Sociology of Communication
Code: 101137 ECTS Credits: 6| Degree | Type | Year | Semester |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2500262 Sociology | OT | 4 | 2 |
Contact
- Name:
- Dafne Muntanyola Saura
- Email:
- dafne.muntanyola@uab.cat
Teaching groups languages
You can check it through this link. To consult the language you will need to enter the CODE of the subject. Please note that this information is provisional until 30 November 2023.
Prerequisites
There is no prerequisites
Objectives and Contextualisation
The course of Sociology of Communication combines several objectives. In the theoretical level, it is proposed to introduce the student into the main theories of communication. In the analysis of reality, the role and the social logic of the main mass communication media and social networks. Finally a brief description of the characteristics of the Catalan communication space are studied. But also, in the applied plan, you will learn to do -and will do- a Communication Plan for a real institution.
In short, the introduction to the theories is oriented towards a later reflection on the social importance of the mass media and the networks, and everything comes together in an analysis of the immediate environment, placing a particular emphasis on the role of social networks annd visual content.
Competences
- Analysing the problems arising from the implementation of public policies and conflict situations by recognising the complexity of the social phenomena and political decisions affecting democracy, human rights, social justice and sustainable development.
- Applying the concepts and approaches of the sociological theory, specially the explanations of social inequalities between classes, between genders and between ethnic groups, to the implementation of public policies and to the resolution of conflict situations.
- Assessing the contributions of sociological approaches to the study of culture, education, interaction between society and environment, social policy, and work.
- Demonstrating a comprehension of the approaches of the sociological theory in its different aspects, interpretations and historical context.
- Describing social phenomena in a theoretically relevant way, bearing in mind the complexity of the involved factors, its causes and its effects.
- Developing critical thinking and reasoning and communicating them effectively both in your own and other languages.
- Developing self-learning strategies.
- Effectively communicating the basic analysis of social phenomena in an elementary level of English.
- Respecting the diversity and plurality of ideas, people and situations.
- Searching for documentary sources starting from concepts.
- Students must be capable of assessing the quality of their own work.
- Students must be capable of managing their own time, planning their own study, managing the relationship with their tutor or adviser, as well as setting and meeting deadlines for a work project.
Learning Outcomes
- Comparing the different theoretical approaches about culture.
- Comparing the reading of cultural phenomena from several ideologies of the social reality of Spain and Catalonia.
- Defining the sociological concepts that interpret the cultural phenomena.
- Defining the underlying social phenomena of cultural policies and conflicts.
- Developing critical thinking and reasoning and communicating them effectively both in your own and other languages.
- Developing self-learning strategies.
- Distinguishing the explanations of cultural inequalities between classes, between genders and between ethnic groups that these actors take for granted.
- Distinguishing the sociological concepts about culture adopted by the actors involved in these policies and conflicts.
- Distinguishing the sociological concepts, as well as the methods and techniques of social investigation commonly used to analyse culture.
- Effectively communicating the basic analysis of social phenomena in an elementary level of English.
- Explaining the social interpretations of culture according to these approaches.
- Expressing the debates regarding these approaches, that refer to culture.
- Relating the concepts, methods and techniques used to analyse culture with general theoretical and methodological debates.
- Relating the debates regarding these approaches, that refer to culture, with the historical context in which they emerged.
- Relating the explanations of cultural inequalities with general theoretical and methodological debates.
- Relating the theoretical approaches with debates about social order and action.
- Respecting the diversity and plurality of ideas, people and situations.
- Searching for documentary sources starting from concepts.
- Students must be capable of assessing the quality of their own work.
- Students must be capable of managing their own time, planning their own study, managing the relationship with their tutor or adviser, as well as setting and meeting deadlines for a work project.
