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Major in Media Studies
Become a critic and interpreter of the digital cultures and technologies that mediate the world in which we live, work and play.
This major offers a background in the theoretical and cultural analyses of media technologies and the processes of media production and dissemination, as well as applied skills in media content development.
After graduating, you will be a well-rounded advocate and practitioner for digital and media literacy, able to negotiate relationships between storytelling, identity building and media technologies in a variety of community contexts.
Future employment
Digital and media literacy are in demand across a broad range of public and private sectors, as organizations looks for people able to manage these competencies in the current media landscape. You will find opportunities in further study, within the media industry, as well as other sectors negotiating the relationships of media, technology, and communication.
Program requirements
CMNS 1160 Introduction to Communications (3,0,0)CMNS 1160 Introduction to Communications (3,0,0)Credits: 3 credits Students think critically about a range of communication theories tied to examples from popular culture and address how we transmit information, how we create meaning, and how we persuade others, with a focus on many communication contexts, including interpersonal communication, group and organizational communication, public space, mass media, and culture and diversity. Students explore what it means to communicate in these various contexts, and appreciate the contribution of theory to helping us understand what we do when we communicate and why it sometimes goes wrong.
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CMNS 1290 Introduction to Professional Writing (3,0,0)CMNS 1290 Introduction to Professional Writing (3,0,0)Credits: 3 credits Students study the theories and practice of professional organizational communication, learning the importance of effective communication to meeting goals, developing and maintaining relationships and the overall facilitation of work. Students develop skills in evaluating communication scenarios, designing communication strategies that meet goals and audience need, including requests, information sharing and persuasion. In addition, students learn to employ writing techniques and editorial skills relevant to professional communication contexts.
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VISA 1500 Introduction to Visual Culture (HTA) (3,0,0)VISA 1500 Introduction to Visual Culture (HTA) (3,0,0)Credits: 3 credits Students undertake an interdisciplinary exploration of the visual components of our cultural environment. Students engage in a critical survey of early Western technological developments and how ways of seeing underscore late twentieth and twenty-first century forms of visual communication such as advertising, television, film, video, gaming, computer generated imagery, data visualization, post-photographic imaging, and other sources of image-making. We analyze the power of image-based media to entertain, influence, and condition, researching who creates it and purposes it serves. Students develop a critical framework for deconstructing images, applying visual theories and methodologies to real-world examples, reflecting upon the visual ecology that conditions their own perspectives.
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ENGL 1100 Introduction to University Writing (3,0,0)ENGL 1100 Introduction to University Writing (3,0,0)Credits: 3 credits Students explore the practices of reading and writing in scholarly contexts by investigating a chosen topic or issue. Students read, critically analyze, and synthesize information and ideas found in appropriate secondary sources and coming from a variety of disciplinary backgrounds. They also develop their abilities to communicate knowledge by composing in the genres and sub-genres of scholarly writing, including the incorporation of research and documentation while using a clear, persuasive, grammatically-correct style.
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| Any three credits of English. |
CMNS 2160 Mass Communication and the Popular Culture Industry (2,1,0)CMNS 2160 Mass Communication and the Popular Culture Industry (2,1,0)Credits: 3 credits Students are provided a perspective based on professional practices within the total media environment in which our society operates. This includes an examination of the historical, sociological and economic realities of industries such as television, film, music, advertising, public relations and journalism. |
CMNS 2290 Technical Communication (3,0,0)CMNS 2290 Technical Communication (3,0,0)Credits: 3 credits Students study a variety of technical communications used to document professional activity, including proposals, technical and formal reports, policies and procedures, technical descriptions and definitions, and instructions. Students learn the importance of documentation and accountability as part of professional due diligence, applicable across many fields including journalism, business, government, public service, consulting and research institutes. Students develop skills in assessing communication needs in a scenario, identifying communication goals, audience need and relevant media. Finally, students learn skills in research and synthesis to ensure professional engagement and presentation of research material.
Prerequisites: CMNS 1291 OR CMNS 1290 OR ENGL 1100 OR ENGL 1101 OR CMNS 1810
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CMNS 2200 Technology and Communication (3,0,0)CMNS 2200 Technology and Communication (3,0,0)Credits: 3 credits Students explore the interface of technology and communication, from the telegraph to the Web, by examining historical and present cases. Students learn how people adapt to, and innovate within, the limitations to communications imposed by technology, and are informed about the choices they face in their personal use of media and technology. This course qualifies as a Writing Intensive designated course. |
CMNS 2180 Social Networks, Online Identities and Internet Memes (3,0,0)CMNS 2180 Social Networks, Online Identities and Internet Memes (3,0,0)Credits: 3 credits This course explores the recent proliferation of communication tools known as social media. Students consider how collaborative networks create and foster unique models of identity construction and offer opportunities for new methods of creating knowledge. Students examine these issues through hands-on approaches and on-line assignments. |
CMNS 1500 Digital Photography (2,1,0)CMNS 1500 Digital Photography (2,1,0)Credits: 3 credits In this hands-on course, students enhance their visual communication skills as they explore the basics of photography with the use of a digital camera and current industry software. Students learn technical and aesthetic theories of photographic composition. They demonstrate these by articulating complex concepts for photographs and then realizing those concepts in well-composed images, produced using both natural (available) and artificial light. Students learn a variety of techniques and strategies for effective photo composition, photo finishing, manipulation, printing, and publishing, as well as effective evaluation and critique, resulting in photographs that communicate the student's vision to their audiences in meaningful and effective ways.
