Communication Studies Courses

Prerequisite/Corequisite:

Registration in a Communication Studies program is required.

Description: This course introduces students to a range of foundational communication skills including public speaking, scholarly writing, group work, interpersonal and group communication, and library research.

Component(s): Lecture; Tutorial

Prerequisite/Corequisite:

Registration in a Communication Studies program is required.

Description: This course examines communication and media from a comparative and historical perspective. Topics include the transition from orality to literacy, the print revolution, the rise of imaging technologies, and the emergence of modern publics, nations, and global media systems. Assignments introduce methods of historical research.

Component(s): Lecture; Tutorial

Prerequisite/Corequisite:

Registration in Communication and Cultural Studies Major is required.

Description: This course introduces students to the analysis of the institutional, political, and economic forces that have shaped the development of media during the 20th century. Attention is given to the ownership structures, corporate practices, and state policy interventions affecting media institutions in both the public and private sectors. A particular focus is given to the interrelations between Cultural, Multicultural, and Communication Policy interventions.

Component(s): Seminar

• Students who have received credit for COMS 326 may not take this course for credit.

Prerequisite/Corequisite:

Registration in a Communication Studies program is required.

Description: Through lectures, discussions, and selected readings from the works of key theoreticians, this course introduces students to major approaches to the understanding of the process of communication.

Component(s): Lecture; Tutorial

Prerequisite/Corequisite:

Registration in a Major or Specialization in Communication Studies is required.

Description: This course provides a theoretical and applied introduction to intermedia art and media practices such as remediation, design, animation, interactivity, installation, and performance. General emphasis on creative process, and proof‑of‑concept media creations, rather than “finished” media productions.

Component(s): Lecture; Laboratory

• Students who have received credit for COMS 256 may not take this course for credit.

Prerequisite/Corequisite:

Registration in the Major or Specialization in Communication Studies is required.

Description: This course introduces students to acoustic, analog, and digital components of audio systems. Students explore the communicational and aesthetic characteristics of sound. Through practical exercises students learn how to structure sound into imaginative aural forms across various media.

Component(s): Lecture; Laboratory

• Students who have received credit for COMS 278 may not take this course for credit.

Prerequisite/Corequisite:

Registration in the Major or Specialization in Communication Studies is required.

Description: This course provides a foundation in the creative, critical, and technical aspects of film and digital video production, including an introduction to non‑linear editing software. Through collaborative assignments, lectures, discussions and readings, students explore the distinct language of each medium and develop video production skills through teamwork.

Component(s): Lecture

• Students who have received credit for COMS 280 and 282 may not take this course for credit.

Description: Specific topics for this course, and prerequisites relevant in each case, are stated in the Undergraduate Class Schedule.

Description: Specific topics for this course, and prerequisites relevant in each case, are stated in the Undergraduate Class Schedule.

Prerequisite/Corequisite:

300-level courses, unless otherwise indicated, are open to students who have successfully completed 24 university credits or who have received permission from the Department.

Description: This course focuses on selected national cinemas. The analytic perspective of the course varies but may encompass such issues as cultural contexts; aesthetic conventions; economic and policy constraints; and the history of canons and their renewals. Specific topics for this course are stated in the Undergraduate Class Schedule.

Component(s): Lecture

• Students who have received credit for this topic under a COMS 303 number may not take this course for credit.

Prerequisite/Corequisite:

300-level courses, unless otherwise indicated, are open to students who have successfully completed 24 university credits or who have received permission from the Department.

Description: The topic of this course varies but may include such issues as film theories; the political economy of cinema; the analysis of particular periods in film history; the analysis of the films of particular directors and/or producers; film policies, or the relations between film, video, and television. Specific topics for this course are stated in the Undergraduate Class Schedule.

Component(s): Lecture

• Students who have received credit for this topic under a COMS 302 number may not take this course for credit.

Prerequisite/Corequisite:

300-level courses, unless otherwise indicated, are open to students who have successfully completed 24 university credits or who have received permission from the Department.

Description: Through lectures, discussions, readings, and critical analyses, this course offers students insight into the major schools and practices of media criticism. The course explores the relationships between formal, aesthetic, representational, and sensory elements of media texts and discourses.

Component(s): Lecture

• Students who have received credit for COMS 210 may not take this course for credit.

