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Intercultural Communication MA

London, Bloomsbury

This MA explores intercultural communication through a range of interdisciplinary perspectives. The understanding you gain will equip you to investigate in new ways questions around language, culture and diversity, helping you to overcome barriers to understanding while also preparing you for research, policy and practice in applied language studies, education and the workplace in a superdiverse and communicatively complex world.

UK students International students
Study mode
UK tuition fees (2024/25)
£12,700
£6,350
Overseas tuition fees (2024/25)
£31,100
£15,550
Duration
1 calendar year
2 calendar years
5 calendar years
Programme starts
September 2024
Applications accepted
Applicants who require a visa: 16 Oct 2023 – 05 Apr 2024

Applications closed

Applicants who do not require a visa: 16 Oct 2023 – 30 Aug 2024
Applications close at 5pm UK time

Applications open

Apply for this course

Entry requirements

Normally a minimum of a second-class UK Bachelor's degree in a relevant subject (e.g. English, languages, linguistics, and communication), or an overseas qualification of an equivalent standard is required.

The English language level for this programme is: Level 2

UCL Pre-Master's and Pre-sessional English courses are for international students who are aiming to study for a postgraduate degree at UCL. The courses will develop your academic English and academic skills required to succeed at postgraduate level.

Further information can be found on our English language requirements page.

This programme is suitable for international students on a Student visa – study must be full-time, face-to-face, starting October.

Equivalent qualifications

Country-specific information, including details of when UCL representatives are visiting your part of the world, can be obtained from the International Students website.

International applicants can find out the equivalent qualification for their country by selecting from the list below. Please note that the equivalency will correspond to the broad UK degree classification stated on this page (e.g. upper second-class). Where a specific overall percentage is required in the UK qualification, the international equivalency will be higher than that stated below. Please contact Graduate Admissions should you require further advice.

About this degree

This programme will provide you with interdisciplinary insights into intercultural communication, drawing upon applied linguistic, anthropological, sociological, philosophical, language educational and cultural studies perspectives. It will also develop your capacity to analyse, evaluate and synthesise sociocultural and linguistic data, primary and secondary sources, as well as helping you to design research.

Who this course is for

This programme is suitable for anyone with a keen interest in issues of communication across languages and cultures. In addition to language educators and communications professionals, it is also directed at graduates in languages, linguistics, education and all those with an interest in critical understandings of language, culture and identity.

Read about what it takes to study for a Master's at UCL

What this course will give you

The Department of Culture, Communication and Media (CCM) is committed to excellence in teaching, research and consultancy across a range of areas including intercultural communication.

Our rich research culture will bring you into contact with thriving IOE research centres whose work feeds into our teaching and our wide range of internal and public events. These include the International Centre for Intercultural Studies, which engages in interdisciplinary research in intercultural studies in relation to education, professional communication, language identity and intercultural creativity, and the Centre for Applied Linguistics, which conducts research in areas such as bilingualism and multilingualism, linguistic ethnography, global English, semiotics and language education policy and practice. The work of these two centres provides the basis for the knowledge and thinking behind this MA.

Read about what you'll get out of a graduate programme

The foundation of your career

This programme not only provides you with an outstanding foundation for PhD research and an academic career but will also prepare you to develop yourself internationally in areas such as education, communications or public relations. Group discussions and debates in class will help you to acquire strong presentation and negotiation skills. Likewise, the analytical and research skills you will gain are highly valued by employers from a range of sectors.

Employability

Graduates of this programme will include university and college lecturers, researchers, education professionals and others working, or planning to work, in diverse cultural and linguistic settings. Fields might include international schooling, NGOs, international development, international commercial enterprise, communications, consultancy and relevant academic disciplines.

Networking

Additional activities are available both within the department and the wider IOE and UCL community to help you to develop your employability through public talks, seminars and other networking opportunities.

Teaching and learning

This programme is delivered through lectures, supervisory tutorials, student presentations and class discussions. Within sessions, students often engage in individual, pair and group tasks for feedback in plenary.

Students are assessed through written coursework, oral presentation and the final Dissertation. Alternative modes of assessment may be a feature of some modules.

Students spend about 20% of their time in lectures, seminars, or one-to-one supervisions. The remainder is dedicated to preparing for lectures and seminars, and pursuing students' own interests via independent study.

Modules

The programme consists of one compulsory module (30 credits), one compulsory research dissertation (60 credits), and three optional modules (90 credits).

Students following a full-time format complete the MA over one year. (normally completion of 180 credits across the three terms)

  • Term 1: core module, one option module and dissertation
  • Term 2: dissertation and one or two option modules
  • Term 3: dissertation and one option module if second option is not taken in Term 2

NB: The new optional module CCME0167 Intercultural Creativity will be available for 2024/25. The module aims to advance understanding of intercultural creativity as a critical practice. It will explore the role of intercultural creativity in learning, communication, boundary crossing, productivity, knowledge democratisation and decolonisation. Sessions will explore: interculturality as a method, intercultural creativity methods; creativity and language practices, intercultural creativity as a means of recognition of ways of knowing and for knowledge building, intercultural creativity for work place diversity, intercultural creativity in pedagogy, intercultural creativity for social justice, intercultural creativity and identity, intercultural creativity as a decolonising tool for international development and in situations of crisis and conflict. The module will draw on  examples from a variety of epistemologies and sources such as ‘the arts’, and everyday creative practices and will advance an appreciation of intercultural creativity as a transformative practice.

The programme consists of one compulsory module (30 credits), one compulsory research dissertation (60 credits), and three optional modules (90 credits).

