Global Communication and Development MA

What you'll study

You will learn from the most influential thought leaders, pioneering researchers and creative innovators, exposing you to the latest theories and developments from across your discipline.

Modules

You must complete four core modules and four optional modules, as well as a dissertation which is worth 60 credits. At least one of your core modules must include Communication and Politics in North Africa and the Middle East, Network information and communications policy, Media Cultures of South Asia, or Media and Popular Culture in Latin America.

• Compulsory
• Optional

Critical Studies of Globalisation, Communication and Social Change

Critical Studies of Globalisation, Communication and Social Change

This module aims to introduce a critical perspective on the role of media and communication in a globalized and changing world. Theories of social change will be explored from the perspective of media and communication, including the place of traditional and new media technologies. Case studies will be used to illustrate a range of approaches to understanding and intervening in social change – including grassroots and emergent citizen led and top down and instrumental UN examples.

Dominant ideas of globalization and development will be explored, and contrasted with experiences of people from the Global South to enable you to explore broader debates on media, communication and social change. The role of Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs) in development and the ‘digital divide’ will be examined. The module will draw all of this together to explore ways in which media and communication can play a role in global initiatives such as the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals, particularly their emphasis on social accountability.

Learning outcomes

On successful completion of the module, you should be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:

• Concepts, debates and case studies related to globalization, media, communication and social change
• A selected range of critical concepts with application to the analysis of media and communication in a globalized and changing world
• The impact of media and communication on practices and experiences of social change and their role in the global development agenda

Assessment

• Group presentation (20%)
• Essay (80%)

Researching Media Industries

Researching Media Industries

Lectures will include teaching on topics such as:

• Approaches to media and creative industries research
• Standardised questionnaire design
• Methods of sampling
• Document-based research
• Conducting qualitative interviews
• Analysing quantitative data using SPSS
• Analysing qualitative data through thematic analysis
• Developing multi method research strategies

The aim of this module is to familiarise all students with a range of methodologies for the analysis of structure, operation and output of media and cultural industries.

Learning Outcomes

On completion of this module, you should be able to:

• Analyse a range of methods applicable to the study of media and creative industries, cultural texts and reception
• Situate particular social, textual and industry research methods in relation to other research practices
• Show through explanation and/or discussion the tensions that divide particular research methods and the benefits that can be derived from their combination
• Evaluate qualitative and quantitative data to appraise their wider analytical value and significance
• Link empirical findings to wider theoretical debates concerning creative industries, media production and reception
• Understand how to collect primary data
• Understand how to analyse data
• Know how to find and evaluate scholarly sources
• Be able to communicate effectively in speech and writing
• Synthesise scholarly and primary sources for use in argument
• Understand the relevance of research to media and creative industries
• Be able to conduct primary research relevant to media and creative industries
• Demonstrate skills in written and verbal communication that are relevant to this field (e.g. report writing)
• Be able to plan, organise and manage a self-directed piece of research, demonstrating independence, initiative and originality

Assessment

• 100% Coursework

Collaborative Project

Collaborative Project

With a multi-talented group of students you will work on a brief from a real company looking to solve a real social or business problem.

Together with your student team, you will research and build solutions to a business problem, supported by our project tutors, clients and staff. Previous clients include Foster + Partners, Speedo, The London Legacy Development Corporation as well as many other companies, start-ups and charities.

The Collaborative Project provides a means for you to engage in critical enquiry and to be exposed to project-based teamwork in multicultural and interdisciplinary settings. By undertaking this module, you will strengthen your cooperative and collaborative working skills and competencies, whilst raising your awareness and appreciation of cultural and disciplinary diversity and differences.

The Collaborative Project aims to provide you with a hands-on experience of identifying, framing and resolving practice-oriented and real-world based challenges and problems, using creativity and appropriate tools to achieve valuable and relevant solutions. Alongside the collaborative elements of the module, you will be provided with opportunities to network with stakeholders, organisations and corporations, which will give you the experience and skills needed to connect to relevant parties and potentially develop future employment opportunities.

