Additional credits in Media and Communication Studies
Students interested in Media and Communication might also want to check courses listed under "Communications".
English Language Requirements
Students registering in post-secondary level courses (numbered 100 to 499) will be required to meet the English language entrance proficiency requirements. Students in ESL or the University Foundations programs can register in those courses identified in the University Foundations program with lower levels of language proficiency.
MACS 1103 credits
Introduction to Communication Theory
This course provides an introduction to some of the major theories in media and communication studies. Topics include mass society and propaganda theories, limited-effects theories, critical and cultural theories, and audience theories.
MACS 1303 credits
Mass Communication in Canada
This course examines mass media industries in Canada, such as television and the press; the political, economic, legal, and geographic factors that have shaped them; and the effects of these industries on Canadian political and cultural life. Recent developments in digital and interactive media are also considered.
MACS 2013 credits
Music and Society I
Prerequisite(s): None. MUSC 100, MACS 110, or MACS 130 recommended.
Popular music is everywhere in our day-to-day lives, yet we seldom consider how it was made, what it means, and how it affects us. Scholars however have been thinking and writing about popular music for decades, sometimes praising it for its positive effects on society, sometimes condemning it. In this course, weâ€™ll draw on different scholarsâ€™ ideas to reflect on the diverse social contexts in which people create and listen to popular music.
Note: This course is offered as MACS 201 and MUSC 201. Students may take only one of these for credit.
MACS 2063 credits
Politics of Art Latin America
In this course, we examine Latin American artistic culture from the perspectives of the social sciences. Focuses may include art, architecture, literature, film, music, dance, folk art, and popular culture. The intent will be to relate these to the social context in which they are located. In particular, we will be interested in the ways in which artistic expression helps to legitimize or to challenge particular social orders.
Note: This course is offered as LAS 206, ANTH 206, MACS 206, and SOC 206. Students may take only one of these for credit.
MACS 2103 credits
History of Communication
This course focuses on the historical development of systems of communication, from ancient pictographs and oral traditions to the social networks of today. Focusing primarily on Western civilization, the course assesses how and why these systems arose, how their adoption affected existing technologies, and what their myriad social effects were. It shows that todayâ€™s optimistic and pessimistic assessments of new communication technologies have numerous precedents.
MACS 2123 credits
Basic Public Relations and Advocacy Communication
Prerequisite(s): Same as for CMNS 125; see CMNS 125 for details
It takes skill to make your voice, cause, point of view stand out in a sea of messages. This course focuses on the fundamentals of persuasive communication used in public relations and advocacy settings. Students will write and design effective internal and external communication plans with an end-product of a blog or newsletter.
Note: This course is offered as CMNS 212 and MACS 212. Students may take only one of these for credit.
MACS 2153 credits
Advertising as Social Communication
Prerequisite(s): None. MACS 110 or 130 recommended
This course provides an interdisciplinary examination of the significance of advertising as a social message system in our consumer culture. The course presents a way of assessing the role that advertising plays in defining how we see ourselves, one another, and the world at large. It includes a brief history of advertising, but the emphasis is on current functions and styles of the global advertising business.
MACS 2213 credits
Media and Audiences
This course provides an introduction to the field of cultural studies, particularly as it relates to contemporary popular culture. Writers in cultural studies take a critical look at the mass media and their audiences. How do media and audiences affect each other, and how does this relationship make for a better or a worse society?
MACS 2303 credits
Cultural Industries in Canada
Prerequisite(s): None. MACS 110 or MACS 130 recommended
Conglomerates produce and distribute most of the information and entertainment that we encounter in our day-to-day lives. Much of this mass culture is American in origin. Nevertheless, through public and private initiatives, Canadians over the decades have managed to create a space for their own industries. MACS 230 explores this situation by focusing on specific cultural industries in Canada â€“ how they came about, how they are organized, and where they are going â€“ and their impact on Canadian audiences.
MACS 2353 credits
Introduction to Journalism in Canada
Prerequisite(s): MACS 130 recommended
Through print and electronic media, journalists inform us about issues and events from around the world. But what factors determine their choice of stories to cover and the perspectives that they bring to their stories? This course takes a critical look at the role of the journalist in Canadian society.
MACS 2403 credits
Media, Money, and Power
Prerequisite(s): None. MACS 110 or 130 recommended.
