By exploring the ways in which media and everyday life are intertwined, the programme addresses broader questions of modernity and social change, ranging from experiences of everyday space, time and mobility, to the impacts of media on self and identity, how we access, ‘store’ or remember the past, and the broader environmental, infrastructural and social impacts of digital technologies.
Informed by cutting-edge research in the field of cultural, media and communication studies, the programme is widely interdisciplinary in scope, drawing on perspectives from disciplines such as cultural studies, anthropology, visual culture, philosophy, cultural geography, urban studies, games and memory studies.
The programme is built around three core modules which focus on:
- The study of contemporary media together with past forms of media, in order to a) understand the historical origins or predecessors of today’s media, and b) to understand how media change is produced, experienced and negotiated.
- Reflexive analysis of media as forms of everyday social and cultural practice, in order to get a better understanding what it is we do with everyday media technologies in social and urban worlds that are becoming increasingly mediatised.
- Research methods and approaches used in the study of media, culture and everyday life.
You will develop skills that directly enhance employability, including applying critical thinking skills, giving presentations, plus data management, problem-solving, team-working and research design and implementation.
You'll be able to pursue your own specific research/study interest in media, culture and everyday life via a 12,000-15,000 word dissertation and by choosing from a range of masters-level module options offered by the Department and wider School.
Why Communication and Media at the University of Liverpool?
Active Research Community
The Department of Communication and Media employs around 35 permanent staff who work on a wide range of interdisciplinary research on topics including: digital and social media; political communication and journalism; media history and theory; film and screen; strategic communication; cultural studies and cultural anthropology; photography; computer games; television and magazines; global entertainment, and global events. We have a strong specialism in issues of social media, screen studies, media and everyday life, and gender and sexuality, notably LGBTQ+ inclusivity across television, film, magazines and online media. Another key specialism is multimodal and critical discourse analysis, making use of large datasets and new computational and machine learning techniques to analyse communication patterns across digital platforms.
Our six master's courses draw on the expertise of our staff research groups and research centres: the Culture, Space and Memory research group and the Centre for Culture and Everyday Life (CCEL) house cultural/anthropological research around memory and material cultures, photography, everyday life, media arts, mega-events and the spatial humanities, and partners with cultural organisations such as museums and galleries; the Discourse, Data and Society research group and the Language, Data and Society (LANDS) Research Centre bring together ground-breaking work in multimodal studies, artificial intelligence and data analytics with expertise in critical discourse studies, language and argumentation; the Media, Politics and Society research group and the Centre for Digital Politics, Media and Democracy (DigiPol) respond to urgent political challenges around the spread of misinformation and ‘fake news’, online harms, digital news audiences, democratic deliberation, human rights and climate change; and the Screen and Film Studies research group and the Centre for Converged Screen Media and Entertainment (COSME) boast an unusually comprehensive approach to film and screen that includes industrial and institutional aspects, stardom and performance, and encompasses Hollywood, American independent cinema, documentary, cult television, animation and virtual reality. There are also shared themes such as populism and politics, gender and sexuality, cultural labour, digital cultures and social inequalities, in addition to the Digital Media & Society Institute (DMSI) which brings together multidisciplinary teams of researchers to explore the role and impact of digital media in society today.
These research groups, research centres and the research institute provide the foundations for our vibrant and exciting research-connected master's programmes aimed at understanding contemporary issues in communication and media studies today. We host regular research seminars in which postgraduate students are encouraged to participate.
Liverpool
What better place to immerse yourself in the subject than Liverpool, a city with a reputation as a political and creative force, with a thriving production sector and a unique cultural heritage? The Department has close links to cultural industries and venues in the city, some of which collaborate with us in offering assessed work placements as part of our programme of study.