Minor in Communications

COM 3100 (3 CREDITS) Foundatns in Mass Media & Communications

This course provides an introduction to the study of mass media in contemporary modern societies. The course will pay particular attention to the production and consumption of mass media, including newspapers and magazines, television, film, radio, and the internet. Thus the course will encourage students to critically analyse the strategies of media giants, the impact of media ownership over democracy, the effects of media over culture, identities and public opinion. Each topic of the course will be examined with reference to contemporary examples of mass media.

COM 5200 (3 CREDITS) Mass Communications & Society

In this course, "mass communications" is taken in its broadest sense, which may include cinema, television, newspapers, magazines, comics, and the Internet, as well as fashion and merchandising. "Society" involves the people who engage with those texts, from critical theorists to fans, censors to consumers. The course examines the relationship between texts and the people at various points during the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, from various cultural and national perspectives. Throughout the course, students are encouraged to test and debate established theories by bringing them to bear on everyday popular texts.

COM 6391 (3 CREDITS) Senior Project in Communications

In this practice-orientated course, students work together as a group to develop a body of work for a client outside the University. Students are required to use both their individual academic and technical skills (e.g., visual, journalistic, graphic) and their interpersonal communication skills in this final year course for communications students.

plus one of the following:

AVC 4205 (3 CREDITS) Introduction to Visual Culture

This course explores images and representations across cultural and historical contexts: the way meaning and ideologies can be decoded from such cultural artifacts as advertising, photography, cinema, modern art, sculpture, architecture, propaganda and comic books. Through varied examples, it takes an introductory route through some of the most important cultural theories and concepts.

COM 4100 (3 CREDITS) Intro to Intercultural Communications

Reflecting strongly the mission of the University, this course provides a theoretical and practical foundation for the degree in Communications. It provides students with a strong sense of their own complex cultural identities before moving on to teach them the theories underlying the study of International Communication. There will be opportunities for practical applications of these theories in case studies, simulations, and project work.

plus two upper-division courses from any of the three following Communications degree concentrations/pathways: Marketing and PR, Media Studies or Media production