Admission requirements
list the prerequisites for this course, with course code and title as well as the courses for which this course is a prerequisite
Description
Communication Science is a new and interdisciplinary field in the social sciences. In this course students will engage with the classics of mass media & communication theory while giving special emphasis to modern applications and developments, and how mass media logics affect public opinion, politics, and policy-making. By design, this course is a broad survey touching on the foundations of mass-media studies while engaging in more speculative topics on the role of new electronic media on society, as well as technical topics of information theory. The course discussions focus on both understanding and synthesizing these theories and applying them to both domestic and international contexts.
Course objectives
The core learning objectives are:
For students to be able to orient themselves in the intellectual landscape of mass communication theory and method as well contemporary academic and public debates.
For students to learn to critically and systematically evaluate media communication.
For students to develop an appreciation for the immense direct influence and subtle complexity that media signals have on social and political life.
For students to hone written, verbal, (optionally) multi-media communication skills, and (optionally) quantitative analysis skills.
Timetable
Please see the LUC website: www.lucthehague.nl
Mode of instruction
Class sessions will be – on average – evenly divided between lecture and guided discussion and debate. Some sessions will have more discussion than lecture, while the converse may be true during other sessions. Students are expected to participate (preferably vigorously) in planning and participating in classroom discussions and debates. Active engagement with the ideas is key to a fully successful experience. Students are required to produce a self-guided essay on a pre-approved topic and pre-approved format applying some aspect of the course to a topic of interest to the student. Students will also complete a small media analysis project, where they examine real media content on a pre-approved subject of the student’s choice
Assessment method
- Developing verbal presentation and argumentation skills: assessed through In-class participation in and preparation of discussions and debates (20% of final grade) Ongoing Weeks 1 – 7
- Individual engagement with course readings and written argumentation: assessed through Reaction paper to week’s readings (15% of final grade), Accepted until one day before readings are discussed in class
- Drawing relevant connections between the subject of the course to a topic of interest to the student: assessed through an essay or multi-media presentation relating the subject of the course to a question or topic of interest to the student. (20% of the final grade), Accepted until first day of reading week (8)
- Synthesis and verbal communication of course concepts in a formal presentation and spontaneously: assessed through Final Exam (oral, 20% of final grade, 50% of this grade through prepared presentation, 50% of this grade spontaneous), Appointments arranged for Week 8.
- Application of theoretical topics to practice: assessed through Media Analysis Project (25% of final grade), Accepted until the end of week 8.
Blackboard
This course is supported by a BlackBoard site
Reading list
Course readings will be distributed electronically via the Blackboard course page and are available in the Reading Room. Students are expected to read all required readings, and during the week for which a reaction paper is written to touch upon one or more recommended readings.
Registration
This course is only open for LUC The Hague students.
Contact information
dr. Brandon Zicha: b.c.zicha@luc.leidenuniv.nl
Weekly Overview
Preliminary:
Week 1: Mass Media & The Pictures in our Heads
Week 2: Agenda Setting I: What to think or what to think about?
Week 3: Framing: How is news reported? What to think or what to think about redux?
Week 4: Bias in what & how news is reported: News values
Week 5: Bias in signals received: News consumption
Week 6: Agenda Setting II: Who leads whom & public policy-making?
Week 7: New Frontiers & New Challenges with New Media
Preparation for first session
Students are required to read excerpts from Lippman’s 1922 book “Public Opinion” before the beginning of class. This is arguably the foundational work of the modern field of mass media and communications theory, containing many insights that are still studied and debated today. Please contact instructor for excepts to be assigned. This book is available for free on the internet via the Guttenberg Project: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/6456