- Degree
- Master of Arts
- Course location
- Hamburg
- Teaching language
- • English
- Languages
- Courses are held in English. Internships in Germany may require a high proficiency in German.
- Full-time / part-time
- • full-time
- Programme duration
- 4 semesters
- Beginning
- Winter semester
- Additional information on beginning, duration and mode of study
- At the start of the semester, 1 October each year, Universität Hamburg provides an international welcome week for general orientation and for getting to know (a bit) of Hamburg and some of your fellow students. The journalism studies section then provides a discipline specific orientation and welcome. Lectures and classes start mid-October.
- Application deadline
- Applications will be accepted between 15 February and 31 March for the following winter semester.
- Tuition fees per semester in EUR
- None
- Combined Master's degree / PhD programme
- No
- Joint degree / double degree programme
- No
- Description/content
- The programme offers a curriculum uniquely focused on developing an analytical and critical lens on the challenges posed by digitalisation and ecological transformation. It provides a solid foundation for analysing and dealing with digital communication as well as reporting on climate change. Media and journalism play a pivotal role in dealing with these challenges as society must agree on how these challenges can be met democratically and in a sustainable way.
In digital media environments and against the backdrop of existential ecological risks, questions about the ethics and quality of journalism and media communication are being raised anew, with implications for the practice and rules of public communication. The programme aims to contribute to a body of scholarship and media practice that is interested in strengthening a democratic public sphere, with professional, independent, quality journalism as an important moderator of open and pluralistic debates. We understand sustainability as a guiding principle of a society that seeks to preserve the opportunities for a good life for current and future generations worldwide.
The aim of the first year is to build a thorough knowledge about sustainability and digitalisation as challenges for journalism and a democratic public sphere. Students will furthermore develop their knowledge of social science methods and acquire digital data literacy. Students will then apply these skills to analyse socio-ecological, institutional or technological sustainability by researching topics such as climate reporting and protest participation, disinformation and mistrust in journalism or digital divide and AI. In the second year, students will get an insight into the professional field of sustainable and digital communication and prove their research skills by researching and writing a Master's thesis.