CHOOSING YOUR

MASTER’S DEGREE

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GLOBAL COMMUNICATION

MASTER TRACK

Roadmap

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What’s this program about?

The courses

Research skills/methodology

Premaster program

Thesis

E-zine [Diggit Magazine]

Academic culture

Preparing for what comes after

Our organization

Actual experiences of our Master students

Introduction

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Introducing ourselves?

What do you expect from this Program?

PERSPECTIVES FROM THE TWO AMBASSADORS OF

THE PROGRAM:

Mick, who has just started the program

Anastasia, who has just completed the program

What is global communication?

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Student & Teacher perspectives on Global Communication:

https://www.tilburguniversity.edu/education/masters-

programmes/global-communication/

Diploma versus Job

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Research into employment patterns of Psychology

graduates:

• Only 1 in 6 doing a job directly related to Psychology

• Other 5 doing jobs in all sorts of fields

• Employees search for advanced skills, such as:

• Communication skills

• Effective decision-making skills

• Higher level analytical and critical skills

• Higher order thinking skills: analysis, synthesis,

evaluation, inference, identifying causes of problems and

offering solutions, and so on.

• Most basically, open-minded, self-reflective critical

thinkers.

Our Program

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Globalization and Digitalization

Culture is constantly changing but some things are always

the same.

People move around a lot more (‘superdiversity’) but there

has always been group formation, cultural mixing, contact,

influence, borrowing etc.

People need to learn many new skills, especially digital

ones, but learning proceeds the same as it always has

(people’s brains haven’t changed)

Our life and that of the society around us changes rapidly

but change is a constant feature of life.

Managing all this is a challenge, as it has always been.

Our Program

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Global nature of our Program

Most international programs on Global Communication

have similar focal points.

Our program is the same as programs offered by Brown

University or London School of Economics - LSE.

We have an international group of scholars – benefit:

offering diverse perspectives!

Number of elective courses

Research and application orientation

Aims of the Program

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Globally shared aims of our Program (Brown + LSE)

Develop an understanding of intercultural communication

and mediation in the global context

Develop skills to critically assess existing research relating

to global communication

Understand the value of cross-cultural communication and

the exchange of ideas for the purpose of shaping global

communication.

Produce independent, original scholarly work of

publishable quality.

Understand and critically evaluate the implications of

digitalization for traditional understandings of community

Our Program

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Program Structure

Studying in 3 Blocks instead of Semesters

Advantages:

• Intense focus on a limited number of subjects

• Meeting twice a week (2X2 hours)

• Highly interactive lectures and discussions

• Completing a Block within 8 weeks

• Enabling early focus on possible Thesis topics

• Reserving sufficient time for Research and Thesis.

Our Program

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The Courses:

Individuals and communities in the digital age (Block 1)• About how we form short-lived ad-hoc communities online

Language, globalization and superdiversity (Block 1)• About how globalization affects the way we communicate

Traditional and non-traditional modes of learning (Block 2)• About how we learn, in school and in life

Linguistic and cultural change (Block 2)• About how globalization and digitalization affect our

communicative repertoires and our communicative skills

Policies on language in a super-diverse world (Block 3)• About how society attempts to deal with the growing diversity in

communication skills

Our Program

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The Courses:

Online writing and publishing (Block 3)• Hands-on practice in communicating professionally in online

environments

Working as a cultural professional (Block 3)• Exposure to what may be your professional field after you

graduate: the transition between academic knowledge and

professional practice

Research skills/methodology

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The Courses:

Methodology: In order to do research, you need certain skills

Choice of several courses, 3 ECTS each (you choose two)

Particularly relevant for this program: both quantitative and

qualitative research.

• Hermeneutical research of discourse and visual images

• Research Interview and narrative analysis

• Ethnography

• (Anthropology and fieldwork)

Premaster Program

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First semester:

• Doing Research 2.1

• Language, culture and globalization

• Discourse and Media Theory

• The multicultural individual

Choose one from:

• Language learning and socialization

• Digital culture and society

Premaster Program

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Second semester:

• Doing Research 1: The basics

• Knowledge in the digital age

• Sociolinguistics

• Doing Research 2.2

Choose one from:

• Social implications of globalization

• The digital individual

THESIS

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18 ECTS

You start in the third block, and then continue full time in the

fourth

Start thinking about possible topics from next week on, but

take your time deciding

Contact individual teachers about your topics of interest

A thesis coordinator (Dr. Rian Aarts) will manage the

process

Don’t underestimate it: you need to integrate content

knowledge from the classes, research skills, and curiosity,

and do it all yourself (with effective supervision).

E-ZINE

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The digital form of the school journal

We’ll start a platform that will function as the link between us

and the public

Us = all students and staff

Public = journalists, politics, interested lay people, policy

workers, etc.

It will contain essays, papers, articles, videos, blogs,

presentations, and so on organized into thematic files

This is integrated with most courses, so that some of your

coursework will be published online: Good for your career!

www.diggitmagazine.com

Academic Culture

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What do teachers do?

University professors don’t just teach.

University education is based on research: that’s what we

do the other half of our life

Our research: culture studies, media studies, linguistics,

sociology, anthropology

To take full advantage of the academic culture, try to take

part in the academic life of the department (we’ll inform you)

Go to talks, lectures and workshops

Consult and contribute to the e-zine

Preparing for what comes after

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The year will be over before you know it

After that, work life awaits

Try to strike a balance between enjoying the now and

worrying about the future

Orient yourself on the job market: what fields attract your

interest, what do people do who work in them, what

networks do teachers and ex-students have that may be of

use to you?

Choose a thesis topic that might be a useful ticket to a field

of employment

Preparing for what comes after

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Job Prospects:

• Research position

• Trainer / lecturer

• Management consultant

• Policy advisor

• Program manager in the education / training / cultural sector

• Community manager

• (Social) Media manager

• Customer relationship manager

• Journalist / columnist

• Business sector: consultant, intercultural communication

specialist.

Our organization

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Coordinator: Kutlay Yağmur

Teachers: Jan Blommaert (anthropology), Ad Backus

(linguistics), Sjaak Kroon (policy), Rian Aarts (education),

Kutlay Yağmur (sociolinguistics), Max Spotti (ethnography),

Piia Varis (media studies), Jef van der Aa (ethnography), Ico

Maly (anthropology), and others

Study advisor: Cathy de Waele

E-zine coordinator: Ico Maly

Experience Tells More!

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How did the current students experienced our program?

http://www.postgradabroad.co.uk/olesya_bath.html

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YOUR QUESTIONS PLEASE?