Special Topic: Citizens, Democracy and Public Life Online

Learning Outcomes

Aims:
The aim is to convey knowledge about the implications of new media and the Internet within different subfields of communication and political science. The course provides students with insights into the theoretical points of departure for this development with reference to various empirical studies of the transformation of media and politics online. More specifically the course aims at exploring the complex relationship between new ICTs (information and communication technologies), globalisation, and a multitude of issues ranging from citizen participation to democratic deliberation to minority rights.

There are several central dimensions of politics that have been affected on a global scale by the revolution in ICTs: e.g. political participation, governance, political communication, citizenship, and indeed democracy encompassing the plurality of ethnic, religious, local, national and global identities. These are studied within the framework of postmodern politics as in the greater fragmentation of political, economic and social actors into autonomous networks as part and parcel of the network society. This development involves both democratic challenges and potential with respect to crucial factors of the ‘inclusive society’ such as cultural and social diversity, equal public opportunities and access to informed knowledge. The coverage and analysis of the multiple issues at stake takes a Nordic/New Zealand comparative perspective while simultaneously taking into account the otherness and plural voices communicating across differences within the global span in between.

Learning outcomes:
On completion of the course you should be able to:
a) to demonstrate knowledge and capacity to make effective usage of the academic literature in the fields of politics, communication/journalism and policy studies with a specific insight into online democracy, governance, communication, media and public participation.
b) to demonstrate an ability to comparatively discuss and analyse social and political issues in a clear, concise and rigorous way making effective use of the conventions of scholarly presentation as well as online facilities such as social media.
c) to collaborate constructively with fellow participants in an international setting combining individual skills and group dynamics along with face-to-face and online interaction.
d) to demonstrate a critical awareness of the political implications of global communication and ability to apply theory based knowledge on observed case findings of the relationship between digital communication technologies, democracy and inclusive society.

Prerequisites

For further information see Language, Social and Political Sciences .