Major/Minor combination

The undergraduate minor program society, media and politics (SMP) integrates the social sciences that are necessary to tackle the key challenges of our globalized world in a digitized context. Our students are leaders of tomorrow who want to learn to make a difference, students who want to understand societal problems, think about possible political solutions and learn how to use media to instigate change. We prepare students to apply an interdisciplinary perspective in real life problem solving as well as making use of the acquired media skills in professional contexts.

Description

Sociology, media studies and political science are learned from a problem-solving, and student-centered perspective. The minor empowers students to get hands-on practical experience with media, social intervention or academic research. Students are empowered to address issues in their environment by applying their knowledge and skills in direct practice. They learn about their social environment on field excursions, discuss political conditions and possible solutions to social issues, and learn to campaign for their initiatives with the skillful use of digital media, for example by producing their own videos or animations. Innovative forms of assessment allow them to integrate these forms of activity in their curriculum.

Students minoring in SMP are offered the unique opportunity to acquire a broad spectrum of media skills. They are professionally guided by our media team and provided with the necessary technical equipment by our SMP Media Center. All basic equipment for media projects, be they video, VR or animation, graphic design, creative writing or podcasts, are accessible to our students at the SMP Media Center.

Concept of the Minor in Society, Media and Politics: 

A solid basic training in the disciplines involved and an intense immersion in both quantitative and qualitative methods enable students to get a hands-on experience with scientific empirical analysis in research oriented seminars. Moreover, the SMP Media Center supports students’ initiatives to develop creative skills in digital media, be that the creation of videos, animations, podcasts, vlogs, or blogs. The Media Center will supply them with the professional advice and equipment that they need, and the study program broadly supports media projects (media products) as an actual form of assessment, so that students with an SMP minor have the opportunity to develop practical media skills.

Special features / USPs:
The SMP minor contributes to becoming socially responsible leaders because they have strong critical faculties, are trained to address societal issues in a global and digital context and are skilled problem solvers, proficient at thinking through problems from varying disciplinary perspectives. The disciplinary training equips them with the tools that are most relevant in this context. Studying SMP as a minor opens career opportunities in the media, non-governmental organizations, public administration, community development, international aid agencies, international businesses, the cultural sector, international youth and social work, fundraising and many other areas.

Our experience shows that graduates from the SMP major have built successful careers in start-ups and NGOs as well as in large companies; they have moved on to the most renowned academic institutions in the world, some of them are developing impressive careers in academia, while others have started their own companies. We are convinced that the SMP minor contributes to successful careers because creative problem solving, the ability to judge from a broader perspective and the ability to think out of the box are faculties that are in very high demand in all positions of leadership.

Target group:
The SMP minor adds a valuable education track to a variety of majors. For example, for the ISCP major SMP adds a perspective on the broader societal context, while for IRPH students, it adds a focus on more contemporary issues to the broad historical and global perspectives. GEM and IBA students with a stronger sense of social responsibility or some interest in social entrepreneurship will find SMP to be a valuable complement to their studies. Students of the School of Science or the School of Computer Science and Engineering programs can hugely benefit from minoring in SMP as well.

The risks and opportunities of technology are growing exponentially – and, with them, the political debate on their regulation is increasingly acute. At the same time, the need for mediatized and visualized communication of science and technology has become a crucial point of urgently needed qualification on all labor markets. Minoring in SMP therefore is of special interest for those students who are interested in the societal implications, opportunities and risks of the technologies they work with, for students who care about the political framework and regulations or the societal consequences of their disciplines, as well as for students who want to embrace the immense power of mediatization and visualization of science and technologies in their professional and academic future.

Qualification aims:
The minor SMP is interdisciplinary and provides critical knowledge of sociology, media studies and political science. Its focus lies on contemporary societal, media, and political issues and to address these issues practically, be it at a global or a local level. Learning is research- and problem-oriented. Students are encouraged and empowered to apply the skills and knowledge they have acquired in the practical context of research and/or social issues. If they so wish, they can also acquire practical media skills by developing actual media products, by using the equipment with the professional support of the staff at the SMP Media Center. The SMP minor is designed similar to very 5 successful other programs, such as Sozialwissenschaften - "Medien, Politik, Gesellschaft" at the Heinrich-Heine-University Düsseldorf.

Program duration:
Four semesters.

ECTS points:
30 ECTS

Starting date:           
Fall 2023