Presentations week

This week, as you know, we'll be having presentations from some classmates. Same time as regular classes, that is, 14:00, Aula 1. We'll be hosting 4 sepakers who will be delivering a 20 minute presentation: we can decide in class whether to go straigh from 14 to 15:20 or make a break.

Questions and comments on the presentations are much encouraged. Thanks,

Slides from section 4

Slides from Professor Wilkinson's lectures are finally available: session 1, session 2 and session 3. The files are available for download in ADI.

Please send your abstracts and proposals by the end of this week, and remember the essay is due the next. See you all in the presentations! Best,

On abstracts and presentations

It turns out I was wrong, and, as some attentive attendees pointed out, the abstract is due next week. Friday 23rd. Sorry for the confusion. Still, feel free to early submit your proposals. Slides from last lectures will be posted promptly.

As I said, on May 3rd to 5th we'll be hosting some classmates as speakers in our final week. If you're interested in delivering one of the 20-min presentations let me know. There are still a few open slots, don't miss the chance.

Regards,

Homework 3, Section 4

To be submitted prior to Day 3

Students from other regions describe how they stay connected with their home country/region via traditional and/or new media. Local students from the Pamplona area should consider of how they would use mass communication to address a problem/need in their community.

*Please post homework as comments to this entry. Thanks!

Homework 2, Section 4

To be sumbitted prior to day 2

Students should find and post/submit images or audio files that that they feel are representative of Hispanic culture in the United States.

*Please post homework as comments to this entry.Thanks!

Homework 1, Section 4

To be submitted prior to Day 1, April 12

Students should find and post/submit images or audio files that they feel are representative of Texas generally or Lubbock, Texas specifically.

**The idea is to have these contributions as points of departure for class discussions. Please post homework as comments to this entry. We'll have three (similar) homework assignments for this section, people in class is expected to do either of them. Thanks!

Section 4 - Lecture Topics and Suggested Readings

Kenton T. Wilkinson, Texas Tech University, College of Mass Communications

April 12-14, 2010

DAY 1, April 12 - Social Scientific and Interpretive Traditions in International Communication Research and Practice

The first hour will consist of introductions and lecture regarding the origins and early development of international communication and development communication research following World War Two through the 1980s. The second hour will focus on social scientific effects approaches versus humanistic audience-centered approaches to international communication research. Semiotics will be revisited briefly and symbolic interactionism introduced. Select student images from the homework assignment will be discussed.

Day 1 Bibliography:

Lerner, Daniel (1963). Toward a communication theory of modernization. In L.W. Pye and S. Verba (Eds.) Political culture and political development. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. Available in D.K. Thussu (Ed.) (2010). International communication: A reader. London: Routledge (Ch. 5).

Rostow, Walter W. (2000). The stages of economic growth: A non-communist manifesto (1960). In J. Timmons Robbins and A. Hite (Eds.) From modernization to globalization: Perspectives on development and social change. (pp. 100-109) London: Blackwell. Available via Google Books.

Dorfman, Ariel and Mattelart, Armand (1975). How to read Donald Duck: Imperialist ideology in the Disney comic. (Trans. by David Kunzle) New York: International General. Also available in Spanish as Para leer al Pato Donald: Comunicación de masa y colonialism. (Madrid: Siglo Veintiuno)

MacBride Commission (1980) Many voices, one world. Towards a new, more just and more efficient World Information and Communication Order. Paris: UNESCO. Reprinted in 2003 by Rowman & Littlefield.

Semiotics and media: http://www.uvm.edu/~tstreete/semiotics_and_ads/

Symbolic Interactionism: http://web.grinnell.edu/courses/soc/s00/soc111-01/introtheories/symbolic.html

DAY 2, April 13 - Representation of Social Groups in U.S. and International Media

During the first hour we will focus on the concept of social representation in media. A brief history of representation of African Americans, Asians and Hispanics in U.S. media will be followed by discussion of ethnic-oriented media and the Native American sports names issue. After the break we will discuss select student homework submissions, then focus on representation in international media of diverse cultures in international news and entertainment programming. The representation of Arabs/Muslims in Western media will be examined.

