The master's programme in Discourse Studies: Communication, Society and Learning is an interuniversity master's programme offered by Pompeu Fabra University (UPF) and the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB).

The programme's main objective is, first, to promote research and train experts in the development and application of theories, methods and practices related to the study of language in social, communicative and learning contexts; and, second, to contribute to academic specialization in the various areas of application of discourse studies. The programme's optional module offers subjects whose objectives and applied content are intended to strengthen specializations or prepare students for subsequent doctoral studies.
 

Who is it for?

The master's programme in Discourse Studies: Communication, Society and Learning at the UPF is aimed at anyone interested in analysing linguistic and communicative activity from a multidisciplinary approach. The ideal candidate for the master's programme in Discourse: Communication, Society and Learning will hold a university degree or diploma in the area of language, social communication or social sciences. For candidates with degrees in other areas, consideration will be given to experience in the media industry, journalism or language teaching.
 

Structure

Students on the master's programmes may choose between two course types: research and academic.

The curriculum includes 5 modules:

  1. A common module consisting of three compulsory subjects intended to provide students with knowledge and skills related to linguistic and discursive analysis of oral and written discourses. This module is particularly relevant for students coming from a social science background who have not studied linguistics.
  2. A specialisation (intensification) module, for students to intensify their knowledge of one of the three main subject areas incorporated into the master's programme's interdisciplinary approach: communication, society or learning.
  3. A module consisting of optional subjects, which may be used to further strengthen an area of specialisation (intensification) or to prepare for doctoral studies or a subsequent profession.
  4. A methodology module in which students must choose, at least, one subject to complete the scientific study of discourse.

  5. An individual project module including the research project and the master's degree final project (master's thesis).

The Màster's title requires a minimun of 60 credits.
 

Knowledge, skills and competences acquired

Upon completing the master's programme, students will be able to:

  • Apply the main theories and approaches of discourse studies to the various disciplines of the humanities and social sciences.
  • Analyse the units, categories, levels and other grammatical (phonological, syntactic, semantic), pragmatic, rhetorical, semiotic and stylistic structures and superstructures of the main oral, written and multimodal genres of discourse as forms of language use, communication and interaction.
  • Build corpora of qualitative data extracted from the oral and written practices of a sociocultural community and obtain criteria for analysis and interpretation.
  • Interpret the main forms and functions of communication in society and their effects on knowledge, attitudes, ideologies, standards and public values.
  • Think critically about the role of discourse and communication in the (re)production of different forms of inequality and domination in contemporary society-
     

Career prospects

General and specialized consulting for discursive services; general and specialized journalism; advertising; interaction and communication within and between companies; communication and political marketing; medical and health communication; multicultural communication; social mediation (intercultural, educational, health, therapeutic, corporate); education (cultural diversity and multilingualism management); communicative and pragmatic aspects of language teaching (production and interpretation of texts and oral communication activities).
 

Scholarships and grants

For information on the available financial aid for master's programmes, see https://www.upf.edu/web/masterdiscurs/beques-i-ajuts