At the Institute of Communication and Media Studies research and teaching are closely connected. Our research profile focuses on the transformation of media and society. Teaching follows the model of a research-based career orientation.
Research Profile
Research at the Institute of Communication and Media Studies focuses on the transformation of media and society. Regarding digitalisation, this change is developing a special dynamic – with far-reaching effects on the democratic public and journalism, on professional communication in companies and organisations, and on the everyday life of media users. The aim of the research activities at the Institute is to understand, explain, and help shape these changes in media and society.
We pursue a social science research approach that combines theory and method development as well as basic and applied research. Our researchers examine the challenges and potentials of media and social change from a variety of theoretical and methodological perspectives. We are interested in the social, economic, political, cultural, historical, and ethical dimensions of change and its consequences. The Institute of Communication and Media Studies cooperates in its research with other institutes of the faculty and university as well as with leading research institutes in Germany and abroad.
As part of the research transfer, we contribute our expertise to shaping the change of media, organisations, and society. This is done primarily through cooperation with innovative media companies and cultural institutions, exchange with decision-makers in corporate communications, and the promotion of media competence and participation in the digital public. Research transfer also provides theory- and evidence-based foundations for political, organisational, and democratic decision-making processes.
Teaching Profile
Research and teaching are united at the Institute of Communication and Media Studies. All our degree programmes follow the model of a research-based career orientation. We provide our students with the necessary knowledge and skills to enter careers in various communication professions as well as in science. As technologies, markets, values, and people’s preferences change, the demands placed on communication professions are constantly changing. In turn the dynamic development of the media landscape and the comprehensive changes in modern public spheres present science with ever new challenges. Therefore, our students acquire the competence to understand, explain, and shape change in the media, organisations, and society. To this end, the theories, methods, and empirical findings of our research provide the necessary orientation. We qualify for attractive career paths in dynamic industries of the future, for the realisation of one’s own ideas in creative start-ups, and for self-determined careers in research and teaching at research institutes and universities.
Our degree programmes
The BA Communication and Media Studies provides the foundation for research-based career guidance. The programme prepares the students for a wide range of professional activities and provides them with the necessary specialist knowledge, skills and methods. On the one hand, the programmes aim is to acquire competences for the admission to a master’s programme. On the other hand, students develop the skills necessary to enter professional practice in communication and media professions after graduation. This creates the basis for professional development opportunities and for the ability to take responsibility for further training.
The MA Communication and Media StudiesMA enables students to acquire knowledge about structures, processes, contents, design, effects, and the history of media, public, and interpersonal communication. Graduates of the programme can adequately assess research results in communication and media studies regarding their quality criteria, use them to solve practical problems and carry out research independently. Graduates are thus able to take on design and management tasks in the media and communications sector, in media and opinion research and in educational institutions, or to gain further qualifications through a doctorate.
The MA Communication Management is the leading university master’s programme for strategic communication and public relations in Germany. It teaches interdisciplinary knowledge in a programme that combines academic research with the challenges of professional practice. This enables graduates to perform conceptually reflected leadership activities in communications departments of large corporations, associations/politics, non-profit organisations as well as in corporate and communications consultancies. Due to his strong roots in international research, it also serves as preparation for a doctorate in the field of strategic communication, financial communication, and non-profit/online communication.
The MSc Journalism prepares students for the fields of activity in media editorships and companies under the conditions of continuously dynamically changing digital and social communication processes. The master’s programme combines academic studies with systematic professional orientation. It teaches project-oriented, creative journalistic work based on knowledge of the journalistic trade, empirical research into journalistic phenomena, and skills for meeting technological developments that drive the change in journalism. The graduates will be able to shape the digital transformation of journalism as editors and in leading positions in media companies and editorial offices based on scientific methods and findings in a project- and team-oriented manner.
The MA Global Mass Communication is a double-degree programme. It integrates a tuition-free semester abroad at the renowned E.W. Scripps School of Journalism at Ohio University in Athens. This allows students to acquire a MSc in Journalism in addition to their German degree. The course of studies deepens the theories, methods, and research fields of the subject. It focuses on media structures and media culture in the USA. The double degree enables students to acquire intercultural and specialist language skills. Thus, they are prepared and qualified for management tasks in globally active media companies as well as for international communication and media research.