Ideally, the media in a democratic society should play a watchdog role, keeping an eye on government and business to ensure that no abuses of power occur. In reality, media practitioners face numerous challenges in informing citizens about the actions of the rich and powerful. This course provides an introduction to the political economy of communication, a critical approach that focuses on the mediaâ€™s ability to report on the power elite.
MACS 2553 credits
Introduction to Social Research
Prerequisite(s): One of ANTH 102, SOC 101, or MACS 110
This course provides a critical introduction to sociological and social anthropological research techniques, data analysis, and questions of methodology. Among the topics considered will be the research cycle, research design, developing and measuring concepts, sampling, methods of data collection, and elementary data analysis. Considerable importance will be given to an exploration of interpretive frameworks that guide research projects, as well as questions of ethical research.
Note: This course is offered as SOC 255, ANTH 255, and MACS 255. Students may take only one of these for credit.
MACS 2673 credits
Signs and Meaning: An Introduction to Semiotics
Prerequisite(s): ENGL 105 and one of the following: ENGL 108, 115, 120, 130, 150, or 170; FILM 110 or 120; MACS 110, 130, or 221; or AH 200 or 205.
This is a cross-listed course. Please refer to ENGL 267 for the official course outline.
MACS 2703 credits
Dynamics of Racism in Canada
Prerequisite(s): One of SOC 101, ANTH 102, MACS 130, or LAS 200
This course is a critical introduction to the area of race and ethnic relations within the Canadian context. In particular racism, inequality, and the social construction of racial and ethnic categories and identities will be examined. The student will develop an awareness of competing conceptual definitions and theoretical interpretations of racism, examine controversies about the extent and meaning of racism in Canada, and investigate how the process of racialization occurs within institutions such as education, the media, and the criminal justice system. Course material will draw upon a variety of historical and contemporary sources, cases, and examples, particularly those relevant to the Fraser Valley.
Note: This course is offered as SOC 270, ANTH 270, and MACS 270. Students may take only one of these for credit.
MACS 3344 credits
Prerequisite(s): 45 credits, to include at least 6 credits of Sociology and/or MACS
This course examines public policy in Canada as it relates to culture. It explores government involvement in such areas as radio and television broadcasting, multiculturalism, pornography, and aboriginal media.
Note: This course is offered as MACS 334 and SOC 334. Students may take only one of these for credit.
MACS 3374 credits
Taste and Culture
Prerequisite(s): 45 credits, to include at least six credits of sociology and/or MACS.
This course is an interdisciplinary examination of the concept of taste. Why do we value certain cultural artifacts while we denigrate others? How do our choices reflect who we are? What is â€śbad tasteâ€ť? What role do class and subculture play within these notions of taste? This course will investigate theories of aesthetics, identity, subcultures, and taste in such areas as art, film, music, photography, food, and advertising.
Note: This course is offered as MACS 337 and SOC 337. Students may only take one of these for credit.
MACS 3504 credits
Critical Studies in Digital Media in Canada
Prerequisite(s): MACS 130 or MACS 110 required; MACS 230 recommended.
Canadians are among the most connected people in the world. The new digital media environment has transformed the old media and has created new centres of production, new forms of expression, new audiences, and new communities. This course covers the critical debates in the emerging field of new media studies, focusing on the forms of computer-mediated communication that have emerged since the late 1980s. The shape and character of the digital media industries in Canada are examined, along with the ways in which they have changed how content is created. This course also addresses the question of how traditional freedoms of the press and individual artistic expression fare in this new â€śborderlessâ€ť world.
MACS 3554 credits
Quantitative Research Methods
Prerequisite(s): MATH 104 or MATH 106, and ANTH 255/MACS 255/SOC 255
This course is an examination of measurement issues within sociological and anthropological research, focusing on the logical and conceptual construction and interpretation of tables, and an examination of the uses and abuses of statistics. Students will blend classroom knowledge of statistics with real life analysis of sociological data (including the use of computer software) to develop practical research skills. The course focuses on the application, rather than the mathematics, of statistics.
Note: This course is offered as SOC 355, ANTH 355, and MACS 355. Students may take only one of these for credit.
MACS 3564 credits
Qualitative Research Methods
Prerequisite(s): 45 credits, to include ANTH 255/MACS 255/SOC 255
This course examines methods used in the collection and analysis of sociological data including interviews, participant observations, ethnographic research, archival research, feminist and critical methodologies, and research ethics.
