Communication

This course offers an introduction to creativity and innovation. Topics include: what is and what is not creativity; the creative personality; lateral thinking; creative skills; key principles of creativity; methods and tools for the application of creative thinking; the process of problem-solving-- models, phases, tools, and application; monitoring and control of decisions; group decision making-- consensus.

This course examines the history and current state of the film and television industry. It focuses on and how information is produced, distributed, and consumed on a global level. Topics of study include: cinema and film as a cultural industry; cultural exception and national media policy; regulation and deregulation of the television industry; public service and financing in the European television realm; the Hollywood hegemony in film and television; the Big 5 networks; HBO and pay TV networks; the digital revolution and piracy; and the advent of IPTV. 

How are words used to change people’s minds? What makes us pay attention to someone’s words, sung, spoken, or written? Does the spoken (or sung) word have more impact than the written one? What makes someone click on the headline of an online publication? Is an image more powerful with or without a linguistic frame? Can language be more persuasive than an image? Is persuasion, like humor, culture-specific? These are questions that will be explored in this course about how rhetoric, the art of verbal persuasion, operates in contemporary society. 
 

The course aims to: 

(1) To develop an awareness of how language is used to persuade and manipulate by looking at rhetoric, the art of verbal persuasion, and recognizing how a range of rhetorical devices, including repetition and metaphor, are employed in popular songs, and memorable advertisements, headlines and tweets, political speeches, and film titles; and 

(2) To practice the use of rhetorical devices in making language more persuasive.

This course covers the principles for developing intellectual, emotional, and social skills to achieve their goals and live a meaningful life. It analyzes different self-development philosophies and provides opportunities for self-reflection. The course helps students identify their personal and professional goals and provides tools to achieve those goals. It also focuses on improving public speaking skills.

This course explores past and present wars of the United States, especially the relationship of the news media to those wars. Through the illustrated textbook "Addicted to War" and documentary films, the course takes a critical view of how the US has become a military superpower and why it cannot "kick" its war addiction today.　

This course delves into the sometimes-troubled history and present reality of the Japanese free press. It questions the heart of journalism but also seeks to define the notions of "public good" and the health of democratic systems. For example: Is state control of the news media ever justified? Using historical and present-day case studies, students will examine what press freedom means in practice, and the different ways it can be restricted.

Scholarly inquiry into entertainment media is a bit of an outlier within media and communication studies in general and even media economics. Media’s supposed to provide information for citizens to make informed decisions, thus making substantial contributions to the functioning of democratic societies – a task too delicate to focus on distraction and amusement. (Almost) in contrast, demand for entertaining content is traditionally higher than for mere information. This applies to audiences and their willingness-to-pay, as well as consumer good suppliers and the advertising industry. Promoting various products and services is more effective in entertainment environments. Thus, scholarly inquiry into production, distribution and consumption of entertainment media is necessary. In the first part of the course, theoretic foundations are laid, discussing economic theories and the media business model, critical approaches to (entertainment) media and strategic media management. Information and entertainment as (in)congruent concepts are defined. The second part of the course sees us focusing on particular entertainment media markets from streaming video to music and social media.

This introductory course discusses how to identify types of arguments, how to evaluate them, and how to avoid fallacies and mistaken beliefs. It approaches critical argumentation as a practical skill that is learned through examples of real arguments. The methods presented are based on techniques developed in argumentation theory and informal logic, as well as the most updated discoveries on cognition and argumentation. Coursework includes public debate on a selected topic.

One of the greatest challenges for today’s global managers involved in transnational Post-Merger Integrations (PMI), is to be able to build and manage a highly effective team. Since today’s teams cross cultural boundaries, this involves building competencies that simultaneously ensure success across numerous cultural environments and enable accelerated performance through collaborative skills. The new breed of global managers must be prepared to work in a new team environment. Critical to forming and managing effective teams is an understanding and mastery of cross-cultural competence.
This interactive course builds individual and team competencies required for working, managing, and leading across cultures and geographies in the context of transnational Post-Merger Integrations. This course is aimed at demonstrating the impact of culture on communication, building relationships, business culture, and management styles, providing participants with the necessary knowledge, mindset, and skills for more effective multicultural teamwork.

This course discusses the concept of quality journalism and its contribution to democratic society. It analyzes the course of journalism through its various genres, interviews, chronicles, and reports. It offers a study of the works of Gay Talese, Truman Capote, Oriana Fallaci, John Hersey, etc. as examples of different types of journalism. Finally, this course explores the new digital narratives evolution.