Prerequisite/Corequisite:

300-level courses, unless otherwise indicated, are open to students who have successfully completed 24 university credits or who have received permission from the Department. Registration in a Major or Specialization in Communication Studies is required. Submission of a sample of creative writing by June 30 and subsequent approval by the instructor is required prior to enrolling.

Description: This course is designed to provide knowledge of and practice in the forms and formats of scripts for media. Topics include the anatomy of a script, the relation between audio and visual elements, and the specificity of particular narrative and non‑narrative genres. Emphasis is placed upon formal structures, such as story construction and plot development, character and dialogue, tension, conflict, resolution, and harmony.

Component(s): Seminar

• Students who have received credit for COMS 305 or COMS 330 may not take this course for credit.

Prerequisite/Corequisite:

300-level courses, unless otherwise indicated, are open to students who have successfully completed 24 university credits or who have received permission from the Department.

Description: This course investigates a variety of video practices from the 1960s to present. These practices range from video as a political tool to video art and installation. Students gain an understanding of the critical and creative uses of video as a tool for communication and change.

Component(s): Lecture

Prerequisite/Corequisite:

300-level courses, unless otherwise indicated, are open to students who have successfully completed 24 university credits or who have received permission from the Department.

Description: This course offers a survey of documentary genres in various media. Topics include the characteristic styles and forms of documentary, the function of documentary, and its relationship to truth and knowledge. The course consists of lectures, screenings, readings, critique, and discussion.

Component(s): Lecture

• Students who have received credit for COMS 306 and COMS 331 may not take this course for credit.

Prerequisite/Corequisite:

300-level courses, unless otherwise indicated, are open to students who have successfully completed 24 university credits or who have received permission from the Department.

Description: This course presents the concept of genre as a framework for the study of media. Topics may include the history of development of genre theory, the distinctive fictive and non‑fictive genres of particular media, and the analysis of emergent or hybrid genres.

Component(s): Lecture

Prerequisite/Corequisite:

300-level courses, unless otherwise indicated, are open to students who have successfully completed 24 university credits or who have received permission from the Department.

Description: This course focuses on the critical evaluation of media including the examination of audiences, contents, and producers. The possible literacies may include media effects, digital media, news and popular media. Students closely examine the main dimensions of media literacy including access, analysis, creation, reflection, and action.

Component(s): Lecture

• Students who have received credit for this topic under a COMS 398 number may not take this course for credit.

Prerequisite/Corequisite:

300-level courses, unless otherwise indicated, are open to students who have successfully completed 24 university credits or who have received permission from the Department.

Description: This course analyzes communicational aspects of various sites such as museums, galleries, exhibitions, countrysides, landscapes, city streets, highways, department stores, and churches. These analyses are conducted from perspectives such as film locations work, interpretive writing, cultural studies, and soundscape research. Students take part in individual and group analyses of Montreal locations.

Component(s): Lecture

Prerequisite/Corequisite:

The following course must be completed previously: COMS 225. Registration in Communication and Cultural Studies Major is required.

Description: This course introduces students to the logics of inquiry of the major research approaches used within Communication and Cultural Studies. It familiarizes students with the formation of research questions, the choice of appropriate methodological tools, and the interpretation and reporting of research findings. There is a particular focus on qualitative approaches to field research and discourse and textual analysis.

Component(s): Seminar

Prerequisite/Corequisite:

300-level courses, unless otherwise indicated, are open to students who have successfully completed 24 university credits or who have received permission from the Department.

Description: This course takes a critical approach to understanding the role of games as media and cultural objects. Students explore how to make sense of games, both as scholars and as players. The course offers ample opportunities for students to play, discuss, and experiment with games themselves, as well as with media about games.

Component(s): Lecture

• Students who have received credit for this topic under a COMS 298 or COMS 398 number may not take this course for credit.

Prerequisite/Corequisite:

300-level courses, unless otherwise indicated, are open to students who have successfully completed 24 university credits or who have received permission from the Department.

Description: This course acquaints the student with the historical development of media policy in Canada. It examines the government regulation of media as well as the strategies that have been put in place to foster and guide the development of media and cultural industries. It also considers the present state of broadcasting, telecommunications, and Internet policies in Canada, focusing on current problems and exploring alternative solutions.

Component(s): Lecture

Prerequisite/Corequisite:

300-level courses, unless otherwise indicated, are open to students who have successfully completed 24 university credits or who have received permission from the Department.

