MA Global Media and Communications

Mode of Attendance: Full-time or Part-time

The MA Global Media and Communication is unique in that it offers a critical appraisal and critique of Western Media and Communication theories and approaches through focusing on the complex specificities of Asia, Africa and the Middle East and their diasporas. Drawing on the grounded expertise of staff, it offers a specialised study of the global media environment in relation to Asian, African and Middle Eastern societies and cultures, together with rigorous training in and questioning of contemporary media and communication theory.

We ask what concerns and hopes the people of the regions we study have; how should we address comparatively the global role of mass and digital media in contemporary politics and conflict, as well as processes of exclusion, inequalities, development, participation and empowerment. By considering how, where and by whom media is produced, consumed and used, students develop advanced knowledge and understanding of the theoretical, methodological and empirical issues involved in the analysis of non-western media and communications within historical and contemporary contexts. Students will address alternative ways to situate mediated articulations of agency and subjectivity in non-Western contexts through engaging with various texts challenging the hegemonic claims of mainstream Western media theory that insists the rest of the world subscribe to a narrow exclusive vision of the world.

The SOAS MA Global Media and Communication will appeal to students with a variety of backgrounds and objectives:

• those coming from a media or journalist background who wish to engage more deeply with global media and communication theory in relation to regional specialisation, especially, but not exclusively, the societies of Asia, Africa and the Middle East;
• those coming from Asian, African or Middle Eastern Studies who wish to incorporate the study of global media and communication into their own areas of expertise; and
• those having previously trained in other disciplines, such as anthropology, politics, international relations, Religious Studies, History, etc.
• those wishing to pursue further study through doctoral research.

Please note that not all optional modules are available every year.

Structure

Students must take 180 credits comprised of 120 taught credits (including core, compulsory and option modules) and a 60 credit, 10,000-word dissertation. All students must take the core modules in addition to Qualitative Research Methods in Media and Communication.

Further options include a wide range of media and media-related courses from a comprehensive list offered by the Centre for Global Media and Communication and other constituent units in the School of Interdisciplinary Studies. All courses are assessed via written assignments.

• Modern Film from Taiwan and the Chinese Diaspora (PG)

Dissertation

• Dissertation in Media Studies

Taught Component

Core Modules

All students will take the following core modules:

• Topics in Global Media and Communication
• Theoretical Issues in Global Media and Communication

Compulsory Module

All students will take the following compulsory module:

• Qualitative Research Methods

Guided Options

All students will take modules to the value of 30 credits from List 3 below

and

Modules to the value of 45 credits from List 4

List of modules (subject to availability)

List 3

• Media Studies
  • International Political Communication
  • Mediated Culture in the Middle East: Politics and Communications
  • Studies in Global Digital Cultures
  • Studies in Media, Information Communication Technologies and Development
  • Theoretical Approaches to International Journalisms
  • Transnational Communities and Diasporic Media: Networking, Connectivity, Identity
  • Podcasting
  • Prejudice, Conspiracy and Misinformation: Understanding Media in a Post-Truth Environment

List 4

• Cinemas of Asia and Africa
  • Japanese Post-War Film Genres and the Avant-Garde
  • Genders and Sexualities in South East Asian Film
  • Indian Cinema: Its History and Social Context
  • Indian Cinema: Key Issues
  • Modern Chinese Film and Theatre (PG)
  • (Post) Colonialism and Otherness in South East Asia on Screen
  • Censoring Japan: A Socio-Cultural History of Japanese Television
  • The Story of African Film: Narrative Screen Media in Africa
  • Modern Film from Taiwan and the Chinese Diaspora (PG)
• Social Anthropology
  • Culture and Society of China
  • Culture and Society of East Africa
  • Culture and Society of Japan
  • Culture and Society of South Asia
  • Culture and Society of South East Asia
  • Culture and Society of West Africa
  • Culture and Society of Near and Middle East
  • Anthropology of Development
  • Perspectives On Development
• Development Studies
  • Civil society, social movements and the development process
• Economics
  Please check with the module convenors about prerequisites.
• Politics
  • Government and politics of modern South Asia
  • Government and politics of modern South-East Asia
• Religions and Philosophies
  • Jewishness on Screen
• History of Art and Archaeology

Important notice

The information on the programme page reflects the intended programme structure against the given academic session.

Employment

A postgraduate degree in Media from SOAS gives students expertise in media, communications and film production within a global framework. It is a valuable experience that provides students with a body of work and a diverse range of skills that they can use to market themselves with when they graduate. Media and Film Studies students develop a portfolio of transferable skills which employers seek in many professional and creative capacities including communication skills, interpersonal skills, teamwork, flexibility and dedication. Department graduates have gone into a wide range of careers and to complete research degrees.

Graduates have gone on to work for a range of organisations including:

• Associated Press
• Breakthrough Breast Cancer
• British Film Institute
• Comic Relief
• Cordoba African Film Festival
• Discovery Communications
• European Commission
• Hackney Film Festival
• Institute of Ismaili Studies
• International Channel Shanghai
• Merlin
• Pfizer Pharmaceuticals
• Royal College of Art
• The Princess Royal Trust for Carers
• United Nations
• Zanan TV

Types of roles that graduates have gone on to do include:

• Research & Communications Manager
• Senior Publicist
• Teacher
• Events Manager
• Advisor
• Designer
• Journalist
• International Program Coordinator
• Creative Assistant
• Consultant
• Communications Officer
• Policy Advisor
• e-Learning Co-ordinator
• Director of Academic Studies
• Staff Writer
• Online Editor
• Public Information Officer
• Video Journalist
• Product Manager