Culture & Communication
(Arts & Social Sciences Stream; Design & Architecture Stream)
Culture and Communication aims to explore notions of culture and reveal how concepts, underpinnings and representations of culture contribute to and influence communication. It sheds light on socio-cultural assumptions and misconceptions that cause miscommunication, and assists students to develop contextually appropriate cross-communication skills face-to-face and via a range of media. By engaging with concepts of culture, students will understand the place of culture within a globalized context. They will also appreciate how an individual is situated within specific cultures and at the intersections of cultures.
Culture and Communication encourages students to adopt interdisciplinary perspectives to analyse, interpret and discuss cultural phenomena and associated media representations. The course comprises of three main modules delivered over three terms in the form of lectures and workshops as follows:
- Plus Term: Australian Studies
- Standard Term 1: Intercultural Studies
- Standard Term 2: Media and Communication
In the Plus Australian Studies module, students examine historical and social changes that have shaped the Australian culture. In Standard Term 1, students explore a range of theoretical culture analysis tools including Geert Hofstede’s five dimensions of culture: identity, hierarchy, gender, truth and virtue. In Standard Term 2 students examine how and why the media constructs and reflects reality and how audiences engage with and are shaped by media products. Students analyse the interplay between mass and social media platforms in transforming communication and reshaping key cultural reference and media concepts including audiences, forms and products, storytelling, influence, institutions and industries.
The course has no pre-requisite knowledge but previous study in the humanities, such as history and geography, may be advantage. Culture and Communication requires an ability to read and assimilate information from a range of different sources including images, media, academic articles, film and oral presentations. A willingness to actively engage in discussion and explore cultures from a variety of perspectives will assist student performance in this course.