400013 FK Communication and Democracy: European and international perspectives (2018S)

Description
This course addresses problems of and challenges to democracy within the European Union framework. It specifically takes stock of the theories on communication and democratic deficit of the EU and expands the discussion to include the analysis of current EU wide issues, such as migration, financial crisis, Brexit and the possibility of sanctions on autarchic regimes, from a communication perspective. It integrates questions of press freedom and the the status of journalists in Europe as they seek to investigate, understand and analyse the political and socioeconomic developments in the EU.
Questions to be asked include:
how are the conditions of work and professional cultures influencing the ways of coverage of the EU?
Are there truly European issues, is there a European public sphere in which to discuss those?
is European dis/integration a possibility and what is the role of the media?
What is the role of quality journalism in the digital age when reporting crisis?
What are the gender aspects of crisis and how can feminist scholarship shed light to blind spots?

This is a designated Jean Monnet course associated with the Jean Monnet Chair of Professor Sarikakis