Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in Politics

at Goldsmiths, University of London United Kingdom

Professionally validated by the National Youth Agency, this programme brings together community development and youth work practice with the research methods and theoretical preoccupations of anthropology.

This MA is the first of its kind in the country, combining academic and professional qualifications. It is aimed at students who wish to pursue a career in youth and community work and who need a professional qualification.

There is a growth in the number of entrepreneurs starting businesses with social and environmental purposes. This exciting MA will enable you to develop a critical understanding of and practical insights into modes of social enterprise.

There is an urgent need for talented individuals who can design novel solutions to our most profound societal challenges.

This international MA provides practical and sociological tools to individuals motivated to develop alternative economic practices and frameworks to meet such challenges. These might include (but are not limited to) social enterprises, collaborative innovation networks, hubs, digital platforms, support intermediaries and/or policy proposals.

Benefitting from the MA’s timely educational content as well as from its firm roots in London’s rich networks, our students go on to become thought leaders in the burgeoning social innovation field, advancing it in a creative fashion from their chosen angle. Past graduates have gone on to create their own social enterprises or to work for prestigious organisations such as the Yunus Institute and Social Enterprise UK, while some have elected to carry out advanced research into social innovation.

The MA Sociology provides an advanced introduction to key debates about society, culture, and the world we live in. It combines a broad base of knowledge and theory, with a sharp focus on specific areas of expertise (methodological and theoretical) within the social sciences. You will also be able to build your core knowledge and skills for sociological research alongside a uniquely creative approach that enables you to focus on specialist areas.

You’ll be able to build on your core sociological knowledge and methodological skills by selecting from a range of option modules that enable you to tailor the degree to match your individual interests. You’ll join a community of students from around the world who have a range of backgrounds and interests, and who bring these unique perspectives to the study environment. We welcome graduates from fields such as social science, humanities and philosophy, as well as more creative and artistic pursuits.

This innovative programme will explore how people experience the world around them, particularly when using technology. You'll learn how each layer of technology, from core hardware through to the way that media is handled, can affect user experience and gain the skills for transforming user requirements into appropriate technical solutions.

Why study the MSc User Experience Engineering?

• This specialist masters degree provides more focused employment possibilities than a more general computing programme.
• You'll learn to design and produce computing-based systems and solutions that have been validated to meet the functional requirements of users, be accessible and inclusive, and provide users with a satisfying user experience.
• A variety of optional modules in advanced technologies and psychology means you can choose a path that emphasises the technology of your choice.
• The vocational nature of the programme gives you the option to complete a field study thesis project as an alternative to the conventional academic thesis.
• Through presentation and demonstration of your work, we'll prepare you to enter a field of work characterised by the agile approach and team working within multi-disciplinary cohorts.
• You'll benefit from the expertise of the Department of Computing, as well as drawing on the knowledge of staff in the Department of Psychology and the Institute of Management Studies (IMS).
• The Guest Lectures and Field Project modules will introduce you to the professional aspects of working as a User Experience designer, developer or engineer and hearing from industry professionals will give you an insight into what it's like to work in the field.

Why study MA Black British Literature at Goldsmiths?

• This degree is a world first. There’s nowhere else you can study black British writing in such an in-depth way – in the actual country where the writing is produced. We trace diasporic and aesthetic routes and draw upon the expertise of literary and drama specialists.
• You’ll analyse an extremely diverse range of texts from novelists, poets, short story writers, essayists, life-writers and playwrights. You’ll also locate these writers in their historical context, gaining an understanding of the history of black people in Britain through how they are represented in literature.

This MA will enhance your narrative skills as an editor of fiction for film and television. This Masters is a pathway of MA Filmmaking, so that in addition to your specialised training you will collaborate with students across all specialisms on a variety of film projects.

Experienced tutors and guests provide expert guidance designed to enhance the flow of your individual research, experimentation and artistic achievement. You will complete your degree by working in your specialist role on a major production in the final term.

What we offer

• The programme is housed in a new purpose-built media facility equipped with state-of-the art teaching spaces including a film studio equipped with Arri lighting and Green Screen facilities. Edit suites are equipped with Avid Media Composer and tuition is offered, giving the opportunity to gain Avid Certified User accreditation (Media Composer 101 and 110). Edit suites, screening rooms and sound studios are linked via Avid’s industry standard ISIS storage area network.
• You will work to professional standards using high-end digital formats. You will also learn sophisticated postproduction workflow techniques, gaining a wealth of experience in off-line editing and an understanding of how this fits in with on-line editing, visual effects and picture grading.
• In addition to your specialist area, you can attend classes in related disciplines. This framework is designed to stimulate collaborative practice by providing you with a breadth of filmmaking knowledge combined with a high level of expertise in your chosen filmmaking discipline.

