The master program “Children, Adolescents, and the Media" (MA Kinder- und Jugendmedien) is an interdisciplinary master program focusing children and adolescents in the fields of communication studies and education. The overall aim of the program is to provide an understanding of the functions of old and new media in the life of children and adolescents. The program is set up as a taught and research oriented academic program with an emphasis on project work and empirical research.

The master program “Children, Adolescents, and the Media" is a joint program of the Faculty of Humanities (Department for Media and Communication Studies) and the Faculty of Education. It integrates approaches of communication studies and education in order to comprehend the particular situation of children and adolescents and the functions media may fulfill for them. We also encompass ideas and concepts of other social sciences, developmental research or media literacy research as well as media pedagogy.

The focus of the program is the analysis of media for children and adolescent and the critical evaluation of mass media communication. We approach both old and new media from children's books to television but put an emphasis on new, digital media addressing e.g. videogames and social networking sites.

Our theoretical approaches are multidisciplinary. We focus on different, empirical methods covering qualitative and quantitative approaches with children and adolescents, our research subjects, always being the focus of our attention.

The master program “Children, Adolescents, and the Media" is an academic program with a emphasis on solid theoretical work and empirical application. Course work is project centered and research focused. We intensely cooperate with media and other partners e.g. the German Children’s Channel (KI.KA).

The MA Program comprises of seven modules: Two mandatory modules and five elective modules. Each student has to study the two mandatory modules and three out of the five elective modules. Each elective module consists of two to three courses. In the fourth and last semester of their studies, students focus on their master’s thesis which addresses a scientific problem through empirical research.


Mandatory Modules:  
P1: Foundations of children, adolescents and the media
P2: Research practice

Elective Modules:
W1: Empirical research on children, adolescents and the media
W2: Lifeworlds of children and adolescents / Video games
W3: Learning with new media
W4: Children, adolescents, media and society
W5: Children's media production

For more information on the program, please contact Jun.-Prof. Dr. Sandra Fleischer or Jun.-Prof. Sven Jöckel.