COMX 204X.50 International and Development Communication
Fall 2014 The University of Montana-Missoula
Instructor: Dr. Phyllis Ngai
E-mail: phyllis.ngai@umontana.edu
Phone: 406.721.4691 (Home/Work)
Office: LA 237
Office Hours: Tue & Thu 1 - 2 p.m.
and by appointment
Password and General Computer Assistance:
E-mail: ITCentral@umontana.edu
Phone: 406.243.4357
UMOnline Technical Support:
E-mail: umonline-help@mso.umt.edu,
Phone: 406.243.4999
Course Description
COMX 204X introduces students to the concepts of International and Development Communication.
International Communication deals with information exchange and cultural flow across nations and societies.
Development Communication focuses on assessing the role of transnational communication in social change,
including its impacts on first peoples. The course surveys communication issues related to globalization,
cultural and linguistic imperialism, the Internet, the media, English as a global language, Indigenous voices,
transnational advertising, multicultural/transnational organizations, participatory development, and
sustainability. Through case studies, students will apply mass communication and organizational
communication concepts in understanding the relations between the local and the global and in analyzing
complex interdependencies among social groups, organizations, and nation states. The course aims to
engage students in discussing communication issues of global significance via various forms of online
activities and assignments. This course is designed to incorporate contextualized and cooperative learning.
A comparative approach is used to expose students to diverse perspectives and to stimulate students to reflect
on their own roles as global/local citizens in the 21st century. It is a core course of the International
Development Studies minor.
Course Objectives
Upon completion of this course, students will
 Understand important concepts in international and development communication;
 Be aware of key communication issues resulting from globalization and informatization over time;
 Understand the impacts of information and communication technologies (ICTs) on social change;
 Hold a position based on analysis of evidence and arguments for and against the presence of cultural
and linguistic imperialism brought about by ICTs;
 Understand the pros and cons of using the Internet and the media to facilitate communication within
and across cultural groups, transnational organizations, and nation states;
 Be aware of the implications of using English as the global language in different linguistic and
cultural contexts over time;
 Consider the value of indigenous languages and first peoples’ perspectives in the global context;
 Be able to suggest relevant participatory approaches to communication and sustainable development;
 Demonstrate awareness of how transnational advertising impedes and promotes sustainability;
 Focus on communication processes when analyzing interdependence involving international and
multicultural organizations; and
 Compare the convergence and divergence of perspectives held by members of their communities, the
U.S. public, and people in other countries, particularly non-Western and developing countries.
Assigned Readings
-All required reading materials are posted on Moodle.
Optional Texts
-Sustainability, Participation & Culture in Communication: Theory and Praxis, edited by Jan Servaes.
University of Chicago Press, 2013.
-The World News Prism: Challenges of Digital Communication (8th edition), by William Hachten and James
Scotton. Wiley-Blackwell, 2012. [Optional][On reserve in Mansfield Library]
-Internaional Communication: A Reader, edited by Daya Kishan Thussu. Routledge, 2010. [Optional][On
reserve in Mansfield Library]
Global Communication: Theories, Stakeholders, and Themes, by ThomasMcPhail. Wiley-Blackwell, 2010.
[Optional] [On Reserve in Mansfield Library]
-International and Development Communication: A 21st Century Perspective, edited by Bella Mody. Sage
Publications, 2003. [Optional]
-International and Multicultural Organizational Communication, edited by George Cheney and George
Barnett. Hampton Press, 2005. [Optional]
-When Languages Die: The Extinction of the World’s Languages and the Erosion of Human Knowledge, by
K. David Harrison, Oxford University Press, 2007 [Optional]
Assessment
Objectives
-Demonstrate understanding of important
concepts and ideas.
-Apply concepts in contextualized analysis.
-Focus on communication processes when
analyzing international relations.
-Compare the convergence and divergence of
perspectives.
-Consider diverse perspectives and multiple
dimensions of international and development
communication issues
-Formulate positions based on investigation of
evidence and arguments.
