Simon Fraser University
Engaging the World

Course Outlines

Summer 2025 - CMNS 130 OL01

Communication and Social Change (3)

Class Number: 1139

Delivery Method: Online

Overview

  • Course Times + Location:

    Online

  • Exam Times + Location:

    Aug 14, 2025
    Thu, 7:00–10:00 p.m.
    Burnaby

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

An introduction to the forms, theories and institutions of communication as they relate to broader social change, with a focus on the political, economic and regulatory shifts characterizing Canadian and transnational media systems. This course is required for a major, honours or minor in communication.

COURSE DETAILS:

This course offers an introduction to the forms, theories, and institutions of communication as they relate to social change. The first section of the course introduces the era of mass communication and some of the more influential approaches to its study. We examine questions such as: What is mass communication? What is the role of mass media in a democracy? How has mass media been regulated? What are the differences between critical, liberal-democratic, and neoliberal understandings of mass communication? How have historical mediums such as writing, the printing press, radio, photography, and the telegraph said to have transformed societies? The second part of the course focuses on contemporary, networked forms of social media and perspectives that seek to explain the era we are now in. Here, we examine the transformative role that new media technologies are said to play in re-making of the contemporary world, including issues of surveillance, labour exploitation, cyberwarfare, algorithms, environmental degradation, activism, politics, and the unsettling of conceptual categories such as ‘alternative’ and ‘mainstream’ media. What are the implications of emerging media technologies for social inequality and other political and cultural issues? What regulatory approaches are being applied to digital media, and why/why not? Where might new media technologies be going in the future?

COURSE-LEVEL EDUCATIONAL GOALS:

Course Goals

  • To introduce some of the key concepts, theoretical approaches and political perspectives used in the study of communication and social change.
  • To provide a foundation for several second-year communication courses in the School of Communication.
  • To consider the role played by communication within broader social change.
  • To develop the capacity to critically assess, and intervene within, the media environment.

Grading

  • Weekly discussion board posts (10 x 2) 20%
  • 2 Midterm exams (form TBA) (1x 20% and 1 x 25%) (Week 5 and Week 10) 45%
  • Extended discussion board reflection 15%
  • Final exam (form TBA) 20%

NOTES:

The School expects that the grades awarded in this course will bear some reasonable relationship to established university-wide practices. In addition, the School will follow Policy S10.01 with respect to Academic Integrity, and Policies S10.02, S10.03 and S10.04 with regard to Student Discipline. For further information visit: www.sfu.ca/policies/Students/index.html.

Materials

REQUIRED READING:

All readings will be available digitally in the ‘files’ section on Canvas.

A Netflix Canada account is needed for one of the course viewings.

REQUIRED READING NOTES:

Your personalized Course Material list, including digital and physical textbooks, are available through the SFU Bookstore website by simply entering your Computing ID at: shop.sfu.ca/course-materials/my-personalized-course-materials.

Registrar Notes:

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: YOUR WORK, YOUR SUCCESS

At SFU, you are expected to act honestly and responsibly in all your academic work. Cheating, plagiarism, or any other form of academic dishonesty harms your own learning, undermines the efforts of your classmates who pursue their studies honestly, and goes against the core values of the university.

To learn more about the academic disciplinary process and relevant academic supports, visit: 


RELIGIOUS ACCOMMODATION

Students with a faith background who may need accommodations during the term are encouraged to assess their needs as soon as possible and review the Multifaith religious accommodations website. The page outlines ways they begin working toward an accommodation and ensure solutions can be reached in a timely fashion.