Previous Syllabus
Department of Mass Communication and Journalism, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Dhaka
Syllabus for Bachelor of Social Science (BSS) programme in Mass Communication and Journalism Session- 2006-2007
The Department of Mass Communication and Journalism at the University of Dhaka is regarded as the top-ranking Department of its kind in the country. Over the years it has produced brilliant students who are now working in the leading national newspapers and electronic media, government and nongovernmental organizations, international organizations, advertising agencies, bank and business organizations and academic institutions.
The Department aims to ensure quality education, develop a strong sense of accuracy, fairness and diversity, and create an awareness of the rights and responsibilities of media professionals scholars.
The Department offers a four-year undergraduate programme. It lays emphasis on the process, uses and effects of different types and forms of communication, interrelationships between media and society, structure, organization and history of mass communication, emerging forms of communication technology, international communication, techniques of media reporting and editing, and communication research methodology.
The theory, syntactics, semantics and pragmatics of mass communication are given considerable importance in the entire gamut of the academic programme. The culture and heritage of the country, political and socio-economic perspectives, and contemporary national and international affairs are well integrated into the course structure. The courses are designed so as to enable the students to have a broad view of media, society and culture, with a good grounding in the theory and practice of mass communication.
The course instructors are at the cutting edge of their profession. They are consistently serious about enhancing their knowledge and skill for the benefit of the students.
Students will take 32 courses in eight semesters. They need to earn a total of 128 credits in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of BSS.
First Semester
MCJ 101: Concepts of Communication
The course introduces the fundamental concepts, principles and processes of communication. It is designed for the students with little or no background in communication. The focus will be on the foundations of human communication and preliminaries to interpersonal, small group, public and media communication.
The study of the course enables the students to observe daily communication behaviour and analyse it objectively. It helps them develop better ways of communication.
Recommended Books:
Larry L. Barker (1981). Communication. Prentice-Hall
Judy Pearson & Paul Nelson. (). An Introduction to Human Communication : Understanding and Sharing.
David K. Berlo (1960). Process of Communication: An Introduction to Theory and Practice. Harcourt College Publishers.
MCJ 102: Concepts of Journalism
The course introduces the students to the principles, basic theories and practices of journalism. It lays emphasis on the nature of news, ethics of journalism, pressures on the press, and some aspects of interviews and features.
Recommended Books:
MCJ 103: Mass Media in Bangladesh
The course is focused on the social history of newspaper since its emergence in undivided Bengal. It also sheds light on the growth of electronic media, e.g., radio and television.
Suggested readings:
তারাপদ পাল--- ভারতের সংবাদপ্ত্র [সাহিত্য সদন, কোলকাতা]
সুব্রত শঙ্কর ধর ---- বাংলাদেশের সংবাদপ্ত্র [বাংলা একাডেমী]
শেখ আব্দুস সালাম ---- বাংলাদেশের গণমাধ্যম ও সাংবাদিকতায় আলোকিতজনেরা [মাওলা ব্রাদারস]
MCJ 104: Bangla Writing Skills [Current title]
The course helps the students improve their writing skills in Bangla. Emphasis is laid on familiarizing them with the forms of Bangla suitable for writing simple news, features and articles for the newspaper.
Recommended Books:
Computer Skills
Students need to write and edit reports and make presentations. This course is designed to help them learn some of the software like MSWord, MSEXCEL and Power Point that are essential for the aforementioned work.
Second Semester
MCJ 105: Interpersonal and Group Communication
The course discusses the preliminaries to interpersonal communication, relationship development and deterioration, improving interpersonal communication, and conflict management. It covers the types, procedures and formats of group communication and the nature and approaches to organizational communication.
Recommended Books:
MCJ 106: Mass Communication: Structure and Process
The course deals with the nature, scope and functions of mass communication. It discusses the composition and nature of media audience, media support system, process of media effects, and media structure and performance.
Recommended Books:
MCJ 107: Bangladesh Culture and Heritage
The course gives an overview of ancient Bengal, traces the main trends in the history of medieval Bengal and makes a critical analysis of the major political, socio-cultural and economic developments from the beginning of the 14th century till the end of the 19th century.
Recommended Books:
MCJ 108: English Writing Skills
The course is designed to help students learn the basics of writing. Emphasis is put on comprehension, description, translation and letter writing.
