Communication

The aim of this course is to inspire students about the possibilities of entrepreneurship. The Italian context will prepare students for the creative chaos of the entrepreneurial world.  There is no better international context for exploring this phenomenon.  From the Medici, who made a fortune and lost it again within a century, to Ferrari, the consummate entrepreneur; from Armani, Ferragamo and Gucci to Luxottica and Del Vecchio’s sunglasses empire, we investigate the essence of Italian entrepreneurship.  In addition, we scrutinize great examples of family businesses, in which each new generation exhibits entrepreneurship (FIAT, Ferrero etc.) as well as instances of entrepreneurships where it all went wrong (e.g. Parmalat). The world of entrepreneurship is evaluated from the perspectives of management, finance, and marketing as well as sociology in order to understand these enterprises.  The course is delivered using a large array of texts and academic sources that the students assess in real life case studies. We visit a wide range of entrepreneurial contexts and have the opportunity to interview at first hand a number of entrepreneurs and those that support entrepreneurship.  Students also critically evaluate major issues such as globalization, sustainability, and ethics, which affect entrepreneurship today. Each class is based on a set of readings, and it is crucial that students keep up with the readings and be prepared to discuss them in class. Some lectures directly engage our readings while others provide contextualizing historical and theoretical information. Lectures and class discussions are supplemented by visits in which we explore the structure, philosophy, values, and methodology of Italian entrepreneurs. Emphasis is placed on taking the theoretical approach and applying it directly to the Italian context. This course is designed for undergraduate students of business, communication, international studies, management, economics as well as students with an interest in entrepreneurship.  

This course examines major issues related to new topics in Spanish media. It is divided into two parts. Part one focuses on the representation of Spain through both traditional and new media. The second part explores how fiction, whether on television, cinema, or social media, is capable of describing in detail the reality of Spain.

This course examines the development, management and control of marketing communications, both locally and internationally. Topics include advertising, sales promotion, public relations, and other elements of the communications mix. Particular emphasis is placed on the importance of integrating promotional efforts, and on the marketing manager's role in planning, implementing and evaluating marketing communications. Students develop an understanding of the operational and creative elements involved in developing promotional campaigns and the strategies used to communicate with target audiences as well as the underlying principles behind these approaches. Students engage with alternative persuasion techniques and potential problems with their adoption, and the proper selection, interpretation, and use of alternative measures of promotional effectiveness. On completion of the subject, students have developed a strong practical and critical grasp of the different forms and strategies employed in marketing communications.

This course introduces the key concepts, issues, challenges and trends essential to understand the cross-border multidirectional flows of information. More specifically, this course provides an overview of the changing paradigm of global communication by studying the interrelation between cultural, economic, political, social, and technical dimensions of media and communication in the contemporary world, as well examining the changing nature of power and the process of power diffusion in the information age. This is a three-part interdisciplinary course, which covers the essential theories and concepts ranging from media and communication studies, political science, international relations, economics and psychology. The first part, Week 2 and 3, introduces key concepts related to the study of global communication, including media economics, world-systems theory, electronic colonialism, soft power, constructivism, and cultural change. The second part, Week 4 to 8, studies major global communication actors – multinational media conglomerates (MMCs), social media platforms, news agencies, advertisers and marketers. It applies the tools from Part 1 to study how each of them as a system (structure and flow) works, as well as some of the contemporary debates in each sector. The third part, Week 9 to 13, looks at major issues of global communication in the digital age, such as misinformation and artificial intelligence, identity politics and polarization, inequality and global conflicts.

Problem-Based Learning (PBL) is a unique feature of the education provided at Maastricht. This educational system focuses on guiding students to become independent and enterprising problem-solvers. To achieve this goal, teaching must extend beyond the traditional individual studying and attending lectures. Students work in small groups on concrete problems from the field. As a team, they analyze problems, attempt to understand the underlying theories, and learn to apply knowledge to recognizable, realistic situations. To perform well in this educational system, it is vital for students to have knowledge of the background and central elements of this system. During this course, students learn and practice the skills needed to be successful in tutorial group meetings. First-year students familiarize themselves with Problem-Based Learning and communication skills essential for learning in groups. One session will be completely devoted to teambuilding.

Corresponding practicals for Skills I are: Introduction UM Systems and Library Introduction.

Focusing on recent developments in computational communication science (CCS), this class primarily emphasizes the interplay of “communication science perspectives” and “computational approaches” of statistical/analytic techniques. The course examines the concepts and approaches behind computational social science techniques and their relevance to communication research, it covers various elements of computational communication science (CCS) research methodology, and critically evaluates and synthesizes interdisciplinary CCS research.

Prerequisites: A basic understanding of R statistical language and social science statistics