Content
Theoretical classes
The theories of communication
1. Communicating
2. European antecedents. Networks and crowds
3. The Chicago School. From the crowd to the public
4. Mass Communication Research. War, industry, social cohesion
5. The Critical Theory. Communication as merchandise
6. The Palo Alto School. Everything communicates
7. Structuralism and Cultural Studies. Semiology and popular cultures
Sociology of the mass media
8. Media and social construction of reality
9. Information and power
10. Mediafobia and social order
11. Social networks. Fragmentation and complexity
12. The visual: usages and meanings.
The uses of communication
13. The Catalan communication space. The MCM in the Catalan Countries
14. The audiovisual production of culture in the Catalan Countries.
Practical classes
A. What is a Communication Plan?
B. The manufacture of public opinion
C. The spiral of silence
D. The debate about post-truth and fakenews
E. The consumption of cultural content in the Net
F. The use of Big Data
G. The media diet of young people
Methodology
The course is developed through theoretical classes, supported by reference texts that will be published through the Aula Moodle. Theoretical classes will include discussions in the classroom, encouraging from the outset a participatory dynamic, but also with the objective of learning to use the conceptual system that will be derived. These classes will be complemented by a weekly seminar in which exercises and debates will be carried out applied to the student's most immediate reality. Seminar work will be organized based on the number of students in order to ensure that their goals are met. There will be brief written exercises and oral presentations. The formal communicative correction will be highly valued. It is the work and the presence in the seminars that will allow a continuous continuous evaluation.
The Moodle Classroom will also create a regular interaction with the student, both in his work in the classroom and his autonomous work, with the promotion of discussion forums and with the contribution of current unforeseen documents to the general bibliography. It is important to point out that the use of this digital tool also allows readjustments of the program based on unforeseeable events and therefore becomes the reference point for the good organization and follow-up of the course.
It is also required to read a complete book on an aspect of social communication. The program does some suggestions that, however, can be extended depending on the interests of the student.
Annotation: Within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.
Activities
| Title | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Type: Directed | |||
| Presentation sessions on the subjects of the course | 26 | 1.04 | |
| Type: Supervised | |||
| Group work derived from seminars | 13 | 0.52 | |
| Individualized review of the work portfolio carried out | 8 | 0.32 | |
| Seminary sessions | 13 | 0.52 | |
| Type: Autonomous | |||
| Formulation fo critical questions | 12 | 0.48 | |
| Study and reading texts of course topics | 58 | 2.32 |
Assessment
The evaluation of the course is of a continuous type, which implies regular attendance to the classroom, which will be controlled regularly, and the completion of the exercises proposed in the seminar that will constitute the course's portfolio. The papers may be reviewed again as often as they wish, and they will be redirected every time. It will have to have passed the assistance checks and have submitted the proposed works to be able to pass this part of the evaluation, whose value is 40 percent of the total. Another 40 per cent is obtained from a final exam, which must be presented to everyone obligatorily and that corresponds to the first part of the course, related to the knowledge of the theories of communication. Finally, the critical questions about the readings will complete the note with the remaining 20 percent. Each part must be approved separately, and the possibility of recovery will be available.
Practical exercises will evaluate the content and formal academic skills (writing, presentation, citations, elaboration of indexes, oral communication skills, etc.), paying special attention to the positive evolution throughout the course. For this reason, all the works will be stored in the portfolio, even those reviewed and corrected. The portfolio will be delivered on the last day of class inexcusably with all the work.
Students that choose a singe evaluation item must commmunicate their decision to the professor during the first two weeks of classe, and they will turn in the communication plan (40%) and the critical questions (20%) the same day of the final exam (40%).
Assessment Activities
| Title | Weighting | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Carrying out a Communication Plan of an organization | 40% | 14 | 0.56 | 19, 18, 2, 10, 6, 5, 7, 8, 9, 20, 13, 17 |
| 2. Critical questions about the readings | 20% | 4 | 0.16 | 19, 18, 4, 6, 11, 12, 20, 14, 16, 17 |
| 3. Written exam on the theories of communication | 40% | 2 | 0.08 | 19, 1, 3, 4, 6, 5, 11, 12, 20, 13, 14, 16, 15 |
Bibliography
Bibliography
For the first part of the course:
Mattelart, Armand i Mattelart, Michèle. Historia de las teorías de la comunicación. Barcelona: Paidós, 1997, 126 pp.