Recommended Books:
Langan, John – English Skills, 7th Edition, Mc Graw Hill
Maurice Imhoof and Herman Hudson – From Paragraph to Essay, Longman
Brown, Kristine and Hood Susan, Writing Matters, Cambridge University Press
Greenberg, Karen,L., and Wiener, Harvey, The Advancing Writer, Book-2, Harper Collins College Publishers
Berry, T.E. Common Mistakes in English Usage, Mc Graw Hill
Third Semester
MCJ 201: News Gathering and Writing
The course is designed to enable the students to develop basic reporting skills for print and electronic media. Emphasis is placed on the techniques of gathering information and writing simple news of accident, crime, speech and so on.
Recommended Books:
MCJ 202: History of Journalism
This course surveys briefly the evolution of the Bangladesh print media, beginning with newspapers in 1780 up to the partition of Indian subcontinent in 1947 and continuing through the Pakistan period right up to 1971. The course also examines in detail the newspapers that emerged during the liberation war, rise of print media during the seventies and eighties continuing up to present.
Recommended Books:
MCJ 203: Social Processes and Institutions
The course enables the students to get a view of society and culture by giving them some perception of the pattern of social relationships of individuals and groups within a society, based on systems of social roles, norms and shared meanings. Particular attention is paid throughout the course to issues of self in society, socialization, class structure, marriage and family, ethnicity and race, gender and sexuality, ageing, religion and social change.
Suggested readings:
Sociology - Anthony Giddens (Polity Press, 2006)
Sociological Theory - Ritzer and Stepnisky (McGraw Hill, 2013)
Contemporary Sociological Theory - Calhoun, Gerteis, Moody, Pfaff (Wiley-Blackwell, 2012)
Introduction to Sociological Theory: Theorists, Concepts, and their Applicability to the Twenty-First Century - Michele Dillon (Wiley-Blackwell, 2009)
Contemporary Sociological Theory - Jonathan H. Turner (Sage, 2012)
Sociology in Our Times - Murray, Lothian, Linden and Kendall
New Society: Sociology for the 21st Century - Brym
Marx, Durkheim, Weber: Formations of Modern Social Thought - Morrison (Sage, 2006)
Sociological Theory in the Contemporary Era: Texts and Readings - Appelrouth and Edres (Sage, 2010)
Inequality: A Contemporary Approach to Race, Class and Gender - Keister and Southgate (Cambridge University Press, 2012)
MCJ 204: Contemporary Bangladesh Affairs
The course covers the major socio-cultural, political and economic developments from the beginning of the twentieth century till the emergence of Bangladesh, changes in politics, socio-economic structure and culture after independence, Bangladesh in regional and global contexts.
Recommended Books:
Fourth Semester
MCJ 205: Introduction to Editing
The course is designed to help the students develop the basic news editing skills mainly for the newspaper. The focus will be on copyediting, headline writing, rewriting and translation.
Recommended Books:
MCJ 206: Mass Communication Theories
The course gives an introduction to the theories of media and society. It deals with the theories of media structure and performance, media organization in context, production of media culture issues and concepts of media content, audience formation and experience and media effects.
Recommended Books:
Mass Communication Theory - Baron Davis
Mass Communication Theory - Denis McQuail
Communication Theories - Wenrner Severin & James Tankard
MCJ 207: Political Processes and Institutions
This course deals with the conceptions of political process. It examines structures of political power, forms of political culture, and aspects of political socialization, political participation and political organization.
MCJ 208: Contemporary World Affairs
This subject provides students with the core concepts, processes, and issues of contemporary world. It examines the actors in international relations, how foreign policy is made, and the role of great powers. In addition, it deals with contemporary and future problems in the international system and the nature of political, socio-economic and cultural issues and problems of the recent world. This course focuses several global issues such as foreign policy, trading system, globalization, neo-liberalism, global warming, national security, war on terror, fundamentalism, the post Cold War environment, dynamics of the balance of power, the nature of threats to peace and stability and the role of international institutions etc and also includes topics relevant to national and human security of contemporary globe.
Recommended Books:
Davidson, P.J. (1996). Investment in Southeast Asia: Policy and Laws. Butterworth-Heinemann.