Description: This course explores the forms of communication that have developed between media and youth, including children and adolescents. Topical areas include future policies and planning in the light of developmental needs, ethical parameters, and experiments in creative empowerment.

Component(s): Lecture

Prerequisite/Corequisite:

300-level courses, unless otherwise indicated, are open to students who have successfully completed 24 university credits or who have received permission from the Department.

Description: This course examines the applications of computers in the field of communications from conceptual, theoretical, and practical perspectives. Analog and digital representation, transmission, storage, and processing of visual and aural information are discussed.

Component(s): Lecture

Prerequisite/Corequisite:

300-level courses, unless otherwise indicated, are open to students who have successfully completed 24 university credits or who have received permission from the Department.

Description: This course focuses on key authors and readings in critical theory, including the work of the Frankfurt School, British Cultural Studies, structuralism, post-structuralism, and contemporary continental philosophy. A central concern is to understand the nature of power in the modern media environment.

Component(s): Lecture

Description: The course examines the nature and forms of mass media, its social sources and uses, audiences, and effects. Issues such as media ownership and access, government and self-regulation, technological implications, ethics and accountability may be discussed.

Component(s): Lecture

Prerequisite/Corequisite:

300-level courses, unless otherwise indicated, are open to students who have successfully completed 24 university credits or who have received permission from the Department.

Description: This course offers a critical understanding of the concept of propaganda and analyzes its historical development and contemporary impact on people’s lives. It also explores its various manifestations in society, politics, and culture and the methods of identifying its different forms.

Component(s): Lecture

Prerequisite/Corequisite:

300-level courses, unless otherwise indicated, are open to students who have successfully completed 24 university credits or who have received permission from the Department.

Description: The objectives of the course are to provide the learner with: 1) an overview of psychological processes active in the communicative act; 2) the opportunity to explore a single media area in depth, either independently or in a small group. Through a variety of formats, topic areas such as the following are explored: perception and information processing, language development, areas of para‑psychology related to communication, influences on attitude/behaviour, verbal/non‑verbal codes, and meaning.

Component(s): Lecture

Prerequisite/Corequisite:

300-level courses, unless otherwise indicated, are open to students who have successfully completed 24 university credits or who have received permission from the Department.

Description: This course traces the technological development of sound recording and establishes the historical context and the social and economic conditions in which this development has occurred. The evolution of studio recording practices, the structure of the music industry and its global operations, changes in the production and consumption of music, and changes in the role of music as a form of cultural communication are examined. Attention is also given to sound recording practices in cinema, radio, television and digital media.

Component(s): Lecture

Prerequisite/Corequisite:

300-level courses, unless otherwise indicated, are open to students who have successfully completed 24 university credits or who have received permission from the Department.

Description: This course examines the contested notions of culture and diversity as they relate to interpersonal and mediated communication. It focuses on ways in which different cultural communities critique and access a range of cultural forms, on issues and challenges of cross-cultural communications, and on media representational practices, challenges, and problematics.

Component(s): Lecture

Prerequisite/Corequisite:

300-level courses, unless otherwise indicated, are open to students who have successfully completed 24 university credits or who have received permission from the Department.

Description: This course investigates how sex and gender are represented in and by the media. The course examines sexuality, sexism, and theories of gender through a critical examination of contemporary media topics.

Component(s): Lecture

Prerequisite/Corequisite:

300-level courses, unless otherwise indicated, are open to students who have successfully completed 24 university credits or who have received permission from the Department.

Description: This course introduces the basic principles of visual forms of communication, and considers the relationship of visual and verbal components within media messages. It also presents various modes of visual communication, considers their place within cultural understandings of representation, and examines the place of the visual within contemporary culture.

Component(s): Lecture

Prerequisite/Corequisite:

300-level courses, unless otherwise indicated, are open to students who have successfully completed 24 university credits or who have received permission from the Department.

Description: This course critically examines the place of advertising in contemporary society. Topics may include the analysis of communication strategies, the construction of desire, the significance of advertising to the production and circulation of commodities, and the role of advertising and consumption in the construction of social identity.

Component(s): Lecture

• Students who have received credit for COMS 470 may not take this course for credit.

Prerequisite/Corequisite:

300-level courses, unless otherwise indicated, are open to students who have successfully completed 24 university credits or who have received permission from the Department.

Description: This course considers the principles and responsibilities of public relations, and critically examines specific problems and the role of media choices and practices in effecting solutions.

