Andrea Patterson-Masuka, Omar Swartz







Communication and globalisation: A justification for critical pedagogy

This paper, situated in critical pedagogy, argues that communication educators need to examine the basic communication course, a general education requirement for many undergraduate students, in the context of globalisation. The paper first explores the concept of globalisation and its adverse impact on college students. It contends that the model of intercultural praxis can be utilised for curriculum development to revise the basic communication course. It concludes by challenging readers to envision transformative models of teaching, engaging and developing curricula for a new globalised critical praxis of citizenship education in introductory communication courses

Keywords: basic communication course; globalisation; communication education; power; intercultural praxis; critical pedagogy; oral communication; general education


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Note on the contributor

Andrea Patterson-Masuka (PhD, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 2011) is an assistant professor in the Department of Communication and Media Studies at Winston-Salem State University. A former journalist, she has co-edited three books and has published several essays and book chapters focusing on intercultural communication, racism, social justice and the basic communication course. As a critical communication scholar and teacher, what grounds her research is a concern for social justice. Her research interests are in social justice, critical theory, intercultural communication, the basic communication course and critical service learning.
 
Omar Swartz (PhD, Purdue University, 1995; J.D., Duke University, 2001, magna cum laude) is Associate Professor of Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Colorado Denver. His areas of research and teaching are law and diversity, First Amendment studies, cultural criticism and philosophical problems in the social sciences. He is the author or editor of 12 books and more than 100 essays, book chapters and reviews.