Media and Communication – (M.A.)

The Media and Communication MA is designed for those who want to gain a sophisticated insight into the role and function of media in contemporary society.
The course focuses on:

* the centrality of modern media forms and practices in our daily communication; and
* the ways in which they facilitate and constrain the way we communicate with each other.

What will you study? Core modules offer a comprehensive grounding in the theoretical and empirical approaches to studying media institutions, texts and communication practices. Alongside these, optional modules examine various media industries and communication practices within their historical, economic, political and social contexts.
Optional modules include those addressing:

* how the economics of European media have been affected by trends towards the internationalisation and globalisation of markets, the concentration of corporations and technological developments;
* the social factors that have shaped the debates on regulation and censorship in various political and cultural contexts; and the implications of those debates not only in terms of the consumption of media texts, but also in terms of political power;
* the main theoretical debates surrounding the interdisciplinary study of intercultural communication and the wider issues surrounding the complex notions such of culture, communication, identity and otherization;
* the key characteristics that define digital media, as well as the history of ideas surrounding technological advances;
* political communication - through an in-depth examination of government forms of political communication, such as spin, campaigning and censorship; how the media and NGOs, for example, use political communication; and new and/or alternative forms of political communication, such as blogs, citizen journalism and political violence; and
* the structure of 'New Hollywood' as a social, cultural and commercial institution.

The wide range of optional modules will enable you to specialise within this broad field in areas that interest you and that you find most relevant for your planned future career.