University College London (UCL)
Digital Media: Critical Studies MA
London, United Kingdom
MA
DURATION
5 years
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Full time, Part time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
EARLIEST START DATE
Sep 2026
TUITION FEES
STUDY FORMAT
On-Campus
The Digital Media: Critical Studies MA is designed for those interested in exploring how digital technologies influence culture, society, and communication. It offers a flexible, interdisciplinary approach that combines theoretical analysis with practical insights. Students learn to examine digital media through various lenses, including political, social, and ethical perspectives. The program aims to develop critical skills and a deep understanding of digital media's role in shaping contemporary life. It encourages students to think about issues like media representation, user engagement, and the power dynamics within digital spaces.
Students in this program engage with a range of topics including media theory, digital culture, and technology’s societal impact. The curriculum emphasizes critical thinking and a reflective approach, helping students to analyze media practices and their broader implications. It also provides opportunities for independent research, preparing students for roles in media production, policy, or further academic study. The program supports those wanting to deepen their understanding of digital media’s influence and develop skills to contribute thoughtfully to ongoing debates in the field. Overall, it’s geared toward anyone curious about how digital media shapes and reflects our world today.
UCL Scholarships
There are a number of scholarships available to postgraduate students, including our UCL Masters Bursary for UK students and our UCL Global Masters Scholarship for international students. You can click the link below to search via the scholarships finder for awards that you might be eligible for. Your academic department will also be able to provide you with more information about funding.
External Scholarships
Online aggregators like Postgraduate Studentships, Scholarship Search, Postgraduate Funding and International Financial Aid and College Scholarship Search contain information on a variety of external schemes.
If you have specific circumstances or ethnic or religious background it is worth searching for scholarships/bursaries/grants that relate to those things. Some schemes are very specific.
Funding for disabled students
Master's students who have a disability may be able to get extra funding for additional costs they incur to study.
Teaching and learning
The programme is delivered through a blend of online and face-to-face lectures, seminars, meetings, and workshops. The lectures often lay the theoretical foundation for further in-depth reflection and application in seminar discussions and tasks as well as for online engagement with classmates and tutors. Students are expected to work independently by completing tasks and reading or viewing assigned materials in advance to classes or meetings. Our goal is to encourage independent, critical thinking and an inquisitive attitude towards digital media, its users, and the world. Our teaching methods are designed to support this goal.
Students are assessed by a mixture of written work, such as critical essays and reflexive journals, and oral work, such as presentations.
For full-time students, typical contact hours are around 6 - 8 hours per week in terms 1 and 2. Teaching is a mixture of lectures, seminars, workshops, tutorials, feedback, and the use of a Virtual Learning Environment. In addition to this, full-time students typically study a minimum 7 hours per week, per module, in self-directed study, plus, students would be required to commit additional time to preparing and completing coursework assignments.
In term 3 students will be completing their drafts and then the final assignments for both of their term 2 modules, and continuing their dissertation research, keeping regular contact with their dissertation supervisors into mid July (draft submission) and then completing the research, analysis and final writing up of their dissertation during August.
Modules
Full-time
The degree includes two compulsory modules (30 credits each); two optional modules (30 credits each); and a Dissertation (60 credits).
Part-time
You will follow one module per term over 2 years.
This includes:
- two compulsory modules (30 credits each, one of these taken in each Autumn term)
- two optional modules (30 credits each, one of these taken in each Spring term)
- and in year 2, a Dissertation (60 credits) starting in the Spring term.
Flexible
There is also an option for students to complete the MA over a period of time, between 2 years (part-time) and 5 years (flexible mode).
Compulsory modules
- Digital Media Theory
- Digital Media Enquiry
- Dissertation on Digital Media: Critical Studies
Optional modules
- Digital Games and Play
- Gender and Digital Media
- Critical Perspectives on Mobile Media
Please note that the list of modules given here is indicative. This information is published a long time in advance of enrolment and module content and availability are subject to change.
Students undertake modules to the value of 180 credits including compulsory and optional modules and write a dissertation (15,000 words) or report (7,500 words). Upon successful completion of 180 credits, you will be awarded an MA in Digital Media: Critical Studies.
What this course will give you
The Digital Media MA at IOE, UCL’s Faculty of Education and Society is one of the longest-established Media MAs in the UK. It is based at the UCL Knowledge Lab, a leading interdisciplinary centre whose mission includes researching digital media and developing digital technologies. Student will have an opportunity to attend a variety of academic events at the Lab and meet internationally known scholars and guests.
The Digital Media programme team belongs to the ReMAP research centre (Research in Media Arts and Play), and all team members are active researchers. The team's research experience directly informs the design and teaching of the MA. Students will learn from research-active academics who are leaders in their field, ensuring access to new and emergent research, knowledge and insights.
The foundation of your career
Graduates of this programme will acquire critical insights into digital media and digital cultures, including digital platforms, mobile media and digital games. They will gain experience of researching media texts, media audiences/users, and media technologies using reflexive, qualitative, and in-depth Media Studies and Cultural Studies approaches.
Employability
The Digital Media: Critical Studies MA will equip students with critical knowledge and skills to interrogate and study digital media texts, users, and cultures. The programme does not provide practical skills in content production, marketing, or artistic practice, but it does provide an excellent base for further postgraduate research or a broad range of careers in media and cultural sectors. Our recent graduates are working in areas such as research (for example as a PhD candidate), a variety of tasks related to social media, and cultural and educational institutions.
Networking
Students can make use of our team of experienced career professionals at UCL Careers to find the right path to ensure success in their future career.