| Year | COMM Core Course | Major Required Course | Concentration Required Course | Major Electives & General Electives* | GE Programme | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year 1 | 6 | 9 | 0 | 3* | 15 | 33 |
| Year 2 | 3 | 6 | 6 | 12* | 7 | 34 |
| Year 3 | 0 | 6 | 13 | 6* | 6 | 31 |
| Year 4 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 15* | 3 | 30 |
| Total | 9 | 21 | 31 | 36* | 31 | 128 |
* Students are required to take a total of 30 units of general electives
| Studies of Communication, Journalism and Film | 3 units |
| Communication, Ethics and Law | 3 units |
COMM1015 Studies in Communication, Media, and Journalism (3 units)
Medium of Instruction:
English
As a core requirement for all undergraduate students of the School of Communication, this course provides an overview of principles and contexts of communication and media studies. The scope of the introductory course is not only limited to mediated communication behaviors but media phenomena in the contexts of advertising, public relations, employee communication, and journalism. The purpose of this course is to introduce students who have had no prior experience with the field of communication to its diverse areas of study. By focusing on a series of fundamental concepts about communication, the course provides all students of the School of Communication a common foundation and a comprehensive perspective to approach subsequent courses in the School’s curriculum.
COMM2035 Communication, Ethics and Law (3 units)
Medium of Instruction:
English
This is a core course for all undergraduate students of the School of Communication.
The growth of digital media has largely reshaped the media ecology. The law and regulations which regulate the practice of media workers have also been updated significantly. Media practitioners have been facing increasingly sophisticated, unprecedented and challenging real-life ethical and legal dilemma(s). This course combines theoretical concepts related to the study of philosophy, social theory, communication and law. We will examine the ethical theories of a variety of thinkers/writers and see what light they shed on the topic of living and communicating with integrity. Codes of practice in different communication contexts will be analysed. We will look at all of the ethical values and codes for behaviour in communication and examine how changing technologies, digital communication and media delivery systems are influencing those core values. Both ethical concerns of the past and those contemporary concerns in our digital technological era will be examined. Real-life ethical and legal challenges will be incorporated for discussion, analysis and deliberations. Basic knowledge of laws and major court rulings affecting the practice of media and communication workers will also be introduced. The ultimate goal is to help students to develop a professional standard that will help them find their way through their career.
When they are faced with a pressure intensive situation, they will be able to make a considered ethical and legal decision regardless of the nature of the media organization that they are working for.
Course objectives:
(1) This course provides some basic understanding of key concepts and ethical theories, codes of practice, legal knowledge and major court rulings etc. affecting the practice of communication;
(2) This course will also provide a framework that will enable students as working media professionals to identify ethical dilemmas and to formulate a solution;
(3) This course will examine how changing technologies, digital communication and media delivery systems influence the application of core ethical values; and
(4) This course's emphasis is on current developments and trends in Hong Kong. Asian and/or Chinese perspectives will contribute to the understanding of the real-life ethical and legal challenges. Overseas case studies from around the world will be used to illustrate some specific topics.
| Human Communication | 3 units | |
| COMM 2027 | AI and Digital Communication | 3 units |
| COMM 2036 | Media Design and Digital Applications | 3 units |
COMM2026 Human Communication (3 units)
Medium of Instruction:
English
This course is designed to introduce the basic concepts, theories, and research perspectives within the field of human communication. Specifically, the course provides a framework from which you can think theoretically about communicative practices. Key approaches to the study of human interaction across various realms will be introduced: the verbal and nonverbal aspects of human interaction; the perception of the self and others in the communication process; and the processes and meanings of interaction in varied contexts, such as interpersonal, small groups, organizations, public, and intercultural communication. By semester end, students will be able to apply principles for effective communication in relating to others and have a fuller understanding of appropriate and effective communication based on knowledge of theoretical concepts and their applications.
COMM2027 AI and Digital Communication (3 units)
Medium of Instruction:
English
In the age of digital media, the increasing presence of artificial intelligence (AI, hereafter) is changing the landscape of media and communication industry. The applications include data-driven digital marketing, toys and gaming, AI and multimedia production, automatic customer service, computational news production, machine learning, recommender systems, search engines, among others. Meanwhile, the "dark sides" of these emerging technologies also come to the fore, such as fake news, algorithm-confounded audience polarization, privacy protection, surveillance society, the dampening news professionalism, and the enlarging digital divide.
As an introductory and interdisciplinary course, this course first introduces the basic concepts, theories, and state-of-the-art techniques of AI as an overview. It then elaborates several domains of applications of AI in media and communication context, followed by a critical reflection on AI. Students are expected to understand the basic principles of AI, and how AI is changing the media and communication process. They will also be equipped with an interdisciplinary and crucial perspective, and making sense of new technologies' social, cultural, and political implications, in both global and local contexts.
COMM2036 Media Design and Digital Applications (3 units)
Medium of Instruction:
English
Media design is at the intersection of visual communication, interactive design, and algorithmic thinking. This course will give students an overview of fundamental concepts related to digital media, provide students with the relevant design principles, development process, evaluation methods, and knowledge of algorithms in digital media.
To fulfil such goal, the course will first introduce students with the basic concepts in visual communication. This course will then provide an essential foundation for student learning interactive media in addition to animation and game design. Using industry standard prototype development process, students will create a basic prototype of digital media products. Finally, this course will also aim to prepare students with the essential concepts and techniques of algorithms in order to gain a knowledge of the benefits of algorithms in media industry. Emphasis is placed on developing the students’ capabilities of algorithmic thinking. Lectures with integrated with case studies of emerging digital technologies and their applications, including social media, video games, VR/AR, live streams, as well as popular algorithms and ethical issues of algorithms. Students who are interested in the design and development interactive media will find this course relevant.
| Communication Theory (Communication Studies) | 3 units | |
| COMM 2007 | Communication Research Method (Communication Studies) | 3 units |
| PRAO 2007 | Principles and Methods of Advertising | 3 units |
| PRAO 2015 | Principles and Practices of Public Relations | 3 units |
| PRAO 2046 | Internal Communication and Employee Engagement | 3 units |
| PRAO 3015 | Consumer Perspectives in Public Relations and Advertising | 3 units |
| PRAO 3056 | Campaign Planning and Management | 3 units |
COMM2006 Communication Theory (Communication Studies) (3 units)
Prerequisite:
Year 2 standing or above
Medium of Instruction:
English
A broad spectrum of theoretical development is explored encompassing interpersonal, group, organizational, mass, and public communication theories. Application of the theories is an important component of the class, especially in making the ideas relevant to the context of Chinese society and Hong Kong experience in order to provide a foundation to meet the dynamic changes in the discipline of communication.