Day 2 Bibliography:

Ethnic Media in U.S.:

http://www.ncmonline.com/polls/executivesummary.pdf

http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=8bb0c256d866e8e99e74fc734d5cef67

Minorities and media: http://www.medialit.org/reading_room/article231.html

Miller, Jackson B. (1999). “Indians,” “Braves” and “Redskins”: A performative struggle for control of an image. Quarterly Journal of Speech, 85, 188-202. (Available as .pdf file in ADI)

Dahlgren, P. and Chakrapani, S. (1982). The third world on TV news: Western ways of seeing the “Other.” In W.C. Adams, (Ed.) Television coverage of international affairs. pp. 45-65. Norwood, NJ: Ablex. (Available as .pdf file in ADI)

Merskin, Debra. (2004). The construction of Arabs as enemies: Post-September 11 discourse of George W. Bush. Mass Communication & Society, 7 (2), 157-175. (Available as .pdf file in ADI)

DAY 3, April 14– Diaspora, Identity, Ethnicity and Health Communication

The concepts of diaspora, identity and ethnicity will be discussed in the first hour. These concepts will be related to one another through a discussion of how immigrant groups and other ethnic minorities maintain connections with their cultures-of-origin through media. The second hour will begin with select students’ responses to the homework. We will then focus on a specific health challenge facing Hispanic populations in the U.S. and Mexico, and discuss how it can be addressed through communication research. The session will conclude with a discussion of the value of collaborative international communication research.

Day 3 Bibliography

Nagel, Joane. (1998). Constructing ethnicity: Creating and recreating ethnic identity and culture. In M.W. Hughey (Ed.) New tribalisms: The resurgence of race and ethnicity. (pp. 237-272). New York: New York University Press.

Appadurai, Arjun. (1990). Disjuncture and difference in the global culture economy. Theory, Culture, and Society. 7: 295-310. (Available as .pdf file in ADI)

Christiansen, Connie C. (2004). News media consumption among immigrants in Europe. Ethnicities, 4 (2), 185-207. (Available as .pdf file in ADI)

Green, E. and Singleton, C. (2007). Mobile selves: Gender, ethnicity and mobile phones in the everyday lives of young Pakistani-British Women. Information, Communication & Society, 10 (4), 506-526. (Available as .pdf file in ADI)

Almendarez, Isabel S., Boysun, Michael and Clark, Kathleen (2004). Thunder and lightning and rain: A Latino/Hispanic diabetes media awareness campaign. Family & Community Health, 27 (2), 114-122. (Available as .pdf file in ADI)

Slides from section 3, Barbara Rampf

At last, the slides from Barbara Rampf's lectures: session 1, session 2 & session 3. Sorry for the delay in posting.

Thanks for sending your abstracts and proposals; please submit your essays by the end of March. Best regards,

Seminar with Robert G. Picard, Ph.D, 12:00-13:00, March 16th & 17th

Media economics and business dynamics advisor and analyst

On global media markets and policies

Days: Tuesday and Wednesday, March 16th & 17th

Time: 12:00 - 13:00

Place: Aula 13, Social Science Building

Mr. Picard's personal webpage available here.

Section 3 - Syllabus and recommended literature

Barbara Rampf, Institute for Communication Science and Media Research, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany
Pamplona, March 1st-3rd, 2010

“Global Communication” is inseparably linked to media and, nowadays, especially to the World Wide Web. We watch US-American soaps on TV, read news from all over the world in the daily newspaper and stay in touch with our international friends through Facebook. Even though I certainly agree with Mr. Volonté on the fact that it is dangerous to reduce globalization to the McDonaldization and digitalization of society, media must not be neglected when it comes to globalization. As far as I can see from your class’ Weblog, the class concentrated on the concept communication as a basic human act up to now. With my lectures we will turn the focus of the class to the part of communication that is transmitted by media. Since it is the media that enable global communication, and communication changes with the evolution of media from letter to e-mail, from phone call to Skype chat and radio show to Podcast, this is what we will spend our lectures on: The definition, connection and distinction of communication and media, the ‘old’ and the ‘new’ media, changes and developments over time, the challenges of digitalization, the concept of identity in the WWW and the question, where the ‘social media’ and recent innovations like Twitter and Google Buzz will finally lead us.

Here are the topics and some questions our three lectures will face:

1. Communication, Media and the Rise of the Internet: What’s communication? What are media? What happened to communication and media with the appearance of personal computers and the Internet?
2. Media (R)evolution and the Challenges of Digitalization: How did the media landscape change with the development of new media? What are the consequences for audiences, society, any one of us? How do the media affect each other? How do TV and Internet affect each other, e.g. in Germany and Spain?
3. New, Social and Future Media: What are, nowadays, ‘new media’? What’s ‘social’ about Web 2.0? How do concepts like identity and self-presentation fit in than context? Who are we online? The same persons we are offline? And finally, if media development continues in the same way, where will it lead us?

