Communication theory and strategy
There are numerous ideas about what communication is and how communication can be used strategically. During this course we study, apply, and compare different theoretical perspectives on communication. We also develop an understanding of communication in practice by reading about models for strategies, investigating how others work with it, and by developing a strategy for a communication project. The course aims to connect thinking about communication theories and strategies, and to establish critical and reflexive perspectives on communication theories and strategies.
Information from the course leader
30 Sep 2022
Dear Students,
you can now find both the reading list and the schedule on this course homepage. We look forward to meet you at the course start on 1 Nov 2022 at 9am in Ulls Hus, Room Skara (A304, above the reception). If you have any questions before then, please get in touch with the course leader.
Please note that you are expected to participate on both 1 Nov and 3 Nov in course activities. All further mandatory events are marked in the schedule.
Updates to the schedule will be mentioned here before the course start. From the course start, 1 Nov, the schedule will only be updated on Canvas.
We are looking forward to meeting you all!
your teacher team
Course evaluation
The course evaluation is now closed
MX0158-20131 - Course evaluation report
Once the evaluation is closed, the course coordinator and student representative have 1 month to draft their comments. The comments will be published in the evaluation report.
Additional course evaluations for MX0158
Academic year 2024/2025
Communication theory and strategy (MX0158-20112)
2024-11-01 - 2025-01-19
Academic year 2023/2024
Communication theory and strategy (MX0158-20162)
2023-10-31 - 2024-01-14
Syllabus and other information
Syllabus
MX0158 Communication theory and strategy, 15.0 Credits
Kommunikationsteori och strategiSubjects
Environmental ScienceEducation cycle
Master’s levelModules
| Title | Credits | Code |
|---|---|---|
| Communication theory | 7.5 | 0102 |
| Communication strategy | 7.5 | 0103 |
Advanced study in the main field
Second cycle, has second-cycle course/s as entry requirementsMaster’s level (A1F)
Grading scale
The grade requirements within the course grading system are set out in specific criteria. These criteria must be available by the course start at the latest.
Language
EnglishPrior knowledge
120 credits on basic level. Knowledge equivalent to 5 credits communication theory. English 6.Objectives
Preparing students for a professional role in environmental communication, the aim of the course is to facilitate students’ development of concepts, models, and language that allow deep theoretical and practical reflection about communication, as well as application thereof.
Upon completion of the course, the student should be able to:
discuss different theoretical perspectives on communication and illustrate how communication functions differently according to these;
explain how different theoretical perspectives on communication relate to the concepts of social change, power and inequality, agency and structure;
prepare a communication strategy and discuss how different theoretical perspectives implicate such strategy and its implementation;
discuss how communication strategies connect to issues of social change, and power and inequality.
Content
The course includes a theoretical and a practical component. In the theoretical component, students will learn to recognize, compare, and apply a variety of theoretical perspectives on communication, including instrumental and constitutive perspectives. This is done through literature studies, lectures, and discussions in seminars.
In the practical component, students will learn about communication practice through literature studies and lectures. They apply these insights in experience-based workshops and a project. These experience-based workshops will engage students with models for developing strategies for communication activities, practical examples, and case studies from Sweden or other countries. In the project, students develop their own communication strategy based on theoretical and practical considerations. Active participation in workshops and activities of the project is mandatory.
Throughout the course, connections between theory and practice are discussed, and together we reflect on communication practice using communication theories. This also includes a thorough engagement with assumptions about social change, power and inequality, and agency and structure.
Grading form
The grade requirements within the course grading system are set out in specific criteria. These criteria must be available by the course start at the latest.Formats and requirements for examination
Students are examined in relation to both course components, i.e. on theoretical perspectives of communication and on developing a strategy for communication activities.
Examination through:
home-exam;
report on project work.
Requirements to pass the course are:
passed home-exam;
passed report on project work;
active participation in mandatory workshops;
active participation in activities of the project.
If a student has failed an examination, the examiner has the right to issue supplementary assignments. This applies if it is possible and there are grounds to do so.
The examiner can provide an adapted assessment to students entitled to study support for students with disabilities following a decision by the university. Examiners may also issue an adapted examination or provide an alternative way for the students to take the exam.
If this syllabus is withdrawn, SLU may introduce transitional provisions for examining students admitted based on this syllabus and who have not yet passed the course.
