POLI 291 is a cross-listed course—a course listed under two different disciplines—with CMNS 202. POLI 291 may not be taken for credit by students who have obtained credit for CMNS 202.
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 for POLI 291, 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.
Kozolanka, Kirsten, Patricia Mazepa, and David Skinner. Alternative Media in Canada. Vancouver, BC: UBC Press, 2014. (eBook)
Other Materials
The course materials also include an online study guide and course manual.
Athabasca University reserves the right to amend course outlines occasionally and without notice. Courses offered by other delivery methods may vary from their individualized study counterparts.