UCL - Anthropology of Communication

[COMU1126]

[30h] 6 credits

Teacher(s): Luc De Meyer(supplée Gérard Derèze), Gérard Derèze, Alain Reyniers

Language: French

Level: First

Aims
Main themes
Content and teaching methods
Other information (prerequisite, evaluation (assessment methods), course materials recommended readings, ...)

Aims

The aim of this course is to give students active mastery of concepts and instruments used in:
o diachronic and anthropological analyses of the different modes of production and social integration which characterize communication in different civilizations and cultures, both on a global and local level
o analyses of the interrelation between the major communication systems and the societies which spawn them and within which they develop.

Main themes

This course takes a distinctively anthropological approach to communication. It attempts to analyse and interpret the principal means of communication and communication processes and their numerous, complex interactions within and with the societies in which they have been spawned and developed.
The course introduces students to the basics (paradigms and concepts) of the anthropological approach to human communication and to objects and techniques of communication. Following on from this introduction, the course has two main components : oral and literate societies on the one hand and " mass " and contemporary societies on the other.
The practical exercise sessions involve:
- applying the concepts and notions presented in lectures to a range of communication issues.
- Teaching students how to conduct methodical analyses

Content and teaching methods

The course examines the development of communication systems through their interactions with social structures and the types of cultural environment which simultaneously generate them and favour their development . Adopting a modern approach to Anthropology and Communication, the course alternately analyses the phases of deconstruction/reconstruction and the establishment and development of the major communication systems, giving priority to aspects of communicational and social use. Some key aspects of the course include:
o for oral societies, the Dogons and the Gypsies
o for literate societies, the Phoenicians and printing
o for "mass" and contemporary societies, media technologies

Other information (prerequisite, evaluation (assessment methods), course materials recommended readings, ...)

Evaluation: written examination
Course materials: course notes
Additional information: this course is part of the Minor in Information and Communication