Description

1. Knowledge and Understanding 1.1 Understand how media influence society and socialization, both positively and negatively, through stereotyping and ideology. 1.2 Recall media effect theories and analyze audience characteristics (e.g., replacement effect, direct effects, conditional effects, cumulative effects, cognitive-transactional model). 1.3 Identify how media persuade the public and shape opinions, including in political/social movements. 1.4 Describe the signification process and its components (signifiers, signified, denotation, connotation) in visual content reflecting social inequalities. 1.5 Recognize the evolution of Internet-based technology (e.g., Metaverse) and its concepts (hyperego, alter-ego, qintimate, extimate, simulation, augmentation). 2. Intellectual Skills 2.1. Analyze the impact of media on society and vice versa, in addition to the effects of the agents of socialization on the individual. 2.2. Label a certain phenomenon, an attribute, or a set of attributes, and select the relevant key concept(s) and theories related to a case that is being analyzed. 2.3. Contextualize a certain media practice, or audience response, as per to its relevance to a chosen framework (professionally or culturally speaking). 2.4. Identify the main message behind a visual content (cartoons, comics, graphic novels, various illustrations and so on) using the findings of semiotic studies, and reveal when appropriate the type of sign relationship that could be singled out in a certain case study (iconic, indexical, and symbolic). 3. Professional and Practical skills 3.1 Develop advanced media literacy for informed decision-making in digital media, design, and communications.. 3.2.Work on projects while utilizing a range of practices, and when possible adequate multimedia content, or/and media platforms to create imaginative, and cutting-edge content (when applicable). 3.3. Identify and analyze the impact of internal and external elements upon which the success of media production is detrimental. 3.4.Evaluate the impact quotient of a series of advertisements or any visual content or media texts generally speaking, in light of the effects of media on society. 4. General and Transferable skills 4.1. Demonstrate their ability to produce critical reflective thinking throughout a variety of contexts where a professional decision is required. 4.2. Produce academic texts or any media text within the parameters specified for the tasks that they will be required to accomplish. 4.3. Evaluate the sources and references that they will be using to accomplish certain assignments that they will be provided with. 4.4. Achieve clarity of communication or/and build teamwork skills or/and choose the appropriate decision within a problem-solving strategy.

Objectives

• The course is designed to enhance the students’ theoretically informed analytical skills pertaining to the relationship between media and society. It will enable them to understand and discuss theories of media and how they affect society and develop a critical understanding of new media in relation to questions of language, culture and communication. Students will be exposed to trending topics like the concept of globalization and diversity along with important concepts related to media institutions, power and diversity. The course will also provide students with case studies and examples from a range of different contexts around the world that will help them to engage with the theoretical issues that they are introduced too.