Component(s): Lecture

• Students who have received credit for COMS 471 may not take this course for credit.

Prerequisite/Corequisite:

300-level courses, unless otherwise indicated, are open to students who have successfully completed 24 university credits or who have received permission from the Department.

Description: This course presents a variety of theoretical frameworks that inform the analysis of public communication. Emphasis is placed on cultural, political, and ideological interpretations. Concepts presented are drawn from a number of traditions including rhetoric, hermeneutics, post-structuralism, psychoanalysis, semiotics, and deconstruction.

Component(s): Lecture

Prerequisite/Corequisite: 300-level courses, unless otherwise indicated, are open to students who have successfully completed 24 university credits or who have received permission from the Department.

Description: This course offers an in‑depth examination of specific periods or issues in media and cultural history. Selected topics focus on the development of media forms or cultural practices, as well as their social and political consequences. Historiographic research methods and theories are addressed.

Component(s): Lecture

Prerequisite/Corequisite:

The following course must be completed previously: COMS 274. Permission of the Department is required.

Description: This course provides further theoretical and applied exploration of intermedia art and media practices such as remediation, design, animation, interactivity, installation, and performance. General emphasis on creative process, and proof‑of‑concept media creations, rather than “finished” media productions.

Component(s): Lecture; Laboratory

• Students who have received credit for this topic under a COMS 399 number may not take this course for credit.

Prerequisite/Corequisite:

The following course must be completed previously: COMS 276. Permission of the Department is required.

Description: This course explores acoustic communication, focusing on audio production techniques associated with various media, including radio, film, video, television, music recording, and intermedia. Students develop technical skills in sound creation and a critical awareness of the social and historical contexts of sound production and reception.

Component(s): Lecture; Laboratory

• Students who have received credit for COMS 378 may not take this course for credit.

Prerequisite/Corequisite:

The following course must be completed previously: COMS 284. Permission of the Department is required.

Description: This course explores aesthetic, critical, and technical issues of moving images through the development of artistic voice, concept, and audience. Students explore visual and aural strategies through collaborative projects and hone skills in camera, lighting, sound and editing.

Component(s): Lecture; Laboratory

• Students who have received credit for COMS 385 or COMS 387 may not take this course for credit.

Prerequisite/Corequisite:

The following course must be completed previously: COMS 274, COMS 276 or COMS 284 Submission of a portfolio and project proposal to instructor and permission of the Department is required prior to enrolling.

Description: This course involves the development and creation of specialized projects in selected media genres and forms. Emphasis is placed upon conception, design, and execution of media works. Choice of media and types of forms and genres vary from year to year. Specific topics for this course, and prerequisites relevant in each case, are stated in the Undergraduate Class Schedule.

• Students who have received credit for this topic under COMS 379 or 380 may not take this course for credit.

Prerequisite/Corequisite:

300-level courses, unless otherwise indicated, are open to students who have successfully completed 24 university credits or who have received permission from the Department. registration in a Communication Studies program. Permission of the Department is required.

Description: With approval from the BA program director, students are given the opportunity to work in the communications industry under the co-supervision of a faculty member and a media professional. Students may be accepted for an open apprenticeship position offered to the Department, or they may formulate a study proposal on their own initiative. In order to receive credit, such an apprenticeship proposal must be approved by the BA program director.

Component(s): Practicum/Internship/Work Term

• Students who have received credit for COMS 494 may not take this course for credit.

Prerequisite/Corequisite:

300-level courses, unless otherwise indicated, are open to students who have successfully completed 24 university credits or who have received permission from the Department. registration in a Communication Studies program. Permission of the Department is required.

Component(s): Practicum/Internship/Work Term

• Students who have received credit for COMS 394 may register for COMS 395.

  Students who have received credit for COMS 495 may not take this course for credit.

Description: Specific topics for this courses, and relevant prerequisites, are stated in the Undergraduate Class Schedule.

Description: Specific topics for this courses, and relevant prerequisites, are stated in the Undergraduate Class Schedule.

Prerequisite/Corequisite:

400-level courses, unless otherwise indicated, are open to students who have successfully completed 48 university credits or who have received permission from the Department.

Description: The following course must be completed previously: COMS 307; submission of a sample of creative writing and subsequent approval by the instructor. This course provides an in‑depth approach to writing for specific media. Emphasis is placed upon structure, storytelling, research, and the interplay of character and action. Different paradigms for both fiction and non‑fiction are considered.

