Communication

This course explores the creative and industrial process in developing a script for a television fiction. It discusses the different tools available for a television writer. Topics include: concept development; characters and the characterization process; development of plot lines; dialogues; the pitch.

This course evaluates social media use and investigates which strategies can be employed to influence communication and the ethical questions they raise. Students investigate the power of words, images, and stories. The course considers the impact of attention in social media and the role of influencers. The course discusses how language technology can help in automatically analyzing communication and get a better insight into people’s behavior and user groups. Techniques such as sentiment analysis, trend analysis, media analytics, and visualization of communication are discussed. The course focuses on how social media can be employed in our society, such as in small and large companies, in non-profit organizations, and within the government. Students learn to critically analyze existing social media strategies and to develop innovative communication strategies in one of these settings. Students also discuss the value of social media data in current algorithmic society and how data is employed to shape social behavior, generate economic value, impact political choices, and consider the privacy and ethical questions they raise.

The course introduces digital media and its theory, history, aesthetics, function, and impact on society. After an introduction to different theoretical perspectives on media (e.g. medium theory and medialization theory), the course turns to topics such as media archaeology and -materiality, digital publics and political communication, media use and participatory culture, misinformation and surveillance. It analyzes social media (e.g. Facebook and Twitter), digital visual media (e.g. photography), and other forms of digital media.

The course focuses on the consequences of media in armed conflicts and the importance of armed conflict for the media, in both historical and contemporary perspectives. The course provides tools to analyze and understand different cultural, social, and technical aspects of the relationship between the media and armed conflicts.

This course is suitable for professionals and activists working in journalism or media-related fields as well as students from all backgrounds. It is a unique opportunity to benefit from the LSE’s outstanding research into modern journalism combined with talks by pioneering media professionals. Daily lectures and guest talks give students insights into contemporary cutting edge news media. Seminars encourage students to think and act like journalists facing all the dramatic ethical and technological challenges of reporting the complex and dangerous world we live in. Participants in this course emerge with a better understanding of the shifts taking place in the practices, forms, and processes within the news media and their consequences for the role of journalism in contemporary society.

This course familiarizes students with an intellectual history of feminist approaches to media studies, while dealing with a range of theories and methods for the study of popular/media culture. Discussions revolve around gendered representation; audience analysis; post-feminism; media production and gender, and the implications of globalization and technological development for the construction of gender(s). The course also traces the key changes in feminist theory, which are closely associated with the major changes in broader philosophical and sociological thinking. 

This class explores advertising as an evolving category of social communication within a convergent media landscape. It takes a strategic managerial perspective to generate insight into the development of advertising and the roles and processes so entailed. Students consider the consumer perspective in the light of advertising's role as a vehicle for cultural meaning. They also look at media consumption issues given the rapid growth in expenditure on digital (especially mobile) advertising communication. The course takes a multidisciplinary approach drawing on sociocultural, psychological, and anthropological perspectives.

In this Skills course, students work to develop and improve their presentation and feedback capabilities. Students give four presentations, the first on an assigned topic, and the remaining three on self-selected academic topics. The course discusses topics including delivery, content, structure, visual aids, audience, and feedback. Students explore the importance of giving, receiving, and using constructive feedback in order to improve their presentation proficiencies. Students must have background knowledge of PowerPoint, Prezi, or other types of slideware as a prerequisite for this course.