1
COMMUNICATION IN A GLOBALIZED WORLD
Instructor: Olga Baysha, Ph.D.
SPRING 2014
Email: olga.baysha@colorado.edu
Course Description
Globalization refers to all the processes by which the citizens of different nation-states are
incorporated into a single global society. Since these processes are multiple and non-linear, there
are as many conceptualizations of globalization as there are academic disciplines. There is a
widely shared understanding, however, that media and communication technologies are central
to all global transformations. It is communication technologies that establish global networks,
producing complex configurations of “the local” and “the global,” “the traditional” and “the
modern,” or “the social” and “the natural.”
The aim of this course is to present globalization as a synthesis of several disciplinary
approaches with an emphasis on media and communication. The course is divided into two parts.
The first presents globalization as westernization and modernization – an outlook implying that
the history of globalization starts with the history of the West. During the first part of the
semester, we will examine the limitations of this perspective and the problems associated with it:
racism, orientalism, nationalism, and so forth. We will also analyze the role of media in
constructing and reproducing these negative manifestations of modernity.
The second part of the course presents contemporary issues of global network society: the
emergence of the global market system, the rise of the fourth world, the formation of
supranational public spheres, and the spread of global social movements. None of these
developments would have been possible but for global communication networks, the analysis of
which will be central to our class discussions.
Course Objectives
There are three principle objectives to this course:
I.
II.
III.
To introduce you to the history of globalization and contemporary debates on the role
of media in the emergence of global networks.
To assist you in learning how to approach and analyze complex social issues related
to the formation of global network society.
To help you critically examine many of our own values that we usually take for
granted, i.e. those involved in our interactions with people of other cultures.
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Required Readings
In the college bookstore, you will need to buy the following textbooks:
1) Kathryn Sorrells (2013). Intercultural Communication: Globalization and Social Justice.
Thousand Oaks, CA; London, UK: Sage Publications.
2) Daya Kishan Thussu (2006). International Communication: Continuity and Change (2nd
Edition). New York: Hodder Arnold (hereinafter referred to as ICCC).
Other readings will be posted on the course blackboard or distributed in class. To situate mediafocused literature on globalization within a broader inter-disciplinary field of globalization
studies, I have selected class readings from different research traditions: the philosophy of
globalization, the history of globalization, the cultures of globalization, the politics of
globalization, the economics of globalization, and the social issues of globalization. All mediarelated articles are assigned together with relevant texts from other disciplines. This will give
you a deeper understanding of global processes and their complex interrelations.
Grading Criteria:
1. Attendance – 10% of your semester grade
Class lectures and discussions are critical to your ability to grapple with the readings
analytically; therefore, it is essential that you are in class, engaged, and ready to participate. If
you miss a class, you will need to ask another student for notes and reflections about what was
covered. If you are ill or are experiencing a family emergency and have to miss a class, please
make sure to send me an email with the subject COM 208-02 URGENT. In case of illness, you
will need to provide me with a note from a local doctor. If you miss classes without excuse, your
attendance grade will be as follows:
Number of unexcused absences and
corresponding grades
1
2
3
4 or more
B
C
D
F
2. Participation – 10% of grade
You are required to do the assigned readings and come to class prepared to discuss the material.
Take notes on your readings and bring your notes to class together with the readings. Be
prepared to point to specific examples from the text during class discussion. Offer your ideas and
interpretations. The grade will be assigned according to the following criteria:
Participation on a regular basis
Participation from time to time
Participation on rare occasions
Lack of participation
Lack of participation and 4 or more unexcused
absences
A
B
C
D
F
3
3. Critical thinking exercises (CTEs) – 20%
You will have a total of FOUR critical thinking exercises (5% of your semester grade each).
They will test your ability to practically apply the knowledge obtained in this course and
critically evaluate class material. For example, to learn more about how our cultural background
may influence our perceptions of “others,” I may ask you to evaluate your personal cultural
predispositions and analyze how media reinforce them. These are the criteria of grading:
A paper that clearly demonstrates the mastery of class material and your ability to
critically evaluate and practically apply it.