Some References:

Bowman, Shane/Willis, Chris (2003): We Media: How Audiences Are Shaping the Future of News and Information. Reston, Virginia: The Media Center at the American Press Institute. (Chapter 2: Cultural context: Behind the explosion of participatory media, pp. 15-20 & Chapter 7: How media might respond, pp. 58-61). URL: http://www.hypergene.net/wemedia/download/we_media.pdf (5.2.2010).

Browning, John/Reiss, Spencer (1998): Encyclopedia of the New Economy. Part 1. In: Wired, Vol. 3/98, pp. 105-114.

Coffey, Steve/Stipp, Horst (1997): The interactions between computer and television usage. In: Journal of Advertising Research, 37/2, pp. 61-67

Ferguson, Douglas A./Perse, Elizabeth M. (2000). The World Wide Web as a functional alternative to television. In: Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media, 44/2, pp. 155–174.
Fortunati, Leopoldin (2005): Mediatization of the Net and Internetization of the Mass Media. In: Gazette: The International Journal for Communication Studies, 67/1, pp. 27-44.

Habermas, Jürgen (2006): Political Communication in Media Society: Does Democracy Still Enjoy an Epistemic Dimension? The Impact of Normative Theory on Empirical Research. In: Communication Theory, Vol. 16/4, pp. 411–426.

Hill, Anne/Watson, James/Rivers, Danny (2007): Key Themes in Interpersonal Communication: Culture, Identities and Performance. New York: McGraw-Hill. (Chapter 1: Communication by Design: How Models Contribute to our Understanding of Interpersonal Communication, pp. 6-47).

Kaplan, Andreas M./Haenlein, Michael (2010): Users of the world, unite! The challenges and opportunities of social media. In: Business Horizons, 53/1, pp. 59-68.
Leiner, M. et al. (2003): A Brief History of the Internet. URL: http://www.isoc.org/internet/history/brief.shtml (13.2.2010).

Livingstone, Sonia (1999): New Media, New Audiences?. In: New Media & Society, 10/1, pp. 59-66.
McLuhan, Marshall (1999): Understanding Media. The Extension of Man. Eighth printing. MIT Press. (Chapter 1: The Medium is the Message, pp. 7-21).

Silverstone, Roger (1999): What's New about New Media?: Introduction. In: New Media & Society, 10/1, pp. 10-12.

Splichal, Slavko (2009): ‘New’ Media, ‘Old’ Theories. Does the (National) Public Melt into the Air of Global Governance?, In: European Journal of Communication, 24/4, pp. 391-405.

Rettberg, Jill Walker (2009): "Freshly Generated for You, and Barack Obama": How Social Media Represent Your Life. In: European Journal of Communication, 24/4, pp. 451-466

Zhao, Shanyang/Grasmuck, Sherri/Martin, Jason (2008): Identity construction on Facebook: Digital empowerment in anchored relationships. In: Computers in Human Behavior, 24, pp. 1816–1836.

Very important announcement

Unfortunately, and due to circumstances beyond anyone's control, Professor Olaf Jandura, the next appointed lecturer, won't be able to join us. Next week classes are of course maintained as scheduled, and instead of Professor Jandura we'll be receiving a colleague of his, Professor Barbara Rampf. She currently studies podcasts, online communications and new media from a psychological and psycholinguistical stance, making her presence very compelling to our general approach. Syllabus and references for the section will be posted right away.

Thanks for sending your abstracts and proposals. I got texts from almost everyone, which is great. Remember I expect to receive your essays as late as Friday the 26th, Saturday tops. As usual, if you desire any sort of feedback or comments please send an email. Looking forward to see you all in class on Monday. Regards,

Slides from section 2

You can find the slides from Professor Volonté's lectures here: part 1, part 2, and part 3.

I'll be looking in my inbox for abstracts and proposals until Saturday the 13th noon. Remember topic choice is pretty much up to you, though I should suggest you consider some linkage between you own thoughts and the triad design-object-meaning discussed in the past lectures.

Under request we can always schedule an appointment to go over your past essays. We can also work this out through the mail, if you rather have it that way. In spite of the herculian task this promises to be, I'll always get back to you if you send an email asking for feedback. You might have to be a little patient: I'm counting on your comprehension. Best of luck.

