COMMUNICATION STUDIES: COURSES
Communication Studies 40-101 is required of all majors and is to be taken in the first year. For non-majors, this course is recommended prior to taking even those upper-level Communications Studies courses for which no specific prerequisites are listed. This introductory study of the media and its operations, within a rich context of history, theory, and cultural policy, is designed to enhance media literacy.
Students may register in upper-level courses if specific prerequisites are met, or with consent of the instructor or program advisor.
Not all courses listed will necessarily be offered each year. All courses are three hours per week (3.00 credit hours) unless otherwise indicated.
40-101. Introduction to Communication Studies
An overview of the major themes, issues and schools of thought informing the field of communication studies. Topics include: the political, economic, historical, and cultural contexts of communication; policy issues and concerns; communication technology; media representation; the role of media in the social construction of reality; and the broad interaction between media and society. (2 lecture, 1 tutorial hour per week.)
40-110. Introduction to Production Planning and Design
An introduction to the process of production planning and design, including how ideas are created, developed, expressed, proposed, and acted upon in various media. Through lectures, laboratory activities, and class assignments students will gain skills and knowledge in the techniques of outlines, treatments, storyboards, budgets, and resource management. (Restricted to first and second year students in Communication Studies or combined four-year Honours programs with Communications Studies.) (2 lecture, 2 laboratory hours a week.)
40-111. Introduction to Production Practice
Practical implementation of concepts and skills learned in 40-110. Through lectures and laboratory activities, students will further develop script writing skills, visual storytelling styles and aesthetics, and produce a basic media production. Along with 40-110, this course is required for students pursuing advanced courses in film and video and is recommended for students planning to take sound/audio courses. (Prerequisite: 40-110; limited to first and second year Communication Studies majors and majors in Combined Communication Studies Honours programs.) (2 lecture, 2 laboratory hours a week.)
40-200. Foundations of Communications History
Relations between evolving media of communication and changing political-economic and socio-cultural structures and practices, from a social justice perspective. Addresses the various media (oral communication, writing, print, electronic media) of various societies (ancient Greek, Egyptian, Sumerian, modern industrial and postmodern societies). (Prerequisite 40-101.) (3 lecture hours or 2 lecture hours and 1 tutorial hour a week.) (Credit cannot be obtained for both 40-200 and 40-300.)
40-202. Foundations of Cultural Studies
An introduction to contemporary theories and methods of cultural studies which focuses on the study of society's communicative practices, artistic productions, beliefs, and institutions. This approach incorporates a variety of theoretical and methodological perspectives, including semiotics, social constructionism, structuralism, neo-Marxism, psychoanalysis, postmodernism, ritual analysis, and ethnography. Particular attention is paid to the ways in which race, class, and gender are constituted in a variety of cultural texts. (Prerequisite: 40-101.) (3 lecture hours or 2 lecture hours and 1 tutorial hour a week.)
40-205. Introductory Photography
This introductory course in chemical and digital photographic processes provides an opportunity for students to explore techniques and concepts within the medium of photography. Students will learn the basic technical skills of operating cameras, processing film, making black and white prints, and digital imaging. Through a series of assigned projects discussions and readings, students will be exposed to a variety of concerns specific to photography. (Prerequisite: 40-101 and 40-110 and Communication Studies Major; students must have a 35mm adjustable camera to complete this course.) (Cross-listed as Visual Arts 27-253.)
40-211. The Film Making Process I
Theoretical and practical examination of the technical, communicative and aesthetic considerations in black-and-white 16mm film making. Topics include optics and exposure, cinematography, picture editing, and double-system, non-synchronous sound recording, and editing. (Credit for this course will be allocated only after successful completion of 40-212.) (Prerequisites: 40-101, and 40-111.) (2 lecture, 2 laboratory hours a week.)
40-212. The Film Making Process II
A continuation of 40-211 with increased emphasis on practical
exercises and an examination of aesthetic and communicative factors. Included will be a study of the basic approaches to film and their implications for the film making process. (Prerequisite: 40-211.) (Credit for this course will be allocated only after successful completion of 40-211.) (2 lecture, 2 laboratory hours a week.)
