西蒙弗雷澤大學

Learn about new and emerging digital media, and explore the complexities and interplay of media, culture, technology, society, politics and policy. You will graduate equipped with in-demand critical thinking skills, and an understanding of how our media-saturated world functions at social, cultural and ideological levels. Dynamic and innovative, the School of Communication is a national leader in the discipline.

The Communication program in the Faculty of Communication, Art and Technology encompasses theoretical and applied aspects of communication. During the course of the major program, you will choose a concentration: media and culture; technology and society; or political economy and policy.

Program Requirements

Students complete 120 units, as specified below.

Lower Division Requirements

Students complete both of

CMNS 110 - Introduction to Communication Studies (3)
CMNS 130 - Communication and Social Change (3)

and at least six 200 division CMNS courses, including both of

CMNS 201 - Empirical Communication Research Methods (4) *
CMNS 202 - Design and Method in Qualitative Communication Research (4)

The remaining four 200 division CMNS courses must include at least one course from each of the following three areas of concentration.

* completion of this quantitative (Q) course satisfies part of the University's Q requirement.

Media and Culture Concentration

Explores the history and contexts of media institutions, practices, texts and discourses with particular concern for the way they affect the meaning and experience of culture.

CMNS 220 - Understanding Television (3)
CMNS 221 - Media and Popular Cultures (3)
CMNS 223W - Advertising as Social Communication (3)
CMNS 235 - News Media, the Public, and Democracy (3)

Political Economy and Policy Concentration

Explores the contested economic, political, and regulatory processes shaping media institutions and communication processes.

CMNS 230 - The Cultural Industries in Canada: Global Context (3)
CMNS 240 - The Political Economy of Communication (3)

Technology and Society Concentration

Analyzes topics within the broader field of communication through a focus on information and communication technologies and the knowledge society from the standpoint of scholarship in science and technology studies.

CMNS 253W - Introduction to Information Technology: The New Media (3)

Upper Division Requirements

Students may enroll in upper division courses only when prerequisites have been completed.

A minimum total of 44 upper division units are required, to include the following:

Seven upper division CMNS courses, at least four must be taken at SFU.
Minimum total of 28 upper division units in CMNS.
Including a minimum of two 400 level CMNS courses, at least one must be taken at SFU.
Including one of the following upper division CMNS "W" courses:

CMNS 304W - Communication in Everyday Life (4) or CMNS 323W - Cultural Dimensions in Advertising (4) or CMNS 455W -Women and New Information Technologies (4)

Career possibilities

The world is changing rapidly and you have no way of knowing the full range of career opportunities available to you in the future. Graduates of this program may end up in a range of occupations, including these:

Advertising Account Manager

Blog Writer
Campaign Organizer
Communication Assistant
Cultural Event Coordinator
Fundraising Specialist
Interpreter/Translator
Image Consultant
Photo Journalist
Marketing Coordinator