Anderson, B. (1983). Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism. London UK: Verso.
Doyle, M. W. (1997). Ways of War and Peace: Realism, Liberalism, and Socialism. W. W. Norton.
George, J. (1994). Discourses of Global Politics: A Critical (Re)introduction to International Relations. Boulder CO: Lynne Rienner.
Baldwin, D. A. (Ed.). (1993). Neorealism and Neoliberalism: The Contemporary Debate. New York NY: Columbia University Press.
Shannon, T. R. (1996). An Introduction to the World-System Perspective. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
Edoho, F. M. (Ed.). 1997. Globalization and the New World Order. Praeger Publishing.
The course investigates the nature of political, socio-economic and cultural issues and problems of the contemporary world. Emphasis is laid on developments in international affairs from 1945 to date.
Fifth Semester
MCJ 301: Newspaper Reporting
The course is designed to enable the students to learn the methods of reporting social, cultural and political events at different levels and contexts.
Recommended Books:
MCJ 302: Media Laws and Ethics
The course introduces the students to the legal and ethical issues in the media. It enables them to analyze the important legal and ethical issues involved with the media industry. The course examines the history and development of media laws and regulations.
Recommended Books:
MCJ 303: Economic Processes and Institutions
The course discusses the important concepts of Economics and the principal economic institutions. The course is so designed as to help understand the economic and financial issues frequently covered by the news media and enable them to write about the issues in the media with precision and clarity.
Recommended Books:
MCJ 304: Communication Research Methodology
The course introduces the methods of research in mass communication and journalism. It enables the students to conduct research, analyze data and prepare research reports. The course focuses on purposes of research, research design, sampling techniques, and quantitative methods. Students will learn statistics necessary for communication representations.
Recommended Books:
Mass Media Research - Wimmer, R. & Dominick, J.
Doing Media Research - Susana H Priest
Elementary Concepts in Statistics - Hays, Kendall and Stuart
Elementary Statistics in Social Research (12th Edition) - Jack A. Levin, James Alan Fox, David R. Forde
Statistics for the Social Sciences - R. Mark Sirkin
Introductory Statistics - Prem S. Mann
Sixth Semester
MCJ 305: Media, Society and Culture
This course critically examines the interplay between media, society and culture from a number of perspectives, seeking to develop an understanding of the serious social, cultural and political issues relating to the powerful influence of the Mass media. It investigates the role of the media in the social construction of reality and explores the impact of media-disseminated messages on individuals. The course pays particular attention to the knotty issue of how the media shape contemporary ideology and culture and look at the ways in which human identity is increasingly influenced by media representations.
Michael Gurevitch, Tonny Bennett, James Curran, and Janet Woollacott (eds)(1982). Culture, Society and the Media. London: Methuen.
Recommended Books:
Simon During (1999). The Cultural Studies Reader. London: Routledge.
Jeff Lewis (2008). Cultural Studies: The Basics. Los Angeles: Sage.
Hall, S. (1997). Representation: Cultural Representations and Signifying Practice. London: Sage Publications.
Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky. Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of Mass Media. Pantheon, 2002.
ফাহমিদুল হক (২০১১)। অসম্মতি উৎপাদন। ঢাকা: সংহতি।
ফাহমিদুল হক ও আ-আল মামুন (সম্পা., ২০১৩)। মিডিয়া সমাজ সংস্কৃতি। ঢাকা: আগামী।
MCJ 306: Development Issues and Perspectives
The course discusses the development problems and issues in the developing countries with particular reference to Bangladesh. In order to understand the problems in depth it also examines the theories of modernization, dependency and world system.
MCJ 307: International Communication
The course treats international communication as a distinct field of study and research. It discusses the evolution of international communication, its dimensions and various channels, role and impact of media in international relations and politics of international communication.
Recommended Books:
MCJ 308: Editing and Desktop Publishing
The course is designed to help the students further develop their editing skills. It covers rewriting of complicated copies, translation and page makeup. Students are given hands-on experience in desktop publishing.
Recommended Books:
Seventh Semester
MCJ 401: Communication and Information Technologies
This course provides an understanding of the extensive area of telecommunication and New Media. It focuses on general literacy in the infrastructure, underlying principles and vocabulary of CnIT, and a focused background in the major details and ongoing changes. The course aims to remove the technological mystique surrounding CnIT by providing a general knowledge of how telephone, radio, television, computer, internet and other transmission media work.
