Saint-Louis University - Bruxelles
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COMU1317 - Public space, knowledge and media



Credits : 5

Lecturer :
Mode of delivery :
Face-to-face , second term, 30 hours of theory.

Timetable :
Second term
Friday from 13:30 to 15:30 at 109 Marais 211

Language of instruction :
French

Learning outcomes :
This course aims to:
- analyse the different relationships that constitute the public space, between the field of knowledge, the media and the political field.
- decipher the growing interdependencies between science, media, economics and politics.
- understand the specific dynamics that govern these relationships, using several key concepts from philosophy, general sociology, media sociology, sociology of science, history of science, and information and communication sciences.
- illustrate these themes through media examples.
The course will therefore cover a series of theoretical resources essential for such an analysis, and then propose examples of concrete applications to contemporary social, cultural and economic phenomena.


Prerequisites :
For the Bachelor in Information and Communication :

For the Bachelor in Political Sciences: General :

For the Bachelor in Sociology and Anthropology :


Co-requisites :
None

Course contents :
1) La notion d'espace public
- Habermas et ses critiques
- L'approche communicationnelle de l'espace public
2) Les relations entre pouvoir, politique et médias
- La visibilité
- Le rôle des journalistes
- L'espace public et les élites : champ politique, social et médiatique
3) L'espace public et la connaissance scientifique
- La société de la (mé)connaissance, l'économie de la connaissance
- La communication de la science au sein de l'espace public
- La responsabilité des intellectuels dans l'espace public
- Les experts dans l'espace public

Planned learning activities and teaching methods :
The teacher's presentations will be made on the basis of slides. The presentations are accompanied by a highlighting of the concepts through the analysis of external resources (extracts from radio or television programmes, documentaries, photos, videos, press articles). These external resources, being fully integrated into the course, will be an integral part of the material (and are available on Moodle).
The teaching system is intended to be participatory, the presence and involvement of students is therefore desirable.
Presentations :
Students will be asked to create an exploitation of 12 texts presenting and exploring concepts related to public space. For each presentation session, all students should have read the text indicated in the list. The students will be divided into 12 small groups which will be responsible for presenting an exploitation of the text on the basis of current events (more or less recent). This exploitation will be based on the selection of a concept addressed by the text, an issue raised, etc. Students will have to demonstrate their ability to link the content of a scientific text to a topical question/discussion/fact and to exploit this resource in the text for the purpose of analysis and clarification of reality.
This short presentation (5 min) will be followed by an opportunity for the audience to react. It will be based on a visual support (which should be shared with all students on Moodle). Some examples from the previous year will be provided to students in the first session.
Examination questions:
Each student will be asked, for the penultimate session, to formulate an oral examination question (based on the course content or texts) and place it on Moodle. For the last session, these questions will have been addressed by a peer review mechanism. These questions will then be "revised" by the teacher and provided to all students (see Moodle folder). These questions will represent half of the possible questions on the oral exam. This question formulation is designed as a formative exercise that encourages students to revisit, integrate and reflect on the course material. The questions available before the exam allow students to prepare under the best conditions.



Assessment methods and criteria :
The evaluation has 3 components:
1) The evaluation of the presentation of the exploitation of one of the 12 texts (one common note per small group representing 20% of the final note)
2) Formulation and discussion of an oral examination question (10% of the final mark)
3) Individual oral examination (70% of the final mark) on:
- the ability to synthesize the 12 texts;
- factual knowledge of the material seen in the sessions during the lectures (theory and use of external resources described above);
- the ability to mobilize the tools seen during the course in a relevant way to make contemporary social phenomena intelligible;
- the ability to relate different parts of the course to each other, as well as to the external resources mobilized by the teacher or the use of current events made during the students' presentations.



Recommended or required reading :

Among the various references that will be specified during the sessions there are:
Berthelot, J.-M., Collinet, C., Martin, O. (2005). Savoirs et savants. Les études sur la science en France, PUF, Paris, coll. « science, histoire et société ».
Bourdieu, P. (1996). « Champ politique, champ des sciences sociales, champ journalistique », Cahiers de Recherche, n°15, GRS, Lyon.
Brunet, S., Bergmans, A., Bertrand, A., Biren, P. (2002). L'expertise en questions. Domestiquer l'incertitude dans la société du risque, Bruxelles, P.I.E.-Peter Lang, 2002.
du Roy, A. (2003). « Les liaisons dangereuses du journalisme et de la politique », Hermès, n°35, Paris, CNRS, 131-136.
Gingras, Y. (2013). Sociologie des sciences, PUF, Paris, coll. « Que sais-je?».
Habermas, J. (1978). L'espace public: archéologie de la publicité comme dimension constitutive de la société bourgeoise, Payot, Paris.
Habermas, J. (1992). « L'espace public », 30 ans après, Quaderni, n°18, Automne 1992, 161-191.
Lemieux, C. (2007). « À quoi sert l'analyse des controverses ? », Mil neuf cent, 2007/1, n°25, 191-212.
Lits, M. (2014). « L'espace public : concept fondateur de la communication ». Hermès, 3(70), 77-81.
Miège, B. (2010). L'espace public contemporain: Approche info-communicationnelle, PUG, Saint-Martin-d'Hères.
Negt, O. (2007) L'espace public oppositionnel, Payot, Paris, Collection Critique de la politique.
Pailliart, I. (1995). L'espace public et l'emprise de la communication, Grenoble, ELLUG.
Pailliart, I. (dir.) (2005). La publicisation de la science: Exposer, communiquer, débattre, publier, vulgariser, PUG (Presses Universitaires de Grenoble), Coll. « Communication, médias et sociétés ».
Rasse, P. (2001). « La médiation scientifique et technique entre vulgarisation et espace public », Quaderni, n°46, Hiver 2001-2002, p.73-93.
Thompson, J. B., Pasquier, D., Relieu, M. (2000). « Transformation de la visibilité », Réseaux, vol. 18, n°100, pp. 187-213.
Watine, T. (1999). « Bourdieu et les médias: des lois du champ et de l'habitus comme présomptions du conservatisme des journalistes », Les Cahiers du journalisme, n°6, octobre 1999.