COMM2007 Communication Research Method (Communication Studies) (3 units)
Prerequisite:
Year 2 standing or above
Medium of Instruction:
English
This course introduces students to the methods and ethics of scholarly research in human communication. A background on basic concepts of research is provided. Both quantitative and qualitative research methods are explored in ways to answer questions about communication. The entire research process is examined from introduction of the concept and review of the literature to the reporting of the findings, the analysis of the data and the writing of the final report.
PRAO2007 Principles and Practices of Advertising (3 units)
Prerequisite:
Year 2 standing or above
Medium of Instruction:
English
This course aims to provide students with the basic principles of advertising and the role it plays in the contemporary communication practices. It is a comprehensive overview of advertising, from the organisational structure and workflow of advertising agency, basic principles and practices of advertising, role of advertising, through research and creative idea generation, to social issues and the future of advertising industry. It is the foundation course for other courses in Advertising and Branding curriculum.
PRAO2015 Principles and Practices of Public Relations (3 units)
Prerequisite:
Year 2 standing or above
Medium of Instruction:
English
The primary objective of this course is to familiarize students with the basic concepts/principles and practices of public relations. It provides a comprehensive overview of public relations as a vital communication activity in modern society and an established profession in the business world. Theoretical aspects of public relations practices, techniques, relationship to mass media, codes of ethics for practitioners, and the future as a profession are examined. It is the foundation course for other courses in public relations.
PRAO2046 Internal Communication and Employee Engagement (3 units)
Medium of Instruction:
English
Organizations recognize that effective communication with their workforce is crucial for sustaining success, reputation, and profitability. Communication professionals are confronted with challenges to managing relationships and building engagement among various internal stakeholders. This course covers a wide range of issues related to internal communication and employee engagement. Students will learn strategies, tactics, and skills for effective planning for internal communication.
PRAO3015 Consumer Perspectives in Public Relations and Advertising (3 units)
Antirequisite:
Not available for marketing majors or otherwise those who have taken MKTG3007 Consumer Behaviour
Prerequisite: Year 3 standing or above
Medium of Instruction: English
This course studies the role consumer behaviour plays in the development and implementation of integrated marketing communication programmes in Hong Kong and Asia. It examines the consumer decision-making process and how it varies for different types of purchases, the various psychological processes including consumer learning process, and external factors such as culture, social class, group influences, and situational determinants. The effect of consumer activism on company's communication strategies will also be examined.
PRAO3056 Campaign Planning and Management (3 units)
Prerequisite:
Year 3 standing or above
Medium of Instruction:
English
The purpose of this course is to examine in depth the steps in researching, planning, managing, implementing, and evaluating strategic communication campaigns and programmes; to analyse case histories, and to design appropriate strategic communication campaigns and programmes for selected client and sponsoring organizations. Throughout the course, students will be given the opportunity to apply management skills in strategic communication campaigns and programmes. Emphasis is on practical application and integration of public relations, advertising, and management techniques in developing a strategic communication programme.
| Organizational Communication Issues and Processes | 3 units | |
| PRAO 2055 | Programming for Digital Communication | 3 units |
| PRAO 2047 | Advanced Media Design for Corporate Communication | 3 units |
| PRAO 3066 | Writing for Professional Communication | 3 units |
| PRAO 3106 | Strategic Communication Internship and Practicum | 1 unit |
| PRAO 4066 | Leadership Communication | 3 units |
| PRAO 4086 | Data Analytics and Visualization for Corporate Communication | 3 units |
| PRAO 4885 | Organizational Communication Honors Project | 3 units |
PRAO2055 Programming for Digital Communication (3 units)
Medium of Instruction:
English
This course is designed as an introduction to programming for data science. It is structured to benefit mostly for students who have no or very little programming knowledge and experience. This course is also used as a preparation for more advanced application courses of data analytics, data visualization, and algorithm. The aim of this course, hence, is to take students, with no prior experience of thinking in a computational manner, to a point where they are capable of deriving algorithms and codes, using Python, and be ready to solve communication-related problems in the contexts of organizational communication, public relations, and advertising. This course will provide students with the concepts and skills in computational thinking and data science. Students will acquire hands-on experience using Python and the popular packages related to data manipulation, processing, and analysis. Students are required to be able to independently develop Python codes in a professional manner for elementary algorithms in data science.
PRAO2047 Media Design for Corporate Communication (3 units)
Medium of Instruction:
English
The goal of this course is to prepare students with the essential concepts, principles, skills and software tools to create works of corporate communication across contemporary digital media platforms (e.g., print communications, social media, mobile apps, web, intranet). Emphasis is placed on developing the students' capabilities to devise and create effective text, photo, graphic, audio, and video solutions for given communication problems in an organizational setting. This course will provide students with hands-on experience on how to effectively design and produce digital content on a variety of multimedia platforms for an internal and external audience. By learning how to develop coherent messages and stories with a combination of different visual and audio elements, and by applying design thinking, visualization principles, persuasion theories and writing principles in the message production process, this course will not only equip students' multimedia design and production skills but also foster their storytelling and critical-thinking skills. Students will also create a portfolio of their original communication work to use for their internship and future full-time employment applications.
PRAO3066 Writing for Professional Communication (3 units)
Prerequisite:
Year 3 standing or above
Medium of Instruction:
English
This course aims to develops students’ abilities to analyze and produce major types of professional writing in different organizational contexts, such as private enterprises, community organizations, consultancies, professions, and NGOs. Students learns how to effectively craft documents ranging from business proposals, CEO speeches, crisis responses, brochures, and annual reports to any other types of in-house publications. The course also enhances students' writing competence and visual design skills in communicating through digital platforms. At the end of the course, students will be able to create effective, appropriate, and strategic written works for different audiences including stakeholders, clients, and the general public in today's digital, social, and mobile world.
