Media and Communications MA

This new programme provides students with an advanced grounding in the social and political context of communications sociology, methodological approaches to researching the field, and advanced level discussion and debate of current media and communications debates. As well as offering a contemporary overview of the field taught by leading specialists, the course showcases the research work of the Department of Sociology and the ICS (International Communications and Society) research group. Contributors to the degree include leading international researchers such as Professors Kevin Robins, Howard Tumber, and Frank Webster, building on a tradition established by the pioneering work of Emeritus Professor Jeremy Tunstall.

The Department of Sociology is particularly strong in the range and density of options it can offer students doing this course. The course is well suited to individuals who wish to extend, deepen, update and sharpen their knowledge and understand current developments in media and communications, and to undertake an extended piece of original research. It covers the most significant recent developments in media and communications, enabling students to specialise in particular areas of interest, developing their critical skills and advancing their knowledge of media and communications.

Students will receive knowledge of the ways in which media and communications work, skills in critical social understanding and techniques of social enquiry and communication through varied teaching methods. The skills that students develop in research techniques will enable them to assemble, interpret and use a wide range of social data. They will also have the opportunity to develop transferable employment skills through group work, presentations and the use of computing technologies.