The profile of the Department of Communication and Media Studies is formed by a bipole: specialization and breadth. The main objective is to create graduates skilled in communication, so that they can staff journalistic media, public services, political and parliamentary bodies, private companies, cultural organizations, social media platforms.
In order to achieve this, we offer a large number of courses focusing on communication theory and social theory, journalism, sociology and information society, advertising, popular culture studies, media law, political economy and media history, political analysis, communication applications, digital communication design, research methodology, media psycho-sociology, among others.
At the same time, we offer a correspondingly large number of courses which can lead to different specialisations, while also being indispensable for our graduates to acquire a solid overall background, thereby becoming competitive in the labour market as well as persons possessing a depth of knowledge and an open mind; persons not just skilled but also educated. Thus, our students take courses in new technologies and digital media, psychology of communication, linguistics and discourse analysis, cinema and television, contemporary history and art history, literature, drama, cultural life and cultural management, among others.
In constructing the curriculum, we have tried to combine theory with practice, combining some of the courses with workshops, but also offering many seminars, as well as elective courses, in which it is possible to work on projects, to produce artistic work and to create an interaction between all those involved. Alongside the teaching and research work that we carry out in the Department, we attach particular importance to extroversion: collaborating with other institutions and bodies, organising conferences and events, participating in public debates and art festivals. We also attach particular importance to the functioning of the Internship institution (the description of which can be found at the beginning of the section "Elective Courses"), as well as to international collaborations through programmes such as Erasmus+ and CIVIS. Of course, collaborations also take place within the School of Economics and Political Sciences, to which our Department belongs.
Postgraduate studies in our Department are constantly evolving. In recent years, five postgraduate programmes have been in operation, and we have the honour of welcoming many remarkable candidates yearly:
PhD students and doctoral candidates, postdoctoral researchers and postdoctoral fellows, as well as external collaborators of the Department, are also a human asset of which we are proud.
The postgraduate programmes are in the process of being accredited by the National Authority for Higher Education during the current academic year. However, we have no doubt that their high quality will be recognized, as this is confirmed by the feedback we receive every year from our students. An international evaluation was carried out for our undergraduate programme in 2014. Our Department was deemed to be the best Department of Communication and Media in Southern Europe. Since then, the evaluators' suggestions have been adopted, resulting in further improvement of the curriculum. For example, the BA thesis has been made compulsory. Students are thereby offered the opportunity to focus on their special interests and to write an original paper, making use of the research and interpretive tools acquired in the courses.
