SCHOOL OF COMMUNICATION

CMNS 433-4 D2.00

ADVANCED ISSUES IN COMMUNICATION AND CULTURAL POLICY

New Catalogue #76711

Prerequisite:

75 credit hours including CMNS 333 or 334.

This course will be an opportunity for students familiar with Canadian communication and cultural policies to expand their horizons into international policy. Students can expect to make use of their experience in courses in research methodology, policy, and cultural and communications theory. This term we will examine cultural policy in the context of globalization through a study of the Canadian and international emphasis on cultural diversity.

The promotion of cultural diversity has become the cornerstone of Canadian cultural policy, both as a social philosophy and as a rationale for our cultural trade policy. Other countries and international agencies such as UNESCO and the Council of Europe also promote its benefits.

It will be the task of students in the course to learn about the origins of this concept’s adoption by cultural planners, its various meanings, and the uses to which it is put. We will explore facets of this policy such as the increasing emphasis on culture as intellectual property, the management of diverse interests as it replaces the identification of a public interest, the relationship of human rights law and its enforcement to cultural policies, and the policy emphasis on diversity as an urban cultural experience.

The course will include seminars, field trips and invited guests. Students will be expected to be prepared to read and discuss, and to work on group research projects that will be formally presented to the class in draft for comment and final revision.


Assignments:

Seminar participation 15%
Oral and written critique of a course reading 20%
Presentation of research results in draft 25%
Final research paper 40%

Readings:

Will be available through the instructor and in Belzberg Library reserves.

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).