PRAO3106 Strategic Communication Internship and Practicum (1 unit)
Prerequisite:
Year 3 standing
This course aims to bridge theory with practice. It is designed to provide students with an opportunity to gain experience that will help them to not only make informed decisions on the desirable field for them to enter but also land their first job after graduation. Students taking this course can choose to do the internship option or the practicum option. Both options ask students to synthesise and apply theories and skills to bring strategic values to organisations, publics, and society in practice. Students also need to demonstrate the skills needed to function in a professional communication setting to complete this course.
PRAO4066 Leadership Communication (3 units)
Prerequisite:
Year 3 standing or above
Medium of Instruction:
English
This course introduces students to leadership communication studies. Students will be exposed to many writings and ideas of leadership theorists and practitioners. Emphasis will be given to the role of communication in leadership processes typified in emergence, influence, and outcomes. Students will analyse the thoughts and practices of various leadership studies, theories, and styles and will discuss their potential applications in modern organizations. Students will gain a broad understanding of how leadership emerges and is enacted on a daily basis through communication.
| Health Communication | 3 units | |
| PRAO 3076 | Communication Training for Organizations | 3 units |
| PRAO 3085 | Social Media @ Work | 3 units |
| PRAO 4057 | Organizational Decision Making and Problem Solving | 3 units |
| PRAO 4077 | Special Topics in Communication Studies | 3 units |
| PRAO 4087 | Algorithm and Communication | 3 units |
PRAO3067 Health Communication and Information Campaigns (3 units)
Prerequisite:
Year 3 standing or above
Medium of Instruction:
English
This course provides an overview of the use of information campaigns as a tool to foster public health communication and enhance health outcomes. Students will learn about the critical role of communication theories and practices in campaign design, implementation, and evaluation. Students will also have the opportunity to examine significant issues and principles critical to the effectiveness of a health communication campaign. Topics to be covered in this course will include, but are not limited to, health promotion, disease prevention, risk and crisis communication in health settings, media representations of health, health information and misinformation, cultural conceptions of health and illness, e-health, and individual management of health beliefs, health information, and health behaviors.
PRAO3076 Communication Training for Organizations (3 units)
Prerequisite:
Completion of Year 2
Medium of Instruction:
English
In an ever-changing and fast-paced corporate world, communication training is indispensable for employees to improve their work productivity, efficiencies and relationships with colleagues and bosses. Advancements in technology and diversity in organizations have also placed increasing emphasis on the need for communication training. This course is designed to provide students with the knowledge, strategies and tools to become more effective and impactful workplace communicators. Both theoretical and practical approaches to communication training will be examined in this course. Specifically, this course starts with an overview of the communication training design process, needs assessment, and theories for effective learning and training transfer. Then, various applied communication issues like workplace etiquette, diversity and cultural awareness, anger management, press conferences and virtual teams' communication will be studied. Through a blend of lectures, group discussions and interactive workshop activities, students will be able to handle different communication scenarios and effect positive outcomes in and beyond the organizations.
PRAO3085 Social Media @ Work (3 units)
Medium of Instruction:
English
Modern information and communication technologies, especially social media, have profoundly changed the way that people work together. Organizations must decide on the ways that they can use enterprise social media tools to support their internal and external processes. Tools such as Facebook, WeChat, Jive, Slack, Socialcast, Periscope, Snapchat, Twitter, and WhatsApp are already used widely in organizations, yet many organizations struggle to use them effectively. In this course, we study the influence that social media have on organizations from several perspectives. First, we study the interplay between trends and innovations in society, IT (i.e., social media) and organization. We provide an overview of the unique characteristics of social media, and discuss the most important theories regarding the use of IT and social media in organizations. Second, we study the way in which organizations incorporate these new technologies in the work environment, for purposes of communication and collaboration (e.g., teleconferencing, virtual teams), knowledge management and sharing (e.g., via Networks of Practice), and to harness employees' creativity and expertise (e.g., via internal wiki's or innovation platforms). Third, we study how the modern-day professional (i.e., the knowledge worker), makes use of social media to support their everyday work and personal life. We discuss the consequences of telework (e.g., via cloud-computing) in both professional and private life, we investigate how employees keep in touch with and work together with colleagues (e.g., via WhatsApp/ WeChat or social network sites), and we study how professionals express their professional identity online (e.g., via LinkedIn or Twitter).
PRAO4057 Organizational Decision Making and Problem Solving (3 units)
Prerequisite:
Year 3 standing or above
Medium of Instruction:
English
Problem solving is a set of activities and procedures designed to analyse a situation systematically and generate, implement, and evaluate solutions. Decision making is a mechanism for exercising judgment and making choices at each step of the problem-solving process. To come up with sound solutions to problems, one must understand the judgment processes so as to avoid one's own biases. This course introduces the fundamentals of human judgment processes such as biases, errors, heuristics and rationality. Judgment and decision making are examined in a variety of organizational contexts. Practical strategies are provided for changing and improving decision-making processes in reaching sensible and effective solutions for various problems in organizations and organizational communication.
PRAO4077 Special Topics in Communication Studies (3 units)
Prerequisite: Year 3 standing or above; PRAO2005 Introduction to Public Relations and Advertising (for non-PRA students)
An in-depth study of special topics of importance in communication studies. Depending on the expertise of the teaching faculty, one or more special topics listed in the section of Course Content will be covered and new special topics may be added.
