Marxism, post-Marxism, feminism, psychoanalysis, post-colonialism and globalisation, to the developments and debates around media and cultural industries such as TV, film, print media and the internet. You will analyse the politics of identity in the context of media and cultural representations, especially in the changing media and web landscape.
You’ll be taught by staff who have strong research profiles with publications in the area of cultural studies theory, culture and politics, tabloid culture, reality television, psychoanalysis, television history and industry, the globalisation of media and culture, contemporary trends in the television industry, as well as travel writing.
You will become a member of the Centre for Research in Film and Audiovisual Cultures (CRFAC), giving you access to a diverse programme of research seminars, symposia and special events organised in collaboration with institutions such as the British Film Institute. Your studies are complemented by visiting lectures given by media and cultural industry professionals such as film makers and scholars from other institutions.
Roehampton's location in London is ideal for media and culture students as you can take advantage of your location by immersing yourself in the wealth of creative cultural institutions and media companies that the capital has to offer, unrivalled by any other city in the UK.
On the course, you will gain an in depth understanding of the role of the media in everyday life, and of its relation to culture and formations of identity and subjectivity.
You will be introduced to, and evaluate, a number of influential and important communication theories and concepts associated with the public sphere, globalisation, promotional culture, media organisations and new media, as well as discourse analysis.
You will engage with the politics of identity in the context of media and cultural representations and explore debates around social difference through a consideration of various defining conditions including gender, class, ethnicity, history, nationality, sexuality, taste and consumer choices.
You will also explore the representation of social reality and the social self in both mass and new media. By focusing on a range of non-fiction formats including reality television, ‘unscripted’ video, user-generated content and the development of the social web, you will address established and newer scholarly debates concerning ‘truth telling’, confession, surveillance and the production of knowledge about the self and its place in the world.
You’ll end the year by undertaking a dissertation or research project which will give you the opportunity to deepen your research skills and knowledge about a topic of particular interest to you.
Some of the modules we currently offer include:
Compulsory and Required modules
Compulsory and/or required modules may change when we review and update programmes. Above is a list of modules offered this academic year.
Optional modules
Optional modules, when offered as part of a programme, may vary from year to year and are subject to viability.
The MA helps students prepare for successful careers in communications and the cultural industries including film, journalism and publishing. Students may opt to do media research or further academic study.
This is an exciting and highly innovative course (developed in collaboration with the Media Diversity Institute) that seamlessly combines theory and modules providing or containing hands-on practical training in journalism or campaigning and public relations related to social and cultural diversity.
The course will give you the opportunity to study and research the main ways in which social scientists analyse the role of the mass media in the social construction, representation and understanding of difference and social diversity and get a critical understanding of the social and media structures and journalistic practices that impact upon these processes. It will also equip you with practical skills that will enable you to produce your own media product on a topic related to social and cultural diversity.
The course combines a portfolio of theory modules aimed to develop your knowledge and critical understanding of the processes of managing and making sense of cultural diversity, key issues in intercultural communication and of various aspects of the sociology of news with a number of practice-oriented modules intended to give you first hand experience in the practice of inclusive journalism.
Drawing upon this unique combination of rigorous theoretical engagement and specialist practical training, this course is designed to equip you with a comprehensive conceptual/theoretical grounding and the practical skills to engage in responsible media coverage of diversity, to practice culturally informed and inclusive journalism and to develop a career (whether practical, strategic, or research-based) involving understanding and responding to the challenges of social diversity.
Our teaching staff are highly experienced academics and journalism professionals with expertise in inclusive journalism.
Extra accreditation: In addition to your final degree, upon successful completion of certain module components or additional work you can be awarded study certificates by external accrediting bodies such as the Broadcast Journalism Training Council and Adobe.
Practical work experience: In addition to their programme of studies, we work hard to ensure that MA Diversity and the Media students are offered opportunities to gain valuable experience with media and NGOs whose work is relevant to their programme of studies and enhances their employability after graduation. We have established partnerships with the Media Diversity Institute, TAG International Development and The Prisma/The Multicultural Newspaper which offer paid or unpaid internships that give our students the opportunity to work in the UK or overseas or to contribute to the production of media content. In the past our students have also gained experience by participating in the Pearson Diversity Summer Internship Programme and other similar schemes. We place particular importance to such opportunities as these help our students to build upon their academic and practical work and further develop the skills that will enable them to embark on their chosen careers.
