The MA Media Studies consists of four different programmes in the fields of Journalism and New Media (Dutch taught), Book and Digital Media Studies, Film and Photographic Studies and Cultural Analysis: Literature and Theory.

The master’s programme in Book and Digital Media Studies introduces you to the history of the written and printed word, and to theories and practices of publishing as well as textual media.

Graduation ceremony

Recently Cambridge University Press published dr. Jan Osters monograph “Media Freedom as a Fundamental Right”.

This PhD project analyses the politics and aesthetics of depictions of torture in American and European ‘war on terror’ films.

This book explores chronologically, for the first time, the representation and redefinition of Indonesia’s regional cultures through recording media, from the introduction of the gramophone record through the current video compact disc (VCD) era, taking as case study the Minangkabau ethnic group.

Exploring cultural production in Europe, Latin America and Africa, the institute’s research programme focuses on the continuous interconnectedness of the Arts and Society in both the textual culture of literature, learning and public debate and the visual culture of art, architecture, film, photography…

Staging the Archive: Art and Photography in the Age of New Media is dedicated to art practices that mobilize the model of the archive, demonstrating the ways in which such archival artworks probe the possibilities of what art is and what it can do.

This study aims to reveal how national, regional, public and private television stations in Indonesia – each in their own ways and for their own aims - represent aspects of Javaneseness.

In October 2014, Leiden University established the ‘Leiden University Teachers’ Academy’. Helen Westgeest, who lectures in the BA and MA Art History and MA Media Studies, was put forward by the Faculty of Humanities for appointment in the so-called ‘LTA’.

How new media shape the communication strategies of the PRC’s official news agency Xinhua?

Developing a model of sound organisation which drives the focus of the listener to the way inherent conditions in the production and circulation of sound media technology constitute our sound apprehension

Researchers from more than 30 countries have been discussing the changes in reading through digitization in the European research network E-READ. Adriaan van der Weel, Senior University Lecturer, spoke about the network’s achievements in the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

If male budgerigars can successfully open a puzzle box with food, they become more attractive to females. Biologist Carel ten Cate and Chinese colleagues published experimental evidence for this in a paper in Science on 11 January. Various Dutch and international media wrote about the paper.

During the opening of the academic year, true to tradition the LUC Teaching Prize will be awarded to the University's best lecturer. Get to know the nominees. This week: Florian Schneider.

Anne Marieke van der Wal-Rémy, assistant professor of African History and International Studies, has received a Comenius Teaching Fellow grant of 50,000 euros. She intends to use the grant to set up an online archive of digital primary sources, together with her students. Van der Wal-Rémy: ‘ “Once on…

Film and Photographic Studies master’s students Vanessa and Deirdre created a film programme about the Jewish artist Charlotte Salomon for the Jewish Cultural Quarter. Due to the pandemic, they could no longer hold a physical screening and they decided to move their project online.

Professor of Korean Studies Remco Breuker has been awarded a subsidy from the European Research Council to study the dispute between both Koreas and China on the history of Manchuria. Political scientist Daniela Stockmann will be examining the role of social media and how the Chinese authorities handle…

‘In Hong Kong, the elderly found our popular nature routes boring, so they now cycle our action-packed routes through New York.’ What once started as an assignment for the Master Programme Media Technology, has grown into the international market leader in the field of virtual reality exercises for…

The widespread idea that politics is mediatised needs to be revised. Although media attention heavily influences some political processes, this is not the case when it comes to lawmaking. Lotte Melenhorst, a political scientist at Leiden University, analysed three heavily covered legislative processes…

Lecture, Leiden University Nationalism Network

Yuxi Nie defended her thesis on 15 October 2019.

Play and Media is one of the six research themes of the LUCAS Modern and Contemporary cluster.

The master’s programme in Journalism and New Media at Leiden University provides you with strong editorial and academic skills as well as a journalistic mindset. It is an ideal programme to kickstart your career in journalism.

Intermediality, Media Practices and Media Literacy is one of the six research themes of the LUCAS Modern and Contemporary cluster.

LUCIS Discussion Panel

Do you have a question about studying at leiden University or student life in Leiden? Do you want more information about Media Studies? Chat with a current student for answers to your questions!

This interdisciplinary research master offers the best of three worlds (arts, literature and media) through a program of well-designed courses, combining theoretical and historical training with free space for specialisation.

If you’ve graduated from the programme and you want to further your academic education you can continue with a master’s programme. It will earn you the title of Master of Arts (MA) and significantly increase your chances of finding a position at academic level.

Study Information

Nowadays, the arts and media are inextricably connected to the society in which we live. The Arts, Media and Society bachelor’s programme will take you on an enlightening journey during which you’ll explore the issues in society we currently face from the perspectives of the arts and the media.