https://studiegids.vu.nl/en/courses/2025-2026/S_SPPNUpon completion of this course the student will have acquired the following skills:Having an overview and understanding of the communication science theories of narrative features, experiences, and effects in old and new media storytelling, in order to be able to clearly define theoretical developments and recent research findings.Having an overview and understanding of the principles of the research methods used in the study of narrative features, experiences, and effects in old and new media storytelling in communication science.Being able to interpret how narrative strategies are used in real-life examples of environmental, science, marketing, education and political communication.Being able to design and present a long session on research findings, conclusions, and implications on narratives orally or in writing.Being able to design a research proposal in the field of narrative studies.Stories (e.g. content communicated in a narrative structure) are all around us. They are not merely for entertainment but are also powerful tools to transfer knowledge and influence cognition, emotion, attitudes,beliefs, as well as behaviour. A growing body of research shows that stories also have a strong potential to foster resilience and sense of community. The persuasive effect of narratives is capitalized on in many different fields of communication, such as marketing, health,environmental and science communication. New media technologies, such as VR and interactive storytelling create new questions and opportunities for storytelling design. During this course students explore key concepts, theoretical frameworks, and applications of storytelling.Why stories are so powerful? What makes a story engaging? Are stories more effective when presented in VR or made interactive? Why do people love stories and get engaged with them so easily? During this course, we discuss what actually makes a story, how people get absorbed in a story and how this absorption experience leads to certain effects, such as narrative persuasion. Are some people more likely to get involved with a story than others? We will look at certain media and user-specific features that determine the effect of a story. How the power of narratives can be applied for addressing relevant issues in society? In the second half of the course, students will dive into different fields where narratives are used to influence people, such as brand storytelling, organizational storytelling, narrative health communication, environmental communication, stories/ Storytelling to foster resilience and wellbeing.Interactive lectures, guest lectures, student-led sessions (flipped classroom). Attendance is mandatory to the guest lectures and student-led sessions.The final grade will consist of an individual assignment and a group assignment, and several non-graded tasks.The obligatory literature will include published journal articles and chapters (to be announced on the Canvas page of the course). These will be available via online databases.Elective for Masters students Communication science. Master Students in other FSW programmes, Exchange students are welcome.In this course, you cannot enroll for one of the study groups yourself, but you will be assigned by the course coordinator. The allocation will be announced via Canvas. Please note: You do have to register for the course on VU.nl.The class will be entirely in English, including all lectures, correspondence, assessments, and assignments. Foreign exchange students are very welcome.The course entitled Essentials of Media Psychology provides useful basic information for this course. Previous knowledge on experimental research is highly recommended.All information will be communicated via Canvas.