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2011/2012  KAN-CMC_VPAN  Power and Networks

English Title
Power and Networks

Course Information

Language English
Point 7,5 ECTS (225 SAT)
Type Elective
Level Full Degree Master
Duration One Semester
Course Period Autumn
Pending schedule: Week 35-40: Thursday, 13.30-17.00 Week 39, 40: Friday, 14.25-17.00
Time Table Please see course schedule at e-Campus
Max. participants 16
Study Board
Study Board for BSc/MSc in Business Administration and Organizational Communication
Course Coordinator
  • Mikkel Flyverbom - Department of Intercultural Communication and Management
Main Category of the Course
  • Communication
  • Political Science

Taught under Open University-Taught under open university.
Last updated on 29 maj 2012
Learning Objectives
The course seeks to provide students with in-depth insights into questions of power, communication and networks by bringing together theories from the fields of communication, sociology and politics and using these to analyze and understand current developments and cases in global business, diplomacy and governance.

The course’s development of personal competences:
This course will not only provide students with key insights about the shape, organization and direction of the politics of communication networks, but also give them hands-on experience with global, digital interactions. The course caters particularly to students seeking an international career in business, or as lobbyists, diplomats or policymakers in international organizations and settings.
Prerequisite
Participation in this intensive graduate course requires that students have a background (or training) in communication and/or international politics.
Examination
Written Paper
Power and Networks:
Assessment Home Assignment
Marking Scale 7-step scale
Censorship External examiners
Exam Period Winter Term
Aids Open Book, Written and Electronic Aid is permitted
Duration Please, see the detailed regulations below
Examination
The examination is an individually written paper of the length of maximum 20 pages.
Course Content

This course explores the intersection of networks and power in a globalizing world. Through an introduction to key themes in the literature on power, communication and global governance, the course sheds light on themes such as the potentials of digital media for social transformation, the role of networks in organization, politics and governance, and the emergence of the global politics of Internet as a new issue area. The course is case-based, focuses on current events, and experimental in both content and structure. The course combines workshops and lectures on campus with online lectures and interactions (using the advanced conferencing software DimDim) with scholars and students in the US (such as Georgetown University and American University in Washington DC, New School for Social Research in NYC, Stanford University in Palo Alto). This is a rare opportunity to engage with scholars and researchers from some of the top universities in the US. The first part of the course will involve weekly meetings, while the latter part involves supervision and individual work on the term paper, with a few online lectures.

Teaching Methods
The course is case-based, focuses on current events, and experimental in both content and structure.
The course combines workshops and lectures on campus with online lectures and interactions.
Literature

List of readings:
(excerpts from)

Brunsson, Nils et al (2002) A world of standards

Castells, Manuel (2009): Communication Power

Djelic, Marie-Laure and Sahlin-Anderson, Kerstin (2006): Transnational Governance: Institutional Dynamics of Regulation

Grewal, David Singh (200: Network Power: The Social Dynamics of Globalization

Hallström, Kristina Tamm and Boström, Magnus (2010): Transnational Multi-stakeholder Standardization: Organizing Fragile Non-State Authority

Higgins, Vaughan and Larner, Wendy (2010) Calculating the social: Standards and the reconfiguration of governing.

Lampland, Martha and Susan Leigh Star (2009) Standards and their stories: how quantifying, classifying, and formalizing practices shape everyday lives

McGrath, Conor (2009) Interest groups and lobbying in Europe: essays on trade, environment, legislation, and economic devel opment

Singh, J. P. (2008): Negotiation and the global information economy

Stone, Diane (2004): Think tanks: traditions policy research and the politics of ideas

Wedel, Janine (2009) Shadow elite: how the world's new power brokers undermine democracy, government, and the free market