Assignments
Reading Quizzes
Online discussion
-case studies
-documentary reflections
-simulated negotiations
-debates
Position Papers
Points Earned
80 points
(20 each x 4)
440 points
(40 each x 11)
480 points
-230 points first paper
-250 points second
paper
Total Points Possible:
1,000
Distribution Scale
933 –1000
A
900 – 932
A-
866 – 899
B+
833 – 865
B
800 – 832
B-
766 – 799
C+
733 – 765
C
700 – 732
C-
666 – 699
D+
633 – 665
D
600 – 632
D-
< 600
F
Tentative Course Schedule
The reading assignments listed below may be modified. Check Moodle for weekly updates. Apart from the
required readings, you will be given additional materials to review. All materials can be found on Moodle.
Date
Topic
August 25 -29
Online Orientation
 See activities on Moodle
September 1 – 5
Introduction to International and Development Communication
Required Readings:
 Weekly Lesson (PowerPoint file)
September 8 – 12
Globalization, Informatization, and Communication
Required Readings:
 Weekly Lesson (PowerPoint file)
 Communicating in Global and Multicultural Contexts—George Cheney, Lars Thoger
Christensen, Theodore Zorn, and Shiv Ganesh pp. 377 -382 only
 From the Information Society to Knowledge Societies-UNESCO pp.17-20, 27-30 only
September 15 -19
Cultural Convergence and Divergence through Communication
Required Readings:
 Weekly Lesson (PowerPoint file)
 Communication and Culture--Christine Ogan
 Communicating in Global and Multicultural Contexts—George Cheney, Lars Thoger
Christensen, Theodore Zorn, and Shiv Ganesh pp. 383 - 390 only
Quiz 1
September 22 – 26
Digital Communication in a Borderless World
Required Reading:
 Weekly Lesson (PowerPoint file)
 Digital Media: Global, Interactive, and Free—William Hachten and James Scotton
 Emerging Nations Embrace Internet, Mobile Technology -- Pew Research Center (2014)
pp. 2 - 11 only
September 29 –
October 3
Media in the age of Globalization
Required Reading:
 Weekly Lesson (PowerPoint file)
 The Whole World is Watching: Impact of Great News Events—William Hachten and
James Scotton pp. 77-85 only
 Public Diplomacy and Propaganda—William Hachten and James Scotton pp. 206-214
only
October 6 - 10
The cases of China, India, Africa, and the Middle East
Required Reading
 Weekly Lesson (PowerPoint file)
 Select one of the following chapters by William Hachten and James Scotton:
China: New Media in an Old Media World
The Middle East: Media Storms in the Desert
India and Africa: Contrasts in Development
Quiz 2
October 13 – 17
Mid-term Assessment
Paper due midnight Friday
October 20 – 24
Communication, Technology, and Development
Required Reading:
 Weekly Lesson (PowerPoint file)
 The Transformational Use of Information and Communication Technologies in Africa-World Bank 2012 pp. 12 - 34 only
 Communicating the True Ecological Cost of Development: Addressing Development and
Evironment in Orissa, India – Maitrey Mishra pp. 153 -162 only
October 27 – 31
Participatory Approaches to Communication for Development
Required Reading:
 Weekly Lesson (PowerPoint file)
 Development Communication Approaches in an International Perspective--Jan Servaes
and Patchanee Malikhao (2008) pp. 169 -173 only (use the book page number; not the
Adobe Reader counter)
 Renewing the Knowledge Societies Vision for Peace and Sustainable Development –
Robin Mansell and Gaetan Tremblay: Executive Summary pp. ix – xii only
 Organizational Communication and Globally Displaced Perimeter Populations: A
Neglected Challenge for Intercultural Communication Training-Phyllis Ngai & Peter
Koehn pp. 230 - 239 only
November 3 – 7
Indigenous Languages and Native Voices in the Global Context
Required Reading:
 Weekly Lesson (PowerPoint file)
 Power and Place Equal Personality-Vine Deloria
 An Extinction of (Ideas About) Species –K. David Harrison pp. 23-34 & 48-55 only
Quiz 3
November 10 – 14
English as the Global Language and Its Implications
Required Reading:
 Weekly Lesson (PowerPoint file)
 Why a Global Language? –David Crystal