A
The paper demonstrates clearly demonstrates the mastery of class material but reveals
some problems with your ability to critically evaluate or practically apply it.
B
The paper reveals some problems with understanding class materials.
The paper reveals serious misunderstanding of class readings.
The paper is not submitted or severally neglected performance is demonstrated.
C
D
F
4. Midterm research paper and its presentation – 20%
By March 25, 9 a.m. ET, you will need to submit electronically (obaysha@muhlenberg.edu)
your first research paper on your case study. I will give you a detailed guideline on what research
questions should be addressed in your papers no later than January 28, after the add/drop
deadline. During last two weeks preceding the Spring break, you will need to present your case
study in class. The criteria of evaluation will correspond to the following requirements:
An outstanding paper that demonstrates not only a mastery of the content, but also an
ability to integrate, synthesize, and evaluate the material or questions under
consideration.
A
The paper is above average and demonstrates an ability to transfer and link individual
concepts to other course material or relevant public events and life experiences.
B
The paper meets all of the requirements for the assignment and demonstrates an ability
to identify and define concepts relevant to the topic area.
C
The paper is submitted but does not fully meet the requirements for the assignment.
Severely neglected performance.
D
F
4
5. Final research and presentation – 20%
By April 8, 9 a.m. ET, you will need to submit electronically to obaysha@muhlenberg.edu your
final research paper on your case study. You will receive a detailed guideline of what research
questions should be addressed in this paper no later than March 15. The criteria of evaluation
will be similar to that of the midterm paper. During the last two weeks of the semester, you will
need to present your case study in class. You will receive the guidelines for the presentation no
later than April 8.
6. Final exam (in class) – 20%
The requirements and the criteria of grading will be presented and explained to your two weeks
before the final exam.
TENTATIVE COURSE SCHEDULE
(Subject to change)
Week #
Agenda
Week I
Globalization and culture.
Dates
Readings
Sorrels, Chapter 1.
Week II
Colonialism: The West and
the rest.
NO CLASS
Sorrels, Chapter 2, pp. 25-30
Fanon, “On violence”
Week III
Eurocentrism. Racism.
Orientalism.
Sorrels, Chapter 3.
Said, “Orientalism” – excerpts.
Week IV
Week V
The construction of
“otherness.”
McCarthy, “Social Darwinism and White
supremacy.”
Cosmopolitanism vs.
nationalism.
Beck, “The critique of the national
outlook” – pp. 35-43.
Modernization and cultural
Imperialism.
Thussu, Chapter 1, pp. 1-16
Lerner, “Modernizing Styles…”
Schiller, “TV Oversees…”
Week VI
Cold War discourses.
Thussu, Chapter 1, pp. 16-39
Entman, “Contrast of Narratives”
Week VII
Week VIII
STUDENTS’
PRESENTATIONS
SPRING BREAK
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Week IX
Global communication
infrastructure.
Thussu, Chapters 3
Thussu, Chapter 4
Week X
Displacing culture. The
local and the global.
Sorrels, Chapter 4
Thussu, Chapter 5
Week XI
Global anti-Americanism.
Week XII
Contraflows in global
media.
Week XIII
The culture of capitalism.
The fourth world.
Ceaser, “Anti-Americanism in
Europe”
Krastev, “The anti-American
century?”
Thussu, Chapter 6
Sorrels, Chapter 5
Sorrels, Chapter 8
Castells, pp. 128-145
Week IX
Week XV
Week XVI
International
Communication in the
Internet age.
Thussu, Chapter 7
Global social movements.
Sorrels, Chapters 9
Realism vs. Idealism.
Sorrels, Chapter 10
STUDENTS’
PRESENTATIONS
Huntington, “The clash of
civilizations”
Juris, “New Digital Media”
Said, “The clash of ignorance”
Week XVII
FINAL EXAM