University of Hyderabad - Masters in Communication

The MA Communication programme is offered in 3 streams - Radio & Video Production; Print Journalism & New Media; and Communication & Media Studies.  Annually, 40 students are admitted through a nationally administered test followed by a personal interview with shortlisted candidates.

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The students get exposure to a range of mandatory courses in the first two semesters, including both theory and practice-oriented inputs.

 The theory courses are:

• Introduction to Communication;
• History of Media;
• Communication & Social Change;
• Communication Research;
• Media Laws & Ethics.

The practice-based courses are:

• Basics of Writing;
• Introduction to Radio Production;
• Introduction to Video Production; and
• Print & Web Production. 

In the third and fourth semesters, students specialise in one of three streams: Radio & Video Production; Print Journalism and New Media; and Communication and Media Studies.  

The Communication and Media Studies students typically have courses (some of which are cross-listed for other streams as electives) such as:

• Communication and Culture;
• Globalisation and Communication;
• Community Media and the Public Sphere;
• Science and Health Communication;
• Film Theory;
• Media Management;
• ICTs for Development; and
• Digital Media Cultures. 

Print and New Media stream courses includes:

• Media, Conflicts and Calamities
• Feature & Analytical Writing;
• Reporting & Print Production;
• Specialized Reporting; and
• Approaches to Editing.

The Radio and Video Production stream includes courses such as:

• Documentary Production;
• Television News Production;
• Genres and Formats;
• Advanced Radio Production; and
• Advanced Video Production (Studio). 

All streams have a major project requirement in the fourth (final) semester, including a Master's Thesis by the Communication and Media Studies students, a documentary film by the Radio & Video Production students, and a print portfolio and magazine production for the Print and New Media students.

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The department also offers a PhD programme in Communication.

While classroom instruction in the traditional mode still constitutes the heart of the pedagogy, the department evaluates students on a wide range of assignments and projects, such as: oral presentations, term papers, radio and video productions, documentary filmmaking, writing for and publishing a campus newspaper and a magazine, writing for and managing online portals, and a Master’s Thesis (for those students who opt for the theory/research-oriented stream).  The department seeks to produce not only graduates who become practitioners with a critical perspective, but also researchers and C4D specialists who are endowed with the practical skills required for a rapidly changing communication environment.

The following are a selection of readings for the Communication and Social Change theory course:

• Amartya Sen, Development as Freedom, Oxford University Press, 1999.
• Richard Peet and Elaine Hartwick, Theories of Development: Contentions, Arguments, Alternatives, 2nd Ed., Guilford Press, 2009.
• Linje Manyozo, Media, Communication & Development: Three Approaches, Sage, 2012.
• Srinivas Melkote and H. Leslie Steeves, Communication for Development: Theory and Practice for Empowerment and Social Justice, 3rd edition, Sage, 2015.
• Shirley White with K.Sadanandan Nair and Joseph Ascroft (eds), Participatory Communication: Working for Change and Development, Sage, 1994.
• Jan Servaes, Thomas Jacobson and Shirley White (eds), Participatory Communication for Social Change, Sage, 1996.
• Nair and Shirley White (eds), Perspectives on Development Communication, Sage, 1993.
• Britha Mikkelsen, Methods for Development Work and Research: A Guide for Practitioners, Sage, 1995.

The following are a selection of publications by faculty members:

Professor Vinod Pavarala

• “Social Constructions of Religiosity and Corruption,” Economic and Political Weekly, Vol.XLVII, No.1, 61-68 (2012) (with Kanchan K. Malik),.
• “Ten Years of Community Radio in India: Towards New Solidarities,” Guest Column, Educomm Asia, Vol.17, No.2, April 2013, pp.2-4.
• Communities are entitled to news The Hoot, October 21, 2013.
• Community Radio Continuous Improvement Toolkit, Version 2.0, New Delhi: CEMCA, October 2013 (Creative Commons License) (with . Kanchan K. Malik, Vasuki Belavadi, Aditya Deshbandhu).
• Trust deficit persists on news on community radio. The Hoot (with Bhat, R.) (2014, September 5).
• Towards an equitable policy on community radio. The Hindu Web Exclusive (with Bhat, R.) (2014, September 9).
• The long fight for low power FM in the US – In conversation with Pete Tridish; The Hoot, March 2015 (with Kanchan K. Malik)
• ‘Community Radio ‘Under Progress’: Resuming a Paused Revolution’, Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. L, No.51, pp 14-17, December 19 (2015).