Suggested readings:
Fuchs, Christian ( 2014). Social Media: A Critical Introduction. London: Sage
Castells, Manuel & Cardoso (eds.) (2005). Network Society: From Knowledge to Policy. Massachusetts: The Johns Hopkins University
Mirabito, Michael M.A. (2004). The Communication Technologies: Applications, Policy and Impact (5th ed.). Burlington: Focal Press
Martin Lister et al (2009). New Media: A Critical Introduction (2nd edn.). London: Routledge.
MCJ 402: Gender and Communication
The course aims to study briefly the gender differences in communication with emphasis on situations that illustrate how gender is both an influence on and a product of communication. It is designed for the students who have little or no background in gender issues. The course discusses how gender inequalities are reproduced in daily life thorough media. It highlights the primary role played by media in creating gender insensitivity in the society.
Recommended Books:
Understanding Gender - kamla Bhasin.
Gender O Jogajog - Edited by Robaet Ferdous, Samia Rahman and Sabrina Sultana Chowdhury.
Ways of Seeing - John Berger.
MCJ 403: Broadcast Journalism
The course makes a good combination of theory and practice of broadcast journalism. It covers the techniques of reporting and editing news for radio and television. It sheds light on the growth and development of the electronic media, programme, commercial and news casting.
Recommended Books:
MCJ 404: Development Communication
This course provides the perspectives on development and examines the relationship between communication and development. It takes a critical look at the field of Development Communication (DC) in national and international contexts. It examines the current status of DC, its possibilities and limitations, theoretical and methodological approaches to development communication, relationships between power, communication and development.
Suggested readings:
Melkote, S.R., & Steeves, H.L. (2001). Communication for Development in the Third World: Theory and Practice for Empowerment, second edition. London, UK: Sage Publications.
Escobar, A. (1995). Encountering Development: The Making and Unmaking of the Third World. New Jersey: Princeton University Press.
Sen, A. K. (1999). Development as Freedom. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press
Eighth Semester
Students will choose one course from the cluster A of MCJ 405, 406, 407 and 408 and another from the cluster B of MCJ 409, 410, 411, 412 and 413.
Cluster A
MCJ 405: Video Production
The course is designed for the students who have little or no background in video production. The study of the course enable the students to analyze the role and technical characteristics of video technologies, production process, script writing, news casting, lighting, editing etc. It helps them develop their creativity and aesthetic perceptions while working with any of the broadcast media.
Recommended Books:
MCJ 406: Photo Journalism
The course enables the students to learn the techniques of press photography. Emphasis is laid on the theoretical and practical aspects of photography, overview of the history of press photography and the broad nature and scope of photo journalism. Students learn about camera configuration, techniques of composition, sharpness, focusing techniques, lighting techniques, caption writing and extending photo journalism to social experience.
Recommended Books:
MCJ 407: Economic and Business Journalism
The course is designed to help the students learn the techniques and methods of business and economic reporting. They report about a wide variety of issues, such as, budget, stock market, stock exchange, bond market, major business and industrial issues, SME issues, monetary and fiscal policy, business and consumers.
Recommended Books:
MCJ 408: Graphic Communication
The courser covers the theoretical aspects of graphic communication, evolution of graphic communication, verbal and visual elements of communication, design and production of graphic communication.
Recommended Books:
Cluster B
MCJ 409: Online Journalism
The course aims to give the students theoretical foundation and practical skills in the emerging forms of journalism based on the Internet and some digital technologies. They learn writing for the web and the basics of web publishing, planning and designing a news site, producing and publishing text, photos, graphics, audio and video, and different interactive features. The course combines theory with hand-on experience in the computer laboratory.
Suggested readings:
Journalism Online - Mike Ward, Andy Dickinson, Focal Press
The Online Journalism Handbook: Skills to survive and thrive in the digital age - Liisa Rohumaa & Paul Bradshaw
The Handbook of Global Online Journalism - Eugenia Siapera & Andreas Veglis
Breaking News the Craft & Technology of Online Journalism - Sunil Saxena
Online Journalism: A Critical Primer - Jim Hall
Online News: Journalism and the internet - Stuart Allan
MCJ 410: Public Speaking
The course provides some preliminaries to public speaking. It covers the organizing of public speech, style and language in public speech, delivery in public speaking. Emphasis is laid on the content and style of informative and persuasive speeches.
