Course: Introduction to Communication Studies

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Course title Introduction to Communication Studies
Course code KZU/USKB
Organizational form of instruction Lecture
Level of course Bachelor
Year of study 1
Semester Winter and summer
Number of ECTS credits 5
Language of instruction Czech
Status of course Compulsory
Form of instruction Face-to-face
Work placements This is not an internship
Recommended optional programme components None
Course availability The course is available to visiting students
Lecturer(s)
  • Foretová Petra, Mgr. Ph.D.
Course content
1. The basic definition of communication - searching of definition of communication. Communication as social interaction. Typology of interactions according John Thompson. 2. The language of the study of communications. Levels of communication: mass, massmedia and media communication. Medium and meditation. Code. 3. The Limits of scientific approach to communication. Social sciences, humanities and their role in the study of media and communication. The communication theory. The theory of mass communication. Media and communication studies as a scientific discipline. 4. Basic paradigms of communication and media studies. Current research of communication and media: interdisciplinary and multiparadigmatical approach. The Czech and Slovak media research traditions. 5. Basic approaches to the study of communication: transmissive and semiotic models of communication. Processual approaches to (massmedia) communication: the general systems atheory nd theory of information and her attribution to the study of communication. Ritual (cultural) approach to communication (J. Carey). 6. Semiotics and its importance for the study of communication, structure of signs, types of signs and their properties. Semiotic triangle of the meaning and its features and relations. Paradigm and syntagm in semiotics. Signification and the levels of significations. 7. Cultural turn in analysis of media. The encoding/decoding model of Stuart Hall. Cultural studies. 8. Study of verbal communication and nonverbal communication. The role of inguistics in the study of communication; gender, language and communication. Non-verbal communication. body langugage and nonverbal communication in broader sense. 9. The theory of human communication: the nature of human communication, the semantic structure of the communication act; personal - social - cultural dimension of communication.

Learning activities and teaching methods
Lecture, Monologic Lecture(Interpretation, Training)
Learning outcomes
This course provides students with a general introduction to the systematic study of communication - its various context, history, practices, media and mediating processes and dynamics, scholarship, explanatory and directional theories, and criticism.
Students acquire basic knowledge about key terms in the study of social communication. Students acquire basic knowledge about major approaches to the communication process (eg. semiotical, processual, ritual, etc.). Student are able to apply basic terms of communication theory when analyzing current cultural and media issues.
Prerequisites
unspecified

Assessment methods and criteria
Written exam, Written exam

Requirements for passing: a) attendance at the lectures (2 absences allowed). b) Final credit test (75% to pass); c) Exam: written examination (75% to pass);
Recommended literature
  • Burton,G., Jirák, J. (2001). Úvod do studia médií. Brno: Barristel a Principal.
  • Jirák, J., & Köpplová, B. (2009). Masová média. Praha: Portál.
  • JIRÁK, J., KÖPPLOVÁ, B. (2003). Média a společnost: Stručný úvod do studia médií a mediální komunikace. Praha.
  • Kunczik, M. (1995). Základy masové komunikace. Praha: Karolinum.
  • McQUAIL, D. (2007). Úvod do teorie masové komunikace. Praha.
  • Reifová, I. a kol. Slovník mediální komunikace. Praha: Portál, 2004.
  • THOMPSON, J. B. Média a modernita. Praha : Karolinum, 2004.
  • Vybíral, Z. (2000). Psychologie lidské komunikace. Praha 2000. Portál, Praha.


Study plans that include the course
Faculty Study plan (Version) Category of Branch/Specialization Recommended year of study Recommended semester
Faculty: Faculty of Arts Study plan (Version): Journalism (2015) Category: Journalism, library science and informatics 1 Recommended year of study:1, Recommended semester: -