SMPA 6270 : Development and Humanitarian Communication 

Course Details -

Humanitarian communication aims to save lives, alleviate suffering, and restore human dignity through better communication during crises such as war, famine, and natural disaster. Development communication aims to use communication to reduce poverty, and to
support or help enable social, economic, and sustainable development in fragile, low, and middle-income countries. This course has three sections. The first section (10 weeks) introduces students to various relevant theories and concepts related to development and
humanitarian communication. Each week starts with a lecture and is followed by discussion-based class exercises that promote participatory learning. The second section (2 weeks) features presentations by experts who have worked in the field, with the goal of
tying theories and concepts from the first part of the course to current-day practice and implementation. The third section (2 weeks) involves presentations by students on their major project in which students select a development or humanitarian communication case
study, conduct a detailed evaluation on its effectiveness, and propose a strategic communication plan based on their evaluation. All readings for this course will be accessible through Blackboard.

Learning Objectives -

By the end of the course, students should be able to:
1) Describe a range theories and concepts related to development and humanitarian communication
2) Identify a range of practices related to development/humanitarian media and communication interventions utilizing both traditional mass media and digital interactive media
3) Assess the effectiveness of various development/humanitarian communication interventions, appreciating limitations from both practical factors related to process and implementation and structural variables such as economic and power disparities
4) Improve ability to communicate effectively in both written and various presentation formats
5) Improve ability to provide constructive written and oral feedback.

View Course Syllabus - Development and Humanitarian Communication Syllabus Fall 2023