Media and Communication Studies: Digital Technologies, Activism, and Social Movements
About the course
From Fridays4Future, #metoo, and Black Lives Matter; to reactionary far-right mobilisations opposing social justice policies, multiculturalism, and feminism; new waves of social movements have swept across the world. These movements are all intricately linked to digital technologies, from hashtag activism to mainstream media. This course explores the complex relationship between media, digital technologies, and social movement activism, and the changes and continuities of this relationship over time. It brings together theories from Media and Communication Studies, Communication for Development, Sociology, and Political Science, to critically examine the role of both legacy media and new digital technologies in contemporary forms of activism, as well as to trace historically how activism and media have developed in tandem to create significant political, social, and cultural changes.
Course content
The course explores the complex relationships between media technologies, communication processes, and social movements. We will delve into the growing body of scholarship on new forms of digitally-enabled activism, exploring the role of technology in organising, mobilising, and building collective identities around various social causes and political projects.
The course brings together theories from different fields to critically examine contemporary forms of activism action facilitated by media, as well as to trace historically how social movements and communication technologies have developed in tandem to create significant social and cultural changes.
Syllabus and course literature
You can find a list of literature in the syllabus, along with other details about the course.
Entry requirements and selection
Entry requirements
45 cr. advanced level studies, and the equivalent of Swedish higher secondary school English 6.
Selection
University credits completed 100%
Course evaluation
Malmö University provides students who participate in, or who have completed a course, with the opportunity to express their opinions and describe their experiences of the course by completing a course evaluation administered by the University. The University will compile and summarise the results of course evaluations. The University will also inform participants of the results and any decisions relating to measures taken in response to the course evaluations. The results will be made available to the students (HF 1:14).