For the assessment of an independent project (degree project), the examiner may also allow a student to add supplemental information after the deadline for submission. Read more in the Education Planning and Administration Handbook.
Other information
The right to participate in teaching and/or supervision only applies for the course instance the student was admitted to and registered on.
If there are special reasons, students are entitled to participate in components with compulsory attendance when the course is given again. Read more in the Education Planning and Administration Handbook.
Additional information
The prerequisite 5 hp in communication theory is reached for example if the student has engaged with interpersonal or societal communication, such as conflict, democracy, or collaboration, from an academic/theoretical perspective. Courses at SLU that provide this prior knowledge: MX0115 Introduction to environmental communication - Society, social interaction and communicative skills, 15.0 credits, MX0148 Conflict, democracy and facilitation, 15.0 credits, or MX0149 Engaging critically with environmental governance practices, 15.0 credits.Responsible department
Department of Urban and Rural Development
Further information
Litterature list
A final reading list will be provided at the course start; all readings will be made available on Canvas. Supplementary readings for eager readers are marked with a preceding star, all other readings are highly recommended.
CW1: Introduction to Communication Theory
Hahn, L. K., & Paynton, S. T. (n.d.). Communication theory. In Survey of communication study. Wikibooks. https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Survey_of_Communication_Study/Chapter_5_‐ _Communication_Theory
Organizational Communication Channel. (2017). Communication Models. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O‐O‐fV5qT‐0
Craig, R. T. (2005). How we talk about how we talk: Communication theory in the public interest. Journal of communication, 55(4), 659–667.
*Craig, R. T. (2013). Communication theory and social change. Communication & Social Change, 1(1), 5–18.
CW2: Transmission and Transaction Models
Foust, C. R., & Murphy, W. O. S. (2009). Revealing and reframing apocalyptic tragedy in global warming discourse. Environmental Communication, 3(2), 151–167.
Godemann, J. (2021). Communicating sustainability. Some thoughts and recommendations for enhancing sustainability communication. In F. Weder, L. Krainer, & M. Karmasin (Eds.), The Sustainability Communication Reader. Springer.
Jurin, R. R., Roush, D., & Danter, J. (2010). Planning Environmental Communication. In Environmental communication. Skills and principles for Natural Resource Managers, Scientists, and Engineers (pp. 75–82). Springer.
Steg, L., & Vlek, C. (2009). Encouraging pro‐environmental behaviour: An integrative review and research agenda. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 29(3), 309–317.
Tyson, B., & Unson, C. (2006). Environmental communication strategies: When is what appropriate? Management of Natural Resources, Sustainable Development and Ecological Hazards, 99, 83.
Werder, K. P. (2014). A theoretical framework for strategic communication messaging. In The Routledge handbook of strategic communication (pp. 293–308).
*Liang, Y., Kee, K. F., & Henderson, L. K. (2018). Towards an integrated model of strategic environmental communication: Advancing theories of reactance and planned behavior in a water conservation context. Journal of Applied Communication Research, 46(2), 135–154.
*Taylor, R. E. (1999). A six‐segment message strategy wheel. Journal of Advertising Research, 39(6), 7–7.
*Steg, L., Bolderdijk, J. W., Keizer, K., & Perlaviciute, G. (2014). An integrated framework for encouraging pro‐environmental behaviour: The role of values, situational factors and goals. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 38, 104–115.
CW3: Communication as Constitutive to Society
Fredriksson, M., & Pallas, J. (2014). Strategic communication as institutional work. In D. Holtzhausen & A. Zerfass (Eds.), The routledge handbook of strategic communication (pp. 167–180). Routledge.
Humă, B., Stokoe, E., & Sikveland, R. O. (2020). Putting persuasion (back) in its interactional context. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 17(3), 357–371.
Mead, G. H. (1934). In C. W. Morris (Ed.), Mind, self, and society: From the standpoint of a social behaviorist (pp. 253–260, 325–328). University of Chicago Press.
Ockwell, D., Whitmarsh, L., & O’Neill, S. (2009). Reorienting climate change communication for effective mitigation: Forcing people to be green or fostering grass‐roots engagement? Science Communication, 30(3), 305–327.
Paerregaard, K. (2020). Communicating the inevitable: Climate awareness, climate discord, and climate research in Peru’s highland communities. Environmental Communication, 14(1), 112–125.