PRAO4087 Algorithm and Communication (3 units)
Artificial intelligence (AI) is considered as one of the most important general-purpose technologies of our ear. AI has the potential to catalyze waves of complementary innovations and opportunities, and it is poised to have a transformational impact on business as well as communication processes. This course provides students with an understanding of the fundamental concepts and essential terminologies of AI and various AI technologies. Students will get an overview of the current developments of AI technologies among the world's tech giants (e.g., Google, Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, Facebook, Tencent, Alibaba Group) and the global trends of how various AI technologies are in use in different industries. Special focus will be placed on the applications of AI technology in the contexts of internal communication, public relations, and advertising, and how to prepare an organization to leverage the advantages of AI technology in a competitive marketplace. In addition to the discussion of theoretical concepts and business implications of AI, this course will provide opportunities to students to engage in practical exercises to develop their skills in using AI technologies. This course will also discuss the ethical and social issues in the applications of AI technology.
| Advanced Qualitative Communication Research | 3 units | |
| PRAO 4065 | Advanced Quantitative Communication Research | 3 units |
PRAO4006 Advanced Qualitative Communication Research (3 units)
Prerequisite:
Year 3 standing or above
Medium of Instruction:
English
In practice, communication professionals need research to develop their strategic plans, task creativity and advices to the management. This course is based on the concepts of qualitative communication research methods and their applications to the study of public relations, advertising and branding. This course will help students develop the problem-solving skills through practices in qualitative communication research design, implementation, analysis, and reporting of these results to clients for understanding of stakeholder behaviours and media consumption, designing communication strategies, or testing creative concepts. This course prepares final-year students develop qualitative research skills for their honours projects and communication projects upon graduation.
PRAO4065 Advanced Quantitative Communication Research (3 units)
Prerequisite:
Year 3 standing or above
Medium of Instruction:
English
The key to effective communication is research. This course prepares final-year students develop quantitative research skills for their honours projects and communication projects upon graduation. This course will help students develop the problem-solving skills through practices in quantitative research design, implementation, analysis, and reporting of these results to clients. You will learn the most important quantitative and computational research methods used in the field—content analysis, surveys, experiment, big data analytics—and gain experience with data analyses.
| Human Communication | 3 units | |
| JOUR 3287 | Social Media Content Management | 3 units |
| PRAO 2036 | Group Communication | 3 units |
| PRAO 2037 | Interpersonal Communication | 3 units |
| PRAO 2045 | Interviewing | 3 units |
| PRAO 3005 | Content Creation in Advertising | 3 units |
| PRAO 3007 | Advertising Design and Visualization | 3 units |
| PRAO 3017 | Digital Public Relations | 3 units |
| PRAO 3027 | Digital Audio and Video Production | 3 units |
| PRAO 3035 | Public Relations Writing | 3 units |
| PRAO 3045 | Managing Internal Public Relations | 3 units |
| PRAO 3046 | Audience Measurement and Engagement | 3 units |
| PRAO 3047 | Corporate Social Responsibility and Stakeholder Engagement | 3 units |
| PRAO 3065 | Organizational Event Planning and Management | 3 units |
| PRAO 3067 | Health Communication | 3 units |
| PRAO 3075 | Intercultural Communication | 3 units |
| PRAO 3076 | Communication Training for Organizations | 3 units |
| PRAO 3085 | Social Media @ Work | 3 units |
| PRAO 4006 | Advanced Qualitative Communication Research | 3 units |
| PRAO 4016 | Strategic Issues and Crisis Management | 3 units |
| PRAO 4025 | Brand Strategy and Communication | 3 units |
| PRAO 4027 | Financial Public Relations | 3 units |
| PRAO 4036 | Social Communication and Advertising | 3 units |
| PRAO 4037 | Narrative and Brand Storytelling | 3 units |
| PRAO 4045 | Advanced Public Relations Writing | 3 units |
| PRAO 4047 | Service Experiences & Luxury Branding | 3 units |
| PRAO 4056 | Creative Brand Expression | 3 units |
| PRAO 4057 | Organizational Decision Making and Problem Solving | 3 units |
| PRAO 4065 | Advanced Quantitative Communication Research | 3 units |
| PRAO 4067 | Communication Entrepreneurship | 3 units |
| PRAO 4075 | Comprehensive Management Trainee Assessment | 3 units |
| PRAO 4076 | Conflict and Negotiation | 3 units |
| PRAO 4077 | Special Topics in Communication Studies | 3 units |
COMM2026 Human Communication (3 units)
Medium of Instruction:
English
This course is designed to introduce the basic concepts, theories, and research perspectives within the field of human communication. Specifically, the course provides a framework from which you can think theoretically about communicative practices. Key approaches to the study of human interaction across various realms will be introduced: the verbal and nonverbal aspects of human interaction; the perception of the self and others in the communication process; and the processes and meanings of interaction in varied contexts, such as interpersonal, small groups, organizations, public, and intercultural communication. By semester end, students will be able to apply principles for effective communication in relating to others and have a fuller understanding of appropriate and effective communication based on knowledge of theoretical concepts and their applications.
PRAO2036 Group Communication (3 units)
Prerequisite:
Year 2 standing or above
Theories and processes of small groups are reviewed as relevant to enhance communication skills necessary for productive group interaction. Emphasis is placed on the types of small group discussions oriented towards effective problem solving, decision- making, and conflict management, as well as the role of leadership in the process, focusing on the behaviour of groups and leaders as inherently communicative. Students will study small group and leadership communication theory, research, and practice from several different perspectives, focusing on how group synergy emerges from the communication.
PRAO2037 Interpersonal Communication (3 units)
Prerequisite:
Year 2 standing or above
Medium of Instruction:
English
This course introduces the theories and principles of effective communication as they apply to interpersonal and relational contexts of interaction. It aims to increase students’ ability to note communication patterns and processes, and to make active and constructive choices during their interaction with other people. Analysis of the major variables in face-to-face communication include topics on verbal and nonverbal behaviours, self-awareness and disclosure, interpersonal perceptions and communication competence, and types of relationship.
PRAO2045 Interviewing (3 units)
Prerequisite:
Year 2 standing or above
Medium of Instruction:
English
Interpersonal communication in interviewing situations is examined including dyadic communication principles and specific applications in selection, appraisal, counselling, exit, journalistic, and survey interview situations.
PRAO3005 Content Creation in Advertising (3 units)
Prerequisite:
Year 3 standing or above
Medium of Instruction:
Cantonese
This course deals with the concepts and techniques of advertising copywriting by introducing the importance for advertising copy. By establishing a basic understanding of advertising approach, starting from a brief to an advertising campaign, conceptual thinking and practical works will be demonstrated simultaneously.
