Cultural Studies with Social Justice (Taught)

The MA Cultural Studies and Social Justice offers an interdisciplinary approach to the study of contemporary culture (in all its forms), race, and justice. The programme is theory-driven but grounded in practice, media, creative approaches, and social justice.

• Goldsmiths is a centre of pioneering critical race scholarship and you will be taught by leading figures in the field.

• You’ll be introduced to a variety of perspectives, theories, and traditions engaging with culture and social justice.

• Topics you’ll explore include: critical race theories, Black, indigenous, and anti-colonial feminisms, the Birmingham School of Cultural Studies and its legacy, decolonial and postcolonial thought, critical theories of class and capitalism, queer and disability justice theory, activist, abolitionist, and grassroots struggles across the world, creative and cultural industries, and artistic practices.

• The programme will provide an in-depth exploration of research and scholarship into cultural studies and race across the overlapping fields of sociology, media and communications, gender/feminist studies, and more.

• We offer an interdisciplinary approach, which will provide you with the analytical tools and skills to explain and critique why contemporary global understandings and representations of race and culture take the shape that they do.

• You’ll build an understanding of the subject by paying attention to histories, presents, and structures and systems of global politics, media, technology, society, capitalism, and creative industries.

• You’ll learn how critique can be transformed into a tool for imagining futures, building community, artistic and activist practice, and generating crucial research.

• As a postgraduate student, you will join a thriving intellectual community at Goldsmiths, while learning the skills that you will be able to apply to a range of careers, from media, to policy, to charity/NGOs and other forms of social enterprise.

• The School of Media, Communications and Cultural Studies has been ranked second in the UK for 'world-leading or internationally excellent' research (Research Excellence Framework, 2021) and 16th in the world (third in the UK) in the 2024 QS World Rankings for communication and media studies.