This programme's internationally acclaimed and comparative approach to the events, issues and debates of our times is particularly suited for those interested in exploring the bigger picture as well as the nitty-gritty of transformations in media and communications and their impact on culture, society and politics.Ê

Its cutting-edge and interdisciplinary approach to postgraduate learning, independent study, and life skills provides you with the analytical skills, conceptual knowledge and practical understanding of the real and imagined shifts that are taking place in Ð and through Ð the media industries, everyday life online and on the ground at home and abroad.Ê

TheÊGlobal Media and Transnational Communications, offered by Goldsmiths, University of London,Êattracts budding scholars, media practitioners, activists, and advocates from many regions, with a variety of educational and professional backgrounds.Ê

It's particularly suitable for those wanting to move their knowledge and analytical skills up a level for further study as well as for those who have experience of studying or working in the media and cultural sectors, non-profits and other third sector organisations, alternative media, the arts, grassroots and international advocacy and activism.Ê

The programme achieves these goals by:

  • exploring the challenges traditional media sectors face as news, entertainment, and services go global and converge on the web
  • critically studying the past, present, and future of the internet and information and communications technologies
  • examining changes to communicative cultures, media production, and services in a Ôpost-Web 2.0Õ context
  • thinking about how ordinary people, businesses, governments, and multilateral institutions (mis)use ICT
  • looking more closely at how local communities, governments, and transnational corporations look to influence media futures
  • researching differences in how people, cultures, and countries access and use media and communicate across borders
  • debating the implications of the digital divide, media censorship, and digital surveillance by governmental and commercial agencies
  • reading, watching, and hearing how artists, creative entrepreneurs, power elites and ordinary people respond to technological and social change

The Programme Director is Professor Marianne Franklin. Lecturers, guest speakers, and research students on this programme are affiliated to the Centre for the Study of Global Media and Democracy, the School of Mass Communications at Texas Tech University (USA), the United Nations Internet Governance Forum, Edinburgh Law School, Le Monde diplomatique, a number of international NGOs, activist and advocacy groups, international academic and media networks.

Careers

Graduates from this programme find work and excel in a number of domains:

  • national and global media corporations
  • government departments
  • global news & broadcasting
  • online media
  • PR and advertising
  • NGOs and non-profits
  • intergovernmental organizations
  • the entertainment industry
  • the arts and cultural sectors

Alumni have found work with the BBC world service, Globo corporation, Carnegie Foundation, European parliament and European Commission, CCTV, NBC, Google, Microsoft, NGOs (eg Greenpeace, Global Partners) and charities (eg Dementia UK), newspapers (eg in South Korea, Brazil, Slovenia, China), alternative media and advocacy networks, museums, theatres and art gallerires, online national and international media outlets (eg Chinese, indigenous Taiwanese), PR and marketing around the world.

Other alumni have continued on to PhD programmes, at Goldsmiths and elsewhere. Many have been successful in gaining research scholarships and funding to further their academic and practitioner careers.

The ethos of the department is one which looks to achieve a healthy balance between scholarly pursuits and practical skills; we look to develop all-round thinkers and doers who can Ð and do Ð contribute to the cultural and professional life of their communities and countries. Graduates from this programme excel in their analytical skills, range of knowledge, flexibility, and adaptability.Ê