 Pathways and Labyrinths: Language and Education in Development by Eddie Williams
& James Cooke (Read only two sections (1) Linking Language and Development (2)
Language in Support of Education Quality pp. 305 – 313)
November 17 - 21
Transnational Advertising
Required Reading:
 Weekly Lesson (PowerPoint file)
 Globalisation and Advertising in Emerging Economies by Lynne Ciochetto pp.7 – 18
only
 Transnational Advertising-K. Viswanath & Liren B. Zeng pp. 77-84 only
November 24 – 28
Thanksgiving Break
December 1 – 5
International and Multicultural Organizational Communication
Required Reading:
 Weekly Lesson (PowerPoint file)
 Business Cultures –Geert Hofstede
 Management of culture and Managing through Culture in the Indian Software
Outsourcing Industry—Carol Upadhya pp. 104 -115 only
Quiz 4
December 12
Final paper due midnight Friday
Online Discussion
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Online discussions occur in the forms of (1) virtual reading club, (2) simulated negotiation,
(3) role play, and (4) online debate. Guidelines for each assignment are posted under each
week’s banner on our course homepage.
See grading rubrics below.
Extra Credit: You can earn extra credit (up to 30 points total) by engaging in discussions
actively (i.e., contributing above and beyond the minimum requirement).
Grading Rubric for Discussion Board Postings
Grade: Total 40
max.
Grading criterion
Content of
Posting/Interaction
Level C
5 points each category
Level B
8 points each category
Level A
10 points each category
Your responses reflect
personal opinions or ideas,
or conclusions that are not
supported by evidence or
illustrated with examples
from the assigned readings
and the weekly lessons
posted by the instructor.
Your responses are
supported or illustrated
with some non-specific
references to the assigned
readings and the weekly
lessons.
Your responses are
thoughtful and supported
with representative
evidence from the
assigned readings and the
weekly lessons or are
illustrated with direct
quotes and specific
examples from the
assigned readings, the
weekly lessons, and other
sources.
Quality of Contribution
You contributed to the
discussion by identifying
and organizing relevant
facts, formulating
conclusions, and
presenting them.
You contributed to the
discussion by engaging in
a dialogue that involved
supporting or challenging
classmates’ ideas and
raising pertinent questions
for further reflection.
Your contribution to the
discussion goes beyond
Level B by helping your
classmates decipher
connections across
concepts, ideas, and
perspectives. You help
further the current
dialogue by initiating new
threads of related
discussion.
Responsiveness of
Interactions
You posted fewer than the
required number of
responses and/or your
postings indicate reflection
on a limited scope of
perspectives.
You posted the required
number of responses and
your postings indicate
reflection on the various
perspectives of your
classmates.
Your responses are posted
over several days,
indicating evidence of
multiple logins. Your
postings indicate
reflection on the various
perspectives of your
classmates and recognize
themes/patterns apparent
throughout the entire
discussion.
Professionalism
Your messages indicate
minimal efforts in proofreading.
Your messages indicate
serious efforts in proofreading, but not editing for
conciseness and
coherence.
Your messages are
concisely-written, wellorganized, and carefullyedited for correctness and
effectiveness.
Quizzes
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You will complete four online quizzes throughout the semester.
The quizzes cover the required readings, the assigned documentaries, and the Weekly Lessons posted
under each weekly unit on the course website.
The quiz dates are listed in the above course schedule.
You can complete each quiz anytime between Thursday and Sunday of the week. The timeframe
starts at 00:00 on Thursday and ends at 23:55 on Sunday.
Each quiz includes 10 multiple-choice questions to be completed in 20 minutes.