Shove, E. (2010). Beyond the ABC: climate change policy and theories of social change. Environment and Planning A, 42(6), 1273–1285.
Stokes, A. Q. (2005). Metabolife’s meaning: A call for the constitutive study of public relations. Public Relations Review, 31(4), 556–565.
*Hallgren, L. (2019). The strategic Nature Interpreter & Planning for peoples shared creation of meaning. In E. Sandberg (Ed.), Naturvägledning i Norden: En bok om upplevelser, lärande, reflektion och delaktighet i mötet mellan natur och människa (pp. 222–241). Nordic Council of Ministers. http://norden.diva‐ portal.org/smash/record.jsf?pid=diva2%3A1426533&dswid=‐2542
*Machin, D., & Cobley, P. (2020). Ethical food packaging and designed encounters with distant and exotic others. Semiotica, 2020(232), 251–271.
*Schoeneborn, D., & Trittin, H. (2013). Transcending transmission: Towards a constitutive perspective on CSR communication. Corporate communications: An international journal, 18(2), 192–211.
CW4: Critiquing Communication
Habermas, J. (2001). Truth and society: The discursive redemption of factual claims to validity. In B. Fultner (Trans.), On the pragmatics of social interaction: Preliminary studies in the theory of communicative action (pp. 85–103, 86 3 89 7). MIT Press.
Kings, D., & Ilbery, B. (2014). The lifeworlds of organic and conventional farmers in central‐ southern England: A phenomenological enquiry. Sociologia Ruralis, 55(1), 62–84.
Harsin, J. (2018). Post‐truth and critical communication studies. In Oxford research encyclopedia of communication.
Luhmann, N. (1992). What is communication? Communication Theory, 2(3), 251–259.
Nothhaft, H., & Wehmeier, S. (2007). Coping with complexity: Sociocybernetics as a framework for communication management. International Journal of Strategic Communication, 1(3), 151–168.
Toledano, M. (2018). Dialogue, strategic communication, and ethical public relations: Lessons from Martin Buber’s political activism. Public Relations Review, 44(1), 131–141.
*Deetz, S. A. (1992). Democracy in an age of corporate colonization: Developments in communication and the politics of everyday life (pp. 173–198). SUNY Press.
*Foss, S. K., & Griffin, C. L. (1995). Beyond persuasion: A proposal for an invitational rhetoric. Communications Monographs, 62(1), 2–18.
*Seamon, D. (1982). The phenomenological contribution to environmental psychology. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 2(2), 119–140.
CW5: Metatheory
Craig, R. T. (1999). Communication theory as a field. Communication Theory, 9(2), 119–161.
Craig, R. T. (2019). Models of communication in and as metadiscourse. In M. Bergman, K. Kirtiklis, & J. Siebers (Eds.), Models of communication (pp. 11–33). Routledge.
CW6: Connect Theory and Practice
Barge, J. K., & Craig, R. T. (2009). Practical theory in applied communication scholarship. In L. R. Frey & K. N. Cissna (Eds.), Routledge handbook of applied communication research (pp. 95– 118). Routledge.
Hallgren, L., & Rödl, M. (2022). Beyond information transmission and persuasion: Models of communication and change in environmental policy practitioners’ reflection‐on‐action. Aimed at Journal of Environmental Planning and Management.
CW7: Strategy in Depth
Cox, J. R. (2010). Beyond frames: Recovering the strategic in climate communication. Environmental Communication, 4(1), 122–133.
Fredriksson, M., & Pallas, J. (2016). Diverging principles for strategic communication in government agencies. International Journal of Strategic Communication, 10(3), 153–164.
G.T.Z. Rioplus. (2006). Strategic communication for sustainable development: A conceptual overview (pp. 2–4, 14–47). GTZ.
Koskela, M. (2013). Same, same, but different: Intertextual and interdiscursive features of communication strategy texts. Discourse & Communication, 7(4), 389–407.
Macnamara, J. (2018). A review of new evaluation models for strategic communication: Progress and gaps. International Journal of Strategic Communication, 12(2), 180–195.
*Cox, R., & Pezzullo, P. C. (2016). Advocacy campaigns. In Environmental Communication & the Public Sphere (pp. 177–206).