40-214. Sound in Media
The course deals with three major topic areas: writing for the ear, voice improvement, and sound production technology. Students will write and deliver short messages, learn how to operate radio equipment, and produce audio messages. Other topics covered include audiovisual synchronization, MIDI, the digitizing process, and copyrights. (Prerequisites: 40-101 and 40-110.) (2 lecture, 2 laboratory hours a week.)
40-216. Video Production I
This project-based course, integrating theory and practice, introduces students to studio and location work with emphasis on the knowledge and skill essential to produce a program. A variety of production techniques are presented appropriate for fiction, non-fiction, education, and training programs. (Credit for this course will be allocated only after successful completion of 40-217.) (Prerequisites: 40-101, and 40-111.) (2 lecture, 4 laboratory hours a week.)
40-217. Video Production II
Post-production editing and the creative integration of sound and image are explored. Emphasis is on the constraints imposed and the enhancements made possible by technology and the consequences for the effectiveness of the program. (Credit for this course will be allocated only after successful completion of 40-216.) (Prerequisite: 40-216.) (2 lecture, 4 laboratory hours a week.)
40-225. Media Literacy
An introduction to important concepts concerning news media and popular culture. The intent is to help students to develop the skills, knowledge, and background necessary to interpret how the media contribute to the social construction of reality. (3 lecture hours or 2 lecture hours and 1 tutorial hour a week.)
40-234. Foundations of Research Methods in Communication
Studies
An introductory overview of research approaches, methods, and designs in communication studies. Students will learn about the theoretical grounding of quantitative, qualitative, and interpretive methods, and practice various methods to explore communication issues. (Prerequisites: 40-101 or Labour Studies Majors must have semester 3 standing) (3 lecture hours or 2 lecture hours and 1 tutorial hour a week.)
40-240. Cinema History I (Pre-War)
The course charts the early history of the cinema from its inception to World War II: film shorts at the turn of the century, the silent film era, the introduction of sound, and the decline of the studio system. Films are examined as technical, industrial, commercial, artistic, and, most importantly, as historical artifacts. Industry, audience, and the development of cinematic language are viewed within an international framework and their local cultural context.
40-241. Cinema History II (Post-War)
The course examines films from the post-War period to the present: the heyday of the classical Hollywood narrative and challenges to its dominance from European neo-realism and the avant-garde film movement are considered. Films are viewed as influenced by and reflective of social upheaval of the sixties, as well as their consolidation within distinct but mutually influencing categories of mainstream and alternative cinema. An important consideration is how films can either paper over or expose social fractures along the lines of gender, race, sexuality, and nationalism.
40-243. Media Aesthetics
The course provides a basic set of principles and tools to understand the formal qualities of visual signification. Students learn aesthetic and technical terms, rules, conventions, and social assumptions used to construct meaning through sound, images, or graphics in stills, film, and television. The course offers a grounding useful for both the producers and consumers of still and moving images. (Prerequisite: 40-101 or 40-110.)
40-245. Communication and Cultural Policy in Canada
The history and development of cultural policy and cultural production in Canada. Topics include: the role of the State in cultural production; national culture, citizenship, identity and multiculturalism; the structure, performance and regulation of the culture industries; globalization and the new technologies. (Prerequisite: 40-101.)
40-250. Basic Processes in Media Writing
The practice of fundamental media writing and organizational skills, research methods and information-gathering techniques for the preparation of copy and/or scripts for print, broadcast, film and/or new media. Students will use microcomputers in this course but previous typing experience is not necessary. (Prerequisite: 40-101) (1 lecture hour and 2 lab hours a week.)
40-257. Foundations of Political Economy of Communications
Communication, democracy, and the public interest; political economy of mass media; frameworks and models for media and telecommunications policy and regulation; international trade and national culture; patterns of media ownership; audiences and marketing systems. (Prerequisite: 40-101.) (3 lecture hours or 2 lecture hours and 1 tutorial hour a week.)
40-262. Intercultural Communication
Intercultural communication is explored through attention to issues such as race, ethnicity, nationality, language, non-verbal codes, class, gender, sexual orientation, and religion. Students explore local and global perspectives on peace and conflict, social justice, and intercultural ethics, employing both critical and interpretive approaches.