Seminar with Richard Arndt, Ph. D., 12:00-13:00, 2/09/10

Past-President, Co-Chair Advisory Council, Americans for UNESCO
Past-President, Fulbright Association


On Cultural Diplomacy: Culture or Propaganda?


Day: Tuesday, February 9th, 2010
Time: 12:00-13:00
Place: Aula 13, Social Science Building

Mr. Arndt's extensive resume can be viewed here.

Section 2 - Syllabus and recommended literature

Paolo Volonté, Facoltá del Design, Politecnico di Milano
Pamplona, February 1st-3rd, 2010

Syllabus

Globalization is a main subject in communication studies today. But too often it is interpreted in terms of majors monopolizing the media markets all around the world, of trans-national interconnections among information systems, of Internetworking, and of a resulting mcDonaldization of world cultures. Too often communication is just identified with the media. This is a consequence of the original postulate that communicating primarily means speaking (verbal communication).

In our lectures we will rather take our stand on two main points: a) Globalization is not only a matter of communication, but first of all a matter of a mutual economic and cultural approaching of national and local societies, leading to a new kind of social structure, where communication holds a crucial role. b) Communication is not primarily a matter of language, but a matter of bodily relationship, whereas spoken language must be understood as a refined advanced processing of bodily communication. As a consequence, we must be aware of the fact that the process of globalization – that implies a general increase of economic welfare, an improvement of social mobility, a loss of reference points for the construction of self-identities – involves for the individual in western and westernized societies a broader and broader use of environmental means of communication to interact with the other: objects, actions, spatial displays.

Communication has become a pivotal factor in the “social tactics” (Baudrillard) that today’s people have to implement to cope with their everyday lives. But such pivotal communication has less to do with spoken language than with the display of our physical environment.
This circumscribes the set of issues we are going to deal with.
Accordingly, our three lectures will face the following three topics:

1) What does it mean communicating? The traditional “hydraulic model” that explains communication in terms of a transmission (or sharing) of contents between two (or more) subjects will be discussed. Jakobson’s well-known schema will be referred to. As a better explanation a phenomenological-inferential model of communication will be presented and recommended.

2) The fundamental role of environmental communication. As a consequence of the new model, it becomes clear that communication is primarily a matter of display of the other’s physical environment on the basis of a (partially) common culture. The function of objects as means of communication (“media”) will be considered as well as the social role of their independent biographies.

3) Objects as means of communication are a response to the increasing incidence of immaterial needs in the setting of human beings’ everyday life. The new condition in postmodern societies, where social relationship, inclusion and order are more and more mediated through communication, will be described. At the end the crucial relevance of communication, i.e. of environmental communication in today’s society should become manifest.

Some References:

Baudrillard, Jean (1972), Pour une critique de l’économie politique du signe, Gallimard, Paris (chp. 1).
Jakobson, Roman (1960), “Closing Statements: Linguistics and Poetics”, in Th.A. Sebeok (ed.), Style in Language, John Wiley & Sons, New York, pp. 350-377.
Sperber, Dan and Wilson, Deirdre (1986), Relevance: Communication and Cognition, Blackwell, Oxford (chp. 1).
Volli, Ugo (2000), Manuale di semiotica, Laterza, Roma-Bari (chp. 1).
Volonté, Paolo (2009), El creador de moda como creador de comunicación, in “Revista Impresa y Humanismo” XII, n. 2, pp. 193-225.
Volonté, Paolo (2009), Oggetti di personalità, in A. Burtscher, D. Lupo, A. Mattozzi and P. Volonté (eds.), Biografie di oggetti | Storie di cose, Bruno Mondadori, Milano, pp. 11-26. (English version available here)
Volonté, Paolo (2010), Designing Communicating Objects, in S. Vihma and T.-M. Karjalainen (eds.), Design Semiotics in Use, Helsinki (in print, available here).

