Maricopa Community Colleges  ASB254   20066-99999 

Official Course Description: MCCCD Approval: 03/28/06

ASB254  20066-99999

LEC

3 Credit(s)

3 Period(s)

Culture and Mass Communication

Investigation of mass communication as one of the greatest forces in the transmission and transformation of culture. Exploration of the effects of a variety of mass communication technologies - visual images, printed matter, and electronic media - on human behavior, attitudes, and value systems. The ways in which different culture contexts direct and shape innovations in communication technologies is also pursued. Prerequisites: None.

 

Go to Competencies   Go to Outline
 

MCCCD Official Course Competencies:

 

 

ASB254  20066-99999

Culture and Mass Communication

 

1.

Analyze the impact of communication technology on other arenas of cultural activity. (I-III)

2.

Apply an anthropological approach to address present-day problems related to mass communication technologies. (I, III)

3.

Review the social history of the technologies of communication and transportation. (II)

4.

Identify the sources of, and motives for, innovations in communications technologies. (II)

5.

Define the elements of diffusion-of-innovation theory and assess their predictive potential. (II)

6.

Compare responses to new communication technologies in different cultural contexts. (II, III)

7.

Integrate an anthropological approach with the methods and theories of other disciplines (technical and social) concerned with mass communication. (II-IV)

8.

Describe the fundamentals of emergence theory and the implications of emergent processes for the development of communications technologies. (III)

9.

Critically evaluate the consequences of adoption decision with respect to information technologies. (IV)

10.

Formulate ways to articulate and address the ethical dimension of mass communication technologies. (IV)

 

 

Go to Description   Go to top of Competencies
 

MCCCD Official Course Outline:

 

 

ASB254  20066-99999

Culture and Mass Communication

 

 

I. Culture and Communication

A. Culture as a mechanism for ensuring continuity through communication

B. Culture as a mechanism for change through communication

II. Communication and Technology in a Cross-Cultural Context

A. History of communications technologies

1. Review

2. Impacts on cultural behavior

3. Image as communication: art and architecture

4. The printed word

5. Mass transportation: communication through mobility

6. Electronic/digital technologies: communication without mobility

B. Which Technologies: When, Where and Why?

1. Technology as a product of culture

a. The nature of inventors

b. The nature of inventions

2. Diffusion-of-innovation theory

III. Culture as a Product of Technology

A. Uncertainties of technological goals

1. Intended goals of communication technologies

2. Unintended consequences of communication technologies

B. Self-organizing systems: The concept of emergence

C. Merging of public and private spheres of action

1. Cultural identity, interaction and space

2. How communication technologies redefine space

3. Redefining culture on the basis of virtual space

IV. Globalization and Mass Communications

A. Diversity in danger or danger in diversity

B. Issues of control

1. Access: no more secrets?

2. Content: no more limits?

3. Responsibility: are ethics applicable?

 

Go to Description    Go to top of Competencies    Go to top of Outline