BSc minor Communication, Digitalization & Polarization

Continue to an overview of the courses in this minor

How are life science issues discussed in traditional media and on social media? In what ways can communication campaigns foster healthy behaviour? How does polarization of issues such as climate change come about? And how do organizations navigate an increasingly complex and digital media environment? What role does social media play in the spread of disinformation? These types of questions are central in the BSc Minor Communication, Digitalization and Polarization.

The BSc Minor Communication, Digitalization and Polarization provides students with a comprehensive introduction to the field of strategic communication and current challenges related to digitalization and polarization. Next to a general introduction to key questions and approaches in communication science, the minor offers specialised courses that focus on the impact of communication, both at the individual and societal level. Courses address the role of interpersonal and mediated communication in the process of individual and collective problem-solving and decision-making, both in organizations as well as in the context of politics and policy. Courses that are more focused on the individual address persuasive mechanisms that shape human behaviour. They discuss how people can be encouraged to change their behaviour and behave for example more sustainable or healthy, or be more understanding towards people with different opinions. Other courses are more focused on collective problem solving, and look at the factors that influence both external and internal communication of organizations and in particular in public governance. They look at how organizations contribute to societal change and how they cope with threats and crises. In their future work, both students with a life sciences or social sciences background can benefit from understanding how communication can contribute to solving important societal problems.
This BSc minor is a programme minor.

Learning Outcomes

After successful completion of this minor students are expected to be able to:

• understand and explain basic communication science concepts, ideas, and theories;
• understand the potential and limitations of different types and forms of communication interventions;
• explain how digitalization has altered the spread and consumption of news and information;
• understand the persuasive mechanisms through which communication can influence perceptions, (polarization of) attitudes, intentions and individual behaviour;
• analyse the role of (and relations between) external and internal communication in organisations and in politics;
• translate and apply these insights to practical problem situations in their own domain of study.

Target group

This minor is interesting for students from a broad range of BSc programmes.

Overlapping courses or content with

BBC–B Management and Consumer Studies – Major B Consumer Studies BCW Communication Sciences BGM Health and Society

Language

Part English and part Dutch 

Semester

First semester (period 1, 2 and 3)

Programme or thematic

Programme minor