Abstracts and proposals

Thanks for submitting your abstracts and proposals. I'm sorry I couldn't get back to you in every case. I got proposals from the following people (if your name is not there and it should -because your actually submitted an abstact- please let me know):

ABADÍA DE MEDRANO, Rocío

ALONSO, Guillermo

ÁLVAREZ ESEVERRI, Sonia

ANTÓN AGUINAGA, Íñigo

APARICIO YARZA, Verónica

ARVONEN, Marleena

BOWER, Mindie Roxanne

BREEZE, Raffaella

BURRELL, A'Keiba

CHARZAT, Cécile

CHAURE, Inés

CHIU, Li Hsuan

COELLO DÍEZ, Elvira

CORTÉS ACHA, Carlota

CUERVO, Gustavo

DAVIS, Amanda

DIAS, Leslie

DÍAZ REQUEJO, Raquel

DIEZ DE URE LOINAZ, Alba

DIRR, Eva

DONAT DE CARALT, Alejandra

DURRER, Isabel

ESNAOLA LACUNZA, Marta

FABREGAS, Isabella

FINDLAY, Natasha

FRANCO ESTÑÁN, Nora

FREY, Luisa

GARCÍA GARAIZAR, Alejandro

GONZÁLEZ BEES, Eliana

GONZÁLEZ, Zelai

GUZMÁN BASTIDA, Álvaro

HALILI, Tommy

HERNÁNDEZ BLANCO, Álvaro

HERRERA, Estefanía

IRIARTE, Ohiane

ITURRIAGA AXPE, Monica

JIMÉNEZ EZQUERRO, Javier

JIMÉNEZ ROBLES, Paula

LACHIONDO CAMUÑAS, María

LERGA RAMOS, Leyre

LEXEN, Saskia Ines

LILLO ALONSO, Pilar

LONGELIN, Jade

LÓPEZ, María

LÓPEZ, Paula

MACÍAS ALARCÓN, Jaime

MANICH GALLEMÍ, Marc

MORAN, Pauline

MORENO ROMERO, Juan

NAVAS ALBA, María

OFFENBERG, Philipp

PÁRAMO ALFARO, Raquel

PARRA ZABALZA, Andrea

PASTRANA, Gonzalo

PEÑA GONZÁLEZ, Elena

PÉREZ ÁLAVA, Daniel

PICCIOCHI G.Ferreira, Joana

PITARQUE , Almudena

PROCARIO, Laura

QUINTELA SÁNCHEZ, Alejandra

RANKIN, Kasey

REALE, Rachel

ROBLA ONÍS, Paula

SÁNCHEZ SOLARES, Inés

SCHULZE NIEHNES, Paul

SHIH, Wan-Ni

SIERRA, María Alejandra

SUN, Angela

TOMÁS, Jon Ander

TYRRELL, Helen

VÁZQUEZ DOTRAS, Alejandra

VIDAL, Ana Maria

WEISSON, María Beatriz

WERNER, Jan

I look forward to reading your (around 2500 word) essays. I'll be checking my email for essays until Friday the 29th. Best regards,

Presentations from section 1

In case you find it useful, you can look at the presentations displayed during the lectures here: part 1, part 2 and part 3.

From now until friday the 22nd I'll be cheking my mail (mnarroyo@alumni.unav.es) for abstracts and proposals. Remember that choice of topic for the essay is completely free. Once you send your proposals I'll be getting back to you only in case there's something I particularly dislike. No news is good news. On friday evening I'll post a list of names from which I got proposals. Thanks and good luck,

On essays

Several thoughts trying to make things clear:

1) Though I asked for an abstract, I DO NOT expect you to write a research paper. I just thought the general structure of an abstract (take a look at "Example 1: Humanities abstract" in this webpage) would be of great help in clarifying your ideas. Sorry if this was misleading. The (pseudo)abstract will be especially useful for me to point out any foreseeable shortcomings that can be avoided in the final version of your works.

2) Even so, if you wish to write a research paper, please do. This might be too much to ask as a universal requirement (class range goes from freshmen to seniors) , but if you already have some experience in research or want to give it a try, go for it. Should you undertake this endeavor, let me know if I can be of any assistance.

3) I don't want you to summarize the lectures in your essay. Instead, pick some specific point and think it over throughout your personal experiences (and past readings) and some of the recommended literature.

4) I don't expect you to exhaust the list of recommended readings. Consider that you'll be asked to write 4 essays during the term, each one of them being the reasonable outcome of one month of work for one of your courses. You may find other readings besides the recommended useful and inspiring: use them. I'd say that 4 to 8 sources of any kind (newspapers, tv shows, articles, books, movies, etc.) would be satisfactory.

5) A basic guide to writing an essay is available here. It could be useful if you have not much experience in essay writing or foresee some trouble writing in English. General advise: write short sentences.

