MA Media Studies: Digital Cultures Maastricht University, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences

Digital technologies have transformed the ways we share and distribute information, understand the past, interact with each other and spend our leisure time. The digital world has changed the terms of engagement with areas as diverse as politics and culture: while it can function as a force for good in democratizing participation, production, and sharing, it can also be exploitative, introducing new forms of control and surveillance. As the digital world pervades all aspects of our lives, traditional media and analog culture are being reshaped in new and complex interrelationships. The master's programme in Media Studies: Digital Cultures (short MS:DC) combines theory and reflection with praxis and making. It will provide you with a wide skill set in digital tools and research methods to become both a media researcher and an active player in a wide range of industries and cultural and heritage organizations in today’s digitally-mediated world.

Why this programme?

This programme is unique in The Netherlands in that it combines digital media studies and digital humanities providing you with a thorough grounding in key theories, methods, user practices, and skills for a wide range of professions after your studies.

We provide you with opportunities to work, not simply on assignments, but on real-world problems and projects, often in team settings. We teach not only in a problem-based environment, but extend this to project-based learning. You will be trained to become both a media researcher and an active player in contemporary digital society. You will also develop expertise by investigating questions such as:

• How do new technologies affect the media landscape and society at large?
• How Web 2.0 approaches to the development of online content change user expectations and practices?
• Where do we draw the line between reality and the virtual world?
• What are the ethical, methodological, theoretical, and practical issues regarding the (re)presentation of the analog into the digital?

Skills training

The Media Studies: Digital Cultures programme also teaches you media and technology skills within contextualized, practice-based settings so you can be an active participant in the new media landscape. Under the guidance of our staff, you will:

• Create your own professional blog via course assignments throughout the year;
• Present research for a broader audience via the creation of digital collections, podcasts, and your blog;
• Work with international teams on research and production;
• Learn and put into practice design thinking and project management skills;
• Learn technologies to create 3D artifacts;
• Create a video documentary;
• Create an app-based soundscape.

International experience

Maastricht University is focused on the development of its international classroom, a place where our differences become our strengths. From day one, you will be challenged with differing viewpoints and experiences as you interact with staff and students from all over the world. Your worldview will be enhanced by this interaction, bringing you closer to the program’s goal of teaching students not only facts and concepts but also international accessibility and understanding. The Media Studies: Digital Cultures programme has always enjoyed great diversity. In the 2021/22 programme, 85% of our students came from abroad. Such diversity creates an international atmosphere that is strengthened by the international orientation of the program.

Master´s thesis and internship

All students will write a thesis in the second semester. You can decide whether to follow a more in-depth academic trajectory, focusing solely on your thesis, or choose an internship during which you will also conduct empirical research at your place of internship and write a shorter internship thesis. In this case, you would use your place of internship as your case study. Media Studies: Digital Cultures offers a particularly rich environment for internships – in radio, television, or film, or in the production of virtual magazines, websites, and music. Media Studies: Digital Cultures students have done internships in commercial companies, museums, art, and new media institutions, newspapers, and broadcasting companies.

Problem-Based Learning

As with many Maastricht University programs, the Media Studies: Digital Cultures master’s programme is taught using Problem-Based Learning (PBL). In tutorial groups of 12 to 15 students, you seek solutions to concrete ‘problems’ taken from situations involving current issues in media culture, such as citizen journalism, hacking, virtuality, sound technologies, sharing practices, and new spheres of discourse. Instructors act as facilitators, giving help as it is needed. This allows you to develop the independence and problem-solving skills that you will need in the field.

Thesis topics

Past thesis topics include:

• Mind the GAP: A critical examination of the collaboration between Google and museums in the Google Art Project.
• Artificial Intelligence Assistants and technomoral change.
• The tension between freedom of speech and freedom from harm.
• Participatory sound maps: From field, recording to sound art.
• Romantic love in the digital age: Interpersonal electronic surveillance and relationship visibility of Generation Y Facebook users.
• Managing social relationships through Whatsapp.

Internships

Students have done internships at:

• European Journalism Centre (Maastricht)
• VideoPower (Maastricht)
• Fashionclash (Maastricht)
• WDR Broadcasting (Cologne)
• Quest Media (Amsterdam)
• Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision (Hilversum)
• European Newspapers’ Publisher Association (Brussels)
• Many other places throughout the world

Premium honors programme

Want to gain that extra edge by getting real-world experience during your studies? The Premium honors programme will help you gain the experience and develop the skills employers are looking for. As part of a team of students and under the guidance of our academic staff, you’ll spend about three months working on a real-world assignment for a company, NGO, or educational institution. You'll also work on a personal development plan, receive intensive individual coaching, and attend masterclasses and workshops. All of this will take about 250 hours, but it will give you a lifetime of benefits.

Your mentors

Media Studies: Digital Cultures is a small programme of 30 to 35 students. This allows you to get to know your professors, who often operate more as mentors in our close-knit academic and creative community. Their doors are always open, and they enjoy getting to know you and your work. Our staff includes:

• Dr. Joeri Bruyninckx
• Dr. Ike Kamphof
• Dr. Costas Papadopoulos
• Dr. Jack Post
• Dr. Annika Richterich
• Dr. Vivian van Saaze
• Prof. Susan Schreibman, Programme Director
• Dr. Karin Wenz

Courses & curriculum

The master’s programme in Media Studies: Digital Cultures focuses on digital media and electronic technologies, and takes a close look at the effects they have on our current media landscape. You will investigate the ongoing transformations in media culture and develop the skills to participate in these innovations.

MA Digital Cultures regular

• Mentor meetings
• Real Virtualities
• Transformations in Digital Cultures
• Design Thinking and Maker Culture
• Machines of Knowledge
• Creating Digital Collections I
• Creating Digital Collections II
• Research Design

MA Digital Cultures Thesis

• Workshops supporting Thesis and Internship
• Thesis

MA Digital Cultures Internship

• Workshops supporting Thesis and Internship
• Internship
• Internship report
• Internship thesis

64% of the Media Studies: Digital Cultures students would recommend this programme to others: Elsevier 2019

Here are some of the highlights for the Media Studies: Digital Cultures programme:

• 82% of the students are satisfied or very satisfied with the examination
• 75% of the students are satisfied or very satisfied with the instructors
• 66% of the students are satisfied or very satisfied with the education

For more information, visit the Elsevier website.

Your future

As a Media Studies: Digital Cultures graduate, your thorough academic training and strong practical orientation prepare you for both a Ph.D. and the labor market. You’ll have a wide array of career paths to choose from.

Career prospects

The available alumni data show that 99% of our graduates are employed. As a Media Studies: Digital Cultures graduate you can look for work:

• As a manager, curator, or fundraiser at a cultural organization or art or new media institution;
• As a journalist, writer, editor, or producer at a news agency or media network;
• As a policy advisor, analyst, or researcher at a government agency or university;
• As a manager/social media consultant in the commercial or public sector;
• As a web designer, new media writer, or developer of digital content.

Companies and institutes where our alumni work:

• European parliament
• NATO
• Guardian News and Media
• European Journalism Center
• Philips
• Google

We provide you with opportunities to work, not simply on assignments, but on real-world problems and projects, often in team settings. We teach not only in a problem-based environment, but extend this to project-based learning. You will be trained to become both a media researcher and an active player in contemporary digital society. You will also develop expertise by investigating questions such as:

• How do new technologies affect the media landscape and society at large?
• How Web 2.0 approaches to the development of online content change user expectations and practices?
• Where do we draw the line between reality and the virtual world?
• What are the ethical, methodological, theoretical, and practical issues regarding the (re)presentation of the analogue into the digital?