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 analogue into the digital?
This video gives you a short impression of the Master’s programme Media Studies: Digital Cultures. It contains interviews with the programme directors and students.
Students from the MA programme Media Studies: Digital Cultures digitised in 3D personal items that spoke to their experience of the Corona pandemic. These models were woven into digital stories that explore their experience from personal, cultural, and social perspectives.
What will you learn
In tutorial groups of approximately 15 students, you will seek solutions to tackle concrete, real-world issues, problems and scenarios in digital cultures. Topics such as user participation, hacking, net activism, virtuality, design thinking, maker culture, collaborative problem solving, digital storytelling and narratives, archiving, digital collections, 3D (re)creation, and sharing practices are explored. Teachers act as facilitators, providing assistance if needed allowing you to develop the independence and problem-solving skills that you will need in the field.
The programme has a broad and interdisciplinary theoretical foundation, focussing on five core disciplines:
- Media Studies
- Digital Humanities
- Philosophy of Technology
- Aesthetics
- Digital Sociology
The programme melds theory and digital research skills through a variety of modalities, including hands-on skills training, group projects, scenarios and case studies. You can further develop your professional skills if you choose to write your master’s thesis in combination with an internship.
Customise your programme
All students will write a thesis in the second semester. You can decide whether to follow a more in-depth academic trajectory, focussing solely on your thesis, or choose an internship during which you will also conduct empirical research at your internship provider and write a shorter internship thesis.
Students have done internships at:
- European Journalism Centre (Maastricht)
- Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision (Hilversum)
- EyeEm (Berlin)
- Fashion Clash (Maastricht)
- #dariahTeach (Maastricht)
Skills training
The Media Studies: Digital Cultures programme also teaches you media and technology skills within contextualised, 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 artefacts
- 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 programme’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. The 32 students in the 2021/2022 programme came from 13 different countries. Such diversity creates an international atmosphere that is strengthened by the international orientation of the programme.
Problem-Based Learning
As with many Maastricht University programmes, 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.
PREMIUM honours programme
PREMIUM is our Honours programme for high-performing master’s students. If selected, you will work in an interdisciplinary team on a project for a real client from the public or private sector (e.g. Cisco, DHL, EcoAct). Along with guidance from a project mentor, you will receive individual coaching focused on your personal and professional development. You will also attend several workshops and events designed to cultivate valuable knowledge and skills, as well as build a network that provides you with the best preparation possible for the job market.
Are you up for the PREMIUM challenge?
Programme highlights
- 46 students in the 2022/23 programme, with 24 different nationalities
- choice of academic thesis, or an internship with empirical research and a shorter internship thesis
- intensive coaching and accessible, committed staff
- connecting theory and practice
Your mentors
Media Studies: Digital Cultures is a small programme of 20 to 25 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 include:
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Reddit