Key learning outcomes

At the end of the programme students will:

I. Be conversant with the discipline’s core teachings and methods.

Students will acquire

• A command of the theoretical frameworks of information and communication. The specific goals are, proceeding in a step-by-step manner, to:

• Understand the particular characteristics of the ‘communication approach’ and the major theoretical traditions that have contributed to its emergence.

Information and communication I in BAS 1; Communication, culture and social interactions in BAS 2

• Acquire a sophisticated understanding of information and communication science ; in particular through the analytical lens of the major fields of inquiry that constitute the field.

All CU in BAS 2 and 3 in information and communication.

II. Possess a grounding in fields that are complementary to information and communication.

Students will acquire :

A wide range of disciplinary and inter-disciplinary expertise by reaching out to other disciplines of human science and by exploring the relationships between them. In particular, students will:

• Acquire a broad and in-depth grounding in the human and social sciences, based on an understanding of the different disciplines’ principal assumptions and lessons, as well as their methods and ethical dimensions.

CU in philosophy, economics, law, History, sociology, psychology, anthropology and political science, beginning in BAS 1.

III. Know how to use the scientific method

Students will learn : 
• To think critically and use scientific reasoning.
• The main analytical and research methods in the field of information and communication.
• How to conduct research in the social sciences.

In particular, and proceeding step-by-step, students will learn to:

• Find, understand, question and summarise the content of one or several academic papers.

CU of Introduction to university work in social sciences, CU of Approach and methods in social sciences

• Conduct productive research through the discerning use of different information gathering and analytical methods (quantitative and qualitative) in the field of  information and communication.

All methodology related CU from BAS 1 to BAS 3; Multidisciplinary workshop in BAS 3.

• Produce, either independently or as part of a team, a piece of analytical work on a contemporary information-communication issue.

CU organised in seminar format in BAS 1 and BAS 2; Multidisciplinary workshop in BAS 3.

IV. Possess a critical understanding of the objectives, stakes, contexts and techniques used in information and communication.

• Students will acquire a grounding in fields that provide an understanding of contemporary society and its challenges as well as an understanding of the importance of and issues arising from ‘information and communication’ in the world of today. In particular, students will:

• Acquire a sophisticated understanding of the historical and modern day contexts of the media through different analytical lenses : the societal, the cultural, the political, the economic (business), the legal and the technological.
• Learn the keys to decoding and analysing the main societal, cultural and political issues of information and communication in the contemporary world.

Media institutions analysis in BAS 1; Social-history of media in BAS 2; CU in information and communication in BAS 3.

• Be able to conduct literature review, critically analyse and synthesise information in the media.

• Understand information and communication technologies; be able to adapt to change in the media.

The specific goals are to:

• Develop a methodologically critical approach to media-supplied information.

• Understand not only the mechanisms and techniques of the production of journalistic information, including web-based, but also be able to adopt an independent critical perspective in relation to it.

Issues and practices of journalism, Multimedia communication and web technologies in BAS 3.

V. Have a command of oral and written communication.

• Students will acquire a command of communication in science in accordance with the norms for referencing and publication. The specific goals are to develop students’:

• Command of the formal academic rules for writing and referencing that are in use in the world of science.

Introduction to university work in social sciences.

• Ability to communicate the results of analysis in a clear, coherent, structured and attractive manner, both in oral and written formats.

Multidisciplinary workshop in BAS 3.

• Students will learn to read and communicate in at least one language other than French. The specific goals are:

For all students:

• To acquire a command of oral and written English and Dutch; more specifically, the ability to maintain an everyday conversation and to communicate in relation to the subjects and analyses of the social sciences.

All language CU (Dutch and English) in BAS 1, 2 and 3.

• The Programme includes a period of ‘immersion’ in a language other than the student’s mother tongue (language trips abroad).

ERASMUS exchanges in BAS 3.

For students following single-language programmes the goal is:

• To acquire the minimum skills needed to be able to follow a course, study and take an oral or written exam in the target language (Dutch and/or English).

Introductory courses in Dutch or English in BAS 3.

For students following multilingual programmes the goals are to:

• Acquire advanced language skills to be able to follow a course, study and take an oral or written exam in the target language (Dutch and/or English).
• Develop an understanding of the cultural universe, unique features and ways of thinking associated with the target language (Dutch and/or English); 

All CU in foreign languages in the multilingual programmes.