Malmö University - Communication for Development Master's programme

The form of study is a combination of live seminars and communication on the web. The seminars (2 days) are compulsory and consist of lectures, discussions, and workshops. Overseas students who cannot physically attend can follow the seminars online. Inbetween the seminars the students carry out assignments individually and in groups.

The Master level Communication for Development programme can be studied as a 2-year part-time (50%) web-based programme with an option to add a further year of courses:

1 Year web-based programme (50% part-time; taught over 2 years)
This is a web-based programme running part-time over two years.  Students need to attain 60 credits to qualify for the Masters.  During the first year, students receive a comprehensive overview of globalisation and an introduction to the field of Communication for Development. In the second year, students are introduced to the theory and practice of new media and ICT in a development context and receive a thorough introduction to research methodologies in order to prepare them for their thesis.

The syllabus over the two years includes the following compulsory courses:

• Media, Globalization and Development, 15 credits 
• Communication, Culture and Media Analysis, 15 credits
• New Media, ICT and Development, 7.5 credits
• Research Methodology, 7.5 credits 
• Communication for Development: Degree project, 15 credits

Click here for more information about the curriculum and specifically the learning outcomes.

Click here for more information about the 1 year MA programme.

2 year web-based programme (upon completing of the 1-year MA)
From autumn semester 2016 onwards, ComDev graduates who already obtained 60 credits will be able to study a flexible course package towards a 2-year, 120 credits Master’s degree. The course package offers a flexible, reflective practice-based approach for advanced studies, and students will be able to create an individual portfolio to support their professional careers, prepare for PhD programmes or upgrade their existing knowledge as alumni of the programme.

The course package is based on ComDev’s online blended learning ‘glocal classroom’ pedagogy, but is intended as one-year fulltime studies, including intensive peer learning workshops.
The core courses of the package consist of:

• Communication for Development: Advances in Social Action, Planning and Evaluation - This course aims to enhance skills and deepen knowledge around the use of strategic media and communication interventions used in international development cooperation. A variety of Communication for Development theories and methods are explored and students have the opportunity to independently plan, implement and evaluate a Communication for Development intervention.  The course includes the following modules:

1. Communicating and Planning Social Action - Explores social action as an agenda setting process offering specific tools to assess and critically analyse different communication strategies for social change including a breakdown of behaviour change theories. 
2. Evaluating Social Action - Focuses on monitoring and evaluation of ComDev interventions, including critical engagement with a range of different approaches and analytical methods. Students will apply the knowledge and skills they acquire to the evaluation of both their own and others communication initiatives.

Click here for more details on the syllabus, learning outcomes and learning activities.  

• Internship – Reflecting on one’s own practice - The purpose of the internship is to provide students with an opportunity to apply the knowledge they acquired at the advanced level of Media and Communication Studies and Communication for Development in a practical context, and to give students the experience of working practically. The internship must be clearly linked to either Media and Communication Studies, or Communication for Development; therefore, a substantial part of the receiving organisation’s activities must be relevant to one of the fields.

Click here for more information.

• Production Project- This mandatory course will tie together previous studies and new expertise from the first semester of the 2-year course package. Students create a communication for development product, which could include anything from a chapter or article in an academic publication to a radio show, photo exhibition, short film, interactive seminar webcast or website. The course will likely consist of an intensive, workshop- and ‘learning laboratory’-based phase in Malmö and final written reflective paper.

Click here for more information on the 2 year MA.

Since inception of the programme, the basic format and pedagogical principle has been a blend of web-based and campus-based learning - which the programme calls the ‘glocal classroom’ pedagogy. The web interaction follows a timeline, like any campus course, and is structured around regular seminars on location, normally in Malmö but occasionally at other places (e. g. Sarajevo, 2003; Istanbul, 2005: Durban, 2006; Dar es Salaam, 2009; Tirana , 2011; Bangalore, 2013, Cape Town, Guelph, 2014;  Adelaide 2015). Unlike other web-based learning courses that centre on the individual and their interaction with a tutor, the emphasis here is on maximizing interaction between lecturers and students and among students, as in a classroom setting. Students attend seminars in situ or online, and interact with the lecturers and each other. The live and real time seminars and lectures play an important role in implementing, organising, and structuring the collaboration, which inbetween the seminars is supported by asynchronous web-based communication.

Click on the course pages below and scroll down for a list of core literature and teaching materials.

• Media, Globalization and Development
• Communication, Culture and Media Analysis
• New Media, ICT and Development
• Research Methodology
• Communication for Development: Degree project

To view publications by the following faculty members, click on the names below (and select the "Publications" option):

Oscar Hemer
Tobias Denskus
Anders Hög-Hansen

More information about faculty publications can be found by clicking on the profile of each staff member here. 

Core academic staff for this Masters Programme are:

Tobias Denskus - Associate Professor in Communication for Development and MA Program Coordinator Communication for Development. His research focus is on peacebuilding anthropology, social media and digital governmentality. His current research interests include digital communication topics, e.g. development blogging, the use of Twitter in international policy arenas and critical research on the ‘open data’ discourse.
Oscar Hemer -  Professor, with research interests in humanities and religion, social sciences, anthropology, creative writing, communication for development.
Ronald Stade - Professor of Peace and Conflict Studies with specialisation in Anthropology. His research focus is on images of the human; philosophical anthropology; cosmopolitanism; and organised violence.  
Anders Hög-Hansen - Senior Lecturer, Media and Communication Studies. He teaches Communication for Development and Media and Communication Studies. His research spans different approaches to public memory, art and movement activity addressing social change; in e.g. folk songs in Malmö as well as the Unites States. 

Click here for more detail about all the staff members in this Faculty.