Recommended Books:
MCJ 411: Editorial and Feature Writing
The course focuses on the theory and practice of editorial and feature writing. Emphasis is put on writing features with slants.
Recommended Books:
MCJ 412: Science Reporting
The course is designed to give students an intensive training in science reporting. It enables them to explain science clearly in print, radio, TV and on the Internet. Class lectures, discussions, seminars, and field visits are designed so as to enable the students to think and write critically about scientific issues and controversies.
Recommended Books:
MCJ 413: Magazine Editing and Production
The course gives an introduction to the types of magazines, copy flow and tools of the trade. It helps the students learn how to approach raw copy, make linguistic corrections and improvements, check facts and look for legal and ethical issues. It deals with subbing, copy fitting technique, page layout, picture editing and finally with the print production stages, from prepress to on-press.
Recommended Books:
MCJ 414: Internship or Research:
Students undergo a certain period of internship in the media, advertising agencies, organizations having departments of public relations, and development organizations.
MCJ 415: Comprehensive and Oral
The purpose of the comprehensive and oral is to test the students` knowledge of the courses they have studied in the four-year period.
MASS COMMUNICATION AND JOURNALISM
MSS COURSES 2010-2011
The Department of Mass Communication and Journalism offers an innovative, full-immersion Master’s programme that has placed the Department in the forefront of higher education in communication and journalism in the country.
The one-year programme is unique in scope, focus and intensity. It begins with immersion in communication theories and applications, media research and journalism skills, values and principles. Students learn how to navigate a significantly different media environment in contemporary times through classes and seminars focused on the future of media communication.
The Communication part of the programme is designed for students seeking higher-level and focused understanding of communication processes and phenomena to pursue communication-related careers in business, government, education and research, the communications industry. It focuses on a wide range of issues, such as, public relations, advertising, media policy, media criticism, advocacy, health, poverty and so on. It includes social level analysis of mainstream and alternative media as products of and influences on society; individual level analysis of psychological and physiological processes through which knowledge, attitudes and behaviours are shaped; and the creation of messages as well as how strategic messages campaigns can influence decision making and social development.
The journalism part puts emphasis on shaping and redefining the evolving field of journalism. Critical thinking, excellent writing and visual communicating are its principal features. It focuses on a variety of issues, such as, environment, development, cyberspace, arts and entertainment, journalism cultures, critical analyses of current issues and so on. Students become experts in gathering, organizing and presenting news in written or visual formats. They become competent journalists who are aware of the critical history of journalism and ethical norms and can successfully navigate their writing and visual skills across all platforms of media and also engage in education and research.
The programme is of 32 credit hours and divided into 2 semesters. It includes teaching of 8 course units for a total of 800 marks. Each full unit course carries 100 marks. Of the eight courses four are core and three optional. There are two clusters of optional courses, one of communication and the other of journalism. Students can choose two courses from one cluster and one from the other. There is an obligatory comprehensive course, divided into two parts -- written and oral, each part carrying 50 marks. Students opting for thesis choose two optional courses from either of the clusters.
The core courses are offered in the first semester and the optional courses in the second semester.
CORE COURSES
MCJ 501: Communication Theories
This course surveys the principal theoretical perspectives on communication with a view to analyzing the relationship between media and communication institutions and the state and other social, political and cultural institutions. The focus is mainly on political economy, structuralism, culturalism, post-structuralism, post-modernity.
Recommended Books:
Communication Theory - Em Griffin
Communication Theories - Wenrner Severin & James Tankard
MCJ 502: Media Research and Cultural Analysis
This course, drawing mainly on rigorous practice and critical enquiry, deals with techniques necessary for researching media and culture. Focus includes: readership research; circulation studies; readability survey; ratings and non-ratings research in the electronic media; research in media effects; Marxist approach; semiological analysis; discourse analysis; psychoanalytic criticism, feminist criticism.
Recommended Books:
MCJ 503: Advanced Reporting
This capstone course deals with the techniques of investigation mainly into the areas of parliament, election, crime. Students are expected and encouraged to come up with ideas for investigative stories or projects, find the sources they need, do the reporting to back up their idea and write the story in a clear, compelling and fair fashion, adhering to the standards of accuracy and objectivity.
