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Registration through STADS-Selvbetjeningwithin the announced registration period, as you can see on the Studyadministration homepage.

When registering for courses, please be aware of the potential conflicts between courses or exam dates on courses. The planning of course activities at Roskilde University is based on the recommended study programs which do not overlap. However, if you choose optional courses and/or study plans that goes beyond the recommended study programs, an overlap of lectures or exam dates may occur depending on which courses you choose.

This course explores narratives and visuals in our multimodal expressions and multimedia communication products in theory and practice. It covers various understandings of how narratives and visuals “work” as part of everyday communication practices as well as the application of narrative and visual methodologies to research and organizational communication practices.

In the contemporary media landscape, we see many visuals and narratives presented to us in the form of photos, charts, comic books, illustrated books, infographics, data visualizations. Moving images such as games, TV series, films, YouTube videos are typically part of cross-media texts.

Consider, for instance, the visual richness of social media sites such as Flickr or Instagram, or the way power point slides, or a website or video, present stories. We live in an increasingly visual and digital culture, where the means of production and exchange of personal stories and visuals are altering rapidly. Narratives and visuals are powerful tools in professional communication practice – they can engage others, evoke feelings, convince and manipulate an audience.

The course has an interdisciplinary perspective on theories concerning narrative and visuals. It integrates the humanities and the social sciences with an aim to understand narrative and imagery in human history. Roland Barthes stated that “Caring nothing for the division between good and bad literature, narrative is international, transhistorical, transcultural: it is simply there, like life itself.”

Communication and media studies are in focus during the course, with attention to social semiotics and cultural studies. Other disciplinary perspectives are included: the arts, visual anthropology, linguistics, literature, design, but also psychology, sociology, health communication, information science and business studies.

The primary methodological approach to narratives and visuals is based on social semiotics with the conceptualization and analysis of multimodal texts, with focus on exemplary case materials stemming from completed research studies and business-oriented uses, such as “organizational storytelling”.

Narratives are an important part of how we understand ourselves and others in the world. In our everyday communication practices, we are constantly using narratives in multimodal ways; telling stories, using images, sound, gestures, etcetera, in combination with written text. We tell and listen to stories as a foundation for building communication. However, the importance of clear visual and narrative presentations of, for example, research communication or business strategies, are often taken for granted, overlooked or even ignored. Thereby, we risk applying stories and imagery in communication practices and in our studies without a clear purpose. There are also many ethical issues to be aware of regarding the use of visuals and narratives that students and professionals need to know and respect.

Based on the course readings and practical exercises with exemplary cases, students gain knowledge about how visual and narrative methods “work”. During the course, we mainly use empirical materials that are available online for practical exercises, so that students gain experience with how to apply visual and narrative methods for various purposes (For example, exercises concern how to make appealing research communication using storytelling, and redesigning a campaign for an NGO with inspiration from infographics and graphic novels).

25 hrs: sessions, including lecture and practical exercises

62 hrs: 2,5 hr prep for every session

40 hrs: Exam paper

8 hrs: other activities

135 hrs total

Mandatory Reading

Rose, G. (2016). Visual methodologies: an introduction to researching with visual materials (4th ed.). London: Sage. Companion website: https://study.sagepub.com/rose4e (*THIS IS PRIMARY BOOK FOR THE COURSE. The course covers all chapters except 7. We recommend that you buy the 4th ed. through Academic Books.)

Leavy, P. (2013). Fiction as Research Practice. Short Stories, Novellas and Novels. Walnut Creek: Leftcoast Press. Chapter 3.

Supplemental course literature

Alexievich, S. (2014). Voices from Big Utopia. Retrieved January 4, 2015, from http://www.alexievich.info/indexEN.html

Barry, L. (2014). Syllabus: Notes from an Accidental Professor. Montreal: Drawn and Quarterly.

Barthes, R. (1981). Camera Lucida: Reflections on Photography. New York Hill and Wang, 134. http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4781.1979.tb02446.x

Bleakley, A. (2005). Stories as data, data as stories: Making sense of narrative inquiry in clinical education. Medical Education, 39(5), 534–540. http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2929.2005.02126.x

Brunetti, I. (2011). Cartooning : philosophy and practice. Yale University Press. Video introduction. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1c3AQT_Lex4

Butler-Kisber, L. (2008). Collage as Inquiry. In J. G. Knowles & A. L. Cole (Eds.), Handbook of the Arts in Qualitative Research: Perspectives, Methodologies, Examples, and Issues (pp. 265–277). Thousand Oaks CA: SAGE Publications, Inc. http://doi.org/10.4135/9781452226545

Butler-Kisber, L. (2010). Qualitative inquiry : thematic, narrative and arts-informed perspectives. SAGE.

Chute, H. L. (2016). Disaster drawn : visual witness, comics, and documentary form. Cambridge, Mass.: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.

Clandini, D. J. (2007). Handbook of narrative inquiry: mapping a methodology. (D. J. Clandini, Ed.). SAGE Publications.

Couldry, N. (2008). Mediatization or Mediation? Alternative Understandings of the Emergent Space of Digital Storytelling. New Media & Society, 10(3), 373–391.

Fog, K., & Thorhauge, T. (2010). Storytelling : branding in practice. Samfundslitteratur Press.

Frank, A. W. (2002). Why study people’s stories? The dialogical ethics of narrative analysis. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 1(1), 109–117.

