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Birkbeck, University of London: Political Communication

Institution Birkbeck, University of London View institution profile
Department School of Social Sciences
Web http://www.bbk.ac.uk/
Telephone 0203 907 0700
Study type Taught

Summary

Birkbeck's MSc Political Communication provides you with advanced training in critical perspectives on a broad range of issues in political communication, including campaign and media effects, misinformation, comparative media systems and civic technologies.

Political communication is a central feature of the electoral and policymaking process and concerns the flow of information among:

  • politicians

  • public institutions

  • the media

  • the public.

You will learn about how rapid changes in recent years transformed the study of political communication, such as the proliferation of digital technologies and the growth of citizen-produced content. You will consider how traditional media and political institutions can adapt to the new information environment, characterised by an abundance of information and misinformation.

This political communication Master’s degree delivers a diverse and inclusive curriculum. It equips you with an understanding of key issues in this field and the techniques used by grassroots and institutional actors to communicate with their audiences.

You will gain intellectual skills particularly related to developing clear and persuasive communication of ideas and engagement with political arguments. You can also gain more applied skills in research design, social media, journalism and public relations and further specialise in subjects including British politics and public policy.

Highlights

  • Our MSc Political Communication offers graduates and practitioners in adjacent fields (media, government) a meaningful opportunity to engage with current research in pursuit of their professional aims and to strengthen their communication and strategies.

  • Birkbeck is a world-renowned centre of original, influential research in politics. We organise a lively programme of seminars and conferences and are home to affiliated research centres, such as the Birkbeck Centre for British Political Life, which run seminars, conferences and other events where some of the world's best scholars present their latest research.

  • Our academic staff are international authorities in their respective fields, publishing and delivering stimulating teaching in a wide range of political topics including civil society and the state, public policy, development, gender, international security and terrorism, and social and political theory, among others.

  • Our location in central London puts us at the heart of the UK’s political life and at the centre of academic London. You can walk down to Parliament and Whitehall, while Bloomsbury contains some of the world’s most famous libraries and centres of research. Our departmental building was once a key location for members of the Bloomsbury Group, so you could be studying in rooms that have hosted distinguished visitors, including T.S. Eliot, George Bernard Shaw and Maynard Keynes.

  • You can take advantage of the rich research collections nearby, including Senate House Library, which is right next door to Birkbeck, the British Library, which is five minutes’ walk away, and the British Library of Political and Economic Science at the London School of Economics, which is walkable from Birkbeck. Birkbeck Library has a large politics collection, including the major specialist journals, and provides you with access to an extensive range of online materials.

Careers and employability

Politics graduates from Birkbeck have gone on to a wide range of careers in the public and private sectors. Some join the civil service or parliamentary offices and several MPs are also Birkbeck alumni. In particular, this new MSc in Political Communication is designed to enhance career paths in:

  • central and local government offices

  • campaign groups and think thanks

  • local community groups and charities running publicity activities

  • media and research.

MSc

Birkbeck, part of the University of London, offers nearly 300 taught and research postgraduate programmes across arts and humanities, business and economics, law, science and social science. As an evening teaching specialist, Birkbeck offers its taught postgraduate courses between 6-9pm, with some courses available through distance learning. As with undergraduate courses, postgraduates can study full-time or part-time.

Home to 44 research and specialist institutes, Birkbeck is the sixth largest provider of taught postgrad courses for UK and EU students - some 44% of its 11,000-plus students are on postgrad programmes. Around 90% of its academics are active in research, and …

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