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Communication Major
The School of Communication has a long-standing tradition of critical, interdisciplinary approaches to the study of media and technology, with a commitment to social theory and political economy. The school bridges the critical and the applied in its undergraduate programs, and is committed to offering students the opportunities and the means to explore, analyze and critically evaluate the complexities and interplay between the numerous and diverse dimensions of communication.
間眅埶AV Requirements
間眅埶AV is based on cumulative grade point average (CGPA), and available places. Every CMNS program applicant whose CGPA is greater than, or equal to, the annually announced requirement will be admitted. These requirements also apply to transfer or second degree students.
Program entry is via direct admission from high school, via college or university transfer, or via internal transfer if admitted to another 間眅埶AV department or program. At the time of printing, entry from high school requires a 85% or better CGPA; college or university transfer requires a CGPA of 3.00 (B; 75%) or better; and internal University transfer requires a 2.50 or better CGPA, upon completion of lower division requirements (see below). A minimum 2.25 CGPA is required to remain in good standing in the program.
CMNS course enrolment requires a C- grade or better in each prerequisite course.
A minimum 2.25 CGPA and approval as a communication honours, major, extended minor, minor, or dialogue minor is required for entry into most communication upper division courses.
Program Requirements
Students complete 120 units, as specified below.
Lower Division Requirements
Students complete both of
An introduction to selected theories about human communication. This course is required for a major, honours or minor in communication. Breadth-Social Sciences.
An introduction to the forms, theories and institutions of communication as they relate to broader social change, with a focus on the political, economic and regulatory shifts characterizing Canadian and transnational media systems. This course is required for a major, honours or minor in communication.
and at least six 200 division CMNS courses (18 units), including at least two of
An introduction to empirical research methods in diverse traditions of communication enquiry. Some methods recognize communication as everyday interactions; others analyze communication as a process; still others blend traditional scientific empiricism with analytical and critical methods derived from the arts and humanities. Topics include: ethics, paradigms, conceptualizing and operationalizing research, sampling, interviews, surveys, unobtrusive observation, content analysis, and the role of statistics in communication research. Prerequisite: CMNS 110 or 130. Quantitative.
Media and communication studies often utilize historical, governmental and corporate records. The course introduces the techniques necessary to analyze the primary source documents. Topics include: ethics, documentary discourse analysis, Canadian and international documentary searches on NGOs, governments, corporations; writing of policy briefs. Prerequisite: CMNS 110 or 130.
Examination of a wide range of approaches to research in media and cultural studies, including a discussion of ethical issues. Topics may include: historical methods, field work methods, textual analysis, case studies. Prerequisite: CMNS 110 or 130. Students who have credit for CMNS 286 in Spring 2004 may not take this course for further credit.
The remaining four 200 division CMNS courses must include at least one course from each of the following three areas of concentration.
* completion of this quantitative (Q) course satisfies half of the University's Q requirement for students admitted in fall 2006 or later (see Writing, Quantitative and Breadth Requirements below)
Media and Culture Concentration
Explores the history and contexts of media institutions, practices, texts and discourses with particular concern for the way they affect the meaning and experience of culture.
This course examines television, both as a medium of communication and an element of culture. Prerequisite: CMNS 110 and 130.
Focus on communication for social change; historical and contemporary perspectives in consumer culture; technology, media and popular culture; media and identity; and communication as public education. Prerequisite: CMNS 110 and 130.
An interdisciplinary examination of the significance of advertising as a social message system in our consumer society. The course proposes an analytical method for appreciating the changing styles and functions of advertising in the 20th century. Prerequisite: CMNS 110 and 130. Stduents with credit for CMNS 223 may not take this course for further credit. Writing.
Introduces students to the study of the relationship between public communication, information media practices and structures, and democracy. Examines the role of media and communication in existing and emerging democratic contexts, including print and electronic journalism, alternative media, public spheres, and the challenges of constructing and maintaining a democratic media and communication environment in Canadian and global contexts. Prerequisite: CMNS 130.
Political Economy and Policy Concentration
Explores the contested economic, political, and regulatory processes shaping media institutions and communication processes.
