Undergraduate - UnitATS2445 - Communications ethics, policy and law

This unit entry is for students who completed this unit in 2013 only. For students planning to study the unit, please refer to the unit indexes in the the current edition of the Handbook. If you have any queries contact the managing faculty for your course or area of study.

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6 points, SCA Band 1, 0.125 EFTSL

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Level	Undergraduate
Faculty	Faculty of Arts
Organisational Unit	Communications and Media Studies
Offered	Not offered in 2013
Coordinator(s)	Dr Elizabeth Burns Coleman

Notes

Previously coded COM2160

Synopsis

In this unit, students will explore the ideal of freedom of expression and the principles governments use to limit this freedom. The first part of the unit covers the reasons why we think freedom of expression is important and the strength of the arguments used to justify it. The second part of the unit then applies these ideas to contemporary moral and political controversies, such as whistle-blowing and leaking, privacy, hate speech, pornography, role playing computer games, classification laws, and internet filtering. The issues covered in any year may change depending on public debates at the time.

Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, students will be able to:

critically assess the arguments that justify freedom of expression, and the reasons this freedom may be limited
understand basic moral frameworks and identify moral issues
understand the basic principles restricting liberties
articulate a coherent position about a current issue relating to freedom of expression
explain complex ideas
write a well structured, and properly referenced essay.

A higher level will be expected of third-year students in terms of the integration of diverse sources, and academic essay writing skills.

Assessment

Freedom of communication essay (900 words): 20%
Research essay (1350 words): 30%
Exam (2 hours; 1800 words equivalent): 40%
Tutorial preparation and participation (450 words equivalent): 10%