You can use your notes when completing the quizzes.
Collaboration is not allowed during the assessments.
In order for your quiz scores to be valid, you must complete the assessments independently and on
time.
Course Policies

You are responsible for submitting your assignments on the due dates. Late work receives a 5-percent
deduction per day (up to 40%) unless you provide a note from a healthcare provider indicating that you
were unable to complete the assignment because of sickness.

Missed quizzes cannot be made up unless you provide a note from a healthcare provider indicating
that you were not able to complete the assignment because of sickness.
Deadlines: When managing your time to complete assignments, please be prepared that you may
experience unpredictable technical difficulties. For example, your computer may freeze up or your
Internet connection might not work properly at times. Technical problems are not acceptable excuses
for late submission of assignments. You need to plan extra time to complete and submit assignments
online in case of technical difficulties. In addition, you need to have a back-up plan for taking
quizzes and submitting homework online. Is there another computer you can use? Is there another
place you can get online?
Students with disabilities will receive reasonable accommodations in this online course. To request
course modifications, please contact me as soon as possible. I will work with you and Disability
Services in the accommodation process. For more information, visit the Disability Services website at
http://www.umt.edu/dss/ or call 406.243.2243 (Voice/Text).
You should be aware that as a student at the University of Montana, you must practice academic
honesty and are bound by the following Code of Academic Conduct:
http://www.umt.edu/studentaffairs/sccAcademicConduct.htm
As the code explains, academic misconduct includes plagiarism, cheating, and deliberate interference
with the work of others. It is the intellectual equivalent of fraud—a crime against the codes of the
academy. As an academic crime, plagiarism merits academic punishment, ranging from an F on the
assignment or for the course, to suspension or expulsion from the University.
The last day to add/drop or change your grading option is September 15.
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Announcements
Weekly announcements are posted near the top of our course homepage. In addition, I occasionally post
special announcements regarding assignment reminders, feedback on your submissions, problems with the
websites, technical issues, extra-credit opportunities, etc. All the announcements are automatically e-mailed
to your UM account. I highly recommend that you check your UM e-mail account regularly.
Position Paper Guidelines

For each paper, you should address one of the debatable questions from the topic list provided by the
instructor. The list includes questions that have been parts of our class discussions.

On the basis of what you have learned from the assigned readings, the weekly lessons, the documentaries, and
our class discussions, develop a position of your own in response to the selected question.

Support your position using information from the reading materials, the weekly lessons, and the
documentaries. In addition to the required readings, consult relevant supplementary readings. See a list of
references posted under the “Course Information” button near the top of our course homepage. You can also
conduct your own literature review.

Include a bibliography using a conventional format. Cite a minimum of six (1st paper) or eight (2nd paper)
high-quality sources. Use at least five (1st paper) or six (2nd paper) sources from the list of required materials
to help guide the focus of your paper. Your paper should be about international and/or development
communication issues. If you find the required readings unrelated to your paper, you are likely discussing a
subject outside the realm of this course.

The first paper should be 5 to 6 double-spaced pages long. The second paper should be 7 to 8 double-spaced
pages long.

Suggested organization of a position paper:
Introduction
-Explain the controversy
-Briefly preview both sides of the issue
-State your thesis (which is your position)
Body
-Proponent’s arguments
-Opponent’s arguments
-An explanation of your position
-Your defense of the position you take
-Counter-arguments (What arguments do you disagree with and why?)
Conclusion
-A summary of all arguments presented
-Reiteration of your position
Grading Criteria
1. The extent to which your position is clearly explained.
2. The extent to which your arguments are adequately and persuasively supported.
3. The extent to which you have addressed multiple dimensions of the issue and both proponents’ and opponents’
perspectives.
4. The extent to which you have applied concepts, ideas, and information from reading materials, weekly lessons,
documentaries, and class discussions.
5. The extent to which the paper is written in correct and concise professional English. A complete bibliography is
prepared according to a conventional format.
