Strategic and Political Communication

STR461 Strategic and Political Communication

Autumn 2024

Spring 2025
  • Topics

    "I'm lovin' it", "Das Beste oder nichts", "The difference between a boss and a leader: a boss says ‘Go!’ - a leader says, ‘Let’s go!’."

    Why do phrases like these imply more than just the sum of their individual words? Why do they have an impact on our perception of issues, our emotions and actions? This course will raise your awareness of how language is used to achieve corporate, political, sustainability-related and other goals and teach you how to achieve effective communication in professional contexts.

    The overarching approach in the course is related to communication. Recent reports show that communication is among the key skills needed in the future workplace, for managers as well as staff. This is especially true in light of ongoing challenges such as the climate crisis, technological disruptions, etc.

    Key issues in business communication are to think consciously about who we are communicating with and why, the conventions associated with different communicative genres and styles, and the impact of word choice in brand names and slogans. Different modes of verbal communication - written, spoken and digital - will be considered in the course, along with reflections on non-verbal communication in the form of pictures and gestures.

  • Learning outcome

    Upon course completion, the candidate can:

    Knowledge

    • Recognize how language is used in strategic and political communication.
    • Understand how corporate and political agents communicate in order to reach strategic and political goals.
    • Understand how text and pictures are used in communication on different digital platforms.
    • Understand why knowledge about strategic forms of communication is important.
    • Understand different theoretical models for analyzing texts.

    Skills

    • Identify language features used strategically in written or oral texts.
    • Produce professional texts of different types.
    • Use tools to analyze such texts quantitatively and qualitatively.
    • Adapt texts to different target audiences.
    • Communicate about sensitive topics, within a company, to politicians and to media.

    General competence

    • Produce their own and evaluate others’ texts within strategic and political communication.
    • Apply methods introduced in the course to new text types and areas.

  • Teaching

    The course will be a combination of lectures, casework and written/oral activities.

  • Recommended prerequisites

    None.

  • Credit reduction due to overlap

    None.

  • Compulsory Activity

    Students must attend at least 75 per cent of the lectures.

  • Assessment

    A portfolio consisting of 2 written and 2 oral assignments in addition to a reflection text, where the student reflects upon their own learning process. One written and one oral assignment will be group-based with 3-4 students in each group.

    The whole portfolio must be submitted in the same semester. A retake implies submitting the whole portfolio again.

  • Grading Scale

    A-F

  • Computer tools

    Laptop/tablet will be needed in class.

  • Literature

    Readings will consist of a selection of articles and book chapters that will be made available on Canvas in due course.

Overview

ECTS Credits
7.5
Teaching language
English
Semester

Spring. Will be offered spring 2024.

Course responsible

Professor Gisle Andersen, FSK (main course responsible)

Associate professor Margrete Dyvik Cardona, FSK