Overview
Canada's mass media have played a particularly significant role in the country's development as a distinct nation. The course is structured around issues of media power in Canadian life. It examines aspects of the Canadian experience in the context of current perspectives on national and international media developments.
Outline
Part I: Introduction to the Study of Communication and Power in Canada
- Unit 1: What Makes Communications in Canada Unique?
- Unit 2: Understanding the Relationship Between Communication and Power
- Unit 3: Representation and Cultural Identity
Part II: Media Industries and Their Powers
- Unit 4: The Media Industries
- Unit 5: Public Broadcasting
- Unit 6: Communication Rights and Restraints Part 1 – Communication as a Human Right and Media Reform
- Unit 7: Communication Rights and Restraints Part 2 – Protection of Privacy and Intellectual Property Rights
Part III: Regulating and Challenging Media Power
- Unit 8: Communication Policy and the CRTC
- Unit 9: Alternative Media
Part IV: Digital Transformations and the Power of Networks
- Unit 10: Canada as a Network Society
- Unit 11: Convergence
- Unit 12: Critical Questions for Big Data
Evaluation
To receive credit for CMNS 202, you must complete all of the assignments and achieve a minimum composite course grade of D (50 percent). The chart below summarizes the course activities and the credit weight associated with each assignment.
| Activity | Weight |
| Assignment 1 | 20% |
| Assignment 2 | 20% |
| Assignment 3 | 20% |
| Assignment 4 | 20% |
| Assignment 5 | 20% |
| Total | 100% |
To learn more about assignments and examinations, please refer to Athabasca University’s online Calendar.
Materials
This course either does not have a course package or the textbooks are open-source material and available to students at no cost. This course has a Course Administration and Technology Fee, but students are not charged the Course Materials Fee.
Digital course materials
Links to the following course materials will be made available in the course:
Kozolanka, Kirsten, Patricia Mazepa, and David Skinner. Alternative Media in Canada. Vancouver, BC: UBC Press, 2014.
Other Materials
The course materials also include an online study guide and course manual.