Programme Overview:

The programme is designed to give both recent graduates and those with some years work experience a theoretical framework that will enable them to understand, evaluate and assess different aspects of the process of political communication, and an opportunity to carry out detailed research in related areas of politics, public policy in relation to communication, media policy and sociology. 

The programme offers graduates and other eligible applicants the opportunity to explore the key ways in which communication informs and sustains the fabric of modern society in both national and international terms, the interaction of communications methodologies and practices with political and electoral processes and the ethical and other issues posed by the development of modern communications. The programme aims to encourage students to approach political communication in a critical and reflexive way and lays particular emphasis on original research and independent study.

While the programme is open to applicants who have just received their primary degree, it is also of interest to experienced applicants from the world of journalism, the public service, consultancies, public relations, advertising and marketing. As the programme deliberately does not set out to offer skills of a pre-entry kind to these professions, it is especially attractive to applicants who already possess considerable technical skill levels but who feel the need to explore the academic horizons mapped out by the programme in a way that will deepen and extend the range of their own professional and intellectual activity.

Programme Description:

The programme offers the opportunity to explore the key ways in which communication informs and sustains the fabric of modern society in both national and international terms, the interaction of communications methodologies and practices with political and electoral processes and the ethical and other issues posed by the development of modern communications.

Programme Structure:

The programme may be taken full-time or part-time.  Lectures and seminars are timetabled for late afternoon and evening to facilitate those at work.

View the subjects currently taught on this course (2009 - 2010)

Entry Requirements:

Applicants will normally have an honours primary degree or equivalent (2:2) but appropriate combinations of professional qualifications and experience may be accepted as equivalent to an honours degree in accordance with the relevant regulations of the University. Interviews may be held.

International Applications
International candidates are expected to have educational qualifications of a standard equivalent to those outlined above. In addition, where such candidates are non-native speakers of the English language they must satisfy the university of their competency in the English language. For further information on international applications click here.

Dates for Submission of Applications 2010

EU Applicants

Apply online through the Postgraduate Applications Centre (http://www.pac.ie/dcu) by 20th August 2010.  Late applications may be considered.  Please contact the Programme Director, Prof. Steven Knowlton by email at steven.knowlton@dcu.ie.

Non-EU Applicants
Apply online through the Postgraduate Applications Centre (http://www.pac.ie/dcu) by 15th July 2010. Late applications may be considered.  Please contact the Programme Director, Prof. Steven Knowlton by email at steven.knowlton@dcu.ie.  Applicants who require a study visa for the purposes of gaining entry into Ireland are advised to apply as early as possible.

Applying through the Postgraduate Applications Centre (http://www.pac.ie/dcu)
To apply for this programme use the PAC code DC604 (part time) and DC631 (full-time) for entry in September 2010. 

Queries on Completed Applications
Queries on completed applications can be made by e-mail to registry.pac@dcu.ie

Career Prospects:

 

See what past graduates did

Additional Features:

 

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