40-275. Foundations of Communications Theory
Introduces theoretical approaches to communication forms, processes and contexts, and explores a variety of underlying philosophical perspectives, assumptions and paradigms of inquiry in communication theory. (Prerequisite: 40-101.) (3 lecture hours or 2 lecture hours and 1 tutorial hour a week.)
40-300. Issues in the History of Communications
The course explores selected issues in the historical development of communication forms and technologies and their changing relationship to content. It situates the introduction, development, adoption and regulation of communication forms and technologies within their historically relevant social, cultural, political and economic contexts. The course integrates these technologies and forms by focusing on questions of power, agency, causality, access and ‘progress.’ (Pre-requisites: 40-101 and 40-275). (Credit cannot be obtained for both 40-200 and 40-300.)
40-302. Popular Culture
Examines the relationship between popular culture and questions of economics and social and cultural politics, through an exploration of struggles over knowledge, power and authority manifest in popular cultural artifacts and processes. Intended to provide students with tools for critical evaluation of contemporary popular culture, including the constitution of social ideologies, values and representations through cultural artifacts. (Prerequisite: 40-202.)
40-303. Studies in Popular Music Culture
This course explores the culture, production history, economics, and critical approaches to popular music - for instance, the popular music springing from the Windsor-Detroit region that includes the influences of Motown, garage rock, funk, folk, soul, R&B, gospel, rap, and electronic music. The course is intended to provide students with tools to contextualize contemporary music historically and critically and includes exploration of issues such as identity, counterculture, popular culture in a local/global context, social values, and representations. (Pre-requisite: 40-202 and semester 4 standing, or consent of instructor.)
40-310. Intermediate Editing and Post-Production
An Introduction to historical, aesthetic, theoretical and practical issues of editing and post-production. The course will explore editing techniques through lectures and analysis while emphasizing hands-on practice through directed exercises and projects, with special attention to the Final Cut Pro editing system. (Prerequisites: admission to advanced production courses or permission of instructor.) ( 2 lecture hours, 2 laboratory hours a week.)
40-312. Intermediate Cinematography and Digital Editing I
This course progresses from the basic principles of photography and an understanding of light to a broader foundation of knowledge in cinematography. The emphasis is on practical and supporting theoretical elements, exercises and clip screenings in support of digital and analog photography and camera and lighting equipment in support of digital film and video. (Credit for this course will be allocated only after successful completion of 40-313.) (2 lecture, 3 laboratory hours a week.) (Prerequisites: 40-211 and 40-212 or 40-216 and 40-217; or consent of the instructor.)
40-313. Intermediate Cinematography and Digital Editing II
A continuation of 40-312, this course focuses simultaneously on developing technical ability and creative awareness through hands on experiences. Students will acquire a working understanding of AVID DV Xpress Pro and will work through the process of digitizing rushes and editing material to finish a project in digital video resolution. Examples from film will illustrate the value of editing and sound in the production process. (Credit for this course will be allocated only after successful completion of 40-312.) (Prerequisites: 40-312.) (2 lecture, 3 laboratory hours per week.)
40-315. Radio Broadcasting
An examination of current and future trends in radio broadcasting, with the focus on the social implications. Lab exercises will deal with the production of radio programs in various formats. (Prerequisite: 40-214.) (2 lecture, 2 laboratory hours a week.)
40-320. Screenwriting Fundamentals
This course explores the theory and craft of the screenplay with a focus on writing for short film and video projects. A central goal of the class is to refine student filmmakers' storytelling and scripting skills and to impart the conventions of this specialized genre through writing assignments, discussion, and analysis of texts via screenings and readings. (Pre-requisites: 40-212 or 40-217 or permission of the instructor) (3 lecture hours)
40-322. Labour, Workplace and Communication
The course involves a critical exploration of the relationships between labour and information technology from a communication perspective. Both political economy and cultural studies approaches are used to analyze the everyday experiences of individuals in both their paid and unpaid labour. Issues examined may include Scientific Management and Fordism/Post-Fordism, globalization, electronic surveillance, the natural environment, and the intersection(s) of race/ethnicity, class, and gender. (Also offered as Labour Studies 54-322). (Prerequisites: 40-202 or 40-257. Labour studies majors must have at least semester 4 standing.) (Credit cannot be obtained for both 40-321 and 40-322.)
