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COMS101 explores the relationship between society and media - including social media, print, broadcasting, and all kinds of online spaces. It asks how our understandings of the world and people around us are mediated, how media have shaped society, and how society is reflected and produced through media. We will explore topics like media audiences, technologies, ownership and work; the frames of representation, power, and identity; and analytical tools like semiotics, discourse, and narrative. COMS101 is a stage one course that does not require any prior media study, but it builds on everything you have ever watched, listened to, interacted with, and produced. This course has on-campus and distance options. It includes weekly written exercises and requires active in-class engagement on campus, or in the distance stream to develop core university skills and learn effectively from the teaching staff and from each other.
Knowledge: you should be able to:Understand the value of media literacyUnderstand the broad media environment of Aotearoa New ZealandRecognise the role of media in producing and circulating ideas about society, identity, and cultureIdentify processes in the construction of media textsSkills: you should be able to:Research media issues using books, journals, and online sourcesAnalyse a media text using a range of toolsWrite a well-structured academic essay confidently and with clarityCommunicate using different media formsDiscuss the ideas, processes, and technologies shaping the mediaInterpret media content in terms of production processes, audiences, and technologiesAttributes: you should feel more confident about:Researching and writing an academic essayExpressing yourself verbally, visually, and in writingReflecting on your own experience as a media audience member and producerTalking with your peers and lecturersYour own abilities and aptitudes in university studyWhat you need more help with, and where to find it.
This course will provide students with an opportunity to develop the Graduate Attributes specified below:
Critically competent in a core academic discipline of their award
Students know and can critically evaluate and, where applicable, apply this knowledge to topics/issues within their majoring subject.
Students must attend one activity from each section.
Zita Joyce
Domestic fee $894.00
International fee $4,100.00
* All fees are inclusive of NZ GST or any equivalent overseas tax, and do not include any programme level discount or additional course-related expenses.
For further information see Language, Social and Political Sciences .