The UBC Graduate School of Journalism is partnering with the Sauder School of Business to launch an interdisciplinary social media course.
It will launch in January 2013 and be co-taught by Alfred Hermida from journalism and Paul Cubbon from Sauder.
It will simulate an interdisciplinary think-tank environment where students identify research questions and examine the impact of social media on society, business and culture.
The pilot course is supported by a grant from UBC’s Teaching and Learning Enhancement Fund and will be initially open to journalism graduate students and fourth-year Sauder students.
The project is a unique opportunity for the two professional schools to develop a course that combines immersion in social media with a theoretical foundation to equip students with the conceptual knowledge and practical skills they need to understand the evolving digital economy.
Changing media habits, the digitization of information, the impact on business models, and managing and communicating information are area of interest for both schools.
“Both journalism and business are disciplines that are being transformed by digital technologies and shifting patterns of human interaction,” said Hermida. “By working together, we can help students understand these changes in communications and equip them with the necessary skills for jobs in Canada’s digital economy.”
“Social media is rapidly maturing and students need to develop an applied expertise to further their career,” said Cubbon. “I look forward to seeing the output of combining the talents and enthusiasm of these student groups in professional, systematic monitoring, publishing and measurement of social media activity.”
Alfred Hermida brings to the course an international reputation as an authority on new media. His research focuses on investigating the convergence of media technologies, industries, content and audiences, through scholarly papers, applied projects and media activities designed to bridge theory and practice. He is co-author of Participatory Journalism: Guarding Open Gates at Online Newspapers, published in 2011 by Wiley-Blackwell. He is now working on his second book on social media and journalism.
Paul Cubbon brings to the course a professional background centred in the advertising industry and in brand design and communication. In academia, his research and teaching has focused on developing courses on Internet marketing. As a result of his background and expertise, he is often called upon for media and industry conference comments, as well as to do presentations in the field of digital media. He is also actively involved with several industry players, including Think! Social Media and Advertising Agency DDB.
