Course Description: (At least 50 Chinese characters or 200 English letters.)
The study of signs and meanings is the very foundation for understanding the theoretical approaches to the systems of semiotics (or, semiology). Our actions and thoughts are often governed by a complex set of cultural messages and conventions, and dependent upon our ability to interpret them instinctively and instantly. Semiotics is an investigation into how meaning is created and how meaning is communicated. Its origins lie in the academic study of how signs and symbols (visual and linguistic) create meaning. It is a way of seeing the world, and of understanding how the landscape and culture in which we live has a massive impact on all of us unconsciously. Semiotics is the academic field dedicated to the study of signs. A sign may be recognized by the presence of its constituent parts, which in semiotic theories based on Saussure's are the signifier (the container, or the sign's perceptible form) and the signified (the meaning or content; the notion conveyed by the signifier). With these concepts, general semiotics allows us to describe any system of signs: texts, images, performances, multimedia productions, traffic signals, fashion, daily life, etc. There are specific semiotic systems (for text, images, multimedia, and so on) that take into account the specifics of each system of signs.