SUBJECT

Media and Communication

lecture

master

Faculty of Education and Psychology

4

Semester 3

Autumn semester

Aim of the course:

This course provides an overview of the role and function of mass communication. Special attention will be paid to the impact of media on society on different levels (individual, interpersonal, group- and societal).

Learning outcome, competences

knowledge:

• Understand the roles and functions of mass media in society
• Provide insights into the history and the most recent trends and topics in the research of media

attitude:

• Able the critically analyze media content, processes and structures
• Sensitivity to identify methodological challenges

skills:

• Improved skills in studying media
• Able to identify the ways how media shape our reality
• Improved awareness as a consumer and a citizen in today’s society

Content of the course

Topics of the course

• History of mass communication
• Introduction to the most important authors of the field: McLuhan, Castells, Postman, Rheingold
• Covering the main theoretical frameworks: Media effects theory; Agenda Setting, Cultivation Theory, Uses and Gratifications…
• How issues and people are represented in the media – the construction of media reality
• Outline of key attributes for different genres in a variety of media products
• Media structures and meaning in media messages
• Discussing the components of media literacy
• Reflections on legal moral and ethical issues in media practice
• The most popular and the most recent methods used in media analysis

Learning activities, learning methods

• Pair activities, lecture, group discussion

Evaluation of outcomes

Learning requirements, mode of evaluation, criteria of evaluation:

requirements

• a presentation of own empirical media analysis (in pairs), written exam with essay-type and multiple choice questions

mode of evaluation: five-grade exam mark

criteria of evaluation:

• Presentation – 40%, written exam – 60%
• 90-100% - excellent (5); 75-89% - good (4); 60%-74% satisfactory (3); 50-59% pass (2); 0-49% fail (1)

Compulsory reading list

• Griffin, E. (2011): First look at communication theory. McGraw-Hill.
• McQuail, D. (2010): Mass Communication Theory. Sage.
• Joinson, A., McKenna, K., Postmes, T., Reips, U. (2009): The Oxford Handbook of Internet Psychology. Oxford University Press.
• Amichai-Hamburger, Y. (2005): The Social Net. Oxford University Press