Frølunde, L. (2014). Reflexive Learning through Visual Methods. In J. Simonsen, et.al. (Eds.), Situated Design Methods (Ch. 9, pp. 161–180). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Goransson, K., Fagerholm, A.-S.(2018). Towards visual strategic communication. Journal of Communication Management, 22(1), 46–66. http://doi.org/10.1108/JCOM-12-2016-0098

Holbrook, T., & Pourchier, N. M. (2014). Collage as Analysis: Remixing in the Crisis of Doubt. Qualitative Inquiry, 20(6), 754–763. http://doi.org/10.1177/1077800414530260

Hull, G. A., & Avila, J. (2008). Narrative and digital storytelling. Retrieved January 13, 2015, from http://newlits.wikispaces.com/Narrative+and+digital+storytelling

Jessen, I., & Graakjær, N. (2013). Cross-media communication in advertising: Exploring multimodal connections between television commercials and websites. Visual Communication, 12(4), 437-458.

Kim, J.-H. (2016). Understanding Narrative Inquiry: The Crafting and Analysis of Stories as Research. Los Angeles, London, New Delhi, Singapore: SAGE Publications. (Excerpts from chapters 4, p. 116-153, and 6, p. 206-223)

Kress, G., & Van Leeuwen, T. (2006). Reading images: the grammar of visual design (Second). London: Routledge. (Chapter 2, p. 45-78)

Kuttner, P., Sousanis, N & Weaver-Hightower, M. B. (2017) How to Draw Comics the Scholarly Way: Creating Comics-Based Research in the Academy, Ch. 21. In P. Leavy (Ed.), Handbook of arts-based research. Guilford Press.

Li, Q. (2018). Data visualization as creative art practice. Visual Communication, 147035721876820. http://doi.org/10.1177/1470357218768202

Nuhoğlu Kibar, P., & Akkoyunlu, B. (2017). Fostering and assessing infographic design for learning: the development of infographic design criteria. Journal of Visual Literacy, 36(1). Retrieved from https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1051144X.2017.1331680

O’Neill, M. (2008). Transnational Refugees: The Transformative Role of Art? Forum: Qualitative Social Research, 9(2), Art. 59. Retrieved from http://www.qualitative-research.net/index.php/fqs/article/view/403/873

Rose, G. (2014). On the relation between ‘visual research methods’ and contemporary visual culture. The Sociological Review, 62(1), 24–46. Retrieved from http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1467-954X.12109/full

Scolari, C. (2008). Online brands: Branding, possible worlds, and interactive grammars. 169(1-4), 169-188.

Scotti, V., & Chilton, G. (2017). Collage as Arts‑Based Research. In P. Leavy (Ed.), Handbook of arts-based research (pp. 355–376). Guilford Press.

Spiegelman, A. (2011a). MetaMaus. Viking Press.

Spiegelman, A. (2011b). The Complete Maus (25th anniv). New York: Pantheon Books.

Tosca, S., & Klastrup, L. (2018). An Experience Approach to Transmedia Fictions. In M. Freeman & R. R. Gambarato (Eds.), The Routledge Companion to Transmedia Studies. Routledge.

Williams, I. (2012). Graphic medicine: comics as medical narrative. Medical Humanities, 38(1), 21–27. http://doi.org/10.1136/medhum-2011-010093

Williams, I. (2015). The bad doctor. Penn State University Press.

The final assignment for the exam is a written individual essay. Visuals, cover page, references and an appendix with two examples from the portfolio exercises are expected to be included.

There are feedback sessions in relation to the portfolio exercises during the course.

The student(s) will receive teacher and peer feedback in class discussions, exercises and group work. In addition, the student(s) receives feedback from the teacher in connection with the exam. This feedback will focus on weaknesses and strengths of the student work.

Every 3rd year, a formal evaluation takes place. The evaluation takes the form of a digital questionnaire that is sent to the head of studies as well as the study board. Such an evaluation takes place in the 2019 spring semester.

The teacher may carry out their own informal evaluation (during or after the course). Informal evaluations stay with the teacher unless they find it relevant to share it with the head of studies.

Individual written take-home assignment given by the lecturer.

The take-home assignment must be 9,600 - 14,400 characters in length, including spaces.

The size specifications include the cover, table of contents, bibliography, figures and other illustrations, but exclude any appendices.

The take-home assignment must be done within 5 days, including any potential weekends and holidays. The assignment must document that the student possesses a confident mastery of the written Danish language, including grammar and linguistic correctness.

Assessment: 7-point grading scale.

• Knowledge and understanding of a defined subject area within communication, information and media, including knowledge and understanding of current methods that can be used to investigate the subject matter

• Knowledge and understanding of current and key theories as well as communications concepts and terms relevant to the subject area

• Skills in analysing a concrete research question in communications terms.

• Skills in being able to apply relevant theory to a specific communications research question

• Skills in being able to use appropriate methods to study a communications-related research question

• Competences in independently being able to take responsibility for one’s own professional development and specialisation within the subject area.

The course includes presentations and critical discussions as well as testing of knowledge about a defined subject area within the field of communications, including the presentation and discussion of concepts, theories and investigative methods.

The course consists of a mix of lectures and discussions, and it can include group work and peer feedback. It is structured around a number of themes that will be presented at the start of the course.

Optional course