Recommended Books:
MCJ 504: Advanced Editing
This course helps the students develop skills at a higher level – the ability to critique news and other newspaper contents constructively. Given that no one deals more with the challenges of the ever-changing language than the daily newspaper copyeditor and no one works under more pressure to integrate words, pictures, graphics and design to tell compelling stories, this course in its design puts emphasis on newspaper news editing. The course enables the students to spot errors in complex copies, correct linguistic usage, improve clarity, remedy inconsistencies and redundancies and edit the story to meet generally accepted journalism standards.
Recommended Books:
OPTIONAL COURSES
Communication and Cultural Studies:
MCJ 505: Media Economics and Management
This course gives an overview of different media organizations, structure and management. It discusses management theories, unique characteristics of media companies, media companies’ missions and goals, planning and decision making, leadership style, marketing perspective for the media, market analysis, product planning, promotion, human resource development for media organizations and financial management.
Recommended Books:
MCJ 506: Communication Policies and Planning
This course gives an overview of communication policies at the national and international levels and the principles of planning and their application to the areas of communication at different levels. Particular emphasis is laid on images and action, systems analysis, short and long term forecasting for communication technology planning, economic analysis, communication decision-making and evaluation strategies.
Recommended Books:
MCJ 507 Television: Context and Content
This course deals with the multichannel television universe. It focuses, inter alia, on the following topics-- origin and growth of television; the art and science of television; the language of television, political-economy of television; content, context and casting: the television studio; the social impact of television, television and nonstop news networks; television and education; television and socialization, television and Post-modernism, popular culture and television entertainment, violence in television; satellite and cable channels; television viewing practices; future perspectives of television.
Recommended Books:
Wasko, J. (Ed.). (2010). A Companion to Television. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Miller, T. (2010). Televisions Studies: The Basics, Routledge. London.
Fisk, J., & Hartley, J. (1989). Reading Televisio. Routledge.
Kellner, D. (1990). Television and the Crisis of Democracy. Westview Press.
Williams, R. (2003).Television: Technology and Cultural Form, Raymond. Psychology Press.
A llen, C. R. (Ed.). (1998). Channels of Discourse, Reassembled: Television and Contemporary Criticism. The University of North Carolina Press.
Bourdieu, P. (1998). On Television and Journalism. The New Press.
MCJ 508: Film Sense and Criticism
This course examines both historical and theoretical viewpoints on film. It discusses the earliest attempts to define the cinema to the most recent efforts to place film in the contexts of psychology, sociology, philosophy and aesthetics. It lays emphasis on interpretations of film in the light of auteur theory, mise-en-scene, narrative theory, feminist theory, queer cinema, and global cinema, as well as digitization and globalization, which engages important recent developments in technology and world cinema.
The course is taught through a combination of lectures, group discussions and seminars. It also involves the viewing of classic and contemporary films.
Suggested readings:
Barsam, R. (2007). Looking at Movies: An Introduction to Film (2nd ed.). New York: W. W. Norton and Company.
Mast, G. and Kawin B. F. (2008). A Short History of the Movies (10th ed.). New York: Pearson Longman.
Leo Braudy and Marshal Cohen eds. (1999); Film Theory and Criticism: Introductory Readings; Oxford University Press; Oxford.
David Bordwell and Kristin Thompson (1979); Film Art: An Introduction; Addison-Wesley Publishing Company; Massachusetts.
John Hill and Pamela Church Gibson eds. (1998); The Oxford Guide to Film Studies; Oxford University Press; Oxford.
Susan Hayward (2006), Cinema Studies: Key Concepts (3rd edn.), Routledge, London.