Journalism is about the world outside. It’s about the story and the people who make it. It’s about being on top of the zeitgeist. And being on top of the deadlines.

What you will learn

• This MA gives you the practical skills to work as a journalist at the highest level in print and online. We will learn what news means, and where it comes from. We will give you the ability to write compelling features and interviews. We’ll also be focusing on the kinds of questions you need to ask – of the individual, the state or the organs of power. And we address how the new digital world has transformed the way we go about journalism, adding new platforms and new technical skills.

Why study MA Creative and Life Writing at Goldsmiths?

• You may be writing regularly; you may be returning to it after concentrating on your career. Whatever your background, if you're serious about your writing, we can help you to develop your practice.
• Our students bring with them a lively range of interests, cultures and experiences. We welcome students of any age who share the drive to take their writing seriously.
• You’ll have the chance to experiment with different forms – poetry, the novel, short story and life writing - as well as to specialise in one of those areas -  and you will receive expert guidance in each field. Read work by our students.
• Some seminars will be taken by visiting writers who will talk about their work, introduce you to different theories of creative writing and engage you in discussion about their writing. Recent visitors have included Ali Smith, Caryl Phillips, Claire Keegan and Daljit Nagra.
• We host weekly readings and discussions organised by our Writers Centre, together with occasional visits from editors, literary agents and organisers of literary projects.
• Several graduates of this programme have gone on to be award-winning influential poets, among them Emily Berry, Abigail Parry, Nick Makoha, Katrina Naomi, Richard Scott and Jack Underwood who now teaches at Goldsmiths. Our Fiction and Life Writing graduates are similarly successful, Luiza Sauma, Tom Lee, Elaine Castillo, Sarah Leipciger, Anthony Joseph amongst others.

The programme is not about learning how to be a writer; it’s about developing and pushing forward your own writing projects as far and as fast as you can in 12 months. You’ll be developing your own voice, learning how to critique the work of others, and getting to grips with marketing your projects. You’ll also be making industry contacts so you can pitch for employment in an extremely competitive industry.

You’ll cover every aspect of the writing process from getting ideas, maintaining productive writing practices and developing characters and storylines, to presenting your work to an industry standard and pitching your ideas. Writing is a lonely business – that’s why the community of writers that the programme gives you is such a creative advantage.

Why study MA Script Writing at Goldsmiths

• Focus on further developing your own feature film or TV project in a workshop-based environment limited to twelve students, ensuring intensive engagement.
• Study on one of the few MA Scriptwriting programmes accredited by ScreenSkills.
• Gain industry exposure from multiple angles. Attend lectures given by industry professionals, and have your scripts read by professional actors at a Script Showcase, attended by agents and other industry professionals.
• Be supported in finding industry contacts and mentors who can encourage and support your development as a scriptwriter.
• Develop script editing and script development skills.
• Study within Goldsmiths’ Department of Media, Communications and Cultural Studies, and hone your craft in a critical, stimulating, and interdisciplinary creative environment.

The MA Digital Media is unique in its combination of practical and theoretical approaches to contemporary media and technology.

This established and exciting degree is designed to help you understand digital transformations in media, culture, and society and apply this understanding in practice, in the media and creative industries and in further research. The programme will equip you with skills that can be applied to current and future developments in digital media, social media, computing, and other aspects of technology.

The MA Digital Media educates aspiring media practitioners and academics as well as early and mid-career professionals who seek to reflect on their roles in a structured and stimulating learning environment designed to give all students up-to-the-minute knowledge of digital media and the skills to apply that knowledge to future developments.

This programme offers three pathways:

• Pathway 1 is a Theory programme where you learn about developments in digital media and technology.  This pathway draws on media theory, critical theory, continental philosophy, science and technology studies, gender studies, critical race studies, the posthumanities, software studies and cultural studies to diagnose our present digital condition.
• Pathway 2 (Image Making) is a theory and practice programme.  Alongside engaging with digital media theory you will work with one or more of the following – animation, photography, video and other forms of moving image – to create installations, apps and single/multi-screen work that is responsive to a continually changing, and conceptually understood, digital landscape.
• Pathway 3 (Critical Computing) is a theory and practice programme where you will interrogate technical objects through critically learning a technical subject and by collectively criticising the results and processes involved – for example, by studying the racialisation of algorithms or exploring non-proprietary databases, operating systems, software licensing, programming, networking and open hardware in the shape of physical computing.