BUS 3212 - The Business of Global Media: The Political Economy of Communication

This course draws on a small but important field of humanities and social sciences: the political economy of communication. Drawing on and engaging with economics, communication, political science, law, cultural studies, philosophy, sociology, and science and technology studies, political economists of communication seek to investigate how media and communications are structured in various countries and how those structures go beyond national boundaries. We will address issues including access to, funding of, and regulating communication. Students will be able to recognize the values that are expressed by the shape of a communications system and how that system enacts and affects power relationships. In particular, students will be able to understand how communication systems interact with markets, democracy, and regional identities and cultures.