Communication/Culture (online)

EECO503: Foundations for Environmental Communication
Explores the intersection of communication and the environment in various mediated and unmediated forms. Introduces a range of significant interpersonal, group/organizational and mass communication theories to environmental communication. Examines those theories from the context of their practical contributions to environmental communications and our understanding of how we form notions about the environment. Highlights the essential role communication has played in getting us to our current environmental situation and the role communication might play in helping us to change course.  Course Credits: 3.00
(Introductory or foundational course).

Related Programs:
Graduate Certificate in Environmental Education and Communication
Graduate Certificate in Environmental Education and Communication
Master of Arts in Environment and Management
Master of Arts in Environmental Education and Communication
Master of Arts in Environmental Practice
Master of Science in Environmental Practice

HUMS611: Intercultural Competence
Examines core concepts and theories on culture and cultural competence. Engages students in application of theoretical frameworks in professional and personal settings. Provides students with an opportunity to critically examine their own socio-cultural locations to raise intercultural awareness, assist in intercultural mindset development, and facilitate intercultural competence development. Enables students to apply an intercultural analysis to complex situations involving stakeholders of different cultural backgrounds.  Course Credits: 3.00
(Prerequisite: INDS505)

Related Programs:
Master of Arts in Conflict Analysis and Management
Master of Arts in Disaster and Emergency Management
Master of Arts in Human Security and Peacebuilding
Master of Arts in Justice Studies

HUMS661: Risk and Crisis Communication
Examines communication needs associated with contexts of heightened concern (e.g., crisis, conflict, disasters). Analyzes theories about perception of risk. Explores theories, principles and practices of risk and crisis communication that support individuals, organizations and communities making effective risk/benefit decisions, managing fear and uncertainty, and responding to crisis.  Course Credits: 3.00
(Prerequisite: INDS505)

Related Programs:
Master of Arts in Conflict Analysis and Management
Master of Arts in Disaster and Emergency Management
Master of Arts in Human Security and Peacebuilding
Master of Arts in Justice Studies

IICS551: Organizational Communication, Culture, and Development
Analyzes organizational structures and management styles with a focus on culture. Considers areas of organizational communication such as crisis management, corporate image, identity, and reputation, organizational culture and culture change, leadership theories, social relationships and networks, communication audits, power and control in organizational life, conflict in organizations, ethics and values, and corporate social responsibility. Conducted through interactive lectures, case studies, discussions, and applied activities such as role playing and team presentations. Course Credits: 3.00

Related Programs:
Graduate Certficate in Strategic Global Communication
Master of Arts in Intercultural and International Communication

IICS560: Global Thought and Communication
Examines communication between divergent cultural value systems, across ethnic, racial, social, economic, and cultural barriers and how differing levels of technological adaptation and unequal power configurations affect intercultural and international communication. Considers the relation between information technology and the growth of global media systems and multinational corporations. Students analyze the role and significance of the rapid growth of multinational communication industries in shaping the modern world, with particular emphasis on the relationship between technology and the structures of power and control.  Course Credits: 3.00

Related Programs:
Master of Arts in Intercultural and International Communication

IICS575: Social Marketing
This course introduces students to social marketing, an approach that uses commercial marketing principles and techniques to generate positive social and behavioural change. Students’ learn to identify and build relationships with stakeholders, to apply social diffusion processes to accelerate adoption of new behaviours, and to critically reflect upon social issues and their impact or reach via various media. Students develop a clear understanding of how we can effectively design, facilitate, and evaluate social marketing programs that address a wide range of societal and community-based issues and goals. Through campaign analysis, planning, and design, students develop the critical mindset needed to analyze and creatively address complex social problems and hands-on, practical skills to implement concepts learned.  Course Credits: 3.00
(This course is offered for the last time August 2024.)

Related Programs:
Master of Arts in Intercultural and International Communication

IICS621: Intercultural Communication Competence
Immerses students in discussion of foundations and theoretical frameworks of intercultural communication competence, with an emphasis on applicability in professional and personal settings. Analyzes the recent scholarly work on intercultural communication competence and compares a variety of approaches to the conceptualization of this kind of study. Provides students with an opportunity to develop research and/or instructional activities that will raise intercultural awareness, assist in the development of an intercultural mindset, and facilitate the development of intercultural competence. Course Credits: 3.00.

Related Programs:
Master of Arts in Intercultural and International Communication

IICS625: Communication for Health and Well-being
Offers a holistic survey on current developments in communication studies with emphasis on physical, mental, spiritual, relational, and environmental well being in different communities and cultures. Deepens student understanding of ideas, research and practice related to public health disparities, provider-patient communication, social ecology of illness, health communication, e-health, public discourse and controversy on medicine, health, and environmental issues, and religion and health beliefs. Course Credits: 3.00.

Related Programs:
Master of Arts in Intercultural and International Communication

IICS627: Enhancing Communication Creativity and Diversity
Introduces the latest scholarly work on diversity, inclusion, creativity and organizational practices. Focusing on a communication perspective, it develops dialectical thinking on the changing demographics of our organizations and society, especially related to race and culture, gender, age, disability, and socio-economic status. Helps students leverage both the visible and invisible differences of employees through multicultural organizations, and improves their ability to create, work within, and lead diverse teams and global organizations for creative outcomes. Course Credits: 3.00.

