Course Description
This unique programme introduces you to the variety of ways in which brands are developed and used, and helps you to understand how the growth of branding – in business, but also in politics, government, sport and culture – has changed the societies we live in.
Why study MA Brands, Communication and Culture at Goldsmiths?
- This MA is not a conventional branding or marketing degree – it offers a unique, theory-based approach to the study of brands, reflected in topics taught on our compulsory modules such as gender, colonial history and branding, social media and open source cultures, and geodemographics and new forms of social classification.
- You’ll gain a comprehensive understanding of the history and development of brands and branding, and their relationship to contemporary forms of communication and culture. You’ll also ask what happens when the state uses branding techniques to communicate with its citizens.
- You’ll also gain in-depth knowledge of the social, political and economic backdrop against which branding has become so important, and an understanding of the key themes and debates surrounding its development and use, including the relationship between brands and intellectual property, and the extent to which branding promotes or inhibits openness and transparency within organisations.
- You’ll improve your ability to think critically and creatively about contemporary communications and cultural practices. When you have completed the programme you will be able to analyse contemporary communications, make judgments about their significance, and be able to thoughtfully contribute to contemporary communications.
- You’ll benefit from being taught by access in the Department of Media, Communications and Cultural Studies and the Department of Sociology. Our research interests are diverse, and you’ll be able to customise your degree by choosing from a range of optional modules to explore your own interests and broaden your perspectives.
- You’ll be part of a group of students who have a range of experiences and interests in communication, management, politics, design and the cultural industries.
Entry Requirements
You should have (or expect to be awarded) an undergraduate degree of at least upper second class standard in a relevant/related subject.
Fees
For fees and funding options, please visit website to find out more
Programme Funding
Goldsmiths offers a range of financial support including postgraduate scholarships, bursaries and fee waivers. These are awarded based on a variety of criteria, for example academic achievements or personal circumstances.
Student Destinations
The programme equips you with the skills necessary to pursue a wide range of careers related to branding and communication in the media and other industries. Students are encouraged to seek work experience and work placements during the programme as time allows. The MA also allows you to pursue further academic research in one or more of the areas covered on the programme.
Module Details
he programme is made up of two compulsory modules (60 credits in total), between two and four options modules (60 credits in total), and a dissertation (60 credits).
The department offers a range of theory-based options as well as some practice-based options in areas such as media futures, online journalism, campaign skills and processes for innovation.
Compulsory modules
- Branding I: History, Contexts and Practice 30 credits
- Branding II: Key themes and debates 30 credits
In addition to the compulsory modules, you can take up to 60 credits chosen from the list of Media modules or the list of Sociology modules below.
- What is Culture – Key Theoretical Interventions 30 credits
- Introduction to Feminism and Cultural Theory 30 credits
- Navigating Urban Life 30 credits
- Through The Lens Part A: Imaging the City 15 credits
- Empirical Visual Research 15 credits
- Sensory Sociology: Imagining Digital Social Research 30 credits
- Theories and Debates in Visual Research Sociology 15 credits
- Consumer Citizenship and Visual Media 30 credits
- Globalising Human Rights 30 credits
- Gender Affect and the Body 30 credits
- Urban Field Encounters 30 credits
- Through the Lens B: Urban Identities 15 credits
- Urban Photographers 15 credits
- Digital Social Research Methods 15 credits (offered jointly by Sociology)
- Social Research for Public Engagement 30 credits
- Bodies in Pain: Subjectivity, Health and Medicine 30 credits
- Mapping Capitalism 30 credits
- Cultural Policy and City Branding 30 credits
- Politics and Difference 30 credits
- Data Made Flesh 30 credits
Goldsmiths Campus
A melting-pot of ideas, one creative powerhouse
One Goldsmiths
At Goldsmiths, academic excellence and imaginative course content combine to make a pla...
Study Details: 
