Connect The Dots

Ankita Deuri gives you an inside view of the top institutes to study media and communication across the world

Columia University, New York, USA
www.columbia.edu
If you want to attend one of the best communication and media courses in the world, then Columbia University is what you should aim for. Columbia offers both Master of Science and Master of Arts programmes in media and journalism and a PhD in communications. Apart from being highly prestigious, these courses are intensive and rigorous. Established by renowned journalist, Joseph Pulitzer, in 1912, Columbia Journalism is among the best-regarded media institutions in the world. In addition to distributing the highly coveted Pulitzer Prize, Columbia’s J-School, as it is known on campus, trains recent college graduates as well as seasoned journalists. The MSc and MA programmes both run for approximately one academic year, while the PhD programme typically takes a minimum of three years. Add to this its location in the heart of Manhattan, and you’ve got one of the best places on earth to become a media mogul.

University of Southern California (USC), Los Angeles, USA
annenberg.usc.edu
USC’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism is a platform for showcasing innovation and information in communication technologies. Since 1970, the school has been providing quality education to students keen on gathering a better understanding of communication in this fast-moving world of new media. Besides a bachelor’s degree programme, Annenberg also offers master’s and PhD programmes. The school building is in the heart of the USC campus and boasts state-of-the-art computing, online publishing and multimedia classroom facilities.
Students with diverse educational and cultural backgrounds come here to pursue their studies and the multicultural atmosphere is creative and exciting for media students. The academic degrees are flexible enough to allow students a wide degree of latitude in designing their programmes of study. Ranked in the top five communication schools by Newspro, the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism has lived up to its name for top-quality learning.

King’s College, London, UK
www.kcl.ac.uk
Part of the highly respected University of London, King’s College offers various courses to its students. The College was established in the year 1836 and has been serving in the top league of quality education since. King’s College is one of the top 30 universities of the world, according to the QS international rankings. It has a particularly distinguished reputation in the humanities, law and sciences. Communication studies aspirants can choose from a wide forum of courses in culture, media and creative industries. The university offers a postgraduate programme in communication as well. The programmes combine an analysis of the arts and cultural sectors at international, national and local levels. If you are keen on grasping the kind of knowledge that will stay with you forever, then King’s College is your retreat.

Northwestern University, Chicago, USA
www.northwestern.edu
Situated in the largest city in the American Midwest, Northwestern University is a place where you get ‘whatsoever things are true,’ according to the school motto. Founded in 1850, this is one of the most respected institutions in the region. The Department of Communication Studies at Northwestern provides master’s courses in Communication Sciences and Communication Studies as well as courses on radio, television and film, performance studies and theatre. The Department of Communication Studies provides some outstanding facilities to its students and an experienced permanent and visiting faculty. Facilities and organisations on campus like The Theatre and Interpretation Centre, Cahn Auditorium, Fisk Digital Media Studio and The Media Service Group help to nurture the students’ academic needs. Northwestern is also home to the Medill School of Journalism, considered one of the best journalism schools in the country. The combined powers of the two schools make Northwestern’s offerings in communications and media among the most diverse available anywhere.

University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK
www.uea.ac.uk
Established in 1963, the University of East Anglia is located in the beautiful city of Norwich. Though the university does not offer a concrete communication or media course, it does provide courses on film and television studies. Their courses inspire students to explore the diverse aspects of our media-saturated society. There are undergraduate, postgraduate and PhD programmes to which one can apply. The school of Film and Television has a very good international reputation in high-quality research and scholarship. The master’s course in Film Studies admits around 20 students each year with a further 10 for a different specialisation. The PhD programme admits students with excellent research proposals to work with members of the lecturing staff, who are widely published and very active in their respective fields of research. The school is renowned for its high-quality research, gaining the maximum grade of 5* in the 2001 Research Assessment Exercise. Less expensive than its American counterparts, the UEA will give you more for your buck than any other institution on this list!

Volume 1 Issue 10