Learning outcomes

On completion of this module, you will be able to:

• Work effectively in diverse and interdisciplinary teams
• Undertake and contribute towards a project-based development process
• Apply critical enquiry, reflection, and creative methods to identify, frame, and resolve issues and problems at hand
• Identify user and stakeholder needs and value creation opportunities, whilst collecting and applying evidence-based information and knowledge to develop appropriate insights, practices and solutions
• Identify, structure, reflect on key issues and propose solutions to problems in creative ways
• Enhance your appreciation for diversity and divergent individual and disciplinary perspectives
• Be able to provide structured, reflective and critical feedback to peers and other stakeholders
• Plan and execute a project plan including scope, resources and timing
• Effectively communicate ideas, methods and results to a diverse range of stakeholders
• Use multiple, state-of-the-art date media and technologies to communicate with collaborators
• Make informed, critical and reflective decisions in time-limited situations

Assessment

100% Coursework consisting of:

• 20% Group project proposal
• 20% Individual reflection
• 30% Final Project Report
• 30% Project deliverables to the client

Dissertation

Dissertation

The Dissertation module will equip you with the relevant skills, knowledge and understanding to embark on your own research project.

You will have the choice of three dissertation pathways:

1. A desk based research project that could be set by an organisation or could be a subject of the student's choice
2. A project that involves collection of primary data from within an organisation or based on lab and/or field experiments
3. An Internship within an organisation during which time students will complete a project as part of their role in agreement with the organisation (subject to a suitable placement position being obtained)

By undertaking a dissertation at master's level, you will achieve a high level of understanding in your chosen subject area and will produce a written thesis or project report which will discuss your research in more detail.

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this module, you should be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:

• The importance of project planning;
• The importance of a clear hypothesis or research question;
• The ethical implications of research;
• The relevant empirical data and methodologies for data collection or knowledge assimilation for the subject area;
• Methods of data analysis and their suitability for the intended data;
• The areas of expertise or publications of the major individuals or organisations in the subject or business area;
• The previous research or current knowledge in the specific subject or business area;
• Theoretical perspectives relevant to your chosen topic;
• The most effective methods of presentation for data or knowledge;
• Developing a clear, coherent and original research question, hypothesis or business problem in a suitable subject area;
• Synthesising relevant sources (e.g. research literature, primary data) to construct a coherent argument in response to your research question, hypothesis or business problem;
• Analysing primary or secondary data collected by an appropriate method;
• Critically evaluating data collected in context with previously published knowledge or information;
• Engaging in critical debate and argumentation in written work;
• Applying principles of good scholarly practice to your written work;
• Performing appropriate literature searching/business information searching using library databases or other reputable sources;
• Planning a research project and producing a realistic gantt chart demonstrating your intended timelines;
• Synthesising information from appropriate sources;
• Demonstrating rational use of research method tools;
• Selecting and using appropriate investigative and research skills;
• Demonstrating effective project planning skills;
• Finding and evaluating scholarly sources;
• Engaging in critical reasoning, debate and argumentation;
• Demonstrating effective report writing skills;
• Recognising and using resources effectively;
• Successfully managing a project from idea to completion;
• Demonstrating commercial awareness or the impact of knowledge transfer in a business or research environment

Assesement

100% Coursework consisting of:

• 20% Literature review
• 20% Research proposal
• 60% Dissertation report/essay

Media and Social Movements

Media and Social Movements

Our Media and Social Movements module will include teaching on the theories on "new" media, global media systems, legal and governmental frameworks, surveillance, social-movement, alternative media practices, and transnational capitalism.

The module introduces the issues around media and social movements, by tracing the theoretical evolution of media and social movements, understanding media within broader social movements in historical processes rather than merely focusing on media technologies or impact media. The model seeks to cover topics on control of media systems on different regions of the world, alternative media practices, anti-imperial protest, non-aligned movements and media and national sovereignty.

