Description of Core Subjects

A6301 Communication, Technology & Society
This subject, which combines a survey of classic studies with discussion of current issues and areas of debate, examines communication, especially mass communication, within its social context. It introduces students to a broad range of issues concerning the role, effects and limitations of communication in modern society, including communication as a process within society, the content and effects of mass media, the media and public issues, media and information controls, the impact of new communication technologies, and communication for national development.

A6302 Applied Communication Research
This subject focuses on how to apply the results of research to the evaluation and enhancement of media operations and output, communication planning, and mobilisation of communication resources at the corporate and national levels. It covers research concepts such as sampling, significance, validity and reliability, and types of research relevant to media industries including content analysis, survey and designs for campaign evaluation. The aim is to enhance students' understanding of research findings, ability to read research reports critically and to translate findings into more effective media management and production.

A6303 Media Law, Ethics & Policy
The subject aims to familiarise students with the broad scope of regulations covering various aspects of the media. The course will cover international laws, conventions and treaties and Singapore law relating to the media. The course will also cover intellectual property law, defamation and censorship. The rest of the course will be devoted to ethics and policy. Students will be taught problem-solving skills for ethical issues. Current policy issues and the policy-making process wraps up the course. At the end of the course, students should have a better appreciation of the legal and ethical constraints in making management decisions.


Description of Prescribed Electives

A6310 Critical Inquiry for Communication Professionals (compulsory subject for ProT students)
This subject is aimed at providing an opportunity for students to carry out a study, in the form of a project, on a selected topic in the area of mass communication. The student will choose this topic in consultation with the course instructor. This subject will be based on 100% continuous assessment (no final exam) and comprises two components:
(i) Basic understanding of some commonly used statistical methods
(ii) Data collection, data analysis and research report writing. This will be hands-on practice.

A6311 Advanced Communication Research (compulsory subject for AcaT students)
This subject examines the concepts and procedures applied to audience research, such as survey and focus group methods. Students will also be trained on sampling, questionnaire construction, data collection, and data analysis through review of existing studies, as well as exercises and hands-on projects. Students will be introduced to relevant advanced statistical techniques and are expected to apply and extend their skills in individual and group research projects.


Description of General Electives

A6321 Media Management
The first part of the subject focuses on the structure and process of media organisations. It looks at the components of production, finance, programming, promotion and distribution, and human resources. The second part turns to issues concerning media as business, including multicultural management, fragmentation of the media, competition, and regionalisation.

A6322 Media & Marketing
The objective of this subject is to introduce measurement/ reporting methods for mass media audiences, to learn to apply tools for strategic marketing/media planning and to increase awareness about the conduct of business in global marketing environments. Through a series of case studies, students are exposed to marketing and communications executives who conduct business regionally and across regions, and who represent many fields related to marketing communication, e.g. executives from multi-national and regional companies, broadcast media, production companies, print media, advertising firms and public relations firms.

A6323 Comparative Global Media System
Comparative analysis of media systems of selected countries with international distribution; Policy analysis of media operations at international and local levels. Globalization as a technological, economic, and cultural phenomenon, and implications for media system planning.

A6324 Information Technology: Impact & Planning
Telecommunication processes, structures and networks in the emerging Information Society. Systematic study from a social science perspective of current and emerging communication and information technologies such as Internet. Attention to user needs and impact, tele-services design, and intelligent network system and development; including urban planning, health, services and distance education.

A6325 Public Communication Issues & Strategies
This subject focuses on government and corporate communications aimed at mass and specialized audiences. It examines issues relating to communication of government policies, corporate concerns and corporate image. Several communication models are used to analyse different strategies and tactics employed in public communication. The subject also explores possibilities of devising new communication paradigms using new technologies.

A6326 Campaign Design, Implementation & Evaluation
Public campaigns aimed at changing attitudes and behaviour or creating awareness are the focus of this subject. It examines the different stages of designing and implementing campaigns. It also introduces students to different evaluation methodologies and to research approaches to campaign development. Case studies of government and corporate campaigns are used to analyse the theory and practice of public campaigns.

A6327 Economics of the Media
This subject covers both micro and macroeconomic models, looking at economic forces that affect the media such as scarcity, competition, barriers to entry, fiscal policies, monetary policies, and issues pertaining to productivity, recession, inflation and protectionism. Also covered are structures and issues specific to the media such as concentration of ownership, privatisation, monopoly and state enterprises. The big players are studied in term of global monopolies and the economic forces underlying their strategic decisions. Special attention is paid to Asia and developing countries.