40-323. Public Relations and Promotional Culture
This course will take a critical look at an emerging complex of media industries whose activities can best be described as promotional culture. Going beyond traditional advertising and public relations approaches, this course will illustrate how this industry promotes further consumption of media, promotes celebrity in entertainment, sports, politics and elsewhere, and promotes ideas. The course will expose arrays of promotional techniques of which many consumers are unaware. (Prerequisites: 40-202 or 40-225 or 40-257)
40-325. The Sociology of News Media
This course explores the role played by the mass media in the social construction of reality. Concepts that may be given particular emphasis include: legitimation, hegemony, power, propaganda, objectivity, stereotyping, and alternatives. (Prerequisite: 40-225.)
40-328. Communication, Globalization and Social Justice
An intermediate course which examines selected historical and/or contemporary examples of mainstream and alternative media depictions of U.S. foreign policy and corporate globalization. Beginning with Native American genocide and Manifest Destiny, potential topics range around the globe: for example from Mexico and the Philippines in the 19th Century, to Vietnam, the Persian Gulf, Caribbean, and Central and South America. May also involve the history and role of the IMF, World Bank, and WTO. (Prerequisites: 40-225.)
40-333. Mass Media and Audience Research
An overview of current practices and issues in mass audience research, including the measurement of audiences by rating services, audience response assessments, and research regarding how audiences use the media.
40-337. Qualitative Methods in Communication Research
An examination of interpretive, cultural, and historical methodologies utilized in contemporary communication research. A variety of possible research strategies will be explored, such as: cultural studies, interpretive interactionism, ethnography, narrative analysis, interpretive biography, interview techniques, and discourse analysis. (Prerequisite: 40-202 or 40-234.)
40-344. Cinematic Discourses
Using film or critical theory, historical or cultural studies, cinematic discourses are approached with a shifting focus on a range of topics, such as genres, the stars, film movements, or national cinemas. For example, the course may focus on a genre (such as melodrama or comedy), or the star system's influence at a particular historical moment (e.g., the Depression), or offer an overview of a specific national cinema. (May be repeated for credit more than once with consent of the Department Head.) (Prerequisite: 40-202 or 40-240 or 40-241.) (2 lecture, 2 screening hours a week.)
40-360. Public Opinion
The formation of public opinion and its role in democratic society. Theories of attitude and opinion formation and persuasion. Study of propaganda. Current issues in public opinion and the "manufacture of consent". (Prerequisite: at least Semester 5 standing.)
40-362. Gender and Communication
Gender, culture, and communication, with an emphasis on the socio-symbolic construction and re-construction of gender, sex, and sexuality. Themes of gendered identity, feminist and masculinist social movements, stereotyping, communication dynamics, media representations of gender, gender and social justice. (Prerequisite: 40-262 or permission of the instructor.)
40-367. Communication, Environment, and Development
Environmental stresses and Third World development problems from a communication perspective. The roles of information and technology. Information theory, systems theory, and concepts of cultural ecology. Media coverage, advertising, and the ecological crisis. The rhetoric of environmentalism and growth. (Prerequisites: 40-257.)
40-370. Alternative Media
A critical examination of the structure, operation, and function of the mass media in contemporary society from a number of major ideological perspectives, with an emphasis on the assessment of possible alternatives. Innovative, small-scale communication approaches will be examined as one such alternative, with particular attention being paid to the media's role in, and potential for, encouraging or impeding social action. (Prerequisite: 40-225.)
40-374. Information Technology and Social Change
Theories of the "Information Society": economics of information; management of knowledge in organizations; surveillance and identity in digital environments; Canadian information policy. (Prerequisite: 40-257.)
