Digital Media, Culture and Arabic

Digital media, culture and Arabic brings together three fields that together provide exceptional preparation for engaging with the Arab world in the twenty-first century. Digital media and culture studies examines how digital technologies shape information, communication and cultural production, bringing humanistic and social perspectives to the questions that matter most about the digital age. Arabic is one of the world's most important languages, spoken across twenty countries and carrying a literary, philosophical and religious tradition of extraordinary depth.

Combining them gives you both the analytical tools to understand contemporary media and the linguistic access to a major world culture.

At the School of Oriental and African Studies in London, this four-year full-time programme includes a foundation year and is taught at an institution with particular strength in Middle Eastern languages, cultures and politics. You will study the Arabic language, developing reading, writing and spoken skills progressively, alongside the history and culture of the Arab world from the classical period to the present. The digital media and culture strand examines how platforms, algorithms and digital networks shape public life, cultural production and political communication, with particular attention to how these dynamics play out in the Arab world as well as globally.

You will develop Arabic language proficiency and cultural knowledge alongside media analysis, critical theory and an understanding of digital communication systems. These are complementary skills that reinforce one another in contexts from journalism and policy to development work and international business.

Graduates go into careers in international journalism, diplomacy, development organisations, NGOs, broadcasting, translation, academia and international business with a Middle Eastern focus. Many go on to postgraduate study in Arabic, Middle Eastern studies, media studies or international relations.