Course description
The bubbles of the 'new economy' may have burst but the
global Internet revolution has just begun. The Internet is
arguably the largest and most powerful communications
instrument we human beings have ever created and
cyberspace is said to be the largest free market in the world.
The ubiquitous Internet is beginning to affect every aspect of
our life and it touches upon every part of the world. The
concepts and systems developed in the industrial age might not
be applicable to the understanding about the emergent global
network society.
This MA programme draws upon the expertise of a group of
political economists and political scientists at Hull, who are
actively engaged in teaching and research on issues related to
the global information and communications revolution. The
programme introduces a new but growing area of study on
digital media and the emergent global new economy, with a
multidisciplinary approach. It offers a postgraduate degree with
a distinctive pathway to the study of the social, economic and
political implications of new media technologies, in particular
the Internet.
Programme structure
With a multidisciplinary approach, the first core module,
'Communications and International Politics', introduces students
to a range of new and important issues about the study of new
information and communications technologies (ICTs) and the
emergent global new economy.The focus of this module is on
the social, economic and political implications of new media
technologies in general and the Internet in particular.
The second core module, 'Political Economy of Global
Communications', introduces students to a variety of
theoretical perspectives on the emergent global new economy
and network society. An important part of the module is to
analyse the process of public policymaking at local, national and
international level in response to new information and communications
technologies, such as the Internet, with particular
references to the United States, Europe and the Asia-Pacific
region. Core themes for the Programme include, among others,
digital convergence, transnational flow of communications and
its impact on government regulation, freedom of information
and data protection, national security in the information age,
the rise of the network society and development of networked
governance, e-Government and e-Democracy, e-Commerce,
global governance of the Internet and the global 'digital divide'.
The core modules are complemented by a variety of optional
modules (subject to availability) dealing with more specialised
aspects of the study of the Internet provided throughout the
programme to cater for the diversified research interests of
students.
The module 'Global Communications, Globalisation and
Development' covers a variety of theoretical perspectives
concerning the study of globalisation and development issues
in the information age and the constantly changing world
information and communications order. The module analyses
key issues such as the impact of new information and
communications technologies on developing countries and a
particular focus of the module is placed on the experience of
countries in South and South East Asia, and their policies and
strategies, in coping with the challenges posed by globalisation
in the digital age.
The module 'Strategic Thinkers:The Information Age' offers an
in-depth examination of key strategic thinkers, with an
emphasis on the ways in which their ideas anticipate
infomation-age problems, and upon their relevance to the
present day.
The module 'International Politics of the Environment and the
Internet' assesses the role of the Internet in the recent
international environmental politics and its increased
importance within countries and international organisations
such as the United Nations.
In addition, students are offered the opportunity to develop
practical skills in using and analysing new media technologies,
which would add value to their future employment. For those
who are interested, the University's ICT Training Team provides
a wide range of training programmes in specialised ICT fields,
which are available to Hull students.
On completion of the taught module component of the
degree, students are given the opportunity to research and
write a 15,000 word dissertation on a topic of their choice in
the international politics and global political economy of new
media technologies.
Students on this degree programme are taught by weekly
seminars and in small groups.
Graduates from this programme will be equipped with the
knowledge and skills in new media technologies, in particular
the Internet, and the new economy, to enable them to either
pursue a variety of careers in the public and private sectors or
to study further for a PhD degree.