A6328 Critical Perspectives in Communication Studies
Critical and cultural approaches to media and culture in their social, economic, and political arenas. Topics include semiotics, discourse and narrative analysis, ideology and media, and related issues in critical and cultural analysis. Also covered are a range of issues in international and intercultural communication including communication and development, the new world information order, cultural imperialism, and globalisation. Specific examples focus on the interrelation between national and cultural agenda worldwide and in Singapore and the region.

A6329 Regional Communication Issues
This subject emphasizes on the influence of the mass media on Asian societies. The historical, political, social and cultural dimensions in the development of mass communications in Asia, involving the structure and function of the media, will be main areas of focus. Some major topics of interest include ethics, legal limitations, freedom, copyright, censorship and cultural values.

A6330 Public Opinion & Persuasion
This subject focuses on psychological and social-psychological study of opinion and attitude change through media and public campaigns. Experimental and survey designs for measuring and monitoring public opinion, and classic case studies are reviewed. Applications to elections, marketing, and development campaigns are considered at the individual, group and societal levels.

A6331 Message Design & Production
This is a study of the writing styles and formats used in the mass media. In addition to examining critical and analytical skills in the print and electronic media, the emphasis will be on process: how to analyse each task, how to apply the principles discussed and why and how to visualise messages and stories. Students will be given the opportunity to write and produce short messages with a strong visual component.

A6332 Multi-Media Systems
This is a subject on conceptualising and planning multi-media and interactive environments for the communication industry. Combining visuals with audio and text for message presentation, distribution and interaction within various current and emerging media distribution channels. Computer based multi-media authoring tools and design of multi-media services in electronic network environments.

A6334 Seminar in Research
Focuses on the procedural issues in research methodology and design. Topics include content analysis, case studies, focus group interview, survey, and an introduction to experimental research.

A6335 Special Topic in Mass Communication II
In-depth coverage of specific areas of communication theory research & practices, including communication policy & planning and media regulation & policy development.

A6337 Strategic Advertising Management
Practical concerns and scope of advertising management and relevant
theoretical perspectives and principles. Some of the topics include media
planning, decision-making, message strategy, branding, creative approaches,
account-servicing, and agency-client relationships.

A6338 Communication Management & Leadership
Seminar covers issues such as effective leadership, value-added management
performance, managerial creativity, innovation, organizational knowledge
creation and usage, as well as corporate productivity of info-communication
and media organizations.

A6339 Strategic Public Relations Management
World views that drive various communication and public relations
management strategies, audience segmentation strategies and techniques,
different models of public relations available to corporate public relations
managers. Value-creative means of building and strengthening cogent
relationships with various external entities.

A6901 Special Topic: International Public Relations
This course seeks to provide you with some insights on the generic principles that one can use to understand public relations practice in different nations. We shall also explore various environmental factors that affect public relations practice in different nations. The course also seeks to encourage critical thinking that will promote pedagogical discussions to advance scholarship in this area. Note that this course is not a "hands-on" course designed to teach you specific public relations techniques that you can use when you find the need to practice public relations in a given country. On the contrary, it seeks to introduce you to factors in an organization's environment in different countries that affect public relations activities there. The idea is that such knowledge should help you in conducting public relations in specific countries.

A6902 Special Topic: Organisation Communication And Conflict Management
An in-depth coverage of specific areas of communication theory research & practices, including organisational communication and conflict management. Overarching theories of how humans interact within the organisation will be discussed and students will be asked to use these theories to analyze organisations and the conflicts that take place within them. We will also focus on developing practical skills to enhance students' ability to effectively communicate and resolve conflicts within the organisational context.

A6903 Special Topic: Media & Conflict
This course focuses on challenges related to media coverage of new emergencies-ethno-religious conflicts and terrorism. The focus would be on both international and local media. While internal media intensifies the process of elaborating and allocating characteristics to groups of people defined as enemy in multi-ethnic populations, international media broadcast stories of war and social fragmentation from faraway places to attract audiences to sell to audiences. The latter typically reacts in two ways: either it oversimplifies a conflict or succumbs to exaggeration. We would also look Islamic militancy, among other issues. The course has a significant history component as well. Understanding the structure and role of media in volatile places such as South Asia, Middle East, former Yugoslavia and elsewhere is vital to the understanding of the link between media and conflict. This course will enable students to acquire a deeper understanding of the dynamics of conflict and how media complicates or eases the situation.