teaching: undergraduate: BCUSP 178
Introduction to Communication
In this course you will be learning about some of the main themes, theories and concepts that underpin the study of human communication. As such, we will examine how humans interact with each other to achieve different goals (e.g. constructing identities, establishing and maintaining relationships, building communities). We will look at the different ways these goals are achieved through a range of different modes of communication (e.g. linguistic, nonverbal, visual). We will also look at the ways people communicate in a number of different settings (e.g. one-to-one, organizational, political).
As you will hear in the first week, BCUSP 178 is deliberately structured around six core concepts in communication:
PROCESS CULTURE MEANING
CONTEXT RELATIONSHIP POWER
We will be dealing with each of these core concepts in turn. In addition, every week you will be introduced to a different sub-field of human communication scholarship (e.g. nonverbal communication, relational communication).
BCUSP 178 is an ideal introduction for anyone wanting to pursue advanced studies in Media and Communication.
Learning goals
By the end of this course, you should be able to:
- Demonstrate increased knowledge of how human communication operates at the level of interpersonal, intergroup and intercultural interaction.
- Identify and describe different modes of communication such as linguistic, nonverbal, visual, and electronic.
- Identify and critique a variety of communication contexts such as face-to-face, mediatized, institutional and cross-cultural settings.
- Show an increased awareness of the ethical, political and ideological implications of everyday communication practices.
- Exhibit an increased ability to read and understand primary research in communication studies.