Theories of Mediated Communication

Catalog description

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours. COURSE OVERVIEW. Explores theoretical approaches to understanding how media shapes and is shaped by communication, perception, multiple axes of social identity and/or social behavior. Surveys models of media processes and effects, including cognitive, behavioral and sociocultural perspectives. Examines how media theory explains influence, interpretation and interaction across traditional and digital platforms. Emphasizes how theories function within social-scientific research and guide analysis of mediated experience. Discussion may include contemporary issues and/or case studies involving controversial or sensitive topics, addressed for purposes of theoretical and empirical understanding. RELEVANCE AND APPLICATION. Applies to careers in media research, strategic communication, journalism, digital analytics and audience engagement. Builds knowledge of how theoretical frameworks support evidence-based reasoning, message design and interpretation, and media strategy. Contributes to professional and academic preparation in fields that rely on understanding media processes, including marketing, public relations, public policy, journalism and communication science. Supports civic literacy by exploring how mediated communication might influence opinion, participation and information exchange. DEEPENING UNDERSTANDINGS. Clarifies how media theory connects abstract ideas with empirical study, distinguishing theoretical explanation from personal impression or political interpretation. Highlights how systematic approaches reveal the mechanisms and conditions under which media affect individuals and society. Encourages appreciation of theory as a tool for interpreting complexity, rather than prescribing belief or ideology. TOPICS AND THEMES. May include study of major traditions and frameworks explaining how media shape perception, thought, multiple axes of social identity and social experience; examination of theories of media effects, audience behavior and communication influence; exploration of how theory functions in research, guiding explanation, prediction and interpretation across print, broadcast, digital and networked media. Course material may address real-world examples and controversies involving technology, news, politics or entertainment, as relevant to understanding how communication theories explain mediated processes and effects. Prerequisite: Junior or senior classification or approval of instructor.