Convened by Professor Lee Edwards 

Contact details: l.edwards2@lse.ac.uk, FAW 6.01E. 

Office hours (book via Student Hub) Thursdsays 10:00-12:00 for most weeks unless I have a schedule clash, in which case substitute sessions are available.  All office hours are face to face unless otherwise noted in the booking hub. Students can also request an online meeting if they prefer.

This course provides an advanced understanding of theoretical knowledge of strategic communications and its role and power in society. Topics covered include: the contemporary context for strategic communications; promotional culture and communications' mediating role on behalf of organisations (of all kinds); technologies of strategic communications, especially the digital world, discourse and imagery; ethics; and its role as a tool for activism and democratic particiation. Students will interrogate theories and practices associated with branding, advertising, public relations, online promotion, crisis/risk management and reputation, in a wide range of contexts. Throughout the course we will conside the power dynamics generated through and in strategic communciations, as well as questions of accountability and transparency in light of the influence that the profession and its practices exert on society.