40-381. Advertising in Social Context
Contextualizes the world of advertising within consumer culture and mass media. The course draws upon approaches from Critical Theory, Marxism, feminism, semiotics, critical multiculturalism, and other perspectives. Topics include: the historical and social roots of consumerism; the evolution of the 'branded' society, issues of representation and meaning; the ideological and economic functions of advertising. (Prerequisites: 40-101 and second-year standing.)
40-398. Communication Practicum I
Application of communication skills and knowledge in work experience situations approved by the Co-ordinator of Communication Practica. Admission to the course is by consent and is available only to four-year Honours students. The course is graded by a faculty advisor on the basis of a written report plus other references. (Prerequisite: Third-year standing and consent of a program advisor in Communication Studies.) (6-8 weeks.)
40-399. Communication Practicum II
(Same description as 40-398.)
40-402. Advanced Cultural Studies
An advanced study of communication and culture, including ethnographies, language, semiotics, narrative, ideological analysis, psychoanalysis, structuralism, social constructionism, and postmodernism. (Prerequisites: 40-202, and 40-302 or 40-337.)
40-411. Advanced Film Making I
This course emphasizes multi-track sound editing, colour cinematography, and other technical and aesthetic issues in the creation of the motion picture. (Prerequisites: 40-212 and admission to advanced production courses or permission of the instructor; Corequisite: 40-310 must be taken prior to or concurrently with this course.) (Credit for this course will be allocated only after successful completion of 40-412.) (2 lecture hours and 2 lab hours a week.)
40-412. Advanced Film Making II
This course emphasizes the skill and knowledge necessary to produce a complete colour film with multi-track synchronous soundtrack, including the conceptualization and budgeting of the film as well as the techniques of digital editing. (Prerequisites: 40-411.) (Credit for this course will be allocated only after the successful completion of 40-411.) (2 lecture hours and 2 lab hours a week.)
40-414. Sound Design
Students will learn sound design, which is the process of creating the overall sonic character of a production in music, radio, film, video, and multi media. Major course themes include: sound mixing and editing using computer-based non-linear editing systems; the elements of sound structure and their effects on perception; functions of sound in speech, sound effects, music, silence; the relation between visual media and sound. (Prerequisite: 40-214 and at least semester 5 standing.)
40-416. Advanced Digital Cinema Production I
This course provides the aesthetics for practical media and film production. This will include pre-production and post-production. The goal of 40-416 is to involve students with these tools through a series of directed assignments that will introduce the fundamentals of independent video and film production and cultivate the ability to produce video and film works for broadcast, multimedia industries as well as independent film production. (Prerequisite: Admission to advanced production courses.) (2 lecture, 3 laboratory hours a week.)
40-417. Advanced Digital Cinema Production II
This course is a continuation of digital media and film technology, aesthetics and production. It focuses on specific genres, production challenges, distribution, professional development, multimedia and hyper media production planning and writing from critical production perspectives which include developing a sense of the ethical and social roles related to creating media forms. (Prerequisites: 40-416 and permission of the instructor) (Credit for this course will be allocated only after the successful completion of 40-416.) (2 lecture, 3 laboratory hours a week.)
40-425. Advanced Sociology of News Media
An advanced analysis of the role played by mass media in the social construction of reality. (Prerequisite: 40-325.)
40-426. Advanced Message Design
Students will learn how to design communication units for information, training, and teaching situations, using a systematic procedure from instructional technology. Students will apply theories from communication, persuasion, and learning to determine needs, design a communication strategy, select appropriate media, and evaluate the effort. (Prerequisite: 40-272.) (3 lecture hours or 1 lecture hour and 2 lab hours a week.)
40-430. Communication and Ethics
Comparative approaches to communication ethics; communication and normative integration; communication ethics and communication law; media ethics and self-regulation; contemporary ethical problems and issues in media and communication. (Prerequisite: at least Semester 7 standing.)
40-434. Evaluation Research in Communication Studies
An introduction to the theory, methodology, and practice of evaluation in the communication field, providing an overview of various approaches and methods of evaluation, as well as practical examples of the design of evaluation projects. (Prerequisite: At least Semester 7 standing.)