On media:
Bourdieu, Pierre. Sobre la televisió. Barcelona: Edicions 62, 1997.
Cardús i Ros, Salvador. Política de paper. Premsa i poder, 1981-1992. Barcelona: La Campana, 1995
Lacroix, Michel. El culte a l’emoció. Atrapats en un món d’emocions sense sentiments. Barcelona: Edicions La Campana, 2005
Johnson, Steven. Si és dolent t’ho recomano.Barcelona: Ed. La Campana, 2009
Postman, Neil. Divertim-nos fins a morir. El discurs públic a l’època del “show-business”. Barcelona: Llibres de l’índex, 1993. (Amusing Ourselves to Death.Nova York, Viking Penguin, 1985)
Sobre sociologia visual:
Banks, Marcus (2005). Visual Methods in Social Research. London: Sage.
Benjamin, Walter. (1936/2021). L'obra d'art a l'època de la seva reproductibilitat tècnica. Barcelona: Edicions 62. La obra de arte en su época de reproductibilidad técnica. Madrid: Alianza.
Becker, Howard. S. (2005). Visual sociology, documentary photography, and photojournalism: It's (almost) all a matter of context. In Image-based research (pp. 84-96). Routledge.
Boudieu, Pierre & Bourdieu, Marie-Claire. (1965/2004). The peasant and photograpjy. Ethnography, 5(4): 601-616.
Bourdieu, P. (1965/2003) Un arte medio. Barcelona: Gustavo Gili.
Delgado, Melvin. (2015) Urban YouthandPhotovoice: Visual Ethnography in Action. Oxford University Press.
Evans, Jessica & Hall, Stuart. (Eds). (2005). Visual Culture: the reader. London: Sage.
Harper, Douglas. (2002). Talking About Pictures: a Case for Photo Elicitation. Visual studies 17.1 (2002): 13–26.
Harper, Douglas. (2012). Visual Sociology. Chicago University Press.
Lozowy, Andriko, Rob Shields, and Sara Dorow (2013). “Where Is Fort McMurray? The Camera as a Tool for Assembling ‘Community.’” Canadian journal of sociology 38.2: 191–210.
Maresca, Sylvain y Meyer, Michaël (2015). Compendio de fotografía para uso de sociólogos. Edicions Bellaterra.
Mitchell, Claudia. (2011) Doing Visual Research. London: Sage.
Muntanyola-Saura, Dafne. (2017). El video y la danza: cómo la etnografía audiovisual modifica la mirada sociológica. Dossier “Las razones y las Emociones de las Imágenes” / Dossiê “As razões e as emoções das imagens”. RBSE Revista Brasileira de Sociologia da Emoção, 16-47: 57-74.
Muntanyola-Saura, D. 2012. “Expert Knowledge and Video-aided Ethnography a Methodological Account.” Révue de Synthèse 133 (1): 75–100.
Mok, T.M., Cornish, F. & Tarr, J. (2015). Too Much Information: Visual Research Ethics in the Age of Wearable Cameras. Integr. psych. behav. 49, 309–322 https://doi-org.are.uab.cat/10.1007/s12124-014-9289-8
Mylne, E.J., Mitchell, Claudia & Naydene deLange. Handbook of Participatory Video. Toronto: Altamira Press
Pink, Sarah. (2013). Doing Visual Ethnography. SAGE: London.
Rosenblum, Barbara. (1978). Photographers at Work. A Sociology of Photographic Analysis. New York: Holmes & Meier.
Sontag, Susan. (2019) Sobre la fotografia. Barcelona: Arcadia Edicions. (1977) On Photography. New York: Pinguin Books.
