Communication science

Teacher(s)

Jacobs Thomas; Mahieu Elke (compensates Jacobs Thomas);

Language

English

Learning outcomes

At the end of this learning unit, the student is able to :

To familiarize the students with the most important approaches, theories, and concepts in communication science, and to ensure students understand their internal logic, their mutual relations, and their importance to social science at large. To overview the development and the evolution of communication science as a social-scientific discipline and as a perspective on the modern and contemporary society. To sharpen the critical attitude and critical reflexes of students when they interact with discourses, dispositives, and artefacts of contemporary communication. To familiarize students with the metier and the craft of what it is to be a university student.

Content

This course seeks to introduce students to the social-scientific discipline of Communication Science. It covers the historic evolution of the field, as well as the contemporary state of the art. In doing so, it addresses, among others, the following topics:
- The history and development of human communication
- The internal architecture of communication science as a social-scientific discipline
- Gatekeeping and the circulation of information in society
- Framing, (post-)structuralist approaches, and the study of meaning-making
- Media-driven societal transformation déterminé par les media
- Masses, mass media, and mass society
- Functionalism and the role of communication in society
- Cultural studies, reception studies, and the interpretative power of audiences
- Propaganda and the Frankfurter Schule
We will pay specific attention to the manner in which the classic concepts, theories, and approaches of communication science and social science more generally remain relevant tools to understand the digital era.
While this course is focused on Communication Science, it simultaneously seeks to equip students with the metalanguage needed to talk about the landscape and the topography of their social-scientific discipline. This way, students will not only be exposed to the knowledge, the insights, and the actual content of Communication Science, they will also learn to understand the field's architecture. In this vein, students will learn to understand and use the following concepts (among others):
- Paradigms and paradigm changes
- The classification of various types of theories
- Scientific concepts
- Scientific debates
- Critique and criticism

Teaching methods

This class consists of a series of plenary courses, accompanied by a series of seminar sessions. Each course focuses on a specific approach within communication science or a particular communicative phenomenon, and situates this approach or phenomenon within the discipline at large. The seminars offer students a basic knowedge that will help them better understand the materials seen during the plenary courses, so as to improve apprehension by students and to help students prepare in an optimal manner for the exam. One seminar will propose a mock exam. The seminars’ goal is to favour an active uptake and appropriation of the course materials by the students, and to support them as they learn the metier of what it takes to be a university student.
The plenary courses and seminars are supported by PowerPoint presentations, which together with the courses, readings, and seminars themselves constitute the material about which the students will be questioned during the exams. The students are invited to ask question in class or via Moodle.

Evaluation methods

Students will be evaluated based on a written, in-person, closed-book exam. Questions will relate to the courses, the readings, the seminars, and the PowerPoint presentations. The exam involves both theoretical questions, and questions that ask students to apply and operationalize the theories, ideas, and concepts discussed during the class or in the course materials. It comprises both shorter and more specific questions (e.g. multiple choice, definition), as well as longer and more open questions (e.g. essay question).
The exam will evaluate the following aspects:
- Students’ understanding and knowledge of theories and concepts seen throughout the course
- Students’ capacity to explain in a precise and detailed fashion the theories and concepts seen throughout the course
- Students’ capacity to relate, compare, and use different theories and concepts seen throughout the course
- Students’ capacity to apply theories and concepts seen throughout the course to concrete examples of contemporary communication that were not seen during the course
- Students’ critical attitude towards communication, media, and ‘common sense’.
The exam counts for 100% of the final grade during all exam sessions. Passing the mock exam during the first term (score of 10/20 or more) adds one additional point to final grade of all exams of the academic year during which the student passed the mock exam. (e.g. a student who scored 9/20 during their January exam and 14/20 on the mock exam, will have a final score of 10/20, and will be deemed to have passed this course successfully). Students who do not pass the mock exam simply do not receive this extra point, but they will also not lose it.
If an external force necessitates the organisation of the exam online, i twill take place in an open-book format. Students will be allowed to use their notes as well as the resources available on the course website, but they will not be allowed to copy or cite from it in a direct manner, and the use of all other material will be strictly prohibited. This is a collective measure, which cannot apply to individual students.

Bibliography

La lecture obligatoire sera fournie sous la forme d’une sélection de textes qui sera mis à la disposition des étudiant·e·s via Moodle. Elle se basera principalement sur Loisen, J., & Joye, S. (2017). On Media and Communication. An Introduction to Communication Sciences: Theory and Research. Leuven: Acco.

De plus, des lectures recommandées et des ressources audiovisuelles seront fournies via Moodle.
The compulsory readings will be provided in the form of a selection of texts which will be made available to students via Moodle. They will be based mainly on Loisen, J., & Joye, S. (2017). On Media and Communication. An Introduction to Communication Sciences: Theory and Research. Leuven: Acco.
In addition, recommended readings and audiovisual resources will be provided via Moodle.

Faculty or entity

> ESPB