Hands-on media training: In addition to the accredited curriculum, the MA includes a number of training sessions in the use of cameras, sound and editing as well as in the Adobe Creative Suite.
The course offers two study routes to suit your future plans: You can choose one of two routes for the award: the Dissertation Route or a Practice Route culminating in a final project.
The following modules are indicative of what you study on this course.
Semester 1 (core modules)
Semester 1 (optional modules)
Semester 2 (core modules)
Semester 2 (optional modules)
This course is designed to attract a mix of new graduates, often with a media-related degree or work experience, and people who have already worked in journalism, but want to enhance their understanding of social diversity and their skills in the area of inclusive journalism. It is suitable for existing media professionals that want to reflect on their practice as journalists, as well as students who want to pursue a career in the media, national and local government, IGOs and NGOs or who intend to embark on a relevant research/academic career. It will be a valuable asset for civil servants and local authority staff, NGO workers working on immigration, equality, social inclusion and cohesion and community regeneration whose duties involve communication and media work.
We welcome proposals for research in any area connected with media, communications, digital media, cultural theory and practice.
We give priority to those with proposals for research within the areas of interest of our staff.
Research degrees in this department have two elements:
Supervisors and their students form loose research teams, sometimes on a joint basis with another group. When you apply, please indicate your intended research area and any preference for a particular supervisor.
You'll be assessed by a thesis and viva voce.
Find out more about research degrees at Goldsmiths.
Having celebrated its 35th anniversary in 2013, Goldsmiths’ Department of Media and Communications is one of the oldest and largest media departments in the UK. It is also unique in its diversity of approaches to, and articulations of, the disciplinary conjunctures around media and culture.
The department has equal research strengths in media and communications and in cultural studies research, in humanities and in social sciences approaches, and in theory- and practice-driven work. Its work spans a wide range of topics and modes of enquiry – from philosophical studies of technology and human life to sociological investigations of media production and use; from issues of identity, embodiment and becoming to post-feminism, queer theory and critical race studies; from global screen studies and transnational investigations of media and culture to news’ role in contemporary democracy.
The Department’s research falls into five main strands which make up our research groupings:
(1) Media and Democracy: building on the work of the Leverhulme programme on the media’s contribution to democracy, including the changing nature of journalism and political communication; studying globalisation in relation to issues of diaspora and nationhood
(2) Economy, Culture and Communication: investigating communication and discourse in finance and financial media; everyday representations and understandings of the economy and economic life; creative labour, neoliberalism and organisational practices in the arts and cultural industries; the impact of the promotional professions (branding, PR, marketing) on the economy, culture and society
(3) Media Futures: bringing together humanities and social sciences approaches to understanding the changing role of media technologies and global media flows in society, economy and science
(4) Gender, Feminism and Contemporary Cultures: connecting the long tradition of work within the Department on culture, representation, embodiment and affect to its specific strengths in gender, race, sexuality and labour in national and international contexts
(5) Screen Cultures and Media Arts: consolidating the long-standing focus on screen cultures within the Department, as concentrated within the Leverhulme programme, combined with an exploration of media arts such as photography, video, digital imagining, sound and performance.
Many of the projects undertaken within the Department are collaborative in nature - such as the work conducted under the umbrella of Goldsmiths Leverhulme Media Research Centre, funded with a 2006 Leverhulme grant to study the design and significance of various contemporary media spaces. Members of the Department have also received funding from AHRC, British Academy, British Council, Carnegie Trust UK, Council for British Research in the Levant, ESRC, EPSRC, Guggenheim Foundation, Higher Education Academy, Hong Kong Research Grants Council, JISC, London Centre for Arts and Cultural Exchange, Media Trust and Open Society Foundation.
As well as working on collaborative projects, members of the Department have published many books with high-impact international presses, on a diverse range of topics: affect and emotion, artificial intelligence, bioethics, the body and experience, branding, broadcasting, democracy, film history, the future of journalism, media geographies, the mediation of power, post-feminism, postcolonial politics, sound and video cultures.
Members of the Department edit leading academic journals, including Body and Society, Culture Machine and its sister project, Photomediations Machine), Global Media and Communication, International Journal of Cultural Studies, Subjectivity and photographies.
Find out more about research in the Department of Media and Communications.
