Media and Communication Studies
Students interested in Media and Communication may also want to Communications course descriptions.

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 Communication 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 2063 credits
Politics of Art Latin America
Prerequisite(s): None
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
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): 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): 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 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 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
Cultural Policy
Prerequisite(s): 45 credits
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 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 3754 credits
Indian Mediascapes
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 “information society”. 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
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.

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: April 23, 2010 09:45:14 PM