40-440. Documentary Culture
This course examines the role of documentary media in the construction of history, reality, ideas, experiences and everyday life. Topics may include journalistic forms, film, archival and collecting practices, photography and reality television. (Prerequisite: 40-200 or 40-202 or 40-374 and semester 6 standing)
40-441. Documentary Film and Video I
An introduction to the history, theory, and practice of documentary film. The course provides an overview of the history of documentary with attention to artistic, technological, economic, and political influences and offers students the opportunity to put theoretical study into practice. (Credit for this course will be allocated only after successful completion of 40-442.) (Prerequisites: Third-year standing and one or more of the following: 40-110, 40-240, 40-241.) (4 lecture hours a week.)
40-442. Documentary Film and Video II
A survey of contemporary documentary practice with special attention to recent key themes and issues in the field. Included will be an
examination of the role of technology, financing, distribution, and exhibition arrangements, and cultural and ideological factors in the introduction and acceptance of various documentary techniques, approaches and styles. (Credit for this course will be allocated only after successful completion of 40-441.) (Prerequisite: 40-441.) (4 lecture hours a week.)
40-443. Film Theory and Criticism
An examination of the changing theoretical and critical approaches to the film, including issues in the production and reception of film, such as realism, adaptation, convention, signification, and culture. (Prerequisites: one of 40-240, 40-241, 40-243, or 40-344.)
40-457. International Communication Policy and Systems
Globalization and convergence of media technologies and regulatory regimes; the implications of globalization and convergence for dependency, diversity, identity and sovereignty; and the implications of new communication technologies for the functioning of major political and economic institutions. Seminar format. (Prerequisite: 40-257.)
40-462. Communication Perspectives and Aboriginal People, Race and Ethnicity
Explores theoretical and practical Communication issues of race and ethnicity. Linking these to the practice of social justice. Topics include: historical and critical implications of identity politics, media (mis-) representation, cultural policy, First Nations, multicultural and multiracial media production. (Prerequisites: Two of the following: 40-202, 40-225, 40-245, 40-262, 40-302, 40-362, and third year standing.) (Sociology majors: 48-241 or 48-333 and two additional courses in Communication Studies.)
40-475. Advanced Communication Theory
An examination of contemporary communication theories, such as: critical, cultural, functional, structural, and postmodern approaches. Special attention will be devoted to critically evaluating the underlying assumptions and frameworks of various theories. (Prerequisite: 40-275 and at least Semester 7 standing.)
40-476. Canadian Communication Thought
Commonalities and differences in the communication thought of first- and second-generation Canadian theorists: Harold Innis, John Grierson, Dallas Smythe, Graham Spry, C.B. Macpherson, George Grant, Irene Spry, Gertrude Robinson, Northrup Frye, Marshall McLuhan. A study of dialectics, holism, political economy, ontology, epistemology, and cultural change in the context of media and technology. (Prerequisite: at least Semester 7 standing.)
40-489. Selected Topics in Design and Applications
An advanced exploration of selected topics related to Design and Applications processes in print, audio and/or visual media. The course may be offered as a regular class. For tutorials (available only to four-year Honours students), project proposals must be approved by the program advisor in Communications Studies prior to registration. (May be taken for credit more than once.) (Prerequisite: successful completion of the appropriate upper-level Design and Applications courses.)
40-490. Selected Topics in Communication Studies
An advanced study of selected topics in Communication Studies. Topics and prerequisites may vary depending on the focus of the course. (May be taken more than once if content changes.) (Prerequisites will vary; generally will require at least Semester 7 standing.)
40-495. Directed Reading
Intended for students with special interest in areas not covered in sufficient depth by other courses. (To be taken only with permission of instructor and a program advisor in Communication Studies.)
40-498. Communication Practicum III
Application of communication skills and knowledge in work experience situations approved by the Co-ordinator of Communication Practica. Admission to the course is by consent and is available only to four-year Honours students. The course is graded by a faculty advisor on the basis of a written report plus other references. (To be undertaken after the successful completion of relevant 300-level courses.) (Prerequisite: at least Semester 7 standing and consent of a program advisor in Communication Studies.) (6-8 weeks.)
40-499. Communication Practicum IV
(Same description as 40-498.)