SCHOOL OF COMMUNICATION
CMNS 486-4

Stuart Poyntz	Intersession 2001
Downtown office TBA, 688-8202	(22 May – 29 June)
email: stuart.poyntz@cinematheque.bc.ca	Downtown Day

 

SPECIAL TOPICS: AN INTRODUCTION TO MEDIA EDUCATION

Prerequisite:

Admission is by permission of the advisor (Lucie), based on having 75 credit hours completed, including CMNS media courses, such as CMNS220, 221, 223, etc.
Schedule: Tuesday, Wednesday & Fridays, 13:30-16:20, room HC1325.
Beginning Tuesday, 22 May; ending Friday 29 June 2001.

Course Structure:

This is a six-week intensive course, specifically designed for CMNS students. The intention of the course is to provide an introduction to the key issues in media education, including:
- The Political Economy of Media Production
- Advertising and Consumer Culture
- The Language of Media Production
- Popular Culture and Canadian Culture
- Representation and Identity in Media Production
- Audiences and Alternative Media Production
- New Technologies of Communication

Assignments:

I. Deconstructing a Text (20%)
Examine an individual advertisement or an advertising campaign from television or magazines using the model provided in class to determine the advertisement’s meaning, target audience, likely success and effect.

II. Media Commentary (30%)
Write a media commentary targeted to either print (800 word limit) or radio (500 word limit) on any topic related to media education or the role of the media in our society.

III. Film or Media Education Study Guide
(40% -- 5% for presentation; 35% for final submission)
Write a film or media education study guide, 12-16 pages in length. For teachers registered in the course, the study guide will draw on the learning outcomes for media education in BC’s high school curriculum. Communications students will be asked to address their study guide to a teenage audience. The study guides can focus either on one recent film, or a specific media education topic raised in the course.

IV. Participation (10%)

Readings will be available for purchase from the Harbour Centre Bookstore.

The School expects that the grades awarded in this course will bear some reasonable relation to established university-wide practices with respect to both levels and distribution of grades. In addition, the School will follow Policy T10.02 with respect to "Intellectual Honesty," and "Academic Discipline" (see the current Calendar, General Regulations Section).