Students following a part time format complete the MA over two years:

Year 1 (normally completion of 90 credits across the three terms)

  • Term 1: core module
  • Term 2: one or two option modules
  • Term 3: one or two option modules

Year 2 (normally completion of remaining 90 credits)

  • Term 1: dissertation and one option module
  • Term 2: dissertation and one option module if no option taken in Term 1
  • Term 3: dissertation and one option module if no option taken in Terms 1 and 2

NB: The new optional module CCME0167 Intercultural Creativity will be available for 2024/25. The module aims to advance understanding of intercultural creativity as a critical practice. It will explore the role of intercultural creativity in learning, communication, boundary crossing, productivity, knowledge democratisation and decolonisation. Sessions will explore: interculturality as a method, intercultural creativity methods; creativity and language practices, intercultural creativity as a means of recognition of ways of knowing and for knowledge building, intercultural creativity for work place diversity, intercultural creativity in pedagogy, intercultural creativity for social justice, intercultural creativity and identity, intercultural creativity as a decolonising tool for international development and in situations of crisis and conflict. The module will draw on  examples from a variety of epistemologies and sources such as ‘the arts’, and everyday creative practices and will advance an appreciation of intercultural creativity as a transformative practice.

The programme consists of one compulsory module (30 credits), one compulsory research dissertation (60 credits), and three optional modules (90 credits).

Students following a modular/flexible format are able to complete the MA over a maximum of five years.
 
Year 1 (normally completion of the core module as a minimum)
Years 2-5 (normally completion of dissertation and any outstanding option modules)
Final year (dissertation is always completed in the final year)

NB: The new optional module CCME0167 Intercultural Creativity will be available for 2024/25. The module aims to advance understanding of intercultural creativity as a critical practice. It will explore the role of intercultural creativity in learning, communication, boundary crossing, productivity, knowledge democratisation and decolonisation. Sessions will explore: interculturality as a method, intercultural creativity methods; creativity and language practices, intercultural creativity as a means of recognition of ways of knowing and for knowledge building, intercultural creativity for work place diversity, intercultural creativity in pedagogy, intercultural creativity for social justice, intercultural creativity and identity, intercultural creativity as a decolonising tool for international development and in situations of crisis and conflict. The module will draw on  examples from a variety of epistemologies and sources such as ‘the arts’, and everyday creative practices and will advance an appreciation of intercultural creativity as a transformative practice.

Compulsory modules




Optional modules













Please note that the list of modules given here is indicative. This information is published a long time in advance of enrolment and module content and availability are subject to change. Modules that are in use for the current academic year are linked for further information. Where no link is present, further information is not yet available.

Students undertake modules to the value of 180 credits. Upon successful completion of 180 credits, you will be awarded an MA in Intercultural Communication.

Accessibility

Details of the accessibility of UCL buildings can be obtained from AccessAble accessable.co.uk. Further information can also be obtained from the UCL Student Support and Wellbeing team.

Fees and funding

Fees for this course

UK students International students
Fee description Full-time Part-time
Tuition fees (2024/25) £12,700 £6,350
Tuition fees (2024/25) £31,100 £15,550

Additional costs

All full-time students are required to pay a fee deposit of £2,000 for this programme. All part-time students are required to pay a fee deposit of £1,000.

Students should take into account any travel, accommodation and expenses involved in their dissertation.

For more information on additional costs for prospective students please go to our estimated cost of essential expenditure at Accommodation and living costs.

Funding your studies

For a comprehensive list of the funding opportunities available at UCL, including funding relevant to your nationality, please visit the Scholarships and Funding website.

See all the ways you can fund your studies

IOE-Clarke Scholarships

Deadline: 3 May 2024
Value: Tuition fees, return flights and stipend (1 year)
Criteria Based on both academic merit and financial need
Eligibility: EU, Overseas

IOE-ISH Centenary Masters Scholarships

Deadline: 3 May 2024
Value: Tuition fees and accommodation (1 year)
Criteria Based on both academic merit and financial need
Eligibility: EU, Overseas

Next steps

Students are advised to apply as early as possible due to competition for places. Those applying for scholarship funding (particularly overseas applicants) should take note of application deadlines.

There is an application processing fee for this programme of £90 for online applications and £115 for paper applications. Further information can be found at Application fees.

When we assess your application, we would like to learn:

  • why you want to study Intercultural Communication at graduate level
  • why you want to study Intercultural Communication at IOE
  • what particularly attracts you to the chosen programme
  • how your academic and/or professional background meets the demands of this challenging programme
  • where you would like to go professionally with your MA degree

Together with essential academic requirements, the personal statement is your opportunity to illustrate whether your reasons for applying to this programme match what the programme will deliver.

Please note that applications for this programme will be assessed in two rounds. This means that your application will be considered alongside all others that have submitted before the dates specified below. This enables us to ensure that all applications are considered fairly and equally.

All applications which are submitted and considered complete by 31 December 2023 should receive a decision by no later 31 January 2024.

All applications which are submitted and considered compete by 5 April 2024 should receive a decision by no later than 19 April 2024.

All applications which are considered complete after this date will receive a response as soon as possible. All applicants will receive a response by no later than 31 May 2024.

Please note that unsuccessful decisions may be released earlier than these dates.

Please note that you may submit applications for a maximum of two graduate programmes (or one application for the Law LLM) in any application cycle.

Choose your programme

Please read the Application Guidance before proceeding with your application.

Year of entry: 2024-2025

Apply for this course

Got questions? Get in touch

Culture, Communication and Media
Culture, Communication and Media

ma.icc@ucl.ac.uk

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