Communications

This course develops the reasoning and communication skills for civic agency in Canada, recognizing the richness of our social diversity. It explores the leading global and Canadian public policy issues and how information on these issues is shaped and communicated. Students will be required to engage with pivotal social issues, analyze the arguments at play, and formulate their own reasoning for public exposition.

Through this course, students will gain an overview of the fundamentals of journalism including

1) the role of the journalist;
2) ethical issues;
3) researching a story;
4) writing a news story;
5) writing a feature story;
6) interviewing;
7) the television documentary genre;
8) researching, writing and shooting a video documentary

This course looks at the role of media in a democratic society, with a primary focus on Canada. Students will assess the impact of media on civic agency, considering factors such as the media literacy of citizens. This will include consideration of various models of media ownership and their effect on the production of news and culture. Students also critically analyze media portrayal of contemporary issues from a social, political, and economic point of view. The influence of media on culture and morality is also discussed.

The course will introduce students to the basics of a number of distinct areas including basic communications strategies, crisis management, marketing plans, event planning, and public relations enabling students to participate in an informed way in non-profit communication events. As such it lays a solid foundation for further study and entry into a career in the non-profit sector.

This course broadly explores the foundations of design and development of digital media through a course-long project. Working in balanced teams, students will rapidly iterate project changes as they incorporate new design and usability understanding. At the end of the course, each student should have a portfolio-ready project.

Project Management in Digital Media introduces the general concepts of project management skills for those who work in the development and production of various projects for non-profits. In this course, you will explore project development processes and formulate strategies to manage projects. You will develop an awareness of the issues faced by non-profits, the challenges of selecting technologies, and the relative costs of development and will formulate your own set of best practices for developing and managing projects.