Communication

This course examines how to manage the complexities of contemporary organizational communication. It focuses primarily on internal organizational communication and examines communication processes at various levels: interpersonal (dyadic), group and organization.

This course explores users as humans who are changing/expanding in the AI era, exploring the limitations of recent AI services, and then designing user-centered AI services. Students learn methods to understand users, and then define user interfaces and their interaction. Prototyping techniques and evaluation methods are also provided. Service design is carried out at the level of expressing ideas, not at the level of actual driving. 

In particular, this class is conducted with a focus on practice rather than lecture-style delivery, and coaching for each process customized for each team is carried out through close interviews and discussions. In addition, the course benchmarks related services in depth from the perspective of actual business to identify limitations and opportunity points and carry out a process to turn them into deliverable results. There are no special technical/technical prerequisites required for this course, however, students must be proactive and enthusiastic about participating. 

This course highlights the complexity of the interactions between information and communication technologies and the economic and social sphere, outlining some dynamics between digital technologies, different economic/business models and emerging sustainability needs. Students are invited to critically read, evaluate, and discuss events at the intersection of society, economy, and technology besides simplifications and techno-solutionism, developing an analytic competence. Topics include: systems and complexity; sustainability; shared resources management and regulation; technological neutrality; attitudes towards technology; surveillance capitalism in the communication ecosystem; privacy and democracy.

This course is designed for students who want to extend their knowledge of the range and diversity of English spoken in the world today. Students analyze and produce spoken language in different settings and genres by taking part in structured activities that examine the importance of audience, purpose and various communicative strategies. The examination of both global and local linguistic phenomena provides a context for participants to discuss diverse socio-cultural values and practices with others. Students have the opportunity to participate in practical workshops in which they are involved in activities such as discussions, role-plays and presentations. Assessment tasks include the research, recording and production of a collaborative video report and the live presentation of the research project in a seminar context. These tasks enable students to develop skills that support their ability to network effectively by enhancing their communication and interpersonal skills through designing and presenting group-generated project work in different media. There is also scope for community engagement and the integration of both local and international perspectives in the design and execution of the students' project work. 

This course is part of the laurea magistrale degree program and is intended for advanced level students. Enrollment is by permission of the instructor. Students develop a critical approach to the diffusion and use of digital technologies. They are expected to acquire a preliminary knowledge of the historical context of these innovations to strengthen their understanding of the challenges posed by digitization. Students consider art as a field in which these technologies are both applied and criticized. By the end of the course, students are able to evaluate the variegated cultural and political imaginaries that are contributing to shaping digital innovations.

The course is articulated into the three parts. First, the course frames a political genealogy of the digital technologies, highlighting the philosophical issues they pose. For this reason, a brief history from the birth of internet to the success of platform capitalism and the expectations on artificial intelligence are presented. Then, the discussion focuses on some of the main cultural paradigms about technological innovations (Californian Ideology, Transhumanism, Accelerationism, etc.) to analyze the way they frame the relationship between the "digital" and the “human”. The last part is more collaborative and interactive with guest experts facilitating a workshop on art curatorship and digital technologies, and students presenting their response papers to course topics.

The course examines how meaning is socially constructed through media. Semiotic analysis reveals the meanings of various signs which may be overlooked in everyday life and to open up the possibility of different interpretation.
 

As an introductory and interdisciplinary course to the study of media and culture, classes will incorporate academic approaches from both the social sciences as well as the arts and humanities. The primary goal of the course is to broaden perspectives to become effective citizens who can critically engage various issues pertaining to contemporary media and culture. 

Debating skills are a key component of academic life. This means that you should be able to defend your own position and refute opposing positions by providing substantial arguments based on relevant academic sources. In this project, participants prepare, present, and defend with peers a position for an academic debate on a specific topic. The available topics emerge out of a wide range of UCM courses from different concentrations. Students can submit their preferences for topics beforehand but should be prepared to commit to any topic to which they are assigned. At the start of the project, each group discusses their topic and settle on a concrete proposition for their final debate. After that, groups split into a PRO (“yes”) and a CON (“no”) side. The two sides prepare separately for the final debate. A crucial part of the preparation for their final debate is writing a collective position paper based on self-study of academic sources. The purpose of this position paper is to be informed about the topic of the debate, by developing arguments, anticipating counterarguments, and coming up with rebuttals to these counterarguments.

This course introduces contemporary media and popular culture in South Korea along with relevant issues. A primary emphasis will be placed on the ways in which the media express and mediate Korean popular culture. Students learn theoretical concepts and ideas that enable them to understand Korean media and “read” Korean popular culture from academic perspectives. The topics include ownership, diversity, economics, policy, globalization, multiculturalism, Korean Wave, K-pop, film, journalism, broadcasting, among others. Students undertake group research projects and discuss their work in class. 

This course covers the interplay between communication technology and modern culture. The course analyzes, both theoretically and historically, the influence of diverse digital technologies on urban environments, popular culture, and the formation of cultural identities. The course examines the culture of mega-event phenomena with particular reference to the spectacle of modernity. Major events such as international expositions, the Olympics, and the football World Cup have significantly influenced the economic, political, and cultural dimensions of modernity. Students will discuss the impact of mega-events on the development and evolution of national, regional, and global identities, the role of digital technologies in promoting the globalization of modernity, and the influence of mega-events on urban space. Alongside an exploration of mega-event experiences in Europe and East Asia, the course also focuses on the historical context of mega-events in South Korea. In doing so, this course enhances students’ critical analytical skills regarding the political economics of media culture.