রায়, সত্যজিৎ (১৯৮৯)। বিষয় চলচ্চিত্র। কলকাতা: আনন্দ পাবলিশার্স লিমিটেড।
নাসরীন, গীতি আরা ও হক, ফাহমিদুল (২০০৮)। বাংলাদেশের চলচ্চিত্র শিল্প: সঙ্কটে জনসংস্কৃতি। ঢাকা: শ্রাবণ।
হক, ফাহমিদুল (২০১৩)। চলচ্চিত্র সমালোচনা। ঢাকা: আগামী।
আউয়াল, সাজেদুল (২০১১)। চলচ্চিত্রকলার রূপ-রূপান্তর। ঢাকা: দিব্য প্রকাশ।
MCJ 509: Public Relations
This course discusses the nature, process and methods of public relations. It gives equal importance to the applications of public relations. The contents of the course include public opinion and persuasion, public relations and new technologies, public relations and the law and the future of public relations. The course takes a critical view of the unethical aspects of public relations.
Suggested readings:
The Practice of Public Relations - Fraser P. Seitel
Effective Public Relations - Cutlip and Center
This is PR - Newsom and Scott
MCJ 510: Advertising
This course introduces the students to nuanced tools and methodologies needed to market products in a constantly shifting context. It addresses past and current knowledge of diversity in advertising, questions that have not been well addressed in this area, how current theories can be applied to construct better communication plans and message content. The course critiques the unethical aspects of advertising.
Recommended Books:
Contemporary Advertising ( 2nd ed.) - Courtland L. Bovee and William F. Arens. Advertising Principles and Problems - Charles J. Dirksen and Arthur Kroeger.
Principles of Advertising. Advisory Editor - Woodrow Wirsig.
MCJ 511: Comparative Media Systems
In order to compare different media systems, this course investigates media situations through various issues and concerns of social, cultural, political import, and if necessary, the historical specificity of events, practices and examples of different countries, regions and peoples. It explores Asian and Latin American experiences to see if there are unique practices and examples in the regions which may be applicable to Western media contexts. The course sheds light on media globalization and cultural resistance in the non-western regions with particular reference to South Asia.
Recommended Books:
MCJ 512: Health and Population Communication
This course discusses health and population problems and family planning programmes from the communication perspective. Focus includes: communication in family planning; Homophily and Heterophily in communication; diffusion model and family planning innovations; government and non-government organization programmes on population; cultural aspect of communication on health and population issues; recent media responses and Behavior Change Communication (BCC) through mass media on nutrition, adolescent and sex education, drug prevention, reproductive health, mother and child health and HIV/AIDS.
The course reviews the BCC materials on relevant areas; their formats, channels, messages and preparation of such materials.
Suggested readings:
Paul E Zome, Jr. (). Population. Mayfield Publishing Co.
E.M. Rogers (1973). Communication Strategy for Family Planning. New York: New York Free Press
Phyllis Tilson Piotrow (). Health Communication: Lessons from Family Planning and Reproductive Health. Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programme
জাতীয় স্বাস্থ্য নীতি ২০১২ [স্বাস্থ্য ও পরিবার কল্যাণ মন্ত্রণালয়]
MCJ 513: Media Advocacy and Public Education
The course provides an overview of the types, elements, characteristics, areas, methods, strategies, and tactics of awareness and policy advocacy. Its prime concentration is in media advocacy-concepts of media advocacy, principles and approaches to designing media operation for social and public changes; outlining strategic use of mass media, and different indigenous and alternative media. Students are expected to be able to produce a media advocacy planning which is particularly building up a media strategy, and an action plan on any given issue (health, education, environment, freedom, budget, governance issues, for example).
Students need to undertake a project demonstrating their ability to plan, research, and design a media campaign.
Recommended Books:
MCJ 514: Media Activism
This course discusses how activism uses media and communication technologies for social movement. It highlights publishing news on web sites, creating video and audio investigations, spreading information about protests, and organizing campaigns relating to media and communications policy. It covers in its scope the attempts by grassroots activists to use alternative media to spread information not available in mainstream news and certain forms of politically motivated hacking and net-based campaigns. It makes a close analysis of activist practices in both new and old media.
Recommended Books:
Journalism
MCJ 524: Conflict Resolution Journalism
Typical conflict reporting has a value bias towards violence. This usually leads audiences to overvalue violent responses to conflict and ignore non-violent alternatives. This course dealing with conflict resolution journalism discusses methods for correcting the value bias towards violence by producing journalism in both mainstream and alternative media. It examines the range of causes of conflicts such as human rights abuse, political corruption, unethical corporate practice, ethnic and religious divisions, unequal information flows between regions and other forms of conflict. The course enables the students to write and report with a view to assisting the growth of a truly democratic and liberal ambience.
