Digital Cultures - Online

Course Outline
Our online MA in Digital Cultures at University College Cork is delivered entirely through distance learning and explores and operates within the digital moment, developing knowledge, skills and critical awareness through theoretical engagement and critical practice.

Participants in the programme develop the practical skills needed to flourish in the digital age, while also examining the impact of the digital on culture, power, and identity in society. Our programme fosters those new literacies of consumption, production and creativity essential in the contemporary world.

The MA in Digital Cultures invites you to consider the moral, ethical, social, cultural, political and economic implications of digital technology on humanity.

It prepares you to understand such transformations in society, identity, and culture, and to develop digital skills necessary to provide innovative and creative leadership in the digital age. This programme encourages truly transdisciplinary engagement that is creatively enriching for students within a scholarly atmosphere.

The programme offers an introduction to how digital tools and methods can be used in research and it combines innovative elements of theory and practice in digital cultures.

Students will receive instruction in how digital tools can be used to capture social and cultural data sources in digital form, using standards-based tools 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 individually and in teams. International engagement and participation is expected and encouraged.

The MA in Digital Cultures is geared towards introducing graduates to the use of appropriate digital tools to address research questions in their undergraduate disciplines or areas of expertise. It lays the foundations for work on capturing, reading, and writing sources in digital form, and using them for analytic and creative work.

General
The MA in Digital Cultures is a full-time programme running for 12 months. In total students take modules to the value of 90 credits in two parts:

Part I Students take taught modules to the value of 60 credits incorporating 3 two-day on-campus workshops and 8-10 hours a week of structured online activity during the term, supplemented by reading and other study.

Part II Students complete a Digital Cultures Dissertation worth 30 credits.

Why Choose This Course
If your career and interests drive you to engage with cutting-edge concepts and tools to forge new knowledge and practices in the digital age, then this course will be of interest. It will provide a structured perspective on contemporary digital culture, and appeal to those interested in the arts, communications, information technology, philosophy, law, language, literature, and education, as well as all graduates who wish to improve their digital skills. Participants will engage with a group of like-minded students in a framework designed to foster the skills of self-directed, life-long transformation and development for the 21st Century.

This course is provided by a diverse and internationally recognised team experienced in teaching, development and research in the digital arts and humanities at every level from undergraduate to PhD. This experience has been demonstrated and delivered using blended and online learning tools to foster student-centred, research-based learning.

Modules

Part I (60 credits)
DH6013 Getting Started with Graduate Research and Generic Skills (5 credits)
DH6016 Digital Humanities Institute (5 credits)
DH6022 Communities of Practice in Digital Scholarship (10 credits)
DH6023 Conceptual Introduction to Digital Arts and Humanities (10 credits)
DH6024 Humanities and New Technologies: Tools and Methodologies (10 credits)

Elective Modules (choose 20 credits)
DH6006 Teaching and Learning in Digital Humanities (5 credits)
DH6007 Models, Simulations and Games (5 credits)
DH6012 Contemporary Practices in Publishing and Editing (5 credits)
DH6018 History and Theory of Digital Arts (5 credits)
DH6026 Principles of Game Design (5 credits)

Part II
DH6029 Digital Cultures Dissertation (30 credits)

Postgraduate Certificate in Digital Cultures (NFQ Level 9, Minor Award): Students who pass at least 30 credits of taught modules (to include DH6023) may opt to exit the programme and be awarded a Postgraduate Certificate in Digital Cultures.

Postgraduate Diploma in Digital Cultures (NFQ Level 9, Major Award): Students who successfully complete Part I may opt to exit the programme and be awarded a Postgraduate Diploma in Digital Cultures.

Consult the Academic Calendar (MA Digital Cultures) for further programme and module content.

Modules
Further details on the modules listed above can be found in our book of modules. Any modules listed above are indicative of the current set of modules for this course but are subject to change from year to year.

University Calendar
You can find the full academic content for the current year of any given course in our University Calendar.

Requirements
The entry requirement is a Second Class Honours Grade I in a primary honours degree (NFQ, Level 8) or equivalent in any discipline.

Candidates who hold a Second Class Honours Grade II in a primary honours degree (NFQ, Level 8) will also be considered under Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) 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.

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).

English Language Requirements
Applicants that are non-native speakers of the English language must meet the university approved English language requirements.

For applicants with qualifications completed outside of Ireland:
Applicants must meet the required entry academic grade, equivalent to Irish requirements, please find our grades comparison by country here.

International/non-EU applicants
For full details of the non-EU application procedure please visit our how to apply pages for international students. In UCC, we use the term programme and course interchangeably to describe what a person has registered to study in UCC and its constituent colleges, schools, and departments.

Not all courses are open to international/non-EU applicants, please check the fact file above.

For more information please contact the International Office.

How Do I Apply

1. Choose Course
Firstly choose your course. Applicants can apply for up to two courses under one application. Details of taught courses are available on our online prospectus.

2. Apply Online
Once you have chosen your course you can apply online at the online application portal. Applicants will need to apply before the course closing date. There is a non-refundable €50 application fee for all courses apart from the Education - Professional Master of Education - (Secondary School/Post-Primary Teacher Training) which has a €100 application fee.

Applicants for the Postgraduate Diploma in Public Health Nursing must apply on the PAC website when the programme opens for applications.

3. Gather Supporting Documents
Scanned copies of the following documents will need to be uploaded to the online application portal in support of your application. Applicants may need to produce the original documents if you are accepted onto a course and register at UCC.

- Original qualification documents listed on your application including transcripts of results from institutions other than UCC

- Any supplementary items requested for your course.

Please log into the online application portal for more details.

4. Application processing timeline
Our online application portal opens for applications for most courses in early November of each year. Check specific course details.

5. Rounds
For courses that are in the rounds system (Irish and EU applicants), please check the rounds closing dates.

Questions on how to apply?
Please use our web enquiry form to contact us.

Additional Requirements (All Applicants)
Please note you will be required to provide additional information as part of the online application process for this programme. This will include the following questions:

You may enter the details of professional or voluntary positions held. We strongly encourage you to complete this section with all relevant work experiences that will support your application.

Please describe your motivation and readiness for this programme.

Please detail your research interest(s).

Please detail your computing/technical/IT skills.

The closing date for non-EU applications is 15 June.

1 year full-time online.

Additional Teaching Mode Information
This MA in Digital Cultures programme is delivered online using University College Cork's learning management system, as well as a range of other digital tools that will reinforce and provide experience in online collaboration and team building. Online delivery of the course also offers online, synchronous, face-to-face tutorials to support the other online material accessed by students.

Skills and Careers Information
The UCC MA in Digital Cultures will equip you with a range of tools and methods to provide the digital element now essential for careers in education, heritage and the 'cultural economy', in digital content creation and management, in web content creation, editing and management, and storytelling in a variety of domains.

Digital Cultures is a field that equips practitioners with the conceptual awareness to apply digital tools to research problems in the Arts, Humanities and related fields. It produces digitally literate interdisciplinary graduates ready to fill a variety of roles in the "knowledge economy".