本课程是传播学专业本科生的专业任选课。该课程力求以翔实的材料、全新的视角展现全球新闻传播及其演化脉络，特别是发达国家近五百年新闻传播的历史轨迹，以揭示全球新闻传播的一般性规律，以及新闻传播与社会变迁的互动关系。

本课程力图把新闻传播的历程和各种媒介的沿革变迁置于整个人类社会的发展中加以考察，引导学生从宏观的社会视角分析新闻传播与政治、经济、文化等密不可分的关系，对当今日新月异的新闻传播技术发展予以历史性关注,从而树立正确的历史观与新闻观，培育专业素养与职业认同，一方面为其他专业课的学习打下基础，提供平台，另一方面也为未来发展廓清目标与方向。 

The History of  Foreign Journalism and communication is an elective subject for Communication major students. The course demonstrates international news communication and its development, espeacially the history of news communication in developed countries of the past 500 years, through abundant materials and a whole new vision, in order to reveal general rule of international news communication, as well as the interaction between news communication and social changes.

Combined with the development of human society, the course observes and studies the transformation of news communication and  various media. It guides students analyze the relations among news cmmunication and politic, economy and culture in a sociological macroscopic view ; study the development of fast-changing news media with historical care. Through studying of this course, student can develop correct view of history and news  as well as professionalism and career identity. The course, on the one hand, lays a foundation for other major courses; on the other, it points out the aim and direction for future development.