Next academic year will see the launch of the new master’s degree in English titled “Digital Culture and Emerging Media” (DiCEM), organized by the Department of Communication. The programme aims to provide students with training on the various social and cultural phenomena surrounding digital media, from the fields of research and research-creation.

At 4 pm on 31 March, all prospective students will be able to attend an online briefing on the programme by Oliver Pérez, professor and expert in Game Studies and Media Culture and master’s degree coordinator: “training addresses contemporary digital communication from a broad perspective covering various aspects, such as social communication and information formats, as well as fiction, art and digital entertainment”. Thus, it is possible to achieve a deep and critical understanding of the digital world through a multidisciplinary approach.

Training addresses contemporary digital communication from a broad perspective covering various aspects, such as social communication and information formats, as well as fiction, art and digital entertainment

Pérez also adds that, one of the goals of the master’s degree “is to break the barrier between research and creation”. The programme is committed to creative research where students and teachers experiment with theoretical analysis and creative production on digital media. Hence the master’s degree includes modalities of a master’s degree final project mixing the theory and practical execution of the initiatives. In order to carry out master’s degree final projects, UPF enjoys the collaboration of such entities as the Centre for Contemporary Culture of Barcelona (CCCB), digital arts centre IDEAL and the Picasso Museum.

The master’s degree mainly targets students in the field of communication, but may also be of interest to students of the social sciences, the arts, the humanities and ICT. Broadly speaking, the programme is aimed at all those who want to conduct research into the digital media and their sociocultural dimension.  

The master’s degree consists of five blocks, divided into terms and with a duration of one year. The theoretical and methodological bases with respect to research and research-creation concerning areas such as social networks will be worked on in depth. In addition, the various methods of digital creation and new media will be dealt with and, lastly, the last term will be set aside for the final projects, which can be carried out individually or in groups.

Finally, the master’s degree provides students with the opportunity to play an active part in the research work of the Department of Communication. The innovative model of this new programme encourages students and teachers to research together proactively, which has great transformative potential for the understanding of digital media.