MA in Digital Culture and Communication


Choose this programme if you are interested in the theory and contexts of digital culture.

The MA in Digital Culture and Communication will help students better understand the contexts of digital media developments and the use of cultural data. This humanities-based approach to understanding digital culture draws upon historical and aesthetic perspectives, as well as practical training in digital methods to equip students to take up positions of creative leadership in digital sectors. The programme does not require students to have a background in information science, programming or mathematical competencies. The programme takes a humanist focus rather than emphasising the purely technological or sociological; cultural artefacts and organisations are the primary focus.

Digital culture refers to the emergence and use of information technologies (e.g. networked computers, personalised technologies, digital images and sound) and their relationship with the ways culture is created and consumed. This programme focuses in particular on the contexts of cultural data, by which we mean digital data about human culture and society, past and present, including ancient documents, artefacts and environments to present-day social media, digital arts and virtual worlds. Cultural data draws on a diverse range of digital and computational methods for its management, analysis and communication: from data standards, citizen science and web apps, to computational linguistics, machine learning and user-centred design. 

The programme will enable students to understand the ways digital technologies are transforming human experience and artistic and humanistic practices, in disciplines and organisations, the use and management of digital material and methodologies for culture and heritage, and provide links to museums and cultural organisations. It will provide students with the transferable skills and intellectual training to prepare them for a career in the information, media and communication sectors, the creative industries, and the cultural heritage sector (including galleries, libraries, archives, and museums), as well as providing an important preparation for those wishing to pursue doctoral research.

Core modules:

  1. Introduction to Digital Culture
  2. Managing Digital Projects
  3. Digital Culture and Data e-Portfolio

Optional modules:

  1. Introduction to Cultural Data
  2. Designing Cultural Data Products
  3. Language Analysis, AI and Culturomics

For further information please contact Dr Seth Mehl.