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of the module, you should be able to:

• Identify the theories and trends surrounding media and social movements
• Contextualise media within specific historical and political conditions
• Interrogate media systems in different regions of the word and their connection to people’s democratic struggles
• Understand debates surrounding new information technologies including social media and their relation to social change
• Explain how media systems are organised and structured
• Identify the links between current environmental and social issues and media technologies
• Understand the importance of media in geopolitical conflicts
• Identify and evaluate alternative media systems
• Assess material gathered from a range of academic and non-academic sources in order to develop a critical understanding of theories and practices
• Use material presented in teaching sessions, along with other sources, to produce an in-depth evaluation of an existing research study
• Evaluate methodologies used in academic research to develop new research questions or hypotheses for investigation
• Use critical perspectives to analyse emerging trends in media and social movements
• Design, implement and evaluate an original study in a topic relevant to the field
• Engage with major thinkers, debates and intellectual paradigms within the fields of media, communication and culture, critiquing and synthesising the insights gained in your own analytical work
• Analyse new and emerging trends and interrogate both common sense understanding and received wisdom in relevant areas of inquiry
• Discuss and evaluate transformations in digital media and their social, political, economic and cultural contexts and wield this understanding in appraising current patterns of development, such as cultural globalisation and media convergence
• Discuss their self-designed research and the issues it raises reflexively
• Gather, process, analyse and evaluate primary data
• Locate and critique relevant academic and non-academic sources
• Communicate effectively in speech and writing, with academic and non-academic audiences
• Engage in critical reasoning, debate and argumentation
• Manage time and resources effectively
• Synthesise different sources of data and identify key arguments and issues at stake in particular fields of practice
• Understand the impact of digital media on culture
• Understand emerging trends in digital media
• Apply skills in written and verbal communication that are relevant to this field
• Be able to plan, organise and manage coursework assignments, demonstrating independence, initiative and originality

Assessment

100% Coursework consisting of:

• 30% Report
• 70% Essay

Media and Popular Culture in Latin America*

Media and Popular Culture in Latin America*

The aim of this module is to examine the relationship of media and popular culture in Latin America and its impact in the rest of the world. This relationship between media and popular culture is deeply intertwined in processes of nation formation and global circuits of cultural production, which have become central forces of structural changes in Latin American society. The module will also look at the intersections of media and popular culture in connection with other historical processes like urbanization in the twentieth century, industrialization of nation states, and the social imaginaries created around them.

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this module you should be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:

• The role of media and popular culture in Latin America
• Concepts, debates and case studies related to popular culture and media in Latin America
• The impact of Latin American media productions in global circuits
• The relationship between popular culture, media and nation-states in Latin America

Assessment

• Essay (70%)
• Presentation (30%)

Communication and Politics in North Africa and the Middle East*

Communication and Politics in North Africa and the Middle East*

This module will provide you with a thematic and historical introduction to the emergence and usage of communications infrastructure and the media in North Africa and the Middle East. The main goal is to teach you about critical thought about culture, communications, the media, and politics in contemporary North Africa and the Middle East. The module will expose you to a wide range of technological practices, political struggles over communication lines and communication policies that have emerged in these regions.

North Africa and the Middle East are diverse in terms of ethnicity, religion, language and historical problems, as are their communications and media histories and practices. The module aims to give you a sense of how and why communications technologies (as infrastructures, tools, and social practices) have altered and/or influenced political and social organisations of life for different agents of society across these areas. The module considers the role of communications technologies in relation to the socio-political landscape of the region, by covering a broad range of tools from telegraphy in colonial times to the smart telephony of neo-liberal capitalism.

Learning outcomes

On successful completion of the module, you should be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:

• The core dynamics of the relationship between communications and politics in North Africa and the Middle East
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• The links between media and cities in different cultural contexts;
• The importance of media in...