Advertising and Cultural Consumption

Advertising has become a central component of our contemporary cultural environment that finances all of the communication industries. However, the effects of advertising may lie far outside only the funding of media systems. This course explores the relationship between advertising, consumerism, identity, the environment and citizenship. You will learn be deconstructing the system, analysing advertisements, examining the effects of advertising on identity, and looking into the rise of ethical brands and sustainability. Then will study advertising from an insider perspective, finding out how advertising agencies work and ads are created. This course has on-campus and distance options. It includes group work and requires active engagement in class, or online for distance students, to create and share work with others, in order to learn from and support each other.

15 points

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

Communicating with Data and Digital Media

This course explores how to write clearly about numbers, data and descriptive statistics, how text is turned into data and what such ‘datafication’ implies for communication practices. The first part of the course covers writing techniques, introductory data visualisation, presentation approaches for different audiences, and issues of interpretation and bias. The second part of the course focuses on textual data more closely, introducing common methods for analysing and extracting information from texts, then turns to a critical examination of social and ethical issues that arise through data collection and analysis.

15 points

Any 60 points at 100-level.

WRIT204

Social Media

This course contains practical work in the community and groupwork. The course prepares students to do public communication in a rapidly changing media environment. The first half of the course explores how a range of social media platforms work and how professional communicators are attempting to use it. Topics include networks, online community, social media analytics and social media campaigns. In the second half of the course students apply these ideas in small-group projects for a community organisation or company. This course is available only to students enrolled in the Bachelor of Communication.

15 points

15 points COMS or 60 points BC Schedule V. Subject to approval by the Head of Department.

COMS222 (2008-2012), DIGI207

Innovation through Design Thinking

Design Thinking is a people-centric, collaborative, optimistic, and experimental way of working to drive innovation. The course focuses on a form of design thinking, called the DUCTRI process, as a pragmatic approach to nurture deep curiosity about business/organisational/societal issues, unleash creativity, and ensure clarity when it comes to implementing innovative solutions or solving problems. The course introduces new tools and techniques and demonstrates how to apply them to practical situations. The course will help students to collaborate in more creative ways and aims to equip students with critical thinking, teamwork, problem-solving, and communication to be competitive in a dynamic global marketplace.

15 points

Any 60 points.

INOV200

Startup Entrepreneurship

This is a six week Block Course run in Term 3, and is designed for those interested in the theory and practice which underpins turning an innovative product or service into a business venture. The main focus of this course is developing students understanding of how entrepreneurs engage in the new venture creation process. The course lectures explore issues such as: the nature of entrepreneurship, the processes and practices behind business startups, and the theories underpinning small business development and growth. Workshops will give students the opportunity to work in teams on a new venture idea. Please note, workshop participation in this course is mandatory.

15 points

Any 60 points

INOV201