EL1012:03
Modern Communication 1
Townsville, Cairns
26 lectures, 10 tutorial workshops. Second semester. Also offered at Mackay campus.
Staff: Mr J Gray.
EL1012 is a required subject for the Bachelor of Journalism degree but open to all students, in particular those with an interest in Philosophy. It is an examination of selected aspects of semiotics, semantics and the processes of modern communication, including the study of mass communication and content and audience analysis.
Learning Objectives:
- knowledge of the processes of communication, including the main models proposed for its study;
- detailed knowledge of the terminology used in the study of communication and the key concepts of semiotic theory;
- a broad knowledge of non-verbal communication;
- a knowledge of empirical methods of content and audience analysis, with emphasis on the analysis of mass-mediated public messages;
- an understanding of the connections between signification, connotation and ideology in communication;
- a broad understanding of the consequences of communicative shifts (periods of “radical change in the practice and technology of communication”) and the strategies used by past societies to cope with the anxieties of such changes;
- an ability to apply semiotic techniques to a “reading” of graphic and non-verbal texts.
Assessment by four assignment-projects (40%); participation in tutorial workshops (20%); one three-hour examination (40%).
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