Master of Science in Digital Journalism

at Goldsmiths, University of London United Kingdom

The MA Visual Anthropology offers a unique combination of anthropological theory and visual practice. It provides you with a strong foundation for producing visual work informed by anthropology.

Why study MA Visual Anthropology at Goldsmiths?

• You’ll approach visual anthropology through the study of the politics and aesthetics of representation, documentary and ethnographic film, and anthropological perspectives on art.
• As a practice-oriented MA, there is a clear emphasis on applying anthropological knowledge to the actual making of visual artefacts, and not just their analysis.
• The MA is open to people with a range of backgrounds in anthropology and related fields, so you’ll join a diverse group of students with varying perspectives.
• As a graduate, you’ll be well-placed to pursue a career in visual anthropology (be it research- or practice-oriented) as well as to bring an anthropological sensibility to the visual to other disciplines.
• You’ll have hands-on training in the use of digital camcorders, sound recording equipment and video editing, preparing you for your final visual project – a 20-minute film – as well as giving you practical vocational skills for after you graduate.

This degree aims to equip you with creative, interpretive, critical and analytical skills, so that you can participate in and contribute to the expanding field of contemporary art.

Why study BA Fine Art at Goldsmiths?

• You'll make and study contemporary art in a dynamic, critical and interdisciplinary environment
• We'll equip you with the skills that will help you develop independent thought and confidence in your practice, as well as transferable skills suitable for employment in the creative industries
• You'll have your own studio space from day one, and will have access to excellent facilities including specialist art practice areas
• All staff on the programme are practising artists, curators and writers, here to respond to the work that you make and to help you understand how it contributes to, and challenges, the critical debates that exist in the study area and beyond
• Since 1990, former Goldsmiths students have been nominated for the Turner Prize more than 30 times, and have won the prize on 8 occasions.

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.

This programme is an innovative and interdisciplinary exploration into how social, cultural, and political institutions, decisions, and events have shaped societies and nations around the world.

There is much cross-over to explore between the disciplines of History and Politics. The BA History with Politics at Goldsmiths combines and synthesises methods and concepts from both disciplines to inform and stimulate study. Many History modules, such as those dealing with revolutions, ideas, and social movements, are, of course, centrally connected to politics. Meanwhile, Politics modules on feminism and anarchism are strongly informed by the historical precedents of modern movements and ideologies.

Combine the study of History and Politics

• Rather than focusing on chronology or strict historical periods, combining History and Politics encourages and facilitates explorations and analyses of key issues, controversies, themes, and debates. The study, analysis, and understanding of the past are as important today as they have ever been. Understanding past societies fosters emotional intelligence and allows us to appreciate the diversity and adaptability of human life. Understanding our pasts can help us to shape our futures in more intelligent, insightful, and compassionate ways.
• By combining the two disciplines, you will be able to peel back the formal veneer of political parties and institutions to reveal the major ideological, economic, social, and cultural conflicts which must be investigated to understand our world. This programme crosses boundaries between the traditional and the more radical understandings of political phenomena. Politics is much more than simply what happens in parliaments, it pervades the whole of society, domestically and internationally.

The best journalism is based on a sound understanding of the history that has shaped the world we inhabit today.

There is a strong and growing tradition of deeper journalistic investigation into issues and events in the recent and more distant past (however that might be defined). This might be to unearth new knowledge, to investigate and reinterpret existing thinking, or to revise and update past ideas and understandings.

This innovative, collaborative, and interdisciplinary programme, jointly delivered by the Department of History and the Department of Media, Communications and Cultural Studies, emphasises that the causes and results of events in the past are fiercely contested by historians.

Why study BA History and Journalism at Goldsmiths?

• History - the study, analysis and understanding of the past - is as important today as it has ever been, and it continues to make vital contributions to how we comprehend and interact with the world around us. It is a relevant, dynamic, fascinating and important field of study which, at Goldsmiths, is approached in creative, innovative and exciting ways.
• Understanding past societies fosters emotional intelligence and allows us to appreciate the diversity and adaptability of human life. Understanding our pasts can help us to shape our futures and, crucially, help us shape those futures intelligently, insightfully, fairly, and with compassion.
• The essential skills of researching, interviewing, and writing in a number of different long-form and short-form styles and formats are delivered alongside tuition for a range of digital tools including video reporting, the use of social media for research and dissemination, and how to work in the world of online, multimedia journalism.
• An international body of staff research and deliver modules covering a wide geographical range including Asia, Africa, the Americas, the British Isles, Eastern and Western Europe, and the Middle East. Academic staff in both departments are nationally and internationally recognized award-winning experts in their fields who are at the forefront of research excellence and research-led teaching.

The programme is situated within the Department of Art, and draws it understanding of contemporary art as a practice from this setting. As a curating student, you will thus be working alongside the postgraduate fine art students and MA artist film students, allowing for a unique dialogue among emerging practitioners about contemporary and future practice, and the most pressing concerns of our day. We are currently based in same building in Deptford, an area fast becoming an important hub for emerging artists and galleries.

