Theoretical Models of Communication

Study Course Description

Course Description Statuss:Approved

Course Description Version:6.00

Study Course Accepted:02.02.2024 12:25:45

Study Course Information
Course Code:		KSK_127		LQF level:		Level 7
Credit Points:		2.00		ECTS:		3.00
Branch of Science:		Communication Sciences		Target Audience:		Communication Science
Study Course Supervisor
Course Supervisor:		Ilva Skulte
Study Course Implementer
Structural Unit:		Faculty of Social Sciences
The Head of Structural Unit:
Contacts:		Dzirciema street 16, Rīga, szfrsu[pnkts]lv
Study Course Planning
Full-Time - Semester No.1
Lectures (count)		6	Lecture Length (academic hours)		2	Total Contact Hours of Lectures		12
Classes (count)		4	Class Length (academic hours)		2	Total Contact Hours of Classes		8
Total Contact Hours								20
Study course description
Preliminary Knowledge:
Courses “Analysis of Communication Situations”, “Media Theories”
Objective:
To provide an overview of the most important communication models and theories, as well as possibilities offered by them in interpretation and analysis of the most important problems of journalism, public relations and communication
Topic Layout (Full-Time)
No.	Topic			Type of Implementation		Number	Venue
1	Understanding of communication and communication science. Modelling as a method of science. Development of theoretical communication thought and diversity of communication models. Communication levels and communication models. Multilevel models.			Lectures		1.00	auditorium
2	Rhetoric (Aristotle). Language psychology and philosophy (K. Bealer vs. L. Wittgenstein). Semio-structuralism (F. De Saussure, Jakobson, Grimes, Barthes). Speech act theory (Austin and Searle).			Lectures		1.00	auditorium
3	Linguistic models of communication.			Classes		1.00	auditorium
4	Models of communicative action and perception models.			Lectures		1.00	auditorium
5	Information theory and mathematical communication models. C. Shannon. W. Weaver, W. Meyer-Eppler. Linear basic model development (Berlo, Osgood-Schramm).			Lectures		1.00	auditorium
6	Sociological communication models I. Society, interaction, behaviour and communicative action.			Lectures		1.00	auditorium
7	Modelling of a public communication situation.			Classes		1.00	auditorium
8	Theoretical models of communication in the new media age.			Lectures		1.00	auditorium
9	Development and presentation of the theoretical model of Master’s thesis.			Classes		2.00	auditorium
Assessment
Unaided Work:
To read scientific articles, which reveal the interpretation of communication of different authors To understand the specific of each approach. To prepare the following questions: -What topics are discussed in the article? -What theoretical paradigm such a view belongs to? -What can you learn from it? -How may/ do the theoretical considerations help me understand the question of my Master’s thesis? -What methods are used for data acquisition to justify theoretical considerations? To understand the topic of my Master’s thesis theoretically and to model communication processes and problems in the selected situation. To write an essay and to present it to study peers. In order to evaluate the quality of the study course as a whole, the student must fill out the study course evaluation questionnaire on the Student Portal.
Assessment Criteria:
Attendance of and activity at lectures and seminars, tasks of seminars, essay, examination.
Final Examination (Full-Time):		Exam (Written)
Final Examination (Part-Time):
Learning Outcomes
Knowledge:		Students know and can name and characterise main theoretical directions and schools, as well as models for explanation of communication processes, as well as know main variables in different conceptual models of communication.
Skills:		After a successful mastering of the study course students will be ready: • to characterise in a systemic and abstract way communication processes and main actors involved; • to critically and analytically evaluate communication practice problems within the scope of a certain theoretical paradigm; • to form the theoretical basis for Master’s thesis.
Competencies:		Students are able to chose and use the most relevant theoretical approach and model for their research and analysis of media and communication
Bibliography
No.	Reference
Required Reading
1	Aristotle. Rhetoric.
2	Castells, M. The Network Theory of Power. //International Journal of Communication 5 , 2011, pp. 773–787
3	De Saussure, F.Saussure's Third Course of Lectures on General Linghuistics (1910-1911).
4	Evolution of Three Media Effects Models. In: Journal of Communication, 2007, nr. 57,pp.9-20.
5	Habermas, J. Communicative Ethics. (1998)
6	Hall, S. Encoding, decoding.
7	http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/habermas/1998/com…
8	Luhman, N. The reality of the mass media. – Cambridge; Polity Press, 2000.
9	Liotārs, Ž.F. Postmodernais stāvoklis. Pārskats par zināšanām. - Rīga, LMC, 2008.
10	Lyotard, J.F. (1979) The Postmodern Condition.A Report on Knowledge.
11	McQuail, D. Windahl, S. Communication Models for Study of Mass Communication. - London: Longman, 1993.
12	Michel Foucault (1969). The Archæology of Knowledge Chapter 1. The Unities of Discourse.
13	Ostins, Dž.L. Kā darīt lietas ar vārdiem. – Rīga: Liepnieks un Rītups, 2011.
14	Scheufele, D., Tewksbury, D. Framing, Agenda Setting, and Priming: The
15	Scolari, C.Mapping conversations about new media: the theoretical field of digitalcommunication// New Media Society, 2009, 11, pp. 943 – 963
16	Weaver, W. Recent Contributions to The Mathematical Theory of Communication.
17	Bennett, W. L., & Pfetsch, B. (2018). Rethinking political communication in a time of disrupted public spheres. Journal of communication, 68(2), 243-253.
18	Deuze, M. (2020). The role of media and mass communication theory in the global pandemic. Communication today, 11(2), 4-16.
19	Lull, J. (2019). Evolutionary communication: An introduction. Routledge.
20	Guzman, A. L., & Lewis, S. C. (2020). Artificial intelligence and communication: A human–machine communication research agenda. New media & society, 22(1), 70-86.
21	Moffett, J. W., Folse, J. A. G., & Palmatier, R. W. (2021). A theory of multiformat communication: mechanisms, dynamics, and strategies. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 49, 441-461.
22	Van Dijck, J., Nieborg, D., & Poell, T. (2019). Reframing platform power. Internet Policy Review, 8(2), 1-18.
Additional Reading
1	Borch, C. Systemic Power : Luhmann, Foucault, and Analytics of Power // Acta Sociologica 48 / 2005, pp. 155 – 167
2	Habermas, J. Political Communication in Media Society: Does Democracy Still Enjoy an Epistemic Dimension? The Impact of Normative Theory on Empirical Research // Communication Theory 16 (2006) 411–42
3	Manovich, L. The Practice of Everyday Media Life.
4	Mulligan, K. The Essence of Language: Wittgenstein’s Builders and Buhler’s Bricks. In: Revue de Métaphysique Et de Morale, 1997
5	Williams. D. Virtual Cultivation: Online Worlds, Offline Perceptions.// Journal of Communication, 56, 2006, pp. 69–87
6	van Dijck, J., & Lin, J. (2022). Deplatformization, platform governance and global geopolitics: Interview with José van Dijck. Communication and the Public, 7(2), 59-66.