6) If further explanation is needed, please post a comment. Particular inquiries can be made through email.

Thanks.

Section 1 - Syllabus and recommended literature

Danijel Labas, University of Zagreb

The lessons/classes will mostly follow the articles recommended to read (see the list below) and on my personal research on E. Levinas, J. Habermas and S. Petrilli.

Recommended literature can be of help to participants in writting an essay about one topic (personal choice of everyone) to be discussed in class in January 2010.

1) Introduction: Who is „centrum mundi“ in global communication order? Spain or Croatia?;

2) Identity and Otherness in global communication: who are You, who am I; who are They in globalized world of Computer-mediated-Communication? (E. Levinas);

3) Cultural diversity, new (virtual) communities and global media: what we (can) know of each other and in which way?;

4) Global communication, proximity and accountability (J. Habermas, E. Levinas) – ethics of dialogue (Diskursethik) – ethics of responsability;

5) (Some) Open questions in global communication: from „globality“ to global solidarity (MacBride Report, Unesco);

6) Conclusions – discussion.

LITERATURE (recommended)

1) Denis McQuail, Mass Communication Theory, Sage, London – Thousand Oaks – New Delhi, ⁵2005, pp. 77-109; 111-134; 245-271;

2) International Commission for the Study of Communication Problems – Sean MacBride, Communication and Society Today and Tomorrow, Many Voices One World, Towards a new more just and more efficient world information and communication order, Kogan Page, London/Uniput, New York/Unesco, Paris. Unesco, 1980.

Spanish version at: http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0004/000400/040066sb.pdf

English version: http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0004/000400/040066eb.pdf

French version: http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0004/000400/040066fb.pdf

ARTICLES

From “Global Media and Communication”:

3) Colin Sparks, What’s wrong with globalization?, Global Media and Communication, Volume 3(2), 2007, 133-155;

4) Shelton A. Gunaratne, A systems view of `international' communication, its scope and limitations, Global Media and Communication, Volume 3(3), 2007, 267-271;

5) Andrew Calabrese, Communication, global justice and the moral economy, Global Media and Communication, Volume 1(3), 2005, 301-315;

6) Divina Frau-Meigs, Cultural diversity and global media studies, Global Media and Communication, Volume 3(3), 2007, 260-266;

7) Claudia Padovani, Debating communication imbalances from the MacBride Report to the World Summit on the Information Society: an analysis of a changing discourse, Global Media and Communication, Volume 1(3), 2005, 316-338;

8) Natalie Fenton, Mediating solidarity, Global Media and Communication, Volume 4(1), 2008, 37-57;

From “The Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies”:

9) Everett M. Rogers, The Digital Divide, The Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies, Volume 7(4), 2001, 96-111;

10) Bill Seaman, Pattern Flows: Hybrid Accretive Processes Informing Identity Construction, The Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies, Volume 11(4), 2005, 12-31;

11) Ian M. Clothier, Created Identities: Hybrid Cultures and the Internet, The Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies, Volume 11(4), 2005, 44-59;

From “European Journal of Communication”:

12) Manuel Puppis, National Media Regulation in the Era of Free Trade. The Role of Global Media Governance, European Journal of Communication, Volume 23(4), 2008, 405-424;

13) Slavko Splichal, ‘New’ Media, ‘Old’ Theories. Does the (National) Public Melt into the Air of Global Governance?, European Journal of Communication, Volume 24(4), 2009, 391-405;

From “Journal of Business and Technical Communication”:

14) Doreen Starke-Meyerring, Meeting the Challenges of Globalization. A Framework for Global Literacies in Professional Communication Programs, Journal of Business and Technical Communication, Volume 19(4), 2005, 468-499;

From “Journal of Communication Inquiry”:

15) Victor Pickard, Neoliberal Visions and Revisions in Global Communications. Policy from NWICO to WSIS, Journal of Communication Inquiry, Volume 31(2), 2007, 118-139;

From “Journal of Creative Communication”:

16) Tej K. Bhatia – Mukesh Bhargava, Reaching the Unreachable. Resolving Globalization vs. Localization Paradox , Journal of Creative Communication, Volume 3(2), 2008, 209-230;

From “Journalism”:

17) Herman Wasserman – Shakuntala Rao, The Glocalization of journalism ethics, Journalism, Volume 9(2), 2008, 163-181;

From “Media, Culture & Society”:

18) Dal Yong Jin, Neoliberal restructuring of the global communication system: mergers and acquisitions, Media, Culture & Society, Volume 30(3), 2008, 357-373;

19) Robert Pike – Dwayne Winseck, The Politics of Global Media Reform, 1907-23, Volume 26(5), 2004, 643-675.

