Communication theory: bridging academia and practice

Required:

• Communication Theory and Research, edited by Denis McQuail, et al., SAGE Publications
• Interpersonal Communication, edited by Charles R. Berger, De Gruyter

Optional:

• Solomon, Denise, and Jennifer Theiss. Interpersonal Communication : Putting Theory into Practice, Routledge
• The Handbook of Media and Mass Communication Theory, edited by Robert S. Fortner, and P. Mark Fackler, John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated
• Communication and Organizational Knowledge : Contemporary Issues for Theory and Practice, edited by Heather E. Canary, and Robert D. McPhee, Routledge

The course will require a basic knowledge of social, natural and technical sciences

Week 1. Introduction

This lecture provides the context of the course, defines the key concepts to operate with and introduces students to the field of Communication Studies. Here we discuss what communication is and set up the place of the theory in communication research and practice. What is the typology of theories and how to distinguish good theory from the bad one. During this class students will also learn major approaches to communication theory through the Craig's typology.

Week 2. Interpersonal communication

Interpersonal communication is an underlying field of communication studies. In this lecture students will learn the main concepts to explain and predict how relationships are built, maintained and followed upon the dissolution in human communication.

Week 3. Group Communication

How group dynamics can be maintained and what are the main approaches to navigate effective group work? This lecture provides you with answers for these questions as well as it highlight the importance of leadership in group communication.

Week 4. Public Rhetoric and Persuasion

The main focus of this lecture is to introduce student to the field of rhetorics. This class focuses at theoretical approaches to persuasion and the ways how to craft messages that influence the audience. Here we discuss approaches to the public speaking and online communication.

Week 5. Mass communication and media effects

In this lecture student will be provided with the brief history of media effects theories and further in-depth explanation of various traditions in media effects. Why some people are being more influenced, how do we select and process the information and what is the role of media in society? All these questions will be addressed in this class along with the case study in the end.

Week 6. Social Media

Social media in general can be considered as a quite new phenomenon. In this lecture we discuss the way how emergence of social media influences the society and the social order, go through the main characteristics of social media and distinguish what makes it popular among the larger audiences.

Week 7. Theories of PR

This lecture introduces students to the field of Public Relations, we discuss the main theories explaining and describing approaches to maintain relationships between organisations and strategic publics.

Week 8. Critical Theory in Communication

This class is devoted to the complex issues of critical theory considering culture, media, and the way norms and beliefs are reproduced in the existing society throughout communication patterns. Critical theory is all about the critique of existing social order and this lecture provides students with an in-depth understanding of how our society is functioning.

Week 9. Theory guided communication

The final lecture revises all the chapters discussed so far and brings some insights on how theory can be applied to practice. Here we also introduce you to some aspects that haven't been covered.

1. Deductively interpret pragmatic events by means of theory and in contract
2. Realize the part of theory in the examination of problems in interaction
3. Accurately apply the communicational speculations to explain the interaction of major professional spheres

• ОПК-2 – Able to take into account trends in the development of public and state institutions to cover them comprehensively in the media texts and/or media products and/or communication products being created.
• ОПК-4 – Able to respond to the demands and needs of society and audiences in professional activities.
• УК-3 – Capable of social interaction and realizing his/her role in a team.
• УК-4 – Able to carry out business communication orally and in writing in the state language of the Russian Federation and foreign language(s).