Monash University Handbook 2011 Postgraduate - Unit

Refer to the specific census and withdrawal dates for the semester(s) in which this unit is offered.

Synopsis

The unit offers a general orientation to communications and media studies at graduate level. It surveys a range of communication practices and introduces theories appropriate to understanding and analysing them. The major practices considered include journalism, broadcasting, organisational communication, public relations, development communication, political persuasion and new media forms such as blogs and social networking sites. These are considered both as fields of professional practice and as objects of scholarly analysis. Attention is given to the general conceptualisation of communication and media and to the major ways in which communication has been described and analysed.

Objectives

1. to develop awareness of the range of social and professional contexts in which communication occurs;
2. to develop an understanding of communication as a set of practices and to identify common features within these practices;
3. to introduce some of the major ways in which communication and media have been understood at a theoretical level;
4. to consider the relation between theory and practice in the field of communication and an appreciation of how they can productively inform each other;
5. to introduce communications and media studies as a basis for further graduate study and professional practice in the field.

Assessment

Essay (3500 words): 40%
Essay (3500 words): 40%
Seminar presentation (2000 words): 20%

Contact hours

+ 2-hour seminar per week