We aim to develop students who are able to express themselves creatively and self-critically in theoretical and/or practice work. You'll develop research skills, presentation skills, an understanding of the workings of the media and their broad cultural and social impacts and an understanding of the pleasures of media consumption.
Visit our website for more information on fees, scholarships, postgraduate loans and other funding options to study Media Studies at Swansea University - 'Welsh University of the Year 2017' (Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2017).
A research degree in Media Studies gives you the chance to pursue a project based around your own passions and interests in Media Studies, leading to a qualification which can open the door to an academic career or boost employment prospects outside academia (in the private sector, the Civil Service, or education).
The Media Studies research programme will give you the freedom to explore a topic of your own choosing in Media Studies and develop a methodology under the close supervision of two experienced academics but without attending regular classes as required in taught programmes.
As a student enrolled on the MA by Research in Media Studies, you will be supervised closely by two experienced academics in your field. Typically, you will meet them fortnightly in the first term and at regular intervals thereafter. Meetings are logged and goals agreed each time.
All research students including those of Media Studies are required to attend skills and training courses at College and Institutional level. They give presentations to other research students and staff at departmental seminars and the annual departmental postgraduate symposium in June and the College of Arts and Humanities conference in October. Advanced research students may have opportunities to teach undergraduate tutorials and seminars. You have a budget (currently £200 per year) to attend conferences outside Swansea.
MA by Research in Media Studies degree typically lasts from one year (full-time study) to two years (part-time study).
The MA by Research in Media Studies is ideal for those who want:
- an MA qualification in niche areas where taught programmes are not offered;
- the experience of a research degree without committing to a PhD.
Research proposals are invited on any topic in Media Studies for which staff can provide supervision. It is advisable to email a member of academic staff in the appropriate area before applying.
For informal enquiries regarding the MA by Research in Media Studies please contact Professor Julian Preece ([email protected]).
We have expertise in a number of areas within Media Studies:
• Film studies, in particular European Cinema and Hollywood;
• Global media and international communication;
• Digital media and social activism;
• Migration and communication;
• Digital media and the history and philosophy of technology;
• Baudrillard and postmodernism;
• McLuhan and the Toronto School.
The Master of Research (MRes) degree prepares you for study at MPhil/PhD level.
We welcome proposals for research in any area connected with media, communications, and cultural theory and practice.
The programme combines taught modules in research methodology with a 20,000-word dissertation, and offers advanced-level training to appropriately qualified students.
We give priority to those with proposals for research within the areas of interest of our staff.
You will be assessed through your research dissertation, and a portfolio of two essays.
Having celebrated its 35th anniversary in 2013, Goldsmiths’ Department of Media and Communications is one of the oldest and largest media departments in the UK. It is also unique in its diversity of approaches to, and articulations of, the disciplinary conjunctures around media and culture.
The Department has equal research strengths in media and communications and in cultural studies research, in humanities and in social sciences approaches, and in theory- and practice-driven work. Its work spans a wide range of topics and modes of enquiry – from philosophical studies of technology and human life to sociological investigations of media production and use; from issues of identity, embodiment and becoming to post-feminism, queer theory and critical race studies; from global screen studies and transnational investigations of media and culture to news’ role in contemporary democracy.
The Department’s research falls into five main strands which make up our research groupings:
(1) Media and Democracy: building on the work of the Leverhulme programme on the media’s contribution to democracy, including the changing nature of journalism and political communication; studying globalisation in relation to issues of diaspora and nationhood
(2) Economy, Culture and Communication: investigating communication and discourse in finance and financial media; everyday representations and understandings of the economy and economic life; creative labour, neoliberalism and organisational practices in the arts and cultural industries; the impact of the promotional professions (branding, PR, marketing) on the economy, culture and society
(3) Media Futures: bringing together humanities and social sciences approaches to understanding the changing role of media technologies and global media flows in society, economy and science
(4) Gender, Feminism and Contemporary Cultures: connecting the long tradition of work within the Department on culture, representation, embodiment and affect to its specific strengths in gender, race, sexuality and labour in national and international contexts
(5) Screen Cultures and Media Arts: consolidating the long-standing focus on screen cultures within the Department, as concentrated within the Leverhulme programme, combined with an exploration of media arts such as photography, video, digital imagining, sound and performance.
