COMMUNICATION, MEDIA, AND FILM: 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 Communication, Media, and Film 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 Media and Society
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, Media and Film or combined four-year Honours programs with Communication, Media and Film.) (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, Media and Film majors and majors in Combined Communication, Media and Film Honours programs.) (2 lecture, 2 laboratory hours a week.)
40-140. Introduction to Film Studies
Cinematic appreciation is studied through one or more of the following methods, at the instructor's discretion: an examination of great films, specific actors, auteurs, film genres or movements. Films may be critically studied within their cultural, historical, political and socio-economic context. (2 hour lecture, 2 hours screening per 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, Media and Film Major; students must have a 35mm adjustable camera to complete this course.) (Cross-listed as Visual Arts 27-253.)
40-210. Speech Communication to Inform
A beginning course designed to help the student to develop poise and confidence in communicating information. (Not available on an Audit basis.) (Also offered as 24-210)
40-213. Podcasting and Internet Media
This course introduces students to the craft of production for the Internet, specifically in the form of video and audio podcasts. Students will acquire skills in a variety of software applications to produce podcasts and distribute them online throughout the world. Emphasis will also be placed on the creation of quality content through the examination of niche audiences, narrowcasting, and current practices in online media production and distribution. (Pre-requisite 40-111)
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.)
40-215. Experimental Film and Video
This course focuses on the exploration of experimental processes in film, video, and sound, giving a technical and critical foundation in each medium. Students will develop skills and projects that explore the potentials of these media beyond the scope of mainstream culture. Focus will be given to contemporary practitioners of experimental media as well as creating a lineage of the roots of this practice. Final projects will be made available through a class website, along with a class-built section of tutorials on experimental processes. Potentials for interaction with Media City festival and its program directors, along with Noise Border classes exist. (Pre-requisite: 40-111)
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. (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. (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. Research Methods in Communication
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.)
40-262. 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.
40-272. Theory of Message Design
An exploration of theories affecting message analysis and communication. Topics include persuasion, ethics, perception, attention, memory, and message analysis. Students will learn how to recognize formal features of messages and how to apply theory to practical message design situations. (Prerequisite: 40-101. Recommended: prior completion of a first-year Psychology course.)
40-275. Theories of Communication and Media
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).
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: 40-275.)
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: admission to advanced production courses, 40-212 or 40-216 or 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.)
40-314. Contemporary Documentary and Nature Cinematography
This course covers two topics in cinematography. The first part of the course will focus on the research, planning and production aspects of documentary film. Students will explore the use of images and sound in the modern documentary, along with the associated ethical issues of the form. The second section of the course will cover techniques used for natural cinematography. This material will be covered in class and through extensive fieldwork in our local wilderness. Students will photograph flora and fauna in their natural surroundings, such things as plants, animals and insects. The course will include a special focus on the environment of this region. (Pre-requisites: One of 40-213, 40-215, 40-216, 40-217)
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: admission to advanced production courses 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:40-275 or Labour studies majors must have at least semester 4 standing.) (Credit cannot be obtained for both 40-321 and 40-322.)
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.)
40-333. 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: 40-234 or 40-275.)
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: Either 40-140 or 40-275, and either 40-240 or 40-241.)
(2 lecture, 2 screening hours a week.)
40-360. Public Opinion, Public Relations, and Propaganda
A critical exploration of the formation and role of public opinion in 'democratic' society and the emergence and influence of public relations and propaganda. Themes include: the mass media and public opinion, public relations, "spin" and the engineering of consent, corporate and government propaganda.(Prerequisites: 40-101 and semester 4 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: 40-275.)
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: 40-275.)
40-375. Critical Approaches to Media and Culture
This course offers an introduction to contemporary theories and methods related to the critical study of media and culture including Marxian and neo-Marxian political economy, the Frankfurt School, Gramscian hegemony theory, structuralism, semiotics, cultural studies, social constructionism, postmodernism, poststructuralism, and feminism. Topics may include: political economy of media and the culture industries; the production, consumption, and circulation of cultural texts and artefacts; the materialities of communication; the politics and practices of representation; cinema and media arts; and urban culture. (3-hour lecture or 2-hour lecture and 1-hour lab. Prerequisite:40-275.)
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 semester four 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, Media and Film) (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: 40-275 or 40-302.)
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 6 standing.)
40-415. Advanced Studio and Location Lighting for Film and Video
This course will teach advanced studio and location lighting skills for film and video. The class will explore professional and creative applications of lighting for production. Student will learn how to plan and execute aesthetically strong and technically sound lighting schemes for controlled sound stage “studio” environments and varied interior and exterior “location” sets. Another focus will be on mastering different styles of lighting in order to evoke specific moods and themes. Artistic and technical skills will be emphasized. (Prerequisite: 40-312.)
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 6 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 6 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: 40-275 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. (Prerequisites: Third-year standing and at least one 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. (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: 40-243 and 40-240 or 40-241.)
40-450. Border Culture
This course addresses the role of borders in contemporary global culture as both physical boundaries and affective conditions. In the context of the Windsor-Detroit border, students from the University of Windsor will exchange viewpoints based upon the experience of living in a border culture. Seminars and field trips will take up the topic of borders from a number of perspectives and contexts. Students will look at historical and contemporary ideas about borders that have been articulated in various disciplines: from political theory and cultural geography, to urban planning, art, literature, architectural and spatial theory. (Open to majors and non-majors.) (Prerequisites: 28-150 and semester 4 standing.) (Also offered as 28-450)
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: 40-275.)
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: 40-225, 40-245, 40-262, 40-302, 40-362, and third year standing.) (Sociology majors: 48-241 or 48-333 and two courses in Communication, Media, and Film.)
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 6 standing.)
40-476. Canadian Communication Thought
The course examines a range of thinkers and artists who have contributed to the various branches of communication and media studies in Canada, including media history and criticism, political economy, cultural studies, philosophies of technology, and media and digital arts. Commonalities and differences between first and second-generation Canadian theorists and artists will be discussed in relationship to theories and practices emanating from the United States and overseas. (Prerequisite: at least Semester 6 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 Communication, Media and Film prior to registration. (Prerequisite: successful completion of the appropriate upper-level Design and Applications courses.) (Normally, 40-489 or 40-495 may be taken no more than a total of 2 times combined.)
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. (Prerequisites will vary; generally will require at least Semester 7 standing.) (May be repeated for credit if the topics are different).
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 Department Head or delegate in Communication, Media and Film) (Normally, 40-489 or 40-495 may be taken no more than a total of two times combined.)
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, Media and Film.) (6-8 weeks.)
40-499. Communication Practicum IV
(Same description as 40-498.)
DIGITAL JOURNALISM: COURSES