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SOAS University of London

Media in Development

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Award Attendance Study Duration Start Domestic fees International fees
MA On-Campus find out find out find out £11980 per year £23400 per year

About Media in Development, MA - at SOAS University of London

This MA Media in Development programme challenges the assumptions behind the media and development industries and development studies and offers new ways of thinking about the critical issues facing societies today such as climate change. The approach balances critical theoretical analysis of the hegemony implied by the ideas and practices of development with the practical issues surrounding the use of contemporary media, including the use of digital technologies for development communication, online activism, developmental journalism, and information and communications technologies for development (ICT4D).

The MA Media in Development course draws on from critical media and cultural studies' theory, practical knowledge and experience, alongside critical debates within and about development, to challenge assumptions about the role of media and development industries as agents of change in the contemporary world. Students combine critical theoretical analysis of the role of media in development with a focus on practical issues surrounding the use of media, including digital technologies. The programme differs from other degrees in the field by placing the onus on the role of media to further the development agenda, especially post the Second World War, critically negotiating its origins in West-centric ideas of modernisation, social change and progress and their relevance in today's multipolar world. Students benefit from the unique position of the Centre for Media Studies as a specialist institution for the study of media in the global south.

Our research in film and media has been ranked in the top 20 in the UK in the Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2021, with more than a third of our research publications assessed as 4* (world-leading). See Centre for Global Media and Communications


Entry requirements

Contact SOAS University of London to find course entry requirements.


Why study at SOAS University of London

  • SOAS is in London, which is officially the best student city in the world - and has been for five years in a row (QS World Rankings 2024)
  • There are 5,630 students on campus, from 135+ countries 
  • 2nd in the UK for international faculty (QS World Rankings 2024)
  • Top 30 in the UK (The Times Good University Guide 2024)
  • Top 40 in the UK for research quality Complete University Guide 2024)
  • 6th in the UK for employment outcomes (QS World Rankings 2023)
  • Top 100 in the world for addressing the UN Sustainable Development Goals for Peace, Justice, Poverty and Gender Equality (Times Higher Education Impact Rankings, 2023)
  • One of 35 National Research Libraries in the UK. We have over 1.5 million volumes, periodicals and audio-visual materials in 400 languages, focusing on Asia, Africa and the Middle East
  • 87% of research ranked 'world-leading or internationally excellent' (Research Excellence Framework 2021)