Many of the projects undertaken within the Department are collaborative in nature - such as the work conducted under the umbrella of Goldsmiths Leverhulme Media Research Centre, funded with a 2006 Leverhulme grant to study the design and significance of various contemporary media spaces. Members of the Department have also received funding from AHRC, British Academy, British Council, Carnegie Trust UK, Council for British Research in the Levant, ESRC, EPSRC, Guggenheim Foundation, Higher Education Academy, Hong Kong Research Grants Council, JISC, London Centre for Arts and Cultural Exchange, Media Trust and Open Society Foundation.
As well as working on collaborative projects, members of the Department have published many books with high-impact international presses, on a diverse range of topics: affect and emotion, artificial intelligence, bioethics, the body and experience, branding, broadcasting, democracy, film history, the future of journalism, media geographies, the mediation of power, post-feminism, postcolonial politics, sound and video cultures.
Members of the Department edit leading academic journals, including Body and Society, Culture Machine and its sister project, Photomediations Machine), Global Media and Communication, International Journal of Cultural Studies, Subjectivity and photographies.
Recent Research Projects
The Department of Media and Communications aims to develop students who should be able to express themselves creatively and self-critically in theoretical and/or practice work.
You'll also develop:
Find out more about employability at Goldsmiths.
From analysing the theories of intellectual heavyweights such as Foucault and Bourdieu, to unpicking a global campaign, explore the hinterland between the big three promotional professions and the media and society on this innovative MA.
Right now the roles within public relations, advertising and marketing are converging. So this MA isn’t about studying ads – it’s about becoming a professional who can understand the dynamics of power that exist between these professions, and critically intervene in today’s media landscape.
At its core this masters looks at how we can better serve society by improving communications across these disciplines, and how we can develop as professionals who can adapt within a challenging media world. You’ll learn how to reflect on the intellectual theories of the past and apply them to the present, so you plan the first decade of your career.
We want you to understand the power struggles that exist between these three professions so we look at public relations, advertising and marketing as inter-related disciplines, drawing on theoretical and professional debates around issues such as globalisation and homogenised consumption. We also discuss current industry expectations looking at the crossovers that exist between creativity, management and strategy.
We’ll tackle some of the big things that are changing when it comes to the way the world works - aspects such as globalisation, the control of knowledge, digital technologies, and the way content is created. You’ll also get an introduction to media and cultural theory, which lies at the intersection between the promotional professions, media and society.
This is a theory-based programme, but it also offers vocational elements, so you can take practice-based options in subjects ranging from online journalism and social media campaigning, to design methods and media law and ethics. You'll also get the latest insights from industry professionals across a range of sectors through our visiting speaker series in the Spring.
We take fields such as sociology, anthropology media and cultural studies to understand how public relations, advertising and marketing get together, where they overlap and where the tensions lie. This means we might take an anthropological perspective on how the promotional professions work together to develop a product – not just in terms of its messaging – but in terms of how it was conceived and came to market in the first place.
It’s important to mention that this isn’t a business studies-style MA; it’s a rigorous, academic programme investigating promotional workers and their use of media in today’s campaigns and debates.
Throughout the core components of the degree, you'll examine the very wide range of ways in which public relations, advertising and marketing is represented in society, together with the skills and techniques enacted by practitioners in their day-to-day roles. You will be encouraged to develop your critical and analytical skills, but also to think creatively and become more confident in your aesthetic judgment.
Goldsmiths prides itself on its innovative and critical approach, and you will be encouraged to immerse yourself in its wider intellectual environment in order to deepen your understanding of the cultural infrastructure surrounding branding and promotional media.
Core modules
Option modules
We offer a wide range of option modules each year. Below are some examples of modules that are currently running. For a full list, please contact the Department of Media and Communications.
The MA is assessed primarily through coursework essays and written projects. Practical modules may require audiovisual elements to be submitted. It will also include a dissertation of approximately 12,000 words.
From account executives to digital copywriters and from product managers to media planners and sponsorship coordinators, our graduates enhance their careers by working across disciplines, across countries, and across everything from social media and content generation, from sponsorship and events marketing, to corporate communications or government communications.
Find out more about employability at Goldsmiths.
Create your own story at the University of Hertfordshire’s School of Creative Arts!
Architecture, Humanities and Computing. Apply now to join the top university in London for student satisfaction!
