COMS232-23S2 (C) Semester Two 2023

Risk and Crisis Communication

15 points

Details:
Start Date: Monday, 17 July 2023
End Date: Sunday, 12 November 2023
Withdrawal Dates
Last Day to withdraw from this course:
  • Without financial penalty (full fee refund): Sunday, 30 July 2023
  • Without academic penalty (including no fee refund): Sunday, 1 October 2023

Description

This applied course introduces students to a major area of the planning of communication, the management of risk. Theories of risk, crisis and the risk society are described, before the course focuses in detail on the practice of risk communication, including communication planning, crafting messages and involving communities in collective risk decision-making. Risks explored range from individuals' health and safety, disasters, reputational crises and pervasive risks such as climate change. This course has on-campus and distance options. You will learn from professional guests, and from each other, to develop skills in evaluating and planning crisis response.

Learning Outcomes

Knowledge
1. Understand social and cultural factors shaping risk as a phenomenon.
2. Know key ideas on how people make everyday risk judgements.
3. Know the fundamentals of good practice in risk and crisis communication.
4. Understand how organisations seek to manage risks and crises through communication.

Skills
1. Be able to identify risk situations for society and organisations.
2. Be able to tailor messages for different audiences in a range of risk situations.
3. Be able to design a communication plan for both crisis and risk events.
4. Be able to plan to mitigate risks through communication planning and response.
5. Be able to identify major risks to reputation and trust.

Attributes
1. Show good judgement in professional communication.
2. Be a reflective and ethical communicator.
3. Have analytical, problem-solving and critical-thinking skills.
4. Be competent in working across contexts and cultures.

University Graduate Attributes

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.

Prerequisites

Any 15 points at 100 level from COMS, or
either ENVR101 or GEOG106, or
any 60 points at 100 level from the Schedule V of the BA.

Course Coordinator

Rachel Williamson

Assessment

Assessment Due Date Percentage 
Ethics Exercise 10%
Essay on Risk Communication Theory 30%
Essay on Risk Communication Practice 30%
Crisis Communication Planning Task 30%

Indicative Fees

Domestic fee $821.00

International fee $3,750.00

* 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 .

All COMS232 Occurrences

  • COMS232-23S2 (C) Semester Two 2023
  • COMS232-23S2 (D) Semester Two 2023 (Distance)
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