Mediastudies

Want to understand how new media technologies are used to create innovative formats and ways of storytelling, and how media innovation and start-up culture are rooted in creative processes?

In this MA students explore how media are produced and (re-)used in a digital era. You study how new media technologies enable innovative formats and distinctive practices of media use, re-use and consumption. Key to this MA track is the insight that all innovation starts from creativity. Yet new start-ups in cultural and media production also need to balance commercial interest and creative drive. Students are invited to put academic knowledge into creative practice - building upon a profound understanding of how media industries have developed over time, how media genres evolve and how changing media (re-)use plays into economic, policy, organizational, labour and legal issues, including piracy, web streaming, and remixing of media content.

This MA programme offers a critical exploration of digital media within contemporary networked societies and trains students to work with (big) data in a responsible way.

Media platforms (including social media) have changed the fabric of everyday life and society. This has had important implications for how we inform ourselves, with whom we connect and in which ways, how we organize our daily lives, and how we perform as citizens. Besides increased access to information and connectivity, digital media have also increased divides in society and created new ones. Moreover, who can participate in the digital society depends on levels of literacy and critical understanding of the digital media that surround us. Knowledge of the ways these quickly emerging communication infrastructures are fundamentally transforming society is indispensable. At a time when intensive data-gathering and analysis is key for companies and governments, this MA programme's theoretical approach to social media, platforms and government technology – including their data-driven impact on society – helps students in understanding and reflecting on critical issues in order to respond to current societal transformations. From a practical perspective, students are trained to investigate data and digital technology in the context of social, political and economic change.

Are you passionate about news and do you want to report and analyze current affairs? Do you want to know why journalism is transforming so quickly nowadays?

This internationally oriented programme trains students from diverse parts of the world to become journalists, with in-depth academic knowledge in the field of Journalism Studies presented by journalism researchers and intensive training by experienced journalists, offering a solid foundation in the skills that are needed to succeed in journalism today.

Theoretical Journalism Studies courses enable students to reflect on the nature of journalism as a profession and stimulate critical thinking about the future of news reporting. You will study how journalism culture and developments in globalization, citizenship, politics and digital journalism interrelate, while learning how to apply appropriate research methods and theories in empirical academic research focused on understanding the field of journalism.

The English-taught Master's track in Journalism takes a year and a half and has a study load of 90 ECTS. In the first two semesters, students will take academic courses and practice journalism skills. During the third and last semester students work on their master's thesis. They either complete an internship with a news organization or choose to work on an extended thesis.