MSc Media, Communication and Development

Overview

This programme offers an intensive, year-long exploration of a wide range of contemporary issues in media, communications and development.

The main aim of this programme is to offer an advanced interdisciplinary education and training in contemporary theory and research in the field of media and communications and its application in the Global South, with a particular emphasis on low income country contexts. It aims to:

• provide an opportunity to critically examine the intersection of the fields of media and communications and development research
• provide research training for students wishing to go on to MPhil/PhD research in the media, communication and development field and for entry to a variety of media, communication and development related careers
• enable students to develop a critical understanding of a range of theoretical and methodological approaches to the study of media and communication in the Global South, with a particular emphasis on low income country contexts
• allow flexibility for students to pursue particular topics of interest in the field of media and communications with an emphasis on issues that arise in low income countries

We attract students from a diverse range of backgrounds, often including professional experience working in media and communications or development related fields. Indeed, the opportunity for cross-cultural meetings and exchange of ideas among the student body is a valuable feature of studying at LSE.

For more details and entry requirements, please check on the School's graduate prospectus page.  

Programme director

Dr Shakuntala Banaji

Shakuntala Banaji lectures on International Media and the Global South, Film theory and World Cinema, and Critical Approaches to Media, Communication and Development in the Department of Media and Communications at the LSE. She has a BA in Philosophy and Literature from the University of Warwick; a Post Graduate Certificate of Education from Goldsmiths College, University of London, an MA English Studies in Education and a PhD Media and Communication from the Institute of Education, University of London. Before entering academia, she was a teacher of English and Media Studies in London schools through the 1990s.

Shakuntala has published extensively on young people, children and media as well as gender, ethnicity and Hindi cinema, with articles on Hindi horror films and excluded youth and news consumption recently published; and articles on children, social class and media in India, forthcoming. She has also published on creativity, the Internet and civic participation. Her current research addresses the intersection between socio-political context, media, identity and participation.

LSE Experts
Publications

 

 

Here are some suggested readings that will prove helpful to you in preparing for your arrival at LSE, and for finding out about courses you may be interested in taking.

Don't feel you have to read everything on the list - the intention is simply to give you an idea of the level and range of material covered.

Most of these books are available in the library and we do not expect you to buy these.

• Artz, L. and Kamalipour, Y. (eds.) (2003) The Globalisation of Corporate Media Hegemony, Albany: State University of New York Press.
• Baaz, M. E. 2005. The Paternalism of Partnership: A Postcolonial Reading of Identity and Development Aid. London and New York, Zed Books
• Bailey, O., Cammaerts, B. and Carpentier, N. (2007) Understanding Alternative Media, Maidenhead: Open University Press.
• Banaji, S. (ed.) (2010) South Asian Media Cultures: Representations, Audiences, Contexts , London and New York: Anthem Press.
• Comaroff, J. and J. L. Comaroff (2012). Theory from the south, or, how Euro-America is evolving toward Africa. Boulder, CO: Paradigm Publishers.
• Downing, J., with Ford, T. V., Gil, G. and Stein, L. (2001) Radical Media: Rebellious Communication and Social Movements, London: Sage.
• Eagleton, T. (1991) Ideology: An Introduction, London: Verso.
• Escobar, A. (1995) Encountering Development: The Making and Unmaking of the Third World, New Jersey: Princeton University Press.
• Fanon, F (1965) A Dying Colonialism, New York: Grove Press. 
• Freire, P (1972) Pedagogy of the oppressed, London: Penguin Books.
• Galeano, E. 1973. Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent. New York and London: Monthly Review Press.
• Guijt, Irene, and Meera Kaul Shah, eds. 1998. The Myth of Community: Gender Issues in Participatory Development. London, UK: Intermediate Technology Publications.
• Hall, S. (ed.) (1997) Representation: Cultural Representations and Signifiying Practices, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.  
• Hemer, O and Tufte, T (2003) Media and Glocal Change: Rethinking Communication for Development, Gšteborg and Buenos Aires: NORDICOM and CLASCO.
• Hickey, S and Mohan, G. 2004. Participation: From Tyranny to Transformation? Exploring New Approaches to Participation in Development, London and New York: ZED Books.
• Kapoor, I. (2008). The Postcolonial Politics of Development. London and New York: Routledge.
• Lukes, S. (1974/2005) Power: A Radical View, London: British Sociological Association.
• Manyozo, L (2011) Engaging Communities Using Radio: Sustainable Development in Africa, Penang, Malasia: Southbound.
• Manyozo, L. (2012). Media, Communication and Development: Three Approaches. London: Sage.
• Melkote, S. R. and Steeves, H. L. (2001) Communication for Development in the Third World: Theory and Practice for Empowerment, 2nd Edition. London: Sage.
• Mody, B. (ed.) (2003) International and Development Communication: A 21st Century Perspective, 2nd Edition, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
• Mohanty, C. et al. (eds.) (1990) Third world women and the politics of feminism, Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
• Nyamnjoh, F. B. (2005). Africa's media, democracy and the politics of belonging, London: Zed Books.
• Roy, S. (2005) Globalisation, ICT and Developing Nations: Challenges in the Information Age, New Delhi: Sage.
• Quebral, N (1988) Development communication, Laguna: UPLB College of　Agriculture.
• Said, E. W. (1978). Orientalism. London: Penguin
• Servaes, J (Ed.) (2008) Communication for Development and Social Change, New Delhi, Thousand Oaks, London and Singapore: Sage.
• Wieringa, S. and Sivori, S. (eds) (2014) The Sexual History of the Global South: Sexual Politics in Africa, Asia and Latin America. London: Zed Books..
• Wilkins, K. G. (ed.) (2000) Redeveloping Communication for Social Change: Theory, Practice and Power, Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield.