MA in Emerging Media Studies

Information comes to us faster, from all directions, through media forms that didn’t exist a decade ago. How do you stay out in front?

STEM eligible. No GRE Required.

The Boston University Master of Arts in Emerging Media Studies is the nation’s first graduate program in emerging media and the critical role it plays in daily modern life. It offers 10 months of practical and theoretical instruction covering human behavior, social media analysis, organizational communication, and Big Data.

As a student of emerging media, you analyze the world of emerging media using the latest research and ideas on emerging technologies and services, analytic techniques for social media, and the role of public policy in new communication technology. Emerging Media Studies at COM integrates coursework with research experience, culminating in a conference where students present their research and exchange views with peers and leaders in the field. You also help real-world clients solve business and societal challenges through a semester-long research project.

Students who earn their MS in Emerging Media Studies leave with cutting-edge ideas, solutions to real media challenges, and a portfolio to prove it. You’ll join a global alumni network that is shaking up the media landscape around the world. COM graduates are highly sought after for a range of careers in the tech industry and data sciences as well as creative media, marketing, and public relations firms. Others pursue opportunities to continue to Ph.D. programs.

Leading Researchers and Thinkers

EMS graduate students are taught and mentored by leading researchers and thinkers in the field. The faculty make full use of the most advanced theories and methods to examine communication phenomena — from social media, streaming content, and AR/VR to Big Data and AI. They bring this knowledge into the classroom with readily understandable approaches.

Under faculty guidance, students learn how to conduct and analyze social science research concerning all types of emerging media and how to apply these skills to the pressing problems that are being faced by the industry, government, and other fields.

Hands-On Learning

COM graduate students get ready for careers by rolling up their sleeves for hands-on research. Through project participation, you are trained in human relations and leadership skills.

All EMS students participate in an extended group research project, a unique component of the program that blends practical skills with social science insights. As part of a team, you take on a media challenge from a real client, addressing the problem through research, analytics, and critical thinking. For example, projects might help a local nonprofit seeking to build community awareness or a media start-up trying to identify prospective users. With guidance from faculty, you’ll learn the processes and craftsmanship of research and analysis, before presenting your findings and solutions in a final report.

All Emerging Media Studies students contribute to COM’s annual #ScreentimeBU conference, an opportunity to present their research in the field of digital communication and society as well as exchange their views with peers and field leaders concerning important contemporary issues. By showcasing the fruits of your research, you’ll share your ideas with the general public and industry leaders. Additionally, the conference provides an opportunity for you to develop your public communication capabilities and receive input from industry experts in a professional setting.

EMS students also take advantage of research opportunities at COM’s Communication Research Center, COM’s primary research hub, and the state-of-the-art technology offered at the Zimmerman Family Social Activation Center, which puts in-depth social media analytics at your fingertips.

Purpose Driven

COM stands out from our peers. Our faculty offers a mix of researchers and practitioners who endorse a cross-discipline, hands-on approach to learning. Our location lies at the heart of an electric, media-savvy city.

But it may be COM’s shared values that matter most. We believe that communication requires diversity, critical thinking, and creative expression. We believe that communication must be grounded in truth, authenticity, effectiveness, and purpose. We believe that communication builds understanding among people and across society.

Communicate for understanding

Do you love films and television? Social media? News? Telling stories? Changing minds—and maybe history? Boston University College of Communication (COM) is for you.

We’ve been educating professional communicators since we offered the world’s first degree in public relations in 1947 and the first master’s and Ph.D. degrees in emerging media studies in 2015. Today, our alumni occupy the highest levels in a multitude of fields. Tomorrow? We’re training the next generation of leaders in advertising, emerging media, film, and television, journalism, media science, and public relations.

We do this because COM students, faculty, and alumni share a simple but powerful belief: communication builds understanding — among people and throughout society.

Storytelling Skills for Career Success

If you’re a student here, you’ll gain the skills, knowledge, and opportunities to turn your love of communication and storytelling into a successful career. You’ll gain a deep understanding of the many forms of media. You’ll become proficient in writing, speaking, visual communication, and digital media skills. All combined with a solid grounding in the liberal arts hone your mind and free your imagination. And you will gain practical, real-world, hands-on experience outside the classroom through our extensive internship programs and COM activities such as AdLab, PRLab, PRSSA, WTBU, BUTV10, BU News Service, Hothouse Productions, and the Daily Free Press.

Yes, our faculty teach — but also they also do. They include best-selling authors and Pulitzer-winning journalists. Others are internationally recognized thinkers and researchers in the fields of emerging media, technology, and misinformation. And others have written and directed movies and series for every major broadcast network and HBO, as well as for films and documentaries screened at film festivals around the world.

COM alumni have won numerous prizes, awards, and citations from Pulitzer to Emmy to Clio. Among them are CEOs, Hollywood directors and screenwriters, stars in television and radio, and White House staffers. In fact, our graduates sit at the top of major companies in all areas of communication. They include Bonnie Hammer, vice chairman at NBCUniversal; David Lubars, chairman/chief creative officer of BBDO; Nancy Dubuc, CEO of VICE; and Kevin Merida, executive editor of the Los Angeles Times. In all, COM has more than 30,000 alumni worldwide with far-reaching connections in every area of communication and beyond.

Our Mission

We build understanding through communication education, practice, and discovery.

We prepare students to lead, adapt, and share their voices in a transformational media world.

We generate knowledge through research and theory-building.

We integrate professional and academic experiences across communication disciplines.

We nurture a culture rich in diversity, critical thinking, and creative expression.

We champion communication grounded in truth, authenticity, effectiveness, and purpose.

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

The College of Communication Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee exists to elevate and ensure a culture of inclusion in which all members of our community are valued and respected. We strive to create an inclusive and equitable environment that recruits, supports, and retains a diverse community of students, faculty, and staff. We celebrate the diversity of identity, culture, perspective, and expression in our community. As professional communicators, we have a responsibility to:

Foster an environment that cultivates diverse storytellers, Promote the value of research and telling stories in academia and the various fields of professional communication that emphasize diversity, equity, and inclusion, and; Inform, enlighten, and prepare the next generation of communicators to thrive in a diverse and inclusive world.