MSc Communication for Innovation and Development

Full-time 12 months
Part-time 24 months

Communication is a key ingredient in international development policy and programmes. Rapid developments in communication technology  are driving new agendas for 'knowledge transfer', improved governance and access to opportunities for secure livelihoods. Lack of access to knowledge, information and the means of communication is recognised as a constraint to development at individual, household and regional levels. New policy agendas are matched by new theoretical understandings of how communication processes influence individual behaviour and social change. Innovation in livelihood systems is increasingly understood as an endogenous process that can be supported through carefully designed communication, building on experience in rural extension to create new ways of facilitating learning through experimentation and dialogue. This MSc course builds a sound theoretical foundation for a critical analysis of communication in development and of the practical application of communication media and process to support innovation and change.   

 

Course Content

You will take 70 credits in core modules:

• Perspectives on Development
• Communication and innovation in Development
• Research Methods for Development and Communication
• Principles of Communication Design for Development
• Research and Study Skills for Independant Learning
• Concepts and Strategies of Social Development

A further 50 taught credits are selected from a wide range of modules and student prepare a dissertation on a relevant topic to be agreed with their Course Director.