Component(s): Seminar

• Students who have received credit for COMS 305 or COMS 330 may not take this course for credit.

Prerequisite/Corequisite:

400-level courses, unless otherwise indicated, are open to students who have successfully completed 48 university credits or who have received permission from the Department.

Description: This course investigates contemporary theories of acoustic communication and design, such as Attali’s concept of noise, Schaeffer’s theory of the sound object, Schafer’s concept of soundscape, Chion’s cinema for the ear, and Augoyard’s repertoire of sound effects. Students engage in critical analysis of selected sound texts from various media.

Component(s): Seminar

Prerequisite/Corequisite: 400-level courses, unless otherwise indicated, are open to students who have successfully completed 48 university credits or who have received permission from the Department.

Description: This course analyzes and explores the ways sexuality circulates in and as public discourses. Through a variety of conceptual formations and critical conceptualizations of “the public” and “sexuality,” this course analyzes conceptually and critically how sexuality and the notion of the public are mutually constitutive. The seminar is interdisciplinary and draws upon works in feminist studies, queer theory, political philosophy, history, cultural studies, and communication theory.

Component(s): Seminar

Prerequisite/Corequisite: 400-level courses, unless otherwise indicated, are open to students who have successfully completed 48 university credits or who have received permission from the Department.

Description: This course examines the forms and tactics of public discourses directed toward social change. Forms of public discourse that may be considered include speech, images, audiovisual works, as well as web-based sites or forms of communication. Emphasis is placed upon political protest, conflict and controversy, and mobilization. Themes explored include the development of speaking positions, the use of unconventional tactics, and the appropriation or rejection of received values.

Component(s): Seminar

Prerequisite/Corequisite: 400-level courses, unless otherwise indicated, are open to students who have successfully completed 48 university credits or who have received permission from the Department.

Description:

Drawing on a range of recent field studies exploring the creative workplace (e.g. television production, the fashion industry, ad agencies, graphic design companies, the music business), this course frames commercial cultural production as a site of active agency, negotiation, and constraint through readings, discussion, and the design and execution of field research projects.

Component(s): Seminar

Prerequisite/Corequisite:

400-level courses, unless otherwise indicated, are open to students who have successfully completed 48 university credits or who have received permission from the Department.

Description: This course focuses on the language, skills, and strategies necessary for producing media projects and events. Administration, organization, permits and permissions, fundraising, liability and contracts, team-building, distribution and writing are just a few of the areas that are examined as students learn the skills necessary to be a producer.

Component(s): Seminar

Prerequisite/Corequisite: 400-level courses, unless otherwise indicated, are open to students who have successfully completed 48 university credits or who have received permission from the Department.

Description: This course explores the themes and concerns associated with particular photographic practices. Through class discussion, visual materials, readings, and writing projects, students develop a critical understanding of the history, language, and aesthetics of the photographic image.

Component(s): Seminar

Prerequisite/Corequisite: 400-level courses, unless otherwise indicated, are open to students who have successfully completed 48 university credits or who have received permission from the Department.

Description: This course explores the assumptions, methodologies, and vocabularies implicit in important schools of popular and academic media criticism across mulitiple media forms.

Component(s): Seminar

Prerequisite/Corequisite: 400-level courses, unless otherwise indicated, are open to students who have successfully completed 48 university credits or who have received permission from the Department.

Description:

This course examines the significance of communication technologies to the process of globalization, which has increased and accelerated the movement of people and commodities across the world. The resulting transnational networks of cultural, economic, political, and social linkages and alliances are considered, as is the role of media in engendering new forms of community and identity.

Component(s): Seminar

Prerequisite/Corequisite: 400-level courses, unless otherwise indicated, are open to students who have successfully completed 48 university credits or who have received permission from the Department.

Description: Focusing on Canadian First Peoples territories in the North and South, as well as selected circumpolar regions, such as parts of Australia and other areas of the world inhabited by indigenous peoples, this course examines from a global perspective the historical, theoretical, and cross-cultural content and contexts of aboriginal media financing, audience research, product development, distribution issues, and policy formation. Broadcasting, print, and digital media case studies and materials are central components.

Component(s): Seminar

Prerequisite/Corequisite: 400-level courses, unless otherwise indicated, are open to students who have successfully completed 48 university credits or who have received permission from the Department.

