Understanding and shaping digital transformation

Today’s society is strongly influenced by digital transformation. This transformation began with the development of modern computers in the second half of the 20th century, the establishment of the Internet in the 1970s and the emergence of the World Wide Web through the 1990s. There is no area in today’s society that is not affected by digitalisation. Digital technologies have a major impact on various areas of life, on personal interactions as much as on institutions and social processes. These areas of life include education, health, labour, social welfare, trade and consumption, media, law enforcement, agriculture, religion, transport, leisure and family.

The master programme Digital Society focuses on the social dimensions and consequences of digital technology in contemporary societies. In the social sciences, research on digital society tends to be very interdisciplinary—including sociology, anthropology, economics, communication, system design, contemporary history, computer science and cultural studies. The programme examines how digital technologies have impacted social processes and structures for society as a whole and for individual actors, social groups and practices.

Goals, access and structure of the MA Digital Society

The programme aims at fostering the theoretical competencies and analytical methods needed to understand these ongoing changes. Participants will study the emergence, use and impact of digital technologies in societies from a variety of perspectives in the social sciences. The programme broadens students’ understanding of computing and promotes their digital skills. It aims to enable students to understand the socio-technological processes at play in digital transformation. Students are trained to critically “read” digital technologies in society from a conceptual and empirical perspective.

The master Digital Society can be chosen as a major programme, i.e. a full specialisation programme (90 ECTS credits), or as a minor, i.e. a secondary programme (30 ECTS) with another master’s major programme at the University of Fribourg that allows for a minor.

The major programme, which totals 90 ECTS credits, includes four modules and the master exam (master thesis + exam):

• Module 1: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Digital Transformation of Society (15 ECTS)
• Module 2: Theories and Empirical Case Studies (15 ECTS)
• Module 3: Methods, Skills and Applications (15 ECTS)
• Module 4: Digital Society in the Making: Analyses and Debates (15 ECTS)
• Master exam (30 ECTS)

The minor programme, which totals 30 ECTS credits, includes the modules 1 and 2.

And after graduation?

The master’s programme Digital Society promotes skills useful for work in public administration, management and human resources, consumer protection and technology regulation, as well as for academic research in the social sciences, systems design, and digital technology development and application. Specific areas of employment for future graduates would include technology policy advocacy and legal regulation, human factors and user experience research, interaction design, technology journalism, project management for technology assessment, consumer protection, and information and communications technology (ICT) consulting.

Brought to you by

The study programme is part of social sciences programme and is offered in cooperation with the Department of Social Sciences, the Department of Social Work, Social Policy and Global Development, and the interfaculty Human-IST Institute of the University of Fribourg. Prof. Dr. David Bozzini is responsible for the Digital Society study programme.