SCHOOL OF COMMUNICATION

CMNS 259-3

ACOUSTIC DIMENSIONS OF COMMUNICATION 1

Prerequisites:

None.

A course designed to develop the student's perception and understanding of sound and its behaviour in the social, environmental, interpersonal, media and creative fields. Topics include listening, the soundscape, sound and community, noise pollution, the science of sound, sound and media, the human voice, and the sonic imagination.

Student work will consist of an introductory one-week assignment, followed by the student’s choice of four assignments, which will include work in such areas as: soundscape monitoring/soundscape analysis; investigation of acoustic/psychoacoustic terms; community noise research; the changing soundscape; sound presentations; and sound journals. The percentage distribution of marks will be divided equally among the four assignments.

Assignments will be judged according to imagination, technical and creative competence, the quality of written reports, and of class presentations.


Required Course Texts:

Schafer: The Tuning of the World, (Arcana edition)
Truax, Barry, Acoustic Communication. Norwood, N.J.: Ablex, 1984.
Truax, Barry (ed.), Handbook for Acoustic Ecology. Vancouver: ARC Publications. (print or CD-ROM version)
CMNS 259 Selected Readings (on Library Reserve).

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 also follow Policy T10.02 with respect to “Intellectual Honesty” and “Academic Discipline” (see the current calendar, General Regulations Section).