Description: This course examines recent theory and research trends in the area of media reception studies and audience agency. Topics may include discursive, institutional, observational, and ethnographic approaches through readings, discussion, and the design and execution of field research projects.

Component(s): Lecture

Prerequisite/Corequisite: 400-level courses, unless otherwise indicated, are open to students who have successfully completed 48 university credits or who have received permission from the Department.

Description: This course examines how media can be used in order to intervene in social and cultural issues. Emphasis is placed upon the performative character of interventions: they occur at a particular time and in a particular place, they are addressed to and seek to move particular audiences. Topics may include the history of performance strategies, the social and political character of aesthetic interventions, and the forms of such performances in relation to various media of communication.

Component(s): Lecture

Prerequisite/Corequisite: 400-level courses, unless otherwise indicated, are open to students who have successfully completed 48 university credits or who have received permission from the Department.

Description: This course critically examines the political, social, and ethical dimensions of the information society within Canada and throughout the world. The development of the information society is placed in a socio-historical context. The significance of information and communication technologies is considered and the role of global information and communication policies is examined.

Component(s): Seminar

Prerequisite/Corequisite: 400-level courses, unless otherwise indicated, are open to students who have successfully completed 48 university credits or who have received permission from the Department.

Description: This course examines the aesthetic principles pertinent to the analysis and creation of works within communication media. Topics may include the field of perception, the role of cognition, the elements of composition, and the interplay of form and meaning. Both the static and dynamic aspects of visual and aural elements are considered.

Component(s): Seminar

Prerequisite/Corequisite: 400-level courses, unless otherwise indicated, are open to students who have successfully completed 48 university credits or who have received permission from the Department.

Description: This course examines various alternatives to mainstream media. These alternatives may include community radio and video, independent film, the Internet, and other emergent cultural forms such as the pastiche and parody of “culture jamming.” The concepts of mainstream and alternative are explored and the relationship between alternative media and social practices is considered.

Component(s): Seminar

Prerequisite/Corequisite:

Registration in the Communication and Cultural Studies Major is required. 400-level courses, unless otherwise indicated, are open to students who have successfully completed 48 university credits or who have received permission from the Department.

Description: This course offers an intense examination of a prominent contemporary debate and/or issue in cultural studies. Students work toward the completion of a major research assignment.

Component(s): Seminar

Prerequisite/Corequisite:

400-level courses, unless otherwise indicated, are open to students who have successfully completed 48 university credits or who have received permission from the Department.

Description: This course examines recent research focusing on television. Topics may include technological and industrial changes, audience activity, new genres, and representational conventions.

Component(s): Seminar

Prerequisite/Corequisite: 400-level courses, unless otherwise indicated, are open to students who have successfully completed 48 university credits or who have received permission from the Department.

Description: This course critically examines the cultures, economics and affordances of social media platforms. The development of social media platforms is also discussed in order to understand how global flows of technology and culture converge. This course also examines platform policy and governance.

Component(s): Seminar

Prerequisite/Corequisite: 400-level courses, unless otherwise indicated, are open to students who have successfully completed 48 university credits or who have received permission from the Department.

Description: This course provides an in‑depth study of a selected area of film studies. Specific topics for this course are stated in the Undergraduate Class Schedule.

Prerequisite/Corequisite: 400-level courses, unless otherwise indicated, are open to students who have successfully completed 48 university credits or who have received permission from the Department.

Description: This course provides an in‑depth study of selected film, video, sound and interactive documentary genres. Specific topics for this course are stated in the Undergraduate Class Schedule.

Prerequisite/Corequisite: 400-level courses, unless otherwise indicated, are open to students who have successfully completed 48 university credits or who have received permission from the Department.

Description: This course examines trends in film, sound, television, and other media for future applications. The course includes theory of media effects. Representatives from industry and government are invited to discuss future trends in media utilization. The course demands a theoretical and practical model for original or novel use of a medium or media mix.

Component(s): Lecture

Prerequisite/Corequisite: 400-level courses, unless otherwise indicated, are open to students who have successfully completed 48 university credits or who have received permission from the Department.

Description: This course allows students to confront issues of creative responsibility and ethical dilemmas in media practice. Emphasis is placed upon the relationship between production and theory at the level of ethical responsibility. Specific issues include ethical theories as applied to media, communication and information; the relationship of human values and technologies of information reproduction; the possibilities of critical media practice; identification of challenges emerging from experience in Communication Studies.