MFA Curating at Goldsmiths focuses in-depth on aesthetic, social, political and philosophical questions that are brought to bear in any place or at any event in which contemporary art takes place.

The programme is designed to provide a practice-led research context for students at any stage of their professional practice and is aimed at curators, artists and those with relevant academic and practical experience.

As a two-part programme, MFA Curating enables you to experiment and innovate in the expanded field of curatorial practice, to collaborate on an interdisciplinary basis and extend your and other students' knowledge through this process, through an ongoing conversation in the forms of seminars, workshops, tutorials, reading groups and writing classes. Our teaching is based on an art school model of individual trajectories, and we will help you develop the style and area of practice you want to pursue and refine; but just in terms of exhibition-making, but also public programming, screening series, social projects and various forms of curatorial writing.

The MA History is innovative, creative, free-thinking, stimulating, diverse and challenging – everything that is distinctive about history at Goldsmiths.

Why study MA History at Goldsmiths?

• The Department of History’s approach is thematic and interdisciplinary, with staff expertise spanning the histories of Britain, East and West Europe, South Asia and Africa.
• We are on the cutting-edge of our fields and the student-teacher ratio allows us to devote an unmatched amount of time to individual supervision.
• Our focus is primary research and we'll encourage you to follow your own historical interests. You'll be able to develop your specific subject interests through a range of option modules and the dissertation.
• You'll develop your research skills and your understanding of key debates and methods in historiography.
• In addition to the compulsory module (Explorations and Debates) and the Research Skills modules, you'll choose two options, one of which, if you wish, can be from another department at Goldsmiths or from the wide-ranging intercollegiate list (a list of MA modules available at other colleges of the University of London).
• You'll end the programme by writing a 15,000-word dissertation on a topic of your own choice, based on primary research. The process of writing the dissertation includes participating in, organising, and presenting at, the department's dissertation conference.

This Masters programme in Cultural Studies offers you the opportunity to engage with some of the key theorists and the significant debates in Cultural Studies, spanning from its inception in Britain in the mid-1970s, to the present day. Cultural Studies has developed a distinctive set of concepts and methodologies to help better understand social institutions and practices, objects, items, and their circulation in consumer culture. Cultural theory permits close analysis of topics including race, youth, music, fashion, and the creative economy, and embraces the history of sexuality, emotions and affects. This course will consider current permutations on key topics such as music, sound and technology, national identity, the rise of ‘public feelings’, the cultural dynamics of precarity and austerity, art, and cultural expression for the new feminist activism.

Why study MA Cultural Studies at Goldsmiths?

• Explore the impact and influence Cultural Studies has on a wide range of research interests, not only in the English-speaking world, but also internationally. The programme will teach you about a range of Cultural Studies methodologies that you can then apply in your own writing and research. It will also include a Critical Ethnography Afternoon where students explore the place of this kind of research in the cultural studies tradition.
• Examine the effect media technologies have on the cultural practices of production and consumption. As the course has a strong focus on new developments in sonic technology, this might include, for example, emerging local music scenes. This might also involve mean a focus on changes in fashion consumption, such as platform providers, and the role of influencers.

Anthropology and sociology deal with human behaviours in their social context. This degree gives you a comprehensive grounding in these converging subjects, so you'll develop an understanding of their shared traditions and differences in perspective.

Why study BA Anthropology and Sociology at Goldsmiths?

• The degree is divided evenly between anthropology and sociology, so you'll get a solid grounding in both subjects.
• The dynamic nature of the degree means you’ll be able to bring an interdisciplinary angle to any problem, whether that’s arguing your perspective in an essay or coming up with novel solutions in your future career. Our graduates have gone on to work for the UN, World Bank, as well as various NGOs, law companies and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) consultancies.
• In your third year, you’ll be able to choose from a range of option modules, tailoring your learning in a way that suits your interests and aspirations. You might choose to explore topics like gender theory, environmental anthropology, or borders and migration.
• Our academics are responsible for actively shaping disciplines – they are pioneers in their fields, playing key roles in developing awareness of society and culture.

This degree is ideal if you have a passion for using performance for social change. You will learn performance and facilitation skills, while exploring the ideas that underpin them. The degree equips you in a wide range of careers in the arts, charities, education, and beyond.

The BA Drama: Performance, Politics, and Society has been running since 2017 and is highly valued by its students, alumni, staff, theatre professionals, and external examiners. Our students come from diverse backgrounds and enthusiastically embrace our blend of practice and theory, producing their own innovative and original work. Students on the programme contribute substantially to the vibrance of the Theatre & Performance Department, as well as College life more widely.

Why study the BA Drama - Performance, Politics and Society at Goldsmiths

• Work alongside students from all backgrounds, and learn from each other’s different perspectives.
• Join a community – our alumni are involved as mentors and allies, our staff are friendly and accessible, and we promote a supportive and generous working culture.
• Be an independent learner and create your own learning pathways supported by tutors.
• Study in a democratic environment, and have a say in decision-making about course content and ways of learning.
• Build links and partnerships with our local community in South-East London, arts organisations, and increasingly through international networks.