New Media & Digital Culture

From AI generated art and news, to digital cities, to green games: digital media are transforming everyday life, society, politics, and culture. Understanding media has never been more urgent. The one-year Academic Master's programme New Media & Digital Culture trains you to become a critical thinker and doer who understands these changes. Guided by cutting-edge staff, you learn how to analyse digital media, unpack what is often black-boxed, intervene in academic/public debates, and translate insights to professional fields.

Unique approach

Established in 1998 as the first specialised programme on new media in the Netherlands, this Master's became an international programme in 2011. Based at the faculty of Humanities, the programme examines media technologies in relation to cultural and historical developments. The programme has its unique own focus on three major interrelated contemporary research areas:

• games and playful culture
• platforms, AI and algorithmic culture
• mobile media and urban culture

This connects to the research activities of our internationally renowned faculty, and is embedded in various research groups in the university.

Alongside theoretical study, students gain hands-on experience with a range of research methods to critically investigate digital media technologies and their roles in society. From qualitative analysis to data-driven and computational methods, you will develop a diverse toolkit to study digital infrastructures, platform power, games and play, the smart city, and algorithmic culture.

Career, location and networks

This Master’s prepares you for a leading role in your professional career—whether as a critical thinker, policy advisor, strategic media creator, educator, or cultural mediator. A unique feature of the Utrecht-based New Media & Digital Culture programme is the research internship. This internship bridges theoretical knowledge with hands-on experience, and allows you to develop professional skills and prepare you for the job market.

Utrecht University has a strong Humanities faculty and is an excellent location to study the relationship between new media, technology, culture, and society. The programme is firmly connected to academic and professional networks, actively organizes events, and supports student professionalization. Our research groups and projects include include Data School, Inclusive AI Lab, [urban interfaces], Governing the Digital Society, Digital Games and Play, Green Media Studies, Media Industries, Infrastructures and Institutions, among others.

The programme is also well-connected to external organizations in media and culture. Situated in the heart of the Dutch creative economy, Utrecht serves as a hub where our New Media expertise informs national and European agendas on digital culture.

Why this programme in Utrecht?

After graduation

As a graduate of NMDC you are well equipped to fill a position in educational and cultural institutions, governmental institutions or in media and ICT industries.