Related Programs:
Master of Arts in Intercultural and International Communication

IICS637: Digital Data and Social Media
Examines theoretical discussions on social media and their impact on studies of human interactions and introduces current methodological debates in fields such as digital methods, digital humanities and ’big data’. Presents a variety of contemporary tools and techniques to help students navigate and analyse the emerging data landscape and to equip students with basic skills managing analytical tools, data sampling, basic statistics, network analysis, and data visualisation. Immerses students in the latest discussions on methodological development to take advantage of ‘digital trace data’ and computational tools. Course Credits: 3.00.

Related Programs:
Master of Arts in Intercultural and International Communication

IICS645: Migration and Diaspora Studies in Global Contexts
Introduces theories of migration and diaspora, transnationalism, and cosmopolitanism. Emphasis placed on (1) the tension between maintaining connection to the home community and integrating into the host community; (2) the ways in which diaspora communities are maintained across national boundaries through use of media. Focuses on communication aspects of migration and diaspora, especially stereotypes, identity displays, depictions in media, and the use of social media to maintain community over space. Course Credits: 3.00.
(Course offered August 2024 for the last time; replaced by IICS627, Enhancing Communication Creativity and Diversity)

Related Programs:
Master of Arts in Intercultural and International Communication

INDS525: 2SLGBTQI+ Global Issues and Community Engagement
Introduces students to history and current issues affecting 2SLGBTQI+ individuals and their communities with particular attention to seniors, youth, cultural and linguistic minority groups. Includes discussion of issues affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, agender, transgender, non-binary, queer and Two-Spirit individuals and communities. Examines ways of creating welcoming and inclusive organizations, public services, and communities and approaches 2SLGBTQI+ issues from human rights and cultural identity perspectives. Course Credits: 3.00.

INDS545: Misinformation in Society
Illustrates why misinformation is a particularly wicked problem at this moment in history and helps to situate current misinformation trends within the long history of propaganda, fake news, and information operations. Provides students with strategies to address misinformation in their own lives and communities. Course Credits: 3.00.

PCOM540: Communication, Culture, Media and Technology
Presents an overview of the historical development of theories and approaches to media and cultural studies as they interconnect with communication studies. Considers the meaning and production of culture, the culture industry, and various interpretive practices. Explores how mass media has influenced and been influenced by cultural industries and contextualizes our current digital age in relation to other major advancements in communication history. Drawing on contemporary media and cultural theory, the course investigates how our current digital environment modifies our definitions of privacy and the public, civil society, political participation, and culture through case studies and applied and experiential activities. Course Credits: 3.00.

Related Programs:
Master of Arts in Professional Communication

PCOM640: Communication Policy, Politics and Law
Takes as its premise the political and ideological nature of communication, media and culture. Surveys classic and contemporary sources, themes and debates in the academic communication literature as these relate to disciplinary subfields such as policy, political economy, political communication, technology studies, cultural economics, law and ethics, and as they manifest in the interpersonal, print, broadcast, and telecommunications realms. Learners explore topics ranging from trans-national and state-level concerns to civil society; from electoral politics to those of social movements and countercultures; and from major policy documents and regulatory bodies in Canada and abroad to issues like terrorism and propaganda, privacy and surveillance, digital media and intellectual property that test the capacity of policymakers. Course Credits: 3.00.

Related Programs:
Master of Arts in Professional Communication

PCOM645: Organizational Design, Communication and Knowledge Management
Organizational leaders must consider the impact of their design choices not only on business performance, but also on employees, customers, and the communities and societies in which they operate. This course discusses the systematic approach to configuring and aligning structure with strategy and includes an examination of the links between communications, processes, knowledge, metrics, leadership and people practices, with culture and strategic direction in organizations. Using case studies, application of theoretical principles, interactive discussions and activities, students will explore how organizations can be designed for optimal performance and sustainability. Focuses on effective organizational design in both traditional and innovative organizations with special emphasis on innovative organizational forms and knowledge management principles. Team projects include inventing new possibilities for real organizations. Course Credits: 3.00.
(Introductory or foundational course, permission required. Also available as blended delivery.)

Related Programs:
Graduate Certificate in Professional Communication Management
Graduate Diploma in Project Management and Organizational Leadership
Master of Arts in Professional Communication

PCOM650: Special Topics in Communication
Responds to current and emerging issues or trends in the professional field of communication and communication studies. Offered by local and visiting scholar practitioners with expertise in the relevant topic. Course topics may include: science communication, crisis communication, ‘new’ new media (the second wave of new media that extends beyond websites and email), journalistic shifts, and political discourse.
The May 2023 offering of the course will examine the ways the historical past is used, interpreted and communicated in the present in defining personal, social, cultural and national identities. The PCOM650 will focus on exploring theories and concepts related to collective or cultural memory, including nostalgia, mythology, heritage, and remembrance, forgetting and silencing. From an interdisciplinary perspective, it assesses efforts to memorialize, commemorate, reconcile, or celebrate the historical past through tangible means, involving place/cultural landscapes, monuments and memorials, art, film, other media and artifacts, as well as intangible means such as traditions, protocols, speeches, events and rituals. You will considers the uses and abuses of cultural memory in contemporary settings including education, legal and heritage policies, reconciliation, politics, consumerism, and sport. The course will also assess recent controversies and responses involving representation and interpretation of history and heritage and their significance in conversations of justice, equality, diversity, inclusivity, and peace.
Course Credits: 3.00.

Related Programs:
Master of Arts in Professional Communication