Lecture I    9am-12noon, 4 March 2019   Room: Mingxin 711

Introduction – International Communication

In this introductory session, we will discuss the course outline and aims; the broad framework of the key themes to be covered.

Lecture  II    2pm-5pm, 4 March   Room: Mingxin 711

Global Communications Infrastructure

This session will aim to explore how a privatised international communication infrastructure has accelerated the process of trans-nationalization. Particular attention will be given to the growth of the international satellite industry - the hardware of the global media and communications. This will be discussed within the framework of the neo-liberal policies of international institutions such as the World Trade Organisation.

Lecture III    9am-12 noon, 5 March   Room: Mingxin 711

Multimedia Conglomerates, Localization and Regionalization

This session will explore how media conglomerates have consolidated their power globally, as a result of privatization, deregulation and liberalization in the media and communication sector.  The session also raises the question of regulating media in an era of globalization, when the activities of global conglomerates seem increasingly to be beyond the authority of nation states.

Lecture IV    2pm-5pm, 5 March   Room: Mingxin 711

Infotainment International      

The focus of this session will be on the increasing tendency among news organisations to blur the boundaries between news and entertainment. The session will examine why this is happening and its implications for public media internationally.

Lecture V    1pm-4pm, 6 March   Room: Mingxin 711

Global Communication as Entertainment

Though news is very important, in terms of global audience it has a miniscule presence when compared to mass consumption of entertainment media. It is perhaps fair to say that entertainment drives global media. In this session, we explore the dominant players in the global entertainment industry, focusing on Hollywood. Why does Hollywood play such a key part in shaping the global audio-visual landscape?

Lecture VI    6pm-9pm, 6 March for postgraduate class

No2. Teachingbuilding 2405

Theories of International Communication

In this session, we will explore some of the key theories of international communication, from the point of view of both political economy and cultural studies. The lecture will also examine the growing importance of rolling 24/7 news in global communication, assessing the continuing dominance of US-UK media on global news and information networks, and will discuss its implications for global news agendas and news consumers worldwide.

Lecture VII    10am-12noon, 7 March for undergraduate class Mingxin 0403 

Global Media Cultures

Is globalization another form of US cultural hegemony? Is it leading to a homogenization of media cultures across the globe? This session will analyse this claim and explore whether it is a global consumer culture rather than an ‘American’ culture that is being promoted by the global media.

Lecture  VIII    2pm-5pm, 7 March    Room: Mingxin 711

Contra-flows in International Communication

Is the flow of cultural products one-way only - from the media-rich North (or more accurately the US-UK duopoly) to the media-poor South? The one-way-flow argument has traditionally been a key part of debates in international communication. Besides analysing this claim, the session will aim to explore if there exist other types of flows - South-South or increasingly South-North. The discussion will be contextualised with examples from both the arena of popular entertainment and the world of news and current affairs programming.

Lecture  IX    9am-12noon, 8 March Room: Mingxin 711

Digital Divides and Dividends

In this session our focus will be on how the worldwide use of the internet has influenced the global media and communication landscape. The session will examine the crucial importance of the new technologies in development communication. It will explore the digital divides and dividends, and contrast the colonisation of the cyberspace with the idealism of the pioneers of the internet, who saw it as an empowering and democratising medium.

Lecture X    2pm-5pm, 8 March   Room: Mingxin 711

Legitimacy and competitiveness of global media players

This lecture will examine the emergence of new global media players such as from the BRICS nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa), with special attention to two major BRICS nations - China and India – the world’s two fastest growing large economies with aspirations to global leadership. It will examine the problems and prospects for their global ascent.

Lecture XI    9am-12noon, 11 March Room: Mingxin 711

Summing up and interaction with faculty and students on their academic research

Daya Thussu is Visiting Professor and Disney Chair in Global Media at Schwarzman College, Tsinghua University in Beijing. For many years he was Professor of International Communication and Co-Director of India Media Centre as well as research advisor to the China Media Centre at the University of Westminster in London. He is the Founder and Managing Editor of the Sage journal Global Media and Communication. Author or editor of 18 books, among his main publications are: Electronic Empires (Arnold: 1998); International Communication - Continuity and Change, third edition (Bloomsbury Academic, 2019); Media on the Move – Global Flow and Contra-flow (Routledge: 2007); News as Entertainment: The Rise of Global Infotainment (Sage: 2007); Internationalizing Media Studies (Routledge: 2009); Media and Terrorism: Global Perspectives (Sage: 2012, co-edited with Des Freedman); Communicating India’s Soft Power: Buddha to Bollywood (Palgrave, 2013/Sage, 2016); Mapping BRICS Media (Routledge: 2015, co-edited with Kaarle Nordenstreng) and China’s Media Go Global (Routledge, 2018, co-edited with Hugo de-Burgh and Anbin Shi).

daya.thussu@sc.tsinghua.edu.cn; daya.thussu@gmail.com