Note: This course is offered as SOC 356, ANTH 356, and MACS 356. Students may take only one of these for credit.
MACS 3694 credits
Media Law and Ethics
Prerequisite(s): 45 university-level credits, including three credits of CMNS, JRNL or MACS
This course provides an introduction to legal and ethical issues as they apply to the media. Knowledge of morality and the law can assist media professionals in their day-to-day activities. Indeed, ethical values like fairness, respect, and truthfulness can guide them in their decision-making. Moreover, familiarity with the law as it applies to copyright, defamation, and other areas can help them assess the limits of what they can do.
Note: This course is offered as MACS 369 and JRNL 369. Students may only take one of these for credit.
MACS 3754 credits
Prerequisite(s): One of ANTH 102, SOC 101 or MACS 110; plus 45 university-level credits including a further six credits of ANTH, SOC, MACS, or INCS. Recommended: ANTH 303 (Peoples and Cultures Of India) and FILM 220.
In this course, students will critique how Indian society and socio-cultural issues are represented in South Asian media through their comparison with the ethnographic record. Taking an anthropology of media approach, the complexities of belonging to a diversity of regional South Asian communities are examined in both ethnographic and media interpretations. In particular, the course will consider religious, ethnic, caste, class, and gender communities, the influence of postcoloniality, and processes of modernity and diaspora.
Note: This course is offered as ANTH 375 and MACS 375. Students may take only one of these for credit.
MACS 3854 credits
Television and Social Values: The Simpsons
Prerequisite(s): 45 credits, to include at least six credits of SOC and/or MACS
In well over four hundred episodes, The Simpsons TV series has explored innumerable aspects of contemporary North American life, always with humour and often with profound insight. This course uses both the series and scholarly writings based on it to explore a diversity of social and cultural issues, focusing on such areas as education, family, the media, religion and work.
This course is offered as SOC 385 and MACS 385. Students may take only one of these for credit.
MACS 3994 credits
Special Topics in Media and Communication Studies
Prerequisite(s): 45 university-level credits, including at least three credits in MACS
This course involves an examination of a selected topic in media and communication studies that is not addressed in current course offerings. Topics covered will vary from semester to semester.
Note: The special topic is denoted with a letter designation (e.g. MACS 399C). Students may take MACS 399 as many times as they wish, but will not receive credit for the same letter designation more than once.
MACS 4604 credits
Issues in the Information Society
Prerequisite(s): 45 credits, to include at least 9 credits of Sociology and/or MACS.
This course explores the social, political, and cultural dimensions of information technology and what has come to be known as the â€śinformation societyâ€ť. Students will examine technology in relationship to a variety of social issues such as the changing nature of: work, individual identity formation, social roles, democracy, privacy, and community.
Note: This course is offered as MACS 460 and SOC 460. Students may take only one of these for credit.
MACS 4804 credits
Prerequisite(s): 60 university-level credits, including six credits of lower-level MACS or CMNS or a combination.
Crises are unexpected threats for which response time is short. Their origins can be natural (as with ice storms or tsunamis) or human (as with acts of terrorism or oil spills). This course uses Canadian and foreign examples to explore how to (and how not to) deal with serious challenges to public safety. To do so, it draws on both theoretical and practical approaches to communicating with diverse audiences in crisis situations.
Note: This course is offered as CMNS 480 and MACS 480. Students may take only one of these for credit.
MACS 4904 credits
Directed Studies in Media and Communications Studies
Prerequisite(s): 45 university-level credits, to include six credits of MACS, and written permission of the instructor and department head.
This course is designed for upper-level students who wish to examine in greater depth a particular problem/issue in Media and Communication Studies.
MACS 4922 credits
Directed Studies in Social, Cultural, and Media Studies
Prerequisite(s): 45 credits, to include 6 credits of area of specialization (ANTH, SOC, LAS, MACS). Permission to enter requires written consent of both the faculty member supervising the student and the department head.
This course is designed for upper-level students who wish to examine in greater depth a particular problem/issue in Anthropology, Sociology, Latin American Studies, or Media and Communication Studies.
Note: This course is offered as SOC 492, ANTH 492, LAS 492, and MACS 492. Students may take only one of these for credit.
Last extracted: May 01, 2012 10:22:35 AM