Component(s): Seminar

• Students who have received credit for JOUR 216 or JOUR 317 may not take this course for credit.

Prerequisite/Corequisite: 400-level courses, unless otherwise indicated, are open to students who have successfully completed 48 university credits or who have received permission from the Department.

Description: Food and water are essential to life and inform the articulation of identities, values, and cultures. This course addresses the critical role communication plays in framing contemporary food issues. Students develop skills to critically analyze the narratives and metaphors that scholars, artists, communication experts, educators, and activists draw on when addressing food, water and environmental concerns.

Component(s): Seminar

• Students who have received credit for this topic under a COMS 435 number may not take this course for credit.

Prerequisite/Corequisite: 400-level courses, unless otherwise indicated, are open to students who have successfully completed 48 university credits or who have received permission from the Department.

Description: The course explores how news is produced within systems of media and power, and examines the technologies and conventions that govern its production and dissemination. The class may explore in greater detail a particular facet of, or problem in, the news media system, its production or dissemination.

Component(s): Seminar

Prerequisite/Corequisite: 400-level courses, unless otherwise indicated, are open to students who have successfully completed 48 university credits or who have received permission from the Department.

Description: The relationships between forms of communication and political structures and processes are examined. Topics include freedom of expression, the role of communication in mediating conflict, the place of deliberation and debate in democracy, political campaigns and advertising, and the relationship between styles of communication and models of governance.

Component(s): Seminar

Prerequisite/Corequisite: 400-level courses, unless otherwise indicated, are open to students who have successfully completed 48 university credits or who have received permission from the Department.

Description: This course considers major approaches to organizational communication in relation to shifting patterns of power, inequality, and technological change. Topics include communication networks, organization culture, bureaucracy, systematically distorted communication, gendered communication, the impact of new communication technologies, and patterns of organizational dominance and resistance. Case studies of particular organizations are examined.

Component(s): Seminar

Prerequisite/Corequisite: 400-level courses, unless otherwise indicated, are open to students who have successfully completed 48 university credits or who have received permission from the Department.

Description: This course offers an advanced examination of popular culture. With attention to such phenomena as hit films and television shows, stars, fans, and pop art, this course focuses on the formation of hierarchies of value in cultural forms. This course examines how some cultural products come to be celebrated while others are dismissed. It also considers social and political consequences of divisions of high and low culture.

Component(s): Seminar

Prerequisite/Corequisite: 400-level courses, unless otherwise indicated, are open to students who have successfully completed 48 university credits or who have received permission from the Department.

Description: This course provides a detailed introduction to the semiotics of communication. The course considers the formal characteristics of signs and codes and examines how signs or texts produce meaning. Central to this course is the notion that sign-systems are fundamental to the production of knowledge and ideology. The course proceeds through lectures, an analytical reading of assigned texts, and student discussion and presentations.

Component(s): Seminar

Prerequisite/Corequisite: 400-level courses, unless otherwise indicated, are open to students who have successfully completed 48 university credits or who have received permission from the Department.

Description: This course addresses practical and theoretical issues of race and ethnicity that have become focal points for current debates in public cultural expression and media studies. The following themes are discussed: cultural/racial difference and its implications for media studies; the (mis)representation of multicultural and multiracial minorities in mainstream and alternative media; questions of access to arts and other cultural funding sources; implications of employment equity legislation in light of media budget cuts; and cross-cultural awareness programs vs. anti-racist training for media professionals. Theoretical readings which frame issues of cultural and racial representation are an integral part of this course.

Component(s): Seminar

Prerequisite/Corequisite: 400-level courses, unless otherwise indicated, are open to students who have successfully completed 48 university credits or who have received permission from the Department.

Description: This course focuses upon communication as persuasive or as producing identification. Emphasis is placed upon the role of communication in civic affairs. Classical and contemporary approaches to rhetorical theory and criticism are examined.

Component(s): Lecture

Prerequisite/Corequisite: 400-level courses, unless otherwise indicated, are open to students who have successfully completed 48 university credits or who have received permission from the Department.

Description: This course discusses the role media can play in indigenous and international development. The concept of development communications is examined in the context of debates within neo-colonial and post-colonial theories.

Component(s): Lecture

Prerequisite/Corequisite: 400-level courses, unless otherwise indicated, are open to students who have successfully completed 48 university credits or who have received permission from the Department.