PRAO3007 Advertising Design and Visualization (3 units)
Prerequisite:
Year 3 standing or above
Medium of Instruction:
English
This course focuses on the creative and visual aspects of advertising design. Students are required to generate creative ideas and visualize their concepts aided by computer. Learning will be emphasized through the hands-on practice of assignments and projects.
PRAO3017 Digital Public Relations (3 units)
Prerequisite:
Year 3 standing or above; PRAO2005 Introduction to Public Relations and Advertising (for non-PRA students)
Medium of Instruction:
English
This course introduces the trend of digital media use and its effects on user generated content (electronic word of mouth) and strategic public relations. Through in-depth examination of the uses and effects of various new media (e.g. blogs/microblogs, online newswires, podcasts, social networking services, mobile devices, etc.), students should be able to develop communication strategies for public relations practices. This course is aimed to equip students with ability to plan for public relations campaigns in the ever changing media environment.
PRAO3027 Digital Audio and Video Production (3 units)
Prerequisite:
Year 3 standing or above
Medium of Instruction:
English
This course provides an introduction to the creation and use of sequence and time-based media for storytelling and persuasion, as well as its application in advertising, public relations and organizational communication. Building on the foundations for design with discrete media, sequences and time add unique potential for the communication process.
PRAO3035 Public Relations Writing (3 units)
Prerequisite:
Year 3 standing or above
Medium of Instruction:
English
This course provides instruction and writing practice designed to develop the professional-level writing skills expected of beginning public relations practitioners, emphasizing the different approaches required for particular audiences and media.
PRAO3046 Audience Measurement and Engagement (3 units)
Prerequisite: Year 3 standing or above; PRAO2005 Introduction to Public Relations and Advertising (for non-PRA students)
Medium of Instruction: English
This course will examine the roles of audience measurement and engagement strategies in the advertising and public relations context. All forms of media including online and offline media, as well as product placements, will be examined. With technological changes, this course will examine creative ways of engaging audience through social media presence, search-based targeting, and space/location based engagement.
PRAO3047 Corporate Social Responsibility and Stakeholder Engagement (3 units)
Prerequisite: Year 3 standing or above; PRAO2005 Introduction to Public Relations and Advertising (for non-PRA students)
Medium of Instruction: English
This course highlights the theory and practice of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and engagement of organizations with key stakeholders and their communities to build relationships and collaborate in sustainable community programmes across different sectors. It also includes the business integration, strategic planning, engagement approach, communication strategies, measurement, and reporting of CSR. Through a critical analysis of case studies from overseas and successful local CSR programmes, students will develop a strategic CSR plan for an organization.
PRAO3065 Fundraising Events, Sponsorships, and Donor Management (3 units)
Prerequisite:
Year 3 standing or above
Medium of Instruction:
English
This course will teach students the principles of fundraising for nonprofit organisations. This course will also look at several methods for raising funds from individuals, corporations, foundations, and the government. The importance of donor management and stewardship, fundraising planning process and assessment, and sponsorship will be discussed. The emphasis of this course is both theoretical and practical; we want students to use the ideas they learn in class directly to create and conduct a fundraising initiative for a local non-profit client.
PRAO3067 Health Communication and Information Campaigns (3 units)
Prerequisite:
Year 3 standing or above
Medium of Instruction:
English
This course provides an overview of the use of information campaigns as a tool to foster public health communication and enhance health outcomes. Students will learn about the critical role of communication theories and practices in campaign design, implementation, and evaluation. Students will also have the opportunity to examine significant issues and principles critical to the effectiveness of a health communication campaign. Topics to be covered in this course will include, but are not limited to, health promotion, disease prevention, risk and crisis communication in health settings, media representations of health, health information and misinformation, cultural conceptions of health and illness, e-health, and individual management of health beliefs, health information, and health behaviors.
PRAO3075 Intercultural Communication (3 units)
Prerequisite:
Year 3 standing or above
Medium of Instruction:
English
The course will cover some important theories and practices which underlie the study of intercultural communication. Structures and barriers developed within and between cultures as they affect communication will be examined.
PRAO3076 Communication Training for Organizations (3 units)
Prerequisite:
Completion of Year 2
Medium of Instruction:
English
In an ever-changing and fast-paced corporate world, communication training is indispensable for employees to improve their work productivity, efficiencies and relationships with colleagues and bosses. Advancements in technology and diversity in organizations have also placed increasing emphasis on the need for communication training. This course is designed to provide students with the knowledge, strategies and tools to become more effective and impactful workplace communicators. Both theoretical and practical approaches to communication training will be examined in this course. Specifically, this course starts with an overview of the communication training design process, needs assessment, and theories for effective learning and training transfer. Then, various applied communication issues like workplace etiquette, diversity and cultural awareness, anger management, press conferences and virtual teams' communication will be studied. Through a blend of lectures, group discussions and interactive workshop activities, students will be able to handle different communication scenarios and effect positive outcomes in and beyond the organizations.
PRAO3085 Social Media @ Work (3 units)
Medium of Instruction:
English
Modern information and communication technologies, especially social media, have profoundly changed the way that people work together. Organizations must decide on the ways that they can use enterprise social media tools to support their internal and external processes. Tools such as Facebook, WeChat, Jive, Slack, Socialcast, Periscope, Snapchat, Twitter, and WhatsApp are already used widely in organizations, yet many organizations struggle to use them effectively. In this course, we study the influence that social media have on organizations from several perspectives. First, we study the interplay between trends and innovations in society, IT (i.e., social media) and organization. We provide an overview of the unique characteristics of social media, and discuss the most important theories regarding the use of IT and social media in organizations. Second, we study the way in which organizations incorporate these new technologies in the work environment, for purposes of communication and collaboration (e.g., teleconferencing, virtual teams), knowledge management and sharing (e.g., via Networks of Practice), and to harness employees' creativity and expertise (e.g., via internal wiki's or innovation platforms). Third, we study how the modern-day professional (i.e., the knowledge worker), makes use of social media to support their everyday work and personal life. We discuss the consequences of telework (e.g., via cloud-computing) in both professional and private life, we investigate how employees keep in touch with and work together with colleagues (e.g., via WhatsApp/ WeChat or social network sites), and we study how professionals express their professional identity online (e.g., via LinkedIn or Twitter).