Journals:
Yearbook of Moving Images Studies
Links:
http://cristinaaced.com/pdf/planComunicacion_BIC%20Galicia.pdf
http://www.slideshare.net/rafamartin3/plan-de-comunicacion-11480260
http://www.slideshare.net/rafamartin3/claves-plan-comunicacion
http://www.slideshare.net/lenetourn/comunicacin-corporativa-para-pymes
http://www.unedpontevedra.com/archivos_publicos/qweb_paginas/5310/plandecomunicacioncapontevedra.pdf
http://www.solucionesong.org/img/foros/4c8ddf9bb43a2/Elaboracion_plan_de_comunicacion_PPVE.pdf
http://clippingrrpp.com/como-hacer-un-plan-de-comunicacion/#.UyGGkc6oGgp
Complementary bibliography
Part 1
Bourdieu, Pierre. “L’opinion publique n’existe pas” a Questions de sociologie. Paris. Ed. Minuit, 1988.Ed. esp: Cuestiones de sociología.Madrid. Istmo, 2000
Farré Coma, Jordi. Invitació a la teoria de la comunicació. Valls. Cossetània, 2005
Hall, Edward T. La Dimensión oculta. Méxic, Siglo Veintiuno, 1987
Hall, Edward T.El lenguaje silencioso.Madrid : Alianza, 1989
Saperas, Enric. Introducció a les teories dela comunicació. Barcelona, Pòrtic, 1992
Winkin, Yves. “Presentación general” a Bateson, Goffman, Hall et. al.La nueva comunicación. Barcelona, Kairós, 1984, pp. 11-113.
Part 2
Bezunartea, Ofa et al. La prensa y los electores. El mito de la influencia. Euskal Herriko Universitatea. Bilbao, 2000
Blain, Neil; Boyle, Raymond & O’Donnel, Hugh. Sport and National Identity in the European Media. Leicester. Ceicester University Press, 1993
Borrat, Héctor. El periódico, actor político. Barcelona. Gustavo Gili, 1989
Boyd, Dannah. It’s complicated. The Social Lives of Networked Teens. Yale University Press, 2015
Cardús, Salvador. “En defensa de la televisió: la realitat virtuosa” a Trípodos, 6 (1998) pp. 31-44
Cardús, Salvador “Els mitjans de comunicació i els conflictes de mercat” a Actes del II Congrés Català de Sociologia. Barcelona, Societat Catalana de Sociologia, pàg. 1017-1034
Cardús, Salvador The Circulation of Daily Newspapers in the Catalan-speaking areas between 1976 and 1996. The Anglo-Catalan Society, 1999
Castells, Manuel. L’era de la informació: Economia, societat i cultura.(3 volums) Barcelona: Generalitat de Catalunya, 2003. Ed. original: The Information Age: Economy, Society and Culture. New Jersey: Blackwell, 2003
Castells, Manuel. La galàxia Internet. Reflexions sobre Internet, empresa i societat.Barcelona. Rosa dels Vents, 2002. Ed. Espanyola: Barcelona. Plaza y Janés, 2001.
Champagne, Patrick. Faire l’opinion. París. Seuil
Chomsky, Noam. Las ilusiones necesarias. Libertarias/Prodhufi, 1992
Ferrés, Joan. Televisión subliminal. Socialización mediante comunicaciones inadvertidas. Barcelona. Paidós, 1986
Katz, Jon. Virtuous reality. Nova York. Random House, 1997
Lippman, W. Public opinion. Londres. Allen & Unwin, 1932
O’Donnell, Hugh.Good Times, Bad Times. Soap operas and society in western Europe. Londres. Leicester University Press, 1998
Peralta, Miquel. Teleinformatius. La transmissió informativa d’actualitat.Barcelona. Trípodos, 2005
Sartori, Giovanni. Homo videns. La sociedad teledirigida. Madrid, Taurus, 1998
Tusón, Jesús. Com és que ens entenem? (si és queens entenem). Barcelona. Empúries, 1999
Vázquez Montalbán, Manuel. Informe sobre la información. Barcelona. Ed. Fontanella, 1975
Weber, Max. “Para una sociología de la prensa” a REIS núm. 57, 1992 (251-259)
Magazines
Trípodos
Anàlisis
Capçalera
Comunicació21.
Treballs de Comunicació. Societat Catalana de Comunicació (IEC)
Webs
Blocs sobre xarxes:
https://fnunezmosteo.wordpress.com
Crítica informativa:
Estudi i educació en mitjans:
Organismes control:
Software
Any word processor