New Media and Digital Culture Utrecht University

Overview

Guided by experienced scholars, you will assist with research projects and learn to reflect critically on how present-day cultures are shaped by social media, data, games, internet activism, apps, data visualisations, mobile devices, algorithms, and participatory platforms.

The New Media and Digital Culture programme at Utrecht University pivots around three contemporary features of new media technologies and its relationship to culture and society, namely: the mobile/urban aspect, the ludic/games aspect, and the software/data aspect. 

While the programme highlights the overlaps and synergies between these aspects, students can also choose to specialise in a profile, e.g. Media, Data and Society. Engaging with a profile means following a set trajectory of courses and a profile-related internship and thesis.

Research Internship 

Both our general programme and its more specific profile trajectories cater to a job market and an industry interested in graduates who are capable of critical engagement with the cultural implications of the complex media culture we live in. 

To facilitate both in-depth knowledge about new media and digital culture with more practical hands-on experience, you will also complete a research internship towards starting a promising career.

Careers

Graduates of this Master’s programme await a large and expanding professional field: 

• Media industries: graduates enter careers in media, information, communication, and cultural industries as advisor, producer, developer, interface/software architect, festival organizer, presenter, designers engineer, etc.

• Governmental institutions: graduates fill advisory positions in governmental institutions and shape policies that make a difference in how our society gives its citizens the (digital) opportunities to act and have influence. The political ramifications of new media are often hidden in hardware and algorithms, but our students will know how to bring them out in the open and make them subject of critical reflection

• Educational and cultural institutions: graduates are well prepared to transfer knowledge and skills in ways that connect with the expectations of many types of audiences in educational and cultural settings. Think of schools and universities, or public organizations that help advocate new media literacies

Accreditation

Accredited by the NVAO - Accreditation Organisation of the Netherlands and Flanders.