The Aga Khan University is an institution of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN), with global reach and local relevance. The university has 35 years’ experience in the fields of education and research, serving populations across three continents. In East Africa the Aga Khan University is focused on establishing a consulting service that provides technical expertise to students and organizations across the region.
The Graduate School of Media & Communications (GSMC)
GSMC’s mission is to foster a diverse, independent, innovative, ethical and economically thriving media and communications sector that contributes to the creation of successful and sustainable societies in an era of technological change. Technology is revolutionizing economies at every level. At GSMC media and communication professionals learn to harness its power to collect and analyze information, connect with audiences and tell compelling stories across multiple platforms. Executives, managers, entrepreneurs, and professionals are able to understand the forces reshaping industry, initiate and defend against disruption, exercise leadership, build teams and talent and turn their ideas into realities. We aim for impact while making a lasting difference in East Africa and beyond.
GSMC offers two graduate programmes and a suite of Professional Development & Continuing Education (PDCE) courses. They are as follows:
- MA in Digital Journalism (MADJ): A two-year course designed to train students to be accomplished multimedia journalists, with the knowledge and skills to work in modern newsrooms and tackle issues reshaping East African society.
- Executive Masters in Media Leadership & Innovation (EMMLI): A 24-month MBA-style programme designed to develop media leadership skills and an ability to advance the business’s vision and strategy. It prepares participants to start new media businesses or transform existing workspaces in response to changing market needs.
Professional Development & Continuing Education (PDCE)
The aim of our PDCE training is to build communications capacity at a time of technological change. We offer an array of short courses and masterclasses for journalists, media and communications professionals, civil society actors and both public and private sector organizations. We cover varied media and communication skills, from basic ones such as social media for Communicators and Storytelling to more targeted training like Health Reporting, Data Journalism, Gender Reporting, Environmental Reporting, Media Engagement and other related courses. The training we offer is practical and highly interactive, which means that trainers must have excellent global knowledge and be able to contextualize it for East Africa.