Introduction, January 11th

On January 11th we made a brief introduction to some of the topics to be discussed throughout the semester, such as a healthy distinction between communication and media, identity creation through communication, and culture dialogue within "inculturization" processes.

We tried to think over this issues with the help of two cool examples:

1) The trailer for the movie Avatar, as depicting some kind of coming to an identity through processes of communication and interaction, showing that the sharing of biological conditions (as, in a way, we all humans do) does not guarantee horizons of comprehension . (If you wanna go to Pandora, click here)

2) A column by Thomas L. Friedman (author of The World is Flat, also mentioned today), where he asks himself if Google is God: what should keep us from thinking so in a world in which seeking and finding information has become the "most human" way of life? (If you wish to know more about Googleianism, click and pray here)

Most of the attendents turned in some written thoughts about these ideas. Some of them were really clever (I read them all, I promise), and the only thing to regret was that those comments were not made out loud.

Calendar

January	Week 1 (days 11-14)	Lectures. Danijel Labas
	Week 2 (days 18-22)	Abstract submission. No class
	Week 3 (days 25-29)	Essay submission. No class
February	Week 4 (days 1-4)	Lectures. Paolo Volonté
	Week 5 (days 8-12)	Abstract submission. No class
	Week 6 (days 15-19)	No class
	Week 7 (days 22-26)	Essay submission. No class
March	Week 8 (days 1-5)	Lectures. Olaf Jandura
	Week 9 (days 8-12)	Abstract submission. No class
	Week 10 (days 15-19)	No class
	Week 11 (days 22-26)	No class
	Week 12 (days 29-31)	Essay submission / Easter
April	Week 13 (days 5-9)	Easter break
	Week 14 (days 12-16)	Lectures. Kent Wilkinson
	Week 15 (days 19-23)	Abstract submission. No class
	Week 16 (days 26-30)	Essay submission. No class
May	Week 17 (days 3-5)	Presentations

Structure and grading policy

The course is going to be divided in four separate and independent sections, each one of them taught by a visiting professor.

All four sections will share a similar structure: six hours of lectures and the requirement to write a personal essay (of variable extension) on any topic discussed in class that the student finds especially appealing either because of theoretical interest or personal experience.

Since there’s going to be very few lectures (26 hours through the whole semester) attendance –and active partaking in class– is considered crucial and will be considered a relevant factor in grading (20% of the final grade).

Each essay is going to provide the grade for the corresponding section: 4 essays, 20% of the final grade each. There will be NO final examination. Think of the essays as partial exams, and take them seriously. Any kind of plagiarism (copy/paste from any website, quotations without a reference, etc.) will result in an automatic failing grade for the whole course.

The next Monday after the lectures of each part are delivered, students are expected to send a 500 word abstract about the ideas they’ve got for the corresponding essay. This can be done through mail (mnarroyo@alumni.unav.es) or by turning the document in the Department of Public Communication Secretary’s Office in the drawer that reads “Mariano Navarro”. Diligence in handing in the abstract will both help you in clarifying your ideas and secure a good disposition from me towards your essay. Failure in doing so will also bear consequences.

Feel free and encouraged to talk about your essays or projects with either the visiting professor for the section or me, the course coordinator. We will always be willing to help you BEFORE deadlines(*) arrive. Avoid coming after deadlines with excuses of any kind.

In summary, the final grade will result from the following sum:

Essay - Section 1	20%
Essay - Section 2	20%
Essay - Section 3	20%
Essay - Section 4	20%
Attendance and active participation during lectures	20%
**OPTIONAL: A 20 minute presentation of one of your essays in front of the whole class.	10% (extra)

* For a complete chart regarding dates of lectures and essay deadlines view the "Calendar" entry.

** The optional oral presentations are to be discussed and arranged with me through the semester. Depending on the amount of people interested several sessions outside the official calendar can be arranged.

The warmest of welcomes

Welcome to the blog for the course "Global Communication" at the University of Navarra. The purpose of this blog is to both deliver the latest announcements regarding the class and providing a space where comments and suggestions can be made by anyone. Visit regularly and let everyone know what you think. Have a great semester!

**The class will permanently move to room 5, Social Science Building.