PRAO4006 Advanced Qualitative Communication Research (3 units)
Prerequisite:
Year 3 standing or above
Medium of Instruction:
English
In practice, communication professionals need research to develop their strategic plans, task creativity and advices to the management. This course is based on the concepts of qualitative communication research methods and their applications to the study of public relations, advertising and branding. This course will help students develop the problem-solving skills through practices in qualitative communication research design, implementation, analysis, and reporting of these results to clients for understanding of stakeholder behaviours and media consumption, designing communication strategies, or testing creative concepts. This course prepares final-year students develop qualitative research skills for their honours projects and communication projects upon graduation.
PRAO4016 Strategic Issues and Crisis Management (3 units)
Prerequisite: Year 4 standing; PRAO2005 Introduction to Public Relations and Advertising (for non-PRA students)
Medium of Instruction: English
This course investigates the concepts of issues and crisis management, the relationship between public relations and the handling of issues and crises, and the theories and techniques of planning for crisis communication for an organization. Crisis management is a multifaceted discipline that involves components from issues management, strategic crisis communication, to reputation management. This course aims to equip students with the necessary skills and abilities to identify and prepare for issues and crises, to diagnose the nature of an issue and crisis, to communicate strategically, and to recover and learn from crises. The emphasis of this course, thus is on both the preventive and reactive phases of crisis management.
PRAO4025 Brand Strategy and Communication (3 units)
Prerequisite: Year 3 standing or above; PRAO3015 Consumer Perspectives in Public Relations and Advertising
Medium of Instruction: English
Brands comprise a major player in strategic communication. This course takes a managerial perspective, and in particular, the elements of a brand strategy that have implications for advertising and PR professionals. The course discusses the concept of brand equity as well as the roles of content creation, media engagement, and customer relationship in enhancing brand value. The challenges and brand strategy at different stages of the product life cycle will also be discussed.
PRAO4027 Financial Public Relations (3 units)
Prerequisite:
Year 3 standing or above
This course investigates the application of public relations in the financial sectors. It also examines how to develop trust and strengthen relationships between financial institutions and their various stakeholders via strategic financial marketing communication programmes.
PRAO4036 Social Communication and Advertising (3 units)
Antirequisite: Not available for marketing majors or otherwise those who have taken MKTG3015 Socially Responsive Marketing
Prerequisite: Year 3 standing or above; PRAO2005 Introduction to Public Relations and Advertising (for non-PRA students)
Medium of Instruction: English
This course provides an in-depth examination of advertising as a form of social communication in contemporary society. Stressed are the meanings and functions of advertising in modern culture and advertising's psychological, ideological, and sociological implications. It also discusses how advertising could be employed to address a variety of social issues and promote social good. It also offers students practical insights into how to address social issues in Hong Kong through advertising. Relevant ethical dimension and responsibilities are considered.
PRAO4037 Narrative and Brand Storytelling (3 units)
Prerequisite:
Year 3 standing or above
Medium of Instruction:
English
This course explores how brands are using storytelling to build their brand image and create emotional connection with their customers. Students will understand the concepts and narrative techniques used in strategic brand/organisation communications, with an emphasis on emerging areas of brand building, digital content, and advertising. Students will also have hands-on experiences in analysing examples of real-life stories and developing their own narrative storytelling.
PRAO4045 Media Relations Writing and Training (3 units)
Prerequisite:
Year 3 standing or above; PRAO3035 Public Relations Writing or PRAO3066 Writing for Professional Communication
Medium of Instruction: English
This course provides instruction and writing practice designed to develop the professional-level writing skills expected of beginning public relations practitioners, emphasizing the different approaches required for particular audiences and media.
This course advances the level of competency by building on third-year introductory public relations writing course. This course explores, especially, writing abilities necessary for handling different and more complex communication situations. Topics cover a wide range of essential high-end corporate communication and media relations writing practices.
PRAO4047 Service Experiences and Luxury Branding (3 units)
Prerequisite:
Year 3 standing or above
Medium of Instruction:
English
This course is designed to develop the perspective and intellectual ability of students in understanding the principles and practices of the services and luxury sector. Communicating branded services and luxury introduces a number of unique challenges, ranging from critical control over brand image, distinctive consumption pattern to emphasis on customer-brand relationship. Students will explore aspects of brand management, market structure, and consumer profiles of the services and luxury industry. This course aims to engage students in a critical discussion on the complex interplay of cultural, economic and consumer factors in driving the development of service experiences and luxury branding.
PRAO4056 Creative Brand Expression (3 units)
Prerequisite:
Year 3 standing or above
Medium of Instruction:
English
This course stresses advertising creative concept and its expression in brand communications, with applications in the use of different media channels. Students are encouraged to bridge up the task of promotional communications with that of strategic marketing planning and understanding of brands in the form of advertising campaign. Hand-on practices from idea development to execution are required in the class. Practical exercises and case studies are conducted in both Chinese and English languages.
PRAO4057 Organizational Decision Making and Problem Solving (3 units)
Prerequisite:
Year 3 standing or above
Medium of Instruction:
English
Problem solving is a set of activities and procedures designed to analyse a situation systematically and generate, implement, and evaluate solutions. Decision making is a mechanism for exercising judgment and making choices at each step of the problem-solving process. To come up with sound solutions to problems, one must understand the judgment processes so as to avoid one's own biases. This course introduces the fundamentals of human judgment processes such as biases, errors, heuristics and rationality. Judgment and decision making are examined in a variety of organizational contexts. Practical strategies are provided for changing and improving decision-making processes in reaching sensible and effective solutions for various problems in organizations and organizational communication.
PRAO4065 Advanced Quantitative Communication Research (3 units)
Prerequisite:
Year 3 standing or above
Medium of Instruction:
English
The key to effective communication is research. This course prepares final-year students develop quantitative research skills for their honours projects and communication projects upon graduation. This course will help students develop the problem-solving skills through practices in quantitative research design, implementation, analysis, and reporting of these results to clients. You will learn the most important quantitative and computational research methods used in the field—content analysis, surveys, experiment, big data analytics—and gain experience with data analyses.
