Media and Communication Studies
Additional credits in Media and Communication Studies
Students interested in Media and Communication might also want to check courses listed under "Communications".
SCMS 270 can be used for lower-level MACS credit for the MACS minor. Students in the Associate of Arts (MACS) program should check with the Arts Advice Centre before taking SCMS 270.
The following SCMS courses can be used as upper-level MACS credit. Course descriptions are found under Social, Cultural, and Media Studies.
• SCMS 334 — Cultural Policy
• SCMS 460 — Issues in the Information Society

MACS 1103 credits
Introduction to Communication Theory
Prerequisite(s): None
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 Communications in Canada
Prerequisite(s): None
Corequisite(s): None
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 2103 credits
History of Communication
Prerequisite(s): None
Systems of communication, from cave paintings to computers, are examined in relationship to shifts in perception. The focus of this course is on innovations in communications technologies in Western civilization: how they arose, their effects on social systems, and their impact on older forms of communication.

MACS 2123 credits
Basic Public Relations and Advocacy Communication
Prerequisite(s): One of the following:
CPT score of 48 or better; CMNS 099 or ENGL 099 with a grade of C or better; ENGL 081 or 091 with a grade of C+ or better; ESL WG84 with a grade of C+ or better; Completion of Level II of UCFV’s University Foundation Certificate Program; English 12 with a final grade of B; English Literature 12 with a final grade of B; Technical and Professional Communication 12 with
a final grade of B; Any first year university-credit Communications or English course with a grade of C- or better; LPI score of 30/40 or level 5 or better in the essay section; TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) score of 570 or better (or 230 if computer-based score), plus a minimum TWE (Essay) score of 4.0; MELAB (Michigan English Language Assessment
Battery) score of at least 85; CAEL (Canadian Academic English Language) score of at least 70; CanTEST score of at least 4.5 in Listening and Reading; a score of 4.0 in Writing; Cambridge Proficiency Examination – competence level of C; IELTS (International English Language Testing System) score of at least 6.5 with no band less than 6.0; UCFV English Language Assessment – results equivalent to completion of UCFV’s University Foundation Certificate Program Level 2 compulsory ESL core courses; or articulated equivalent

This is a cross-listed course. Please refer to CMNS 212 for the official course outline.

MACS 2153 credits
Advertising as Social Communication
Prerequisite(s): MACS 110 or 130
An interdisciplinary examination of the significance of advertising as a social message system in consumer society. 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. There is a brief history of advertising but the focus is on current styles and functions of the global advertising business.

MACS 2213 credits
Media and Audiences
Prerequisite(s): None
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 – how they came about, how they are organized, and where they are going – 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
The Political Economy of Communication
Prerequisite(s): MACS 110 or MACS 130
This course explores the political economy of communication. Scholars working within this perspective are interested in cultural industries. They study how such industries gather, select, package, promote, and distribute information and entertainment in the world today. In doing so, scholars focus on how financial and political factors shape the content and form of what ultimately reaches audiences around the world. The course includes a look at the political economy of communication in Latin America.

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 399C4 credits
Special Topic: Rules of Play: The Cultural Significance of Video Games
Prerequisite(s): 45 university-level credits, including at least three credits in MACS
See course outline for MACS 399.

MACS 4804 credits
Crisis Communications
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 credits, to include nine credits of MACS or relevant SCMS, and written permission of the instructor and the department head.
Designed for upper-level students who wish to examine in greater depth a particular problem/issue in media and communication studies.

Last extracted: April 13, 2009 09:45:08 PM