Note that students cannot receive credit for both DAAD 1500 and CMNS 1500 |
| Choose 10 lower level electives. |
CMNS 3000 Research Methods in Communication (3,0,0)CMNS 3000 Research Methods in Communication (3,0,0)Credits: 3 credits This course provides an overview of the philosophy and practice of communication research. Students are introduced to a range of methods for research in communication and media studies, combining theoretical and epistemological issues with methodological concerns. This course qualifies as a Writing Intensive designated course.
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CMNS 3800 Communication and New Media (3,0,0)CMNS 3800 Communication and New Media (3,0,0)Credits: 3 credits Students examine new media studies from a communication perspective. Subjects include the distinctions between old and new media; the relationship between technology and communication; the convergence of cultural artifacts across media forms; and the influence of design principles on new media architecture. The course qualifies as a Writing Intensive designated course.
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CMNS 3210 Digital Communities (3,0,0)CMNS 3210 Digital Communities (3,0,0)Credits: 3 credits Students think critically about the challenges and opportunities of community in the digital era. Through a survey of research in the fields of social media, students consider the effects of our networked culture on media participation, as well as consumer and civic engagement. Students consider the current state of digital media creation and consumption and propose and develop engaging social media strategies that help users connect, create and provide digital content for intended publics.
Prerequisites: Completion of 45 credits in any discipline
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CMNS 4280 Portfolio Preparation Capstone (3,0,0)CMNS 4280 Portfolio Preparation Capstone (3,0,0)Credits: 3 credits Students synthesize, integrate, demonstrate, and expand upon their abilities in communication developed while
completing their program to demonstrate their growth as learners. Students demonstrate this growth by mapping and
reflecting on their achievement of learning outcomes defined at both the program and institutional level, as well as
by making connections between their learning and future professional and educational goals. Students create and
reflect on a portfolio of their work that best illustrates both their professional goals as communicators after
graduation and their learning in the four key themes of general education (Connection, Engagement, Exploration,
and Local to Global) as they relate to the Major in Public Relations or Major in Media Studies. Upon creating a
portfolio of their work and reflecting on learning outcomes and career skills, students will participate in an oral
defence of their portfolio that must be passed by a panel of departmental faculty.
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| Choose nine upper level courses in journalism, communication and film. |
| Choose seven upper level electives. |
Suggested pathways
Consider these pathways for years one and two. However, we strongly encourage you to connect with the program advisor before beginning year two to discuss which major you want to do. Elective suggestions are optional — choose what you like! New electives are offered frequently, and courses are not always offered every year. You can begin to take most 3000 level CMNS and JOUR courses once you have completed 45 credits.
| Required |
CMNS 1160 Introduction to Communications (3,0,0)CMNS 1160 Introduction to Communications (3,0,0)Credits: 3 credits Students think critically about a range of communication theories tied to examples from popular culture and address how we transmit information, how we create meaning, and how we persuade others, with a focus on many communication contexts, including interpersonal communication, group and organizational communication, public space, mass media, and culture and diversity. Students explore what it means to communicate in these various contexts, and appreciate the contribution of theory to helping us understand what we do when we communicate and why it sometimes goes wrong.
|
CMNS 1290 Introduction to Professional Writing (3,0,0)CMNS 1290 Introduction to Professional Writing (3,0,0)Credits: 3 credits Students study the theories and practice of professional organizational communication, learning the importance of effective communication to meeting goals, developing and maintaining relationships and the overall facilitation of work. Students develop skills in evaluating communication scenarios, designing communication strategies that meet goals and audience need, including requests, information sharing and persuasion. In addition, students learn to employ writing techniques and editorial skills relevant to professional communication contexts.
|
CMNS 1500 Digital Photography (2,1,0)CMNS 1500 Digital Photography (2,1,0)Credits: 3 credits In this hands-on course, students enhance their visual communication skills as they explore the basics of photography with the use of a digital camera and current industry software. Students learn technical and aesthetic theories of photographic composition. They demonstrate these by articulating complex concepts for photographs and then realizing those concepts in well-composed images, produced using both natural (available) and artificial light. Students learn a variety of techniques and strategies for effective photo composition, photo finishing, manipulation, printing, and publishing, as well as effective evaluation and critique, resulting in photographs that communicate the student's vision to their audiences in meaningful and effective ways.