Total = 230 points possible for the first paper
250 points possible for the second paper
Tentative Position-Paper Topics
(The finalized list is posted on Moodle)
The following questions are debatable in the sense that you can answer “yes” and “no” to each question. Your papers
should review both the proponent’s and the opponent’s perspectives.
Globalization, Informatization, and Communication
 Question: In terms of free flow of information, do the pros outweigh the cons?
 Question: Do globalization and informatization bring about cultural convergence or divergence?
 Question: To go global, do you ignore censorship?
Cultural Convergence and Divergence through Communication
Question: Are cultural influences desirable?
Question: Should cultural fusion be guarded against?
Question: Are inter/cross/multicultural productions solutions to cultural/linguistic imperialism?
Media in the Age of Globalization
 Question: Is the public’s international understanding dictated by the media?
 Question: Is the mass media responsible for creating a misinformed or uninformed global public?
Digital Communication in a Borderless World
 Question: Is universal access to the Internet a basic human right?
 Question: Should there be Internet governance to protect communication rights?
o Question: Do the advantages of the Internet for development and social change outweigh the disadvantages?
Communication, Technology, and Development
o Question: Are ICTs a boon or bane for development?
o Question: Are computers more important than safe water, telephone service, health care, schools, etc., for
sustainable development?
Participatory Approaches to Communication for Development
o Question: Is locally-controlled development (based on indigenous perspectives) incompatible with the
contemporary reality of globalization?
Indigenous Languages and Native Voices in the Global Context
o Question: Does the “global village” render saving dying languages unnecessary?
English as the Global Language and Its Implications
o Question: Do the advantages of relying on one global language outweigh the disadvantages?
Transnational Advertising
o Question: Do multinational corporations leave consumers and workers with little choice?
Multinational and International Organizational Communication
o Question: Who are in the best position to create a conducive organizational culture? CEOs or members of the
organizations?
o Question: If you were a manager in a multinational organization, how would you deal with diversity? Is it
better to reduce it or to embrace it?
Success in an Online Course
The following checklist provides some hints for completing an online course successfully. Taking online
courses can be an effective way to learn, but it might take time to become accustomed to distance learning.
Checklist: How to Survive an Online Course
1. Set aside blocks of time daily and/or weekly to be "in class." Fix a schedule that includes blocks of
time for reading assignments, completing homework, participating in class discussions, and taking
quizzes.
a. One of the biggest mistakes online students make is to “just go to class" when they have a few
minutes here and there. With too many distractions around (e.g., other students or family
members in the same room) is another problem. You need to "go to class" in an environment
that is conducive to studying.
b. A good guideline for the amount of time you should spend per week is the number of credits
you are taking. For a 3-credit class, you should spend 3 hours plus the amount of time you
need for homework (at least another 3 hours).
2. Participate in class discussions!
a. Don't do it just because you are being graded. Research shows that students who participate
in class discussions learn more than those who do not.
b. Post responses to my questions as well as reply to classmates' responses.
3. Check the weekly plan posted on the course website before the week starts or early on Monday.
4. E-mail or call me when you need help!
5. Ask one or more students to be your study partner or form a study group.
6. Save your assignments in one easily accessible place on your computer, even after you have
submitted them via the Internet. Always keep a copy.
7. Take responsibility for your own learning!
a. Just like a face-to-face class, you are expected to spend time completing homework, reflecting
on course materials, and participating in class activities.
b. Avoid making the mistake of treating this class as a correspondence course (where requires
only reading and taking quizzes). In this online course, you must be "involved" as in face-toface classes!
c. The computer and I cannot be responsible for your success. Only you can!
8. Allow extra time for technological difficulties. Instructors rarely accept computer problems as
excuses for late or missing assignments.
9. Understand you will experience some dissonance about this experience. Sometimes it will be fun,
other times frustrating, and sometimes both. You will feel increasingly comfortable as you become
more proficient as an online student!