EL1112:03
Modern Communication 1
Townsville, Cairns
Inadmissable Subject Combination: EL1012
26 lectures, 10 hours practicals. Second semester.
Staff: Mr J Gray, Professor P Pierce.
This subject is designed as part of the Public Relations strand of the Bachelor of Journalism degree and is a core subject in the Bachelor of Arts in Communication. However, it is 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”);
- 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%).