Note that students cannot receive credit for both DAAD 1500 and CMNS 1500 |
ENGL 1100 Introduction to University Writing (3,0,0)ENGL 1100 Introduction to University Writing (3,0,0)Credits: 3 credits Students explore the practices of reading and writing in scholarly contexts by investigating a chosen topic or issue. Students read, critically analyze, and synthesize information and ideas found in appropriate secondary sources and coming from a variety of disciplinary backgrounds. They also develop their abilities to communicate knowledge by composing in the genres and sub-genres of scholarly writing, including the incorporation of research and documentation while using a clear, persuasive, grammatically-correct style.
|
VISA 1500 Introduction to Visual Culture (HTA) (3,0,0)VISA 1500 Introduction to Visual Culture (HTA) (3,0,0)Credits: 3 credits Students undertake an interdisciplinary exploration of the visual components of our cultural environment. Students engage in a critical survey of early Western technological developments and how ways of seeing underscore late twentieth and twenty-first century forms of visual communication such as advertising, television, film, video, gaming, computer generated imagery, data visualization, post-photographic imaging, and other sources of image-making. We analyze the power of image-based media to entertain, influence, and condition, researching who creates it and purposes it serves. Students develop a critical framework for deconstructing images, applying visual theories and methodologies to real-world examples, reflecting upon the visual ecology that conditions their own perspectives.
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| Electives |
CMNS 1100 Principle of Communication Design (3,0,0)CMNS 1100 Principle of Communication Design (3,0,0)Credits: 3 credits Students in this introductory course explore core theories and principles of non-discursive multimodal media composition by applying theory from user experience design (UX), rhetoric, cognitive psychology, and neuroscience to communication projects, such as logos and simple visualizations. While the focus of the course is on the visual sensory channel, students discover strategies that can be applied to multimodal communication and user experience design. Thinking critically about how effective design communicates a message within a given context, students have an opportunity to consider design principles and elements, color theory, typography, sensory perception, and symbolic communication theories to create brand identity, logos, and information design projects. Additionally, students learn the stages of the design process, which guide their application of communication design theory to the production of communication materials.
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CMNS 1200 |
| Three more electives — journalism, politics, sociology and anthropology recommended. |
| Required |
CMNS 2160 Mass Communication and the Popular Culture Industry (2,1,0)CMNS 2160 Mass Communication and the Popular Culture Industry (2,1,0)Credits: 3 credits Students are provided a perspective based on professional practices within the total media environment in which our society operates. This includes an examination of the historical, sociological and economic realities of industries such as television, film, music, advertising, public relations and journalism. |
CMNS 2290 Technical Communication (3,0,0)CMNS 2290 Technical Communication (3,0,0)Credits: 3 credits Students study a variety of technical communications used to document professional activity, including proposals, technical and formal reports, policies and procedures, technical descriptions and definitions, and instructions. Students learn the importance of documentation and accountability as part of professional due diligence, applicable across many fields including journalism, business, government, public service, consulting and research institutes. Students develop skills in assessing communication needs in a scenario, identifying communication goals, audience need and relevant media. Finally, students learn skills in research and synthesis to ensure professional engagement and presentation of research material.
Prerequisites: CMNS 1291 OR CMNS 1290 OR ENGL 1100 OR ENGL 1101 OR CMNS 1810
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CMNS 2200 Technology and Communication (3,0,0)CMNS 2200 Technology and Communication (3,0,0)Credits: 3 credits Students explore the interface of technology and communication, from the telegraph to the Web, by examining historical and present cases. Students learn how people adapt to, and innovate within, the limitations to communications imposed by technology, and are informed about the choices they face in their personal use of media and technology. This course qualifies as a Writing Intensive designated course. |
CMNS 2180 Social Networks, Online Identities and Internet Memes (3,0,0)CMNS 2180 Social Networks, Online Identities and Internet Memes (3,0,0)Credits: 3 credits This course explores the recent proliferation of communication tools known as social media. Students consider how collaborative networks create and foster unique models of identity construction and offer opportunities for new methods of creating knowledge. Students examine these issues through hands-on approaches and on-line assignments. |
| Three credits of English. |
| Electives |
JOUR 2080 Data Journalism (3,0,0)JOUR 2080 Data Journalism (3,0,0)Credits: 3 credits Considering how we are flooded with complex data in our personal and public lives, students consider how
professional communicators play a significant role in presenting this information in the public interest. Students
understand and develop the ability to communicate the significance of data, in accurate, effective, and ethical ways
as a core literacy across many fields, supporting organizational decision-making, journalistic storytelling,
stakeholder engagement, and public relations. Students learn to pull relevant and insightful messages from data and
develop skills in data storytelling to support the communication to diverse audiences. Students learn to use a variety
of digital tools and techniques, including the selection and design of accurate visual forms, to translate data into story
in this applied course.
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CMNS 2150 |
| Three more electives — journalism, politics, sociology and anthropology recommended. |