Professor Kanchan K. Malik

• “Community Radio: eliminating voice poverty”, The Hoot, February 09, 2012.
• “Community radio in India: Codes of Practice can aid Self-Regulation”, In Vidura Vol. 4; Issue 4; October-December 2012 Page 49-51
• “Community Radio is the Answer: What is the Question?” AMARC Asia Pacific newsletter (Sept. 2012) Year 8; No. published by the AMARC Asia Pacific Regional Office, Kathmandu, Nepal Page 4-6
• “Community Radio: Guidelines on Management and Ownership” in “Ground Realities: Community Radio in India,” published by Communication and Information Sector, UNESCO, New Delhi © UNESCO 2011 ISBN: 978-81-89218-44-7 Page 23-26.
• Book Review: ‘Community Radio in the Twenty First Century’ by Janey Gordon (Ed) Publisher Peter Lang(2012) in EduComm Asia, a Newsletter of the Commonwealth Educational Media Centre for Asia (CEMCA) Vol.17 No.2 April 2013
• Radio programming for youth, by youth - please tune in. Vidura Vol. 7 (2), pp. 32-34. March 2015
• Community Radio and Women in India – Strengthening Participation and Voice. Vidura Vol 7 (3) pp 28-30 (June 2015).
• Our Media, Our Principles: Building Codes of Practice for Community Radio in India. Journalism Studie (Routledge) (August 11, 2015).
• Women in CR: Lessons from Mozambique - An interview with Palmira Velasco’, CR News, October-December (2015).

Professor Usha Raman

• Indian youth and social media: modes of engagement? In Wlnat L and Aw A (eds) Social media, culture and politics in Asia. New York: Peter Lang. 2014 (With Roshni Verghese).
• From social media to social action. In Rajan, N and Jayaram M (eds), Covering and explaining conflict in civil society. Hyderabad: Orient Blackswan. 2014 (With Sridivya Mukhpalkar).
• Performing the self online: transnational identity and blogging from domestic spaces. In Sahoo A and de Kruijf J G (eds), Indian Transnationalism Online. London: Ashgate Publishing. 2014 (With Sumana Kasturi).
• Have travelled, will write: User generated content and travel writing. In Fursich E and Hanush F, Travel Journalism: Exploring production, impact and culture. London: Palgrave Macmillan. 2014 (With Divya Choudary).
• Modes of engagement: creating reflective practitioners through engaged learning. The Journal of Development Communication 2014: 25 (1-2): 104-108.
• Research in the Biomedical Sciences, The National Medical Journal of India, pp 139-152 (2015).
• Failure of Communication, The Caravan, December (2015).

The department has 11 permanent/regular faculty members, with 10 of those holding PhD degrees. The faculty brings in a balance of theory/research and media practice abilities and skills.  These include:

• Dr. B.P. Sanjay – Professor
• Dr. Vinod Pavarala – Professor & UNESCO Chair on Community Media.
• Dr. P. Thirumal – Professor
• Dr. Vasuki Belavadi – Professor
• Dr. Kanchan K. Malik – Professor – Head of the Department of Communication
• Dr. Usha Raman – Professor
• Dr. P. Kennedy – Associate Professor
• Dr. E. Sathya Prakash – Associate Professor
• Dr. Janardhan Rao Cheeli – Associate Professor
• Dr. Madhavi Ravikumar – Assistant Professor
• Ms. Anjali Lal Gupta – Assistant Professor

Click here for more information about each faculty member.