Course description
Career opportunities
There are a broad spectrum of public and private sector institutions that require employees with skills in publishing information utilising new media. Examples of the kinds of work graduates might undertake could be creating and managing content at a company or in a cultural sector organisation to working on e-commerce initiatives or developing an online marketing campaign. The added emphasis on project management means that graduates not only have suitable skills for these kind of positions but also have the capability to find employment in new media agencies or institutions that require strong cross-media publishing skills, either as creatives or project managers.
Programme
The majority of private and public sector institutions now publish information online and aim to maintain an integrated presence across all media output. The MA in New Media Publishing enables students to understand the processes involved for achieving this by taking a project from concept to completion as well as investigating contemporary issues surrounding new media use.
The programme teaches students how to understand and implement the technologies used to publish using new media including preparing and manipulating different media types, developing their own website using a content management system and learning design and programming techniques.
Publishing using digital media often involves a high degree of teamwork, client negotiation and project management. Learning about the lifecycle of new media projects and developing the necessary management, communication and design skills to undertake them professionally is also a key area of study. Students bring all of these skills together with the development of a professional new media project.
The course also focuses on the history of publishing using new media, thereby contextualising contemporary practice.
The course is an intensive programme taught in three modules that have been designed to give students both theoretical and technical skills as well as practical experience.
The Project Lifecycle module enables students to understand the necessary stages and procedures required to take a new media project from pitch through to launch. Working with a client, the students work in small teams to deliver a professional project. This module enables students to understand the lifecycle of professional new media projects and to develop the practical skills in management, communication and planning necessary to undertake them.
The Investigating New Media Publishing module enables students to investigate and research the application of new media across various platforms and within differing contexts. It introduces historical, political and theoretical issues surrounding the use of new media in publishing such as the development of standards, the open source movement and the evolution of cultural phenomena such as social software. The module will also enable students to ascertain the affect that new media has had on the publishing industry.
Teaching/assessment
There will be regular written and practical assignments, as well as the completion of a major project. Students will also maintain an ongoing research journal that will demonstrate critical reflection regarding issues associated with the use of new media for publishing.
There will also be lectures and presentations by academic staff and visiting practitioners.
Full-time students will have 8 hours of lectures or workshops per week taught over two days and are also expected to undertake 15 hours of self-directed study. Part-time students will have 4 hours of workshops per week and also be expected to undertake some self-directed study. Workshops will be taught in a fully equipped Computer Lab.
Further information
Staff
Simon Mills is the course leader and has 10 years experience of professional new media and website development from working at several agencies as well as managing the trAce Web Studio. Alongside his industry experience he also works as a digital artist and until recently edited frAme: Journal of Culture & Technology.
Dave Everett is a 'technology-watcher', digital artist, software advisor, and a specialist hand-coder keen on web standards. He has been building websites since the mid-90s, and advises Arts Council England on data, web and technology strategies. He has also worked as a digital artist and visiting researcher at the Creativity and Cognition Studios on a variety of experimental projects involving human-computer interaction.
Michael Hiley is a specialist in the history and application of new media and the impact of new digital media on traditional media forms. He has worked on major projects at a national level and has acted as consultant to several government departments. He has recently worked on website projects with Getty Images, the largest picture library in the world, and with The National Archives.
Professor Sue Thomas, who, as well as being a published novelist, has an international reputation for both her practical work as an internet publisher and her theoretical investigations of the cultural implications of the World Wide Web.
