Class Media and Communication for Development

The course will initially provide a basic and systematized approach to communication issues and the academic research around them. In the specific themes of Development, the course considers in a heuristic perspective the main trends and problems related to the conceptualization of Development and its evolution. In its second half, the course will deal with the specific field of Communication for Development in its multiple approaches, from Journalism for Development, through Social Behavior Change, to Training and Empowerment of vulnerable and voiceless communities. Starting from the big question that arises to the social functions of communication in development processes and projects, the state of the art of Communication for Development will be scrutinized, and future conceptualization and performance trends will be critically discussed. 

Not applicable

1. Communication Theories  1.1. Communicational Praxis and Communication Studies  1.2. Journalism and Mass Communication  2. Development as Concept and Ideology  2.1. Unlimited Economic Growth and Limited Resources Scenarios  2.2. Modern History of Development 2.3. The North-South Conflict and the Cold War Geopolitics  2.4. The mechanics of Underdevelopment 3. Approaches on DevCom  3.1. The communication social functions in development processes  3.2. Journalism for Development  3.3. Social Behaviour Change  3.4. Capacity Building and Empowerment of vulnerable and voiceless communities  4. The state of the art in DevCom  4.1. Research and current practices  4.2. Etnocentrism, cultural supremacy, post-colonialism and power relationships  4.3. The great issues and challenges in DevCom 4.4. Conceptual and field practices perspectives for the Devcom future 

As a theoretical course, the teaching methods are based on exposition sessions on the main themes, encouraging additional reading on the proposed texts. The quality of this participation represents 20% of the final assessment, along with the final paper (20 pages - maximum), which represents (80%).

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