CMNS 3161: Media, Entertainment & Popular Culture
Students examine an array of trending concerns in media, entertainment and popular culture. Students will consider competing perspectives on a variety of media and social issues, in particular, the tension between media content, regulation and commerce. Students engage with classic and contemporary debates within the field of communication and media studies.
Learning outcomes
- Explain intermediate and advanced concepts regarding media regulation and commercial practices.
- Analyze competing perspectives on contemporary media and social issues.
- Create interpretive and analytical analysis of media texts.
- Examine the historical and current academic scholarship about media, entertainment and popular culture.
Course topics
- Module 1: No Borders: The Changing Model of Media Consumption
- Module 2: Intellectual Property and the Internet
- Module 3: CanCon and the Debate over Public Broadcasting
- Module 4: Constructing Identity: Representation and Diversity in Popular Culture
- Module 5: The Realities of 21st Century Pop Culture
Required text and materials
Students require the following e-textbook, which can be purchased directly from the TRU bookstore site at: https://thebookstore.tru.ca/site_digital.asp
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Media, Entertainment and Popular Culture CMNS 3161. (Thompson Rivers University custom ed.). (2024). Oxford University Press Academic Canada.
Type: E-Textbook. ISBN: 9780190178215
Assessments
To successfully complete this course, students must achieve a passing grade of 50% or higher on the overall course, and 50% or higher on the mandatory final project.
| Module 1 Reflection Journal | 5% |
| Assignment 1: Presenting for Free | 10% |
| Assignment 2: Have Your Say Letter | 10% |
| Module 2 Reflection Journal | 5% |
| Assignment 3: Does Canada Need the CBC? | 10% |
| Module 3 Reflection Journal | 5% |
| Assignment 4: Audiences of the Future | 10% |
| Module 4 Reflection Journal | 5% |
| Module 5 Reflection Journal | 5% |
| Mandatory Final Project: Forward Thinking | 35% |
| Total | 100% |
Open Learning Faculty Member Information
An Open Learning Faculty Member is available to assist students. Students will receive the necessary contact information at the start of the course.
