Political Communication MSc

Communication has always been integral to politics and politics to communication but the interplay between them is changing dramatically in the social media age and as new forms of politics emerge in spaces as far afield as Trump’s America, Brexit Britain or Modi’s India. Such developments challenge at a global and national level the taken-for-granted assumptions about what is political and how we communicate it. The Political Communication MSc aims to tap into growing interest nationally and internationally in how to make sense of these developments and what they may mean for political communication professionals working in areas as diverse as election campaigns, PR and crisis communication, political satire, or journalism. 

The new interdisciplinary degree is unique in offering a strong practical strand of modules that aim to upskill you within a theoretically robust degree. The academic component of the degree aims to critically examine current developments but also locates them historically and within an internationalised curriculum. You will have the opportunity to take practical modules or theory-practical offering the potential to upskill in different types of writing, technical competencies and presentational elements on practical modules. 

The academic component is grounded in a flagship module in political communication which locates current developments historically, theoretically and critically as well as nationally and internationally. You will not only study conventional political communication topics on elections, but also learn about digital cultures, political satire and fake news. Crucially, in an age where facial recognition, AI, deep fakes and micro-behavioural targeting are creating new possibilities and challenges, you will also study international media ethics.

You will learn the theoretical roots underpinning political communication at a national and international level, and learn about the different forms of political communication;

• Traditional forms i.e. election campaigns, propaganda and PR, as well as what methods are used, how to analyse the effectiveness of a campaign and the importance of context to drawing up a communication strategy
• How different cultural forms including political satire, blogs and memes create and disrupt politics

You will also learn about seismic changes in the communication landscape and the new ethical issues arising from bots, AI and facial recognition technologies, and deep fakes.

This course can be studied 1 year full-time, starting in September.

The degree upskills those taking it with a range of critical, technical and communicative skills in demand with

• campaigning organisations (e.g. NGOs and advocacy, protest groups and movements, parties and members of parliament) looking for people who can strategise and shape content for clearly targeted audiences
• cultural industries keen to recruit graduates able to produce traditional or digital forms content in political satire, PR or marketing
• businesses, news outlets or communication organisations that need people training in analysing images, videos and audio content for manipulation

• A 2:2 (or above) UK Honours degree, or equivalent internationally recognised qualification, in Humanities, Social Sciences and Business related subject.

  Other subjects and qualifications with relevant industry experience including journalism, politics and political public relations.

• IELTS: 6.5 (min 6 in all areas)
• Pearson: 59 (59 in all subscores)
• BrunELT: 63% (min 58% in all areas)
• TOEFL: 90 (min 20 in all) 

Assessments are combination of individual or group written assignments, presentations and exams and which vary between modules. You will also be required to submit a dissertation on a topic of your choosing.