Prior knowledge equivalent to 60 credits in social science or humanities.

The course may be included in a general degree at undergraduate level.

The course is structured along three key modules:

1. An introduction to historical and contemporary theories and methods of communication for development and social change.
2. Practical understanding of the entanglements of power and agency, such as inequality, identity and cultural differences, and ethical considerations that arise within communicating sustainable development and social change.
3. Critical discussions on the challenges of communicating impactfully to achieve sustainability at local, regional and international levels.

After completing the course, the student will be able to:

1. Describe key concepts, theories and historical developments in the field of communication for development and social change;
2. Analyze how to address social issues and contribute to sustainable development through communication practices;
3. Discuss interdisciplinary perspectives on complex social challenges;
4. Discuss the entanglements of power and agency that commonly raised in communication initiatives in relation to communication messages and media representation;
5. Critically evaluate knowledge from the course by discussing current social issues.

Supervision, lectures, exercises, and seminars.

Introduction to historical and contemporary theories (5 credits)

• Individual written essay (LO 1, 2, 5)

Practical understanding of the entanglements of power and agency (5 credits)

• Individual written essay (LO 1, 4, 5)

Critical discussions on the challenges of communicating impactfully (5 credits)

• Student group work with classroom presentation and submission of presentation material (LO 2, 3).

Individual assessment is primarily based on classroom presentations.

The final grade of the course is a summation of the three assignments. For a VG grade in total at least two of three assignments must be graded VG.

Three examination opportunities are offered in or near to the semester the course is given. Students who have not completed the course have opportunities to participate in examinations when the course is given again. In these cases, the literature and examination tasks that are valid for the course at the time of the examination apply.

Special circumstances apply to courses with production tasks or presentation of group work, as the assessment is dependent on the student participating in specific projects during given time periods. The specific assignment may be adapted during re-examination because it cannot be performed in the same way as during the regular examination.

• Dagron, Alfonso G., & Tufte, Thomas. (2006). Communication for social change anthology: Historical and contemporary readings. Communication for Social Change Consortium.
• Flew, Terry. (2018). Understanding global media. Palgrave Macmillan.​
• Hopper, Paul. (2018). Understanding development (2nd ed.). Polity Press.​
• Jenatsch, Thomas & Bauer, Richard. (2016). Communication for development: A practical guide. Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC).​
• Kothari, Uma & Cheltenham, Elise Klein. (2023). Advanced introduction to critical global development. Edward Elgar Publishing.​
• Scott, Michael. (2014). Media and development. Zed Books.​
• Servaes, Jan & Yusha’u, Muhammad J. (2023). SDG18 communication for all, volume 1: The missing link between SDGs and global agendas. Springer International Publishing AG.​
• Servaes, Jan (Ed.). (2020). Handbook of communication for development and social change. Springer.​
• Sorce, Giuliana (Ed.). (2023). Global perspectives on NGO communication for social change. Routledge.​
• Tacchi, Jo & Tufte, Thomas (Eds.). (2021). Communicating for change: Concepts to think with. Palgrave Macmillan.​
• Tuckey, John. (2022). Communication for development: A practical handbook. Bloomsbury Academic.

Additional literature to a minor extent may be added and made available via the course learning platform.

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).

If a course is no longer offered, or has undergone significant changes, the students must be offered two opportunities for re-examination based on the syllabus that applied at the time of registration, for a period of one year after the changes have been implemented.

If a student has a Learning support decision, the examiner has the right to provide the student with an adapted test, or to allow the student to take the exam in a different format. The syllabus is a translation of a Swedish source text.