Recommended Books:
Journalism Media and Path to Peace - Gadi Wolfsfeld
The Uncensored War - Daniel C. Hallin
MCJ 515: Development Journalism
This course equips students with the knowledge, skills and techniques required for development journalism. Topics such as new concepts in journalism, advocacy journalism, and grass roots journalism are broadly analysed, while the contemporary practices and concerns are examined in depth. Throughout this course students are encouraged to make frequent field visits and write reports and features on a regular basis. There are reporting assignments on a wide range of issues including gender concerns, children rights, human rights, environment, good governance, health and nutrition, micro-finance, land rights, disaster management, rural empowerment, traditional media, right to communication, and minority issue.
Recommended Books:
MCJ 516: Environmental Journalism
This course lays emphasis on writing for the news media on environmental issues such as, air pollution, noise pollution, urban sprawl, natural calamities, deforestation, desertification, dying rivers, endangered species and so on. Students interview experts in environmental science and reporting. Exemplary environmental writing is reviewed.
Recommended Books:
Environmentalism and the Mass Media: Graham Chapman, Keval Kumar, Caroline & Ivor Gaber
The Politics of Climate Change: Anthony Giddens
Environment, Media and Communication: Anders Hansen
MCJ 517: Cyber Journalism
This course is designed to enable the students to use internet for information gathering and online publishing in general. Credible web sources are demonstrated to familiarize them with internet environment and techniques of browsing, exploring internet material.
The course lays special emphasis on the practical aspects of internet news gathering, editing process of downloaded material, electronic subbing and editing, web page design, the state of on-line journalism in Bangladesh and the internet as an alternative medium.
Recommended Books:
MCJ 518: Editorial and Column Writing
This course is designed to drill the students on the theory and practice of editorial writing. It highlights the opinion functions of editorials and columns in the newspapers. The structure and functions of editorial would be examined along with creative essentials of editorial writing. It enables the students to appreciate differences between an editorial/column and other forms of writing. This understanding will prepare them to face the challenges that go with analysis and interpretation of various issues.
Recommended Books:
MCJ 519: Arts and Entertainment Journalism
This course gives an overview of the types of stories written by an arts journalist working for a newspaper or website, such as reviews, features, and profiles. It considers solutions to problems specific to arts journalism and examines ethical questions peculiar to arts journalism. The course puts particular emphasis on writing.
Recommended Books:
MCJ 520: Narrative Journalism
The narrative form marks a departure from the structural conventions of daily news by laying emphasis on deep and sophisticated reporting, an appreciation for storytelling and an imaginative use of language. Students of this course explore the art and craft of long-form storytelling, writing their own pieces. They study the techniques of nonfiction masters and write polished magazine articles based on character, plot, scene and dialogue.
Recommended Books:
MCJ 521: Journalism Cultures
Students gain an understanding of the principles and practices of contemporary journalism in a range of industrial, organisational and self-publishing models. It explores the difficulties of and opportunities for journalist at work in different cultural settings. To understand the contemporary state of journalism culture in its proper perspective this course engages the students with an awareness of the social history of journalism.
MCJ 522: Current Issues: Critical Analysis
This course enables the students to gain a deeper understanding of the fast-changing world of news of the current issues. It takes a critical approach to the analysis and interpretation of the most pressing issues in national and global contexts. Through discussion, dissent and debate the course creates a lively interactive environment that enhances the quality of the students’ insight and critical outlook.
MCJ 523: Reporting the Court
This course deals with reporting the court which is one of the most challenging and fascinating beats at any news operation, one rich with human drama. It familiarizes the students with the necessary preparation that a reporter should take before covering the beat. The students are expected to have a basic understanding of civil and criminal law. The course instructs the students about how to work in the background, take thorough notes in the court, make note of legal terms that are not easily understood, watch for the moments of real drama and do reporting outside the courtroom.
Recommended Books:
MCJ 599: Thesis
The thesis is an important optional component of the requirements for students seeking to obtain their MSS degree. It is a formal paper with a definite purpose that seeks to advance a point of analysis reached by the students in the course of their research. Students are asked to make a new query, hypothesis or investigation and resolve the question at hand. The thesis must be original and reach the desired level of scholarly accomplishment.