PRAO4067 Communication Entrepreneurship (3 units)
Prerequisite:
Year 3 standing or above
It is often not the quality of the idea, but the ability to develop and communicate a compelling vision that makes the difference between a successful entrepreneurial venture and an initial failure. This course introduces students to entrepreneurial theories, processes, and practices, with a particular focus on entrepreneurship in the media and communication context. Students will learn about initiating, communicating, and financing entrepreneurial ventures in an existing or new enterprise, and then apply the concepts learnt to their own ideas.
PRAO4075 Comprehensive Management Trainee Assessment (3 units)
Prerequisite:
cGPA 2.8 and Year 3 standing or above
This course introduces students to various types of management trainee programmes. Lectures cover basic and advanced concepts in assessment theory and research. Students participate in simulated aptitude tests assessing personality traits, analytical reasoning, and quantitative skills, experience simulated group interviews and one- on-one interviews. Students become familiar with management trainee selection process, develop confidence, and enhance career aspirations. The tangible outcome is the majority of the enrollees applying management trainee positions and make successful careers in management in the communication industry sector and other sectors as well.
PRAO4076 Conflict and Negotiation (3 units)
Prerequisite:
Year 3 standing or above
This course examines various theoretical approaches to negotiation and conflict management. The "Western" and "Eastern" negotiation styles will be compared and contrasted. Students will be involved in various simulated intercultural negotiation situations.
PRAO4077 Special Topics in Communication Studies (3 units)
Prerequisite: Year 3 standing or above; PRAO2005 Introduction to Public Relations and Advertising (for non-PRA students)
An in-depth study of special topics of importance in communication studies. Depending on the expertise of the teaching faculty, one or more special topics listed in the section of Course Content will be covered and new special topics may be added.
| University Chinese | 3 units | |
| UCLC 1008 | University English I | 3 units |
| UCLC 1009 | University English II | 3 units |
| GE Core | Quantitative Reasoning | 3 units |
| GE Core | History & Civilization | 3 units |
| GE Core | Values & the Meaning of Life | 3 units |
| ULIF 1008-9 | University Life | 0 units |
| University Core | The Art of Persuasion | 2 units |
| University Core | Healthy Lifestyle | 2 units |
| GE | Interdisciplinary Thematic Courses | 6 units |
| GE | Capstone | 3 units |
UCLC1005 University Chinese 大學中文 (3 units)
Medium of Instruction:
Cantonese or Putonghua
This course comprises three teaching and learning units: (1) Essence of written expression; (2) Expository reading and writing; (3) Argumentative reading and writing.
Unit 1: (1) Analysing Chinese sentence structure; (2) Producing concise writing pieces; (3) Identifying ungrammatical expressions.
Unit 2: (1) Analysing selected expository masterpieces; (2) Applying expository techniques in verbal expressions; (3) Writing an advanced expository essay.
Unit 3: (1) Analysing selected argumentative masterpieces; (2) Applying argumentative techniques in verbal expressions; (3) Writing an advanced argumentative essay.
本課程共有三個教學單元：一、書面表述要則；二、說明篇章讀寫；三、議論篇章讀寫。
單元一：(1) 句子結構分析；(2) 書寫清通語段；(3) 辨識文辭正誤。
單元二：(1) 說明名篇賞析；(2) 說明方法及應用；(3) 撰寫說明篇章。
單元三：(1) 議論名篇賞析；(2) 議論方法及應用；(3) 撰寫議論篇章。
UCLC1008 University English I (3 units)
Medium of Instruction:
English
This course aims to enhance students’ English language skills in critical reading, academic writing as well as speaking.
This course strengthens students’ ability to: (1) read academic discourse by analysing of the rhetorical and linguistic features used in academic writing; (2) respond critically to ideas through examining and evaluating evidence and arguments; (3) write coherent and structured academic essays by developing core transferable skills in critical thinking, reading, and writing; and (4) use reflection and self-assessment to become a more independent and competent readers, listeners and writers.
UCLC1009 University English II (3 units)
Prerequisite: UCLC1008 University English I
Medium of Instruction: English
This course, as a continuation of University English I, aims at strengthening students' ability to read, write and speak in increasingly advanced academic contexts by exposing them to concepts of development that are currently shaping higher education and societal development as well as these discourses' impacts on the advancement of the disciplines in which students are engaged.
Through a combination of concept-driven learning and awareness-raising activities, this course aims helping students: (1) acquire knowledge of concepts of development and engage in discussions about their roles in rapidly-changing societies; (2) apply these concepts to form viewpoints and anticipate future advancements of the disciplines in which students are engaged; (3) develop critical and evaluative reading skills when reading academic texts; (4) develop research skills and familiarity with the conventions of citations and referencing in academic writing; (5) improve clarity in writing through awareness-raising activities; and (6) enhance oral presentation skills in an academic setting.
Total: 128 units
In fulfilling the PRA degree requirements, students can structure their coursework to earn certificates of specialization. The Department of Communication Studies designates 3 areas of specialization (below). A student who completes the courses listed under a specialization area with at least a 2.0 GPA for each course will be awarded a certificate of that specialization. Students may use concentration electives and/or free electives to claim up to 2 areas of specialization.
| Internal Communication and Employee Engagement | 3 units | |
| PRAO2047 | Media Design for Corporate Communication | 3 units |
| PRAO3087 | Organizational Communication Issues and Processes | 3 units |
PRAO2046 Internal Communication and Employee Engagement (3 units)
Medium of Instruction:
English
Organizations recognize that effective communication with their workforce is crucial for sustaining success, reputation, and profitability. Communication professionals are confronted with challenges to managing relationships and building engagement among various internal stakeholders. This course covers a wide range of issues related to internal communication and employee engagement. Students will learn strategies, tactics, and skills for effective planning for internal communication.
