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The International Track in Communication Studies represents a response to the challenges of an increasingly globalized society. Many forms of communication have a transnational nature or are shaped by transnational processes. The International Track is designed both for Danish students who wish to prepare themselves for an increasingly international job market and for exchange students and CoMundus students who join our Communication Studies programme at Roskilde University.
Globalization processes create increasing needs for graduates to be able to work in transnational contexts. Mobility across national borders for people as well as for services, goods and capital means that employees often reside and work in foreign countries, or work in multinational corporations and internationally oriented organizations in their own country. Many large organizations use English as their working language and expect their employees to be proficient.
Not only is labour becoming increasingly mobile, but it is also the case that the development of information and communication technologies promotes knowledge sharing and networking. As a result, we need to understand new ways of creating and understanding communication. On the International Track, students will be introduced to, and will work with, a wide range of different theories and methods for the production and analysis of communication via both the "conventional" and "new" media in transnational contexts.
Graduates in International Communication will have acquired the ability to participate in international work situations. Such work situations could be in international organizations such as the UN (including UNICEF and UNESCO), international NGOs, in embassies and consulates, in multinational corporations, in Danish companies focusing on foreign export, etc.
Graduates who have completed the three-semester programme will have received a broad introduction to the theory and practice of communication, with an international specialization resulting from the combination of courses, project themes, and internships. They will have gained insight into the working conditions in an internationally oriented workplace, and they will know how to produce and analyze communication in such contexts. They will have had the opportunity to use English as their working language over an extended period of time, and they will have experienced intercultural group work by studying together with Danish and exchange students at the Communication Studies department.
The International Track mirrors the Danish-language programme in terms of structure and learning approach, but deviates from it in having a sharpened international profile with respect to the content of project work and courses. On the international track, international dimensions of planned communication play a central role in both projects and courses.
The International Track is a specialized English-language version of the Danish three-semester programme in Communication Studies. The entire programme consists of three modules (semesters, of 30 ECTS-points each).
Danish students studying for a Masters degree must complete all three modules (in combination with another area of study at the university). Danish students studying for the Bachelors Degree combine the bachelor module with another subject. To obtain attestation of a specialization in International Communication within Communication Studies, Danish students are required to study only within the International Track.
Bachelor Module
The bachelor module is a standard package consisting of a basic course in Communication: Theories and Methods (5 ECTS-points), two production-oriented workshops (5 ECTS-points each), and a period of project work (15 ECTS). To earn the full 30 ECTS-points for a semester you must complete the course and the workshops, participate in project work, write a report and take an oral exam on the basis of the report. The two workshops are assessed as Pass/Fail, the course and the project exam are graded according to the Danish 7 steps scale. Normally, one or two course- and workshop readers will be available. They consist of key texts on relevant themes, theories and methods and function as a resource for the project work.
Basic course in Communication
The bachelor module course in Communication: Theories and Methods is compulsory for all module I students. It consists of a series of lectures introducing the academic foundation for the bachelor module project. The course provides a basis for the project work, and it is assessed in terms of how the students are able to use in their project the theories and methods taught. The course is assessed by a short written report.
Master Module 1
Master module 1 combines courses (three courses of 4 ECTS-points each, and a 3 ECTS introductory course) and project work resulting in a report that forms the starting-point for an oral exam (15 ECTS-points). Each semester the International Track offers a package of courses in English. International students are automatically enrolled in the four courses. Danish students in the International Track should apply to enroll in the courses, and they may replace one of the courses in English with a course offered in Danish.
Project work is launched at a seminar a week or two into the semester where we discuss project ideas, formulate research questions and form project groups. Make sure to participate in this seminar. Following the seminar, each group has to apply for acceptance of a project theme and allocation of a supervisor.
Danish students in International Communication are encouraged to sign up for exchange studies abroad and to get involved in net-based cooperation across borders. If you wish to do so, Master module 1 will be the best time to engage in such activities.
Master Module 2a/2b
Module 2a is the dissertation module. Module 2a students form groups at the start of the semester (individual dissertation work is discouraged), apply for acceptance of their project proposal and are assigned a supervisor, and then embark on a project that equals one semester of full time work (30 ECTS-points). Dissertations have to be completed within six months. There is a choice of just submitting the dissertation or submitting the dissertation and taking an oral exam on the basis of it. Detailed rules apply for the dissertation. Please refer to the Semester Plan or the Communication Studies home page.
Module 2b is only for students who are not going to write a dissertation at Communication Studies (fx. exchange students and guest students). Module 2b should be completed in conformity with the regulations applying to Master module 1. You are not allowed to take identical courses at Modules 1 and 2b. The Module 2b term project also should differ significantly from your Master module 1 project.
Tuition waivers
A limited number of Danish state tuition fee waivers are granted to students at graduate level.
The tuition waiver has a maximum length of 22 months for programmes that start in September and a maximum lenght of 24 months for programmes that start in February.
Who is eligible for the tuition waivers?
Graduate students who are required to pay tuition fee at the university are eligible for the tuition waivers.
Exchange students including Erasmus Mundus students and students who are entitled to the Danish State Education Grant (SU) or any other public support in Denmark cannot obtain a tuition waiver. Please note that it is not possible to choose not to receive SU in order to receive a tuition waiver. Students who receive a scholarship from their home country are not eligible either.
Tuition waiver students must follow the study plan and not be delayed in their studies in order to maintain the tuition waiver.
The tuition waivers are available to graduate students holding a bachelor degree from Roskilde University as well as graduate applicants from other universities.
How do I apply for a tuition waiver?
All applicants for the master programmes who do not hold a bachelor degree from Roskilde University are automatically taken into consideration for a tuition waiver. There is no separate application form for the tuition waiver.
Students who obtain their bachelor degree at Roskilde University and continue directly to their master studies will also be taken into consideration automatically. The study boards will recommend students for the waivers and there is no separate application form. It is a prerequisite that the student card has been renewed.
Due to practical reasons it is not possible to notify current RU-students about the tuition waiver until September (autumn semester) and February (spring semester).
