Digital Cultures

Course details

Life is being transformed by digital technologies - are you equipped to understand, to contribute to and indeed to make the changes happening around you?

The MA in Digital Cultures will prepare you to understand the transformation in our society, identity, and culture; to develop digital literacies in using and in creating

digital artefacts in a range of media and to provide innovative and creative leadership in the digital age.

The accelerating velocity of digital transformation: the explosion of social media since Facebook (2004); the widespread adoption of smartphones (2007) and tablets since 2010 - devices now outselling traditional PCs, demonstrate the digital revolution that is reshaping our society. These tool and platforms are enabling profound social and political changes from the Arab Spring to how we interact in our families and communities.

These societal transformations raise new questions for the Arts and Social Sciences, and demand graduates who can not only effectively employ these tools, but more profoundly leverage them through critical appreciation of the profound ways they are transforming our everyday lives.

The UCC MA in Digital Cultures operates within and about the digital moment, developing knowledge, skills and critical awareness through praxis.

The MA in Digital Cultures not only develops practical skills to flourish in the digital age, but also to explore the impact of the digital on culture, power and identity in society. The programme fosters new literacies for the contemporary world - of digital consumption, literacy of digital production, of digital creation. Most importantly, the MA in Digital Cultures considers the moral and ethical implications and social, cultural, political and economic impacts of technology on human organisation.

This MA encourages a truly transdisciplinary engagement that is creatively enriching for students within a scholarly atmosphere. We offer an unique interdisciplinary opportunity for participants in a distinctive synergy within Digital Cultures. The programme offers an introduction into how digital tools and methods can be used in research and it combines innovative elements of theory and practice in Digital Cultures.

Course Details

• The programme will provide a grounding in how digital tools can be used to capture social and cultural data sources in digital form, using standards-based tools (TEI, XML, SQL amongst others) to frame research questions, collaborate on research using social networking tools, and present results both in print and on the web using current standards-based presentation technologies. Students will be encouraged to and facilitated in the creation of digital artefacts inpidually and in teams.
• International engagement and participation is expected and encouraged – led by the teaching team.
• Digital Cultures at UCC provides opportunities for students to explore how the "digital" is impacting on society and changing our culture. Students on the programme will seek to discover what is it to be human in the digital age, and the answers will help to shape how we see ourselves and others in an age where humanity is becoming increasingly connected by ubiquitous technology. The MA programme serves to introduce students to this dynamic and developing field, and lay the foundations for further research or careers that use digital tools to address the creative questions in the Arts, Humanities and related fields.
• The DC MA is geared towards introducing graduates to the use of appropriate digital tools to address research questions in their 'traditional' disciplines. It lays the foundations for work on capturing, reading and writing sources in digital form, and using them for analytic and creative work. The core module will include topics such as digital assets management, creative commons licensing , and the open access and open data agendas.
• The programme will provide a grounding in how ICT tools can be used to capture humanities data sources in digital form, using standards based tools such as TEI, XML, SQL, to frame research questions, collaborate on research using social networking tools, and present results both in print and on the web using current standards based visualisation and presentation technologies.
• The core is based on two modules: Communities of Practice in Digital Scholarship (5 credits) and Conceptual Introduction to Digital Arts and Humanities (5 credits) and 15 credits of modules covering tools, methods and the institute in the digital arts & humanities. The programme is further complemented with 20 credits from a list of elective modules.
• The capstone delivery of the remaining 45 credits consists of a minor thesis.

Detailed Entry Requirements

• The entry requirement is a primary degree with a Second Class Honours Grade 1 (or equivalent) in any discipline.
• Candidates who hold a primary degree with a Second Class Honours Grade 2 will also be considered subject to the approval of the programme selection committee.
• Some applicants who do not fulfil the usual entry requirements may be invited for interview to satisfy the selection committee of their suitability for the programme.
• English Language Requirements: IELTS 6.5 with no inpidual section lower than 5.5 or TOEFL equivalent
• All applicants are required to comment on the following statement:
• Please explain your interest in the MA in Digital Cultures. Briefly outline the narrative extent and analytic issues which you may be interested in as research topics for the MA Thesis.  As this programme, requires engagement with digital tools for research, you should indicate your experience and aptitude for working with digital tools (750 words approximately).

Course Practicalities

Students passing modules to the value of 45 credits in Part I may opt to exit the programme and be awarded a Postgraduate Certificate in Digital Cultures.

Assessment

Modules in the programme require students to work ‘hands-on’ with current and emerging tools and interact with standards based ICT. This will include assessments requiring engagement with both theory and practice of inquiry in the digital age. It is expected that students will create digital research artefacts in the course of their research. Assessment may include practice and/or performance based elements where appropriate.