PRAO2047 Media Design for Corporate Communication (3 units)
Medium of Instruction:
English
The goal of this course is to prepare students with the essential concepts, principles, skills and software tools to create works of corporate communication across contemporary digital media platforms (e.g., print communications, social media, mobile apps, web, intranet). Emphasis is placed on developing the students' capabilities to devise and create effective text, photo, graphic, audio, and video solutions for given communication problems in an organizational setting. This course will provide students with hands-on experience on how to effectively design and produce digital content on a variety of multimedia platforms for an internal and external audience. By learning how to develop coherent messages and stories with a combination of different visual and audio elements, and by applying design thinking, visualization principles, persuasion theories and writing principles in the message production process, this course will not only equip students' multimedia design and production skills but also foster their storytelling and critical-thinking skills. Students will also create a portfolio of their original communication work to use for their internship and future full-time employment applications.
PRAO3087 Organizational Communication Issues and Processes (3 units)
Prerequisite:
Year 2 standing or above
Organisational Communication Issues and Processes is about the communicative interaction between stakeholder within organisations. This course examines various (strategic) issues and processes relevant to communication in organisations. The course discusses management approaches and its consequences for organisational communication. Moreover it focuses on a variety of possible issues in organisations like: workplace relations, bullying behaviour, employee wellbeing, organisational justice and change.
| Fundraising Events, Sponsorships, and Donor Management | 3 units | |
| PRAO3067 | Health Communication and Information Campaigns | 3 units |
| PRAO3076 | Communication Training for Organizations | 3 units |
PRAO3065 Fundraising Events, Sponsorships, and Donor Management (3 units)
Prerequisite:
Year 3 standing or above
Medium of Instruction:
English
This course will teach students the principles of fundraising for nonprofit organisations. This course will also look at several methods for raising funds from individuals, corporations, foundations, and the government. The importance of donor management and stewardship, fundraising planning process and assessment, and sponsorship will be discussed. The emphasis of this course is both theoretical and practical; we want students to use the ideas they learn in class directly to create and conduct a fundraising initiative for a local non-profit client.
PRAO3067 Health Communication and Information Campaigns (3 units)
Prerequisite:
Year 3 standing or above
Medium of Instruction:
English
This course provides an overview of the use of information campaigns as a tool to foster public health communication and enhance health outcomes. Students will learn about the critical role of communication theories and practices in campaign design, implementation, and evaluation. Students will also have the opportunity to examine significant issues and principles critical to the effectiveness of a health communication campaign. Topics to be covered in this course will include, but are not limited to, health promotion, disease prevention, risk and crisis communication in health settings, media representations of health, health information and misinformation, cultural conceptions of health and illness, e-health, and individual management of health beliefs, health information, and health behaviors.
PRAO3076 Communication Training for Organizations (3 units)
Prerequisite:
Completion of Year 2
Medium of Instruction:
English
In an ever-changing and fast-paced corporate world, communication training is indispensable for employees to improve their work productivity, efficiencies and relationships with colleagues and bosses. Advancements in technology and diversity in organizations have also placed increasing emphasis on the need for communication training. This course is designed to provide students with the knowledge, strategies and tools to become more effective and impactful workplace communicators. Both theoretical and practical approaches to communication training will be examined in this course. Specifically, this course starts with an overview of the communication training design process, needs assessment, and theories for effective learning and training transfer. Then, various applied communication issues like workplace etiquette, diversity and cultural awareness, anger management, press conferences and virtual teams' communication will be studied. Through a blend of lectures, group discussions and interactive workshop activities, students will be able to handle different communication scenarios and effect positive outcomes in and beyond the organizations.
| Programming for Digital Communication | 3 units | |
| PRAO3017 | Digital Public Relations | 3 units |
| PRAO3046 | Audience Measurement and Engagement | 3 units |
| PRAO3086 | Data Analytics and Visualization for Strategic Communication | 3 units |
PRAO2055 Programming for Digital Communication (3 units)
Medium of Instruction:
English
This course is designed as an introduction to programming for data science. It is structured to benefit mostly for students who have no or very little programming knowledge and experience. This course is also used as a preparation for more advanced application courses of data analytics, data visualization, and algorithm. The aim of this course, hence, is to take students, with no prior experience of thinking in a computational manner, to a point where they are capable of deriving algorithms and codes, using Python, and be ready to solve communication-related problems in the contexts of organizational communication, public relations, and advertising. This course will provide students with the concepts and skills in computational thinking and data science. Students will acquire hands-on experience using Python and the popular packages related to data manipulation, processing, and analysis. Students are required to be able to independently develop Python codes in a professional manner for elementary algorithms in data science.
PRAO3017 Digital Public Relations (3 units)
Prerequisite: Year 3 standing or above; PRAO2005 Introduction to Public Relations and Advertising (for non-PRA students)
Medium of Instruction: English
This course introduces the trend of digital media use and its effects on user generated content (electronic word of mouth) and strategic public relations. Through in-depth examination of the uses and effects of various new media technologies (e.g. blogs/microblogs, online newswires, podcasts, social networking services, mobile devices, generative artificial intelligence, etc.), students should be able to develop communication strategies for public relations practices. This course is aimed to equip students with ability to plan for public relations campaigns in the ever changing media environment.
PRAO3046 Audience Measurement and Engagement (3 units)
Prerequisite: Year 3 standing or above; PRAO2005 Introduction to Public Relations and Advertising (for non-PRA students)
Medium of Instruction: English
This course will examine the roles of audience measurement and engagement strategies in the advertising and public relations context. All forms of media including online and offline media, as well as product placements, will be examined. With technological changes, this course will examine creative ways of engaging audience through social media presence, search-based targeting, and space/location based engagement.
PRAO3086 Data Analytics and Visualization for Strategic Communication (3 units)
Big data and data analytics have fundamentally transformed the way how brands communicate with the consumers and stakeholders. This course will introduce how a company or an organization can make use of behavioral data to understand, manage, and communicate with its consumers. The course will provide students with a foundation in data analytics and visualization as well as hands-on experience with real world data and tools. Emphasis is placed on the implications for communication strategy and strategic planning. The course applies the insights of analytics of the company’s owned media, users’ generated contents, as well as social and digital media analytics to help students gain consumer, media, and message insights. Not only will this course equip students’ data analytics and visualization skills but it will also foster their storytelling skills when they present their clients with strategies for marketing communication.