What do we mean when we talk about the 'cultural industries' today? This course explores the business structure and economics of the cultural sectors, the regulatory and policy frameworks, and their social and cultural contexts. Students are encouraged to develop, compare and contrast at least two sectors from the audio, print or visual industries. While the primary focus is on the Canadian case, students will be encouraged to look at other countries. Overriding themes explore the following: relationships between public and private sectors; independent and commercial creators; rights of creators versus distributors; specialty and general media; indigenous and global contents. Prerequisite: CMNS 130.
Examination of the political and economic processes that have generated the policies and structures of mass media, telecommunications and related industries; the relationship between the dichotomies of state and market, citizen and consumer, capitalism and democracy, global and local, and sovereignty and globalization in media industries and policies; overview of influences on State and international policies towards the media. Prerequisite: CMNS 110 and 130.
Technology and Society Concentration
Analyzes topics within the broader field of communication through a focus on information and communication technologies and the knowledge society from the standpoint of scholarship in science and technology studies.
An assessment of the social implications of developments in information technology from prehistory to the middle of the 20th century. Topics include: the origins of symbolic representation; the oral tradition; the significance of different systems of writing and numeration; the consequences of print; and the initial changes brought about by electronic media. Prerequisite: CMNS 110.
An introduction to new communication/information technologies, seen as new media of communication: the technologies, their uses, and the social issues arising from them. Prerequisite: CMNS 110 or 130. Students with credit for CMNS 253 may not take this course for further credit. Writing.
Upper Division Requirements
Students may enrol in upper division courses only when prerequisites have been completed.
A minimum total of 45 upper division units is required. This includes the required upper division CMNS courses, any additional upper division CMNS courses completed, and any upper division courses completed to fulfil the required 40 units outside the school (see External Requirements below).
Students complete seven upper division CMNS courses (at least 28 units), at least two of which are 400 division CMNS courses. Directed study and field placement courses may not be used to meet this requirement.
Also, CMNS 304W or 323W are strongly recommended because the completion of one of these courses will entirely satisfy the University’s upper division writing requirement. (See Writing, Quantitative, and Breadth Requirements below.)
External Requirements
In addition to the specified CMNS courses, students complete at least 40 units from disciplines other than communication including the following.
- 12 units minimum from Asia-Canada, contemporary arts, English, First Nations, French, general studies, history, humanities, Latin American development studies, linguistics, philosophy, Spanish or other languages; or to partially satisfy the University’s breadth requirements (see Writing, Quantitative, and Breadth Requirements), two three-unit breadth-humanities and two three-unit breadth-social sciences courses with a minimum C- grade in each
- two science courses totalling six units; or to partially satisfy the University’s breadth requirements (see Writing, Quantitative, and Breadth Requirements), two three-unit breadth-science courses with a minimum C- grade in each
- two upper division courses (minimum three units each) chosen from any department outside the school
Note that no course may be used to satisfy more than one of the above requirements; for example, an upper division breadth-science course may be used as one of the two science courses required, or one of the two upper division non-CMNS courses required, but not both.
Writing, Quantitative, and Breadth Requirements
Students admitted to 間眅埶AV beginning in the fall 2006 term must meet writing, quantitative and breadth requirements as part of any degree program they may undertake. See for university-wide information.
WQB Graduation Requirements
A grade of C- or better is required to earn W, Q or B credit
| Requirement |
Units |
Notes | |
| W - Writing |
6 |
Must include at least one upper division course, taken at 間眅埶AV within the student’s major subject | |
| Q - Quantitative |
6 |
Q courses may be lower or upper division | |
| B - Breadth |
18 |
Designated Breadth | Must be outside the student’s major subject, and may be lower or upper division 6 units Social Sciences: B-Soc 6 units Humanities: B-Hum 6 units Sciences: B-Sci |
|
6 |
Additional Breadth | 6 units outside the student’s major subject (may or may not be B-designated courses, and will likely help fulfil individual degree program requirements) | |
Residency Requirements and Transfer Credit
The University’s residency requirement stipulates that, in most cases, total transfer and course challenge credit may not exceed 60 units, and may not include more than 15 as upper division work.
Elective Courses
In addition to the courses listed above, students should consult an academic advisor to plan the remaining required elective courses.
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