Dr Bradley Franks, STC. S307

This is a full-unit core course intended for students enrolled on MSc Social and Public Communication, MSc Media and Communications and MSc Media and Communications (Research). Other students may access this course subject to space and following discussion with the Teacher responsible.

The course examines core theories towards a social psychology of communication. Issues raised will refer to verbal and non-verbal, face-to-face, rumours and mass mediated, as well as private and public, communal and strategic forms of communication. The second half of the course will provide an overview of applied communication research in various professional areas of public communication.

Theories of communication covered in the course include evolutionary theory, classical rhetoric, diffusion research, pragmatics and relevance theory, semiotics and system theory and the theory of communicative action. Issues will be raised as to the critical analysis and the design of communicative action. Issues will be raised as to the critical analysis and the design of communication efforts in professional fields such as business corporations, NGOs, scientific professional bodies, health promotion, governments and political parties, police campaigns, and international organisations.

20 x one-and-a-half hour weekly lectures. 10 x one-hour weekly seminars.

1) An individual book review and 2) a written assignment.

No one book covers the entire syllabus; students will be expected to read widely in appropriate journals, and a list of references will be provided at the start of the course.
J Habermas, Theory of Communicative Action, Vol 1 + 2, Polity Press, 1997; R Heath & B Jennings, Human Communication Theory and Research: Concepts, Contexts, and Challenges (2nd edn), Lawrence Erlbaum, 2000; A Mattelart & Mattelart, Theories of Communication: a Short Introduction, Sage, 1998; D McQuail, McQuail's Mass Communication theory (4th edn), Sage, 2000; R Rice & C Atkin, Public Communication Campaign, Sage, 2000; E Rogers, Diffusion of Innovation, Free Press, 1995; D Sperber & D Wilson, Relevance: Communication and Cognition, Cambridge, 1995.

A formal three-hour examination in the ST: three questions from a choice of 10 (100%).