Advising

Graduate Advising > Social Technologies MA

Advising

Social Technologies, M.A. - Advising

Staff Advisor

We are here to help!  E-mail ncgradadvising@asu.edu with questions related to policies and procedures to help you navigate graduate school successfully.

Faculty Advisor

Forming a relationship with a faculty advisor is one of the most important elements of graduate college.  Your advisor can help you in selecting the proper courses, in developing a capstone project, and, more generally, in understanding the complexities of graduate-level education.  Each MA student must identify two faculty advisors.  When you submit your plan of study, you will be required to list a Chair (primary advisor) and, prior to graduation, you will be required to update your plan with a second committee member (secondary advisor).

For tips on finding your faculty advisor see the MAST Program Handbook.

How and When to Apply

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Individualized Instruction

Advanced students in the MAST program with specialized and well-developed topics may choose to take STC 580; Practicum, STC 590: Reading and Conference, or STC 592:Research as an individualized instruction course, working with a faculty member independently.  Please refer to the MAST Program Handbook for additional policies.  After consulting with the faculty member with whom you want to work, please complete the Online Individualized Instruction Form.  After completing the form, it may take several days to receive the line number to register. Please submit the request to complete an individualized instruction course two weeks prior to the start of any academic semester.

Internships
If you are interested in completing an Internship for academic credit, please review and complete the Graduate Studies Internship Packet.

Plan of Study

The Plan of Study (iPOS) functions as a contract between the student, the academic unit, and Graduate College.  Students must submit their iPOS by the time they have enrolled for 50 percent of the minimum credit hours required for their degree program.

As an MAST student, the iPOS must contain the following degree requirements and list two faculty advisors:

 

Required Core (6 credit hours)

STC 505 Theories of Social Technology (3)
STC 510 Applied Social Technology (3)

Elective and Research Courses (21 credit hours)

Research methods course (3)
CMN 557 Communication and Technology (3)
CMN 570 Communication and Advocacy in Social Context (3)
COM 459 Social Media Networks (3)
MAS 513 Sociology of Everyday Life (3)
SOC 419 Organizations and Technological Change (3)
STC 520 Advocacy and Social Technology (3)
STC 525 Politics and Social Technology (3)
STC 530 Technology and Collaboration (3)
STC 535 Networked Social Technologies (3)
STC 537 Community Informatics (3)
STC 540 Critical/Cultural Approaches to Social Technology (3)
STC 545 Games as Social Technology (3)
STC 547 Political Economy of Social Technology (3)

Culminating Experience (6 credit hours)

STC 593 Applied Project (6)

Additional Curriculum Information

Students are required to take 21 credit hours from the electives and research list.  At least one research methods course from CMN 505, CMN 506, JHR 500 or MAS 501 for three credit hours is required.  Other coursework may be substituted with program director approval.

Culminating Experience

Applied Project
The applied project represents a culmination of the students' accomplishments in the program, and should provide a public demonstration of their best work. These should represent the kind of work that the student wishes to engage in after completing the program. This might include a policy or technology white paper detailing the ways in which a technology might impact a certain sector of society, an implementation or strategy plan for an organization that wishes to engage social media in a new way, a  demonstration project that suggests how a particular technology (a game, a wearable device, a piece of art, a piece of social media infrastructure, etc.) could successfully address a problem, or a research thesis that draws on the theoretical or empirical traditions to tackle a question of scholarly interest.

Generally, the applied project will begin as a piece of work for one of the courses, and be developed further with the help of the student's Chair and committee member. It will be developed to conclusion as part of a two-course capstone sequence at the end of the student's program.

 
Applied Project Proposal
All students must work with their faculty advisors to complete an applied project proposal and have it approved by two faculty members and the program director. Students must submit a applied project proposal form no later than 2 weeks prior to beginning the capstone semester.

Please review the Applied Project Requirement section of the MAST Program Handbook for more information.
Student Travel
The New College may provide up to $300 to support graduate student travel to academic and professional conferences.  Students may also receive up to $950 for travel from GPSA.
 
Career Paths
The Social Technologies MA program provides students with a variety of career paths planning, organizing, and managing online communities. This includes people doing public relations and marketing online, as well as doing community organizing around non-profit, civic, and governmental groups. This includes "social media managers" and similar positions. Online production: this includes web production and online multimedia producers, planning and directing technology projects. Those intending to do doctoral work in internet studies, science and technology studies, human-computer interaction, media study, information science, data science, and cognate fields.