CIS in a nutshell

CIS is the abbreviation of Communication and Information Sciences at Tilburg University. This study is part of the Tilburg School of Humanities and Digital Sciences (TSHD). CIS is a broad study where students can specialize in a track they find most interesting. In the bachelor these tracks are Business Communication and Digital Media, Communication and Cognition and New Media Design. These specializations all have their own master’s program. Students that finish their bachelor CIS can also choose the master Data Science and Society.

What are these "tracks"?

In their bachelor, students get a note of a specialization on their degree when they attend four disciplinary and four voluntary courses of a track. The master tracks are elaborated below.

Business Communication and Digital Media
Business Communication and Digital Media is the biggest track in CIS. In this specialization the focus is on communication issues in the area of business communications. Students will learn every aspect of internal communication, external communication and digital media. Research on how people communicate with one another using a variety of means, and how they process information through language, pictures, sound and computers.

Communication and Cognition
In this track, the focus is on the different factors that influence the effectiveness of verbal and written texts as communication tools. These factors can be textual characteristics, such as style and structure, but also the conversation characteristics and influence of non-verbal communication are taken into consideration, as well as the purpose of the text and the context in which readers process the information.

New Media Design
Current trends in society and technology lead to increased individualization of media production and consumption in which individuals themselves determine the time, place, and content that they consume. Popular channels such as Netflix, TPO.nl, Blendle are just a few examples of that. Not only does content need to be tailored to the individual, but individuals themselves increasingly are designers and contributors of content using new channels. Within the New Media Design track you study the effects of this individualization of media consumption and production on individuals, organizations, and society at large. Moreover, the track strongly focuses on how content itself is effectively designed and evaluated in a new media environment.