Description: Feminist theories of communication technologies are used to critique the impact and meanings of these technologies in various spheres of cultural activity. Topics include the mass media, technological mediations in organizations and institutions, and the re-articulation of domestic and public spaces, such as the Internet and the World Wide Web. Special attention is paid to these electronic and digital technologies — or new media — and the communicational and representational possibilities they enable or foreclose. The class is conducted as an intensive seminar. Completion of a prior course in women’s studies or gender studies at the university level is recommended.

Component(s): Seminar

Prerequisite/Corequisite: 400-level courses, unless otherwise indicated, are open to students who have successfully completed 48 university credits or who have received permission from the Department.

Description: This course explores historical and current parameters of international communications within the context of current global shifts in power/knowledge relations. Discussion topics are selected from among the following: key development and neo-colonial theories, cultural/media imperialism, globalization, the UN infrastructure, the Right to Communicate debates, national sovereignty issues, international broadcasting, cross-cultural audience reception research and effects theories, telediplomacy, the World Wide Web and the Internet, women as an international constituency group, and others.

Component(s): Seminar

Prerequisite/Corequisite:

The following course must be completed previously: COMS 374. Permission of the Department is required.

Description: This advanced course in intermedia theory and practice involves further engagement with analog and digital media, such as remediation, design, animation, interactivity, installation, and performance. The course emphasizes concept, process, and polish in the development of a portfolio-level work.

Component(s): Lecture; Laboratory

• Students who have received credit for COMS 474 or COMS 490 may not take this course for credit.

Prerequisite/Corequisite:

The following course must be completed previously: COMS 376. Permission of the Department is required.

Description: This advanced course involves analysis and creation of substantial audio projects such as sound documentaries, song cycles, soundscape projects, multi-layered soundtracks, and audio installations. Emphasis is placed on creative portfolio development and public presentation.

Component(s): Lecture; Laboratory

• Students who have received credit for COMS 476 or COMS 478 may not take this course for credit.

Prerequisite/Corequisite:

The following course must be completed previously: COMS 384. Permission of the Department is required.

Description: This course emphasizes the development of portfolio-quality creative work in moving images with a focus on cinematography, sound design, editing, distribution, aesthetic and critical aspects of digital moving image production and the professional field.

Component(s): Lecture; Laboratory

• Students who have received credit for COMS 485 or COMS 487 may not take this course for credit.

Prerequisite/Corequisite:

Successful completion of any second-year production course. Permission of the Department is required.

Description: This advanced production course offers a sustained opportunity to develop one or more portfolio-quality media productions, either individually or in groups. Other topics may include CV design, grant-writing, and professional development.

Component(s): Lecture; Laboratory

Prerequisite/Corequisite:

The following course must be completed previously: COMS 374, COMS 376 or COMS 385. Submission of portfolio and project proposal to instructor and permission of the Department is required prior to enrolling.

Description: This course involves the development and creation of specialized projects in selected media genres and forms. Emphasis is placed upon conception, design, and execution of media works. Choice of media and types of forms and genres vary from year to year. Specific topics for this course, and prerequisites relevant in each case, are stated in the Undergraduate Class Schedule.

Component(s): Lecture; Laboratory

Prerequisite/Corequisite:

Registration in a Communication Studies program is required.

Description: Towards the end of their second year, students enrolled in a Communication Studies program who have demonstrated scholarly and creative ability may be selected for major research or production in a communications area of special interest. During the third year, individually or in teams, the project is realized in close collaboration with faculty directors.

Component(s): Independent Study

• No more than six credits may be taken in Apprenticeships or Directed Study. The appropriate Cluster for Apprenticeship and Directed Study courses is determined by the course content as outlined in the student proposal.

• Students who have received credit for COMS 495 may not take this course for credit.

Prerequisite/Corequisite:

Registration in a Communication Studies program is required.

Component(s): Independent Study

• No more than six credits may be taken in Apprenticeships or Directed Study. The appropriate Cluster for Apprenticeship and Directed Study courses is determined by the course content as outlined in the student proposal.

• Students who have received credit for COMS 496 may register for COMS 497.

Description: Specific topics for this courses, and relevant prerequisites, are stated in the Undergraduate Class Schedule.

Description: Specific topics for this courses, and relevant prerequisites, are stated in the Undergraduate Class Schedule.