Spring 2016 - CMNS 488 D100
Selected Topics in Communication (4)
Class Number: 3588
Delivery Method: In Person
Overview
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Course Times + Location:
Jan 5 – Apr 11, 2016: Tue, 1:30–5:20 p.m.
Vancouver
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Instructor:
Enda Brophy
ebrophy@sfu.ca
778-782-8085
Office: K-9662 (Burnaby)
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Prerequisites:
Depends on topic; published before enrolment.
Description
CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:
Intensive analysis of a particular topic in the general area of communication.
COURSE DETAILS:
Prerequisisites:
75 units, including CMNS 230 or 240; or LBST 308. Written permission of the Instructor.
Overview:
This seminar examines some of the key trends shaping work in the media and communication industries. Critically investigating the rise of “creative industries” discourse and its promises of work as play, labour autonomy, and workplaces without hierarchy, this course explores the relationship between labour and communication from a political-economic perspective. Work in “creative” sectors such as fashion, journalism, film, the arts, video games, and new media is highly sought-after and widely celebrated, but the realities of such employment are frequently quite different than how they are portrayed—getting a foot in the door often comes at the cost of working for free, “cool jobs” can be accompanied by chronic overwork, and labour flexibility increasingly means insecure working conditions and an inadequate social safety during periods of unemployment. Topics examined during the course of the semester include: creative industries policy and discourse; the rise of precarious employment in the creative industries and beyond; labour unions and the media; online work, entrepreneurialism and new worker identities in the creative industries; labour resistance and collective organization; the global division of informational labour; the growth of internships; policy proposals and organizational innovations developed by workers in creative industries.
The seminar format is participatory and collaborative. Each week the instructor will offer an introduction to the topic, after which the group will discuss selected themes from the weekly readings. The seminar offers students a chance to reflect collectively on issues directly relevant to them as they negotiate their current and future employment. Regular, respectful, and informed participation is an essential component of the seminar, and forms a significant portion of the final grade. The seminar also includes guest talks from experts in the field, a field trip, and an extended collective inquiry into the key trends affecting work in specific creative economy sectors through a group research project to be presented during one of the last two seminars.
Grading
- Participation 30%
- Critical Summary Assignment (due Week 5) 20%
- Group Project Proposal (due Week 7) 5%
- Final Group Presentation (due Week 12 or 13 10%
- Group Research Project (due Week 12 or 13) 35%
NOTES:
Written permission of the Instructor. A minimum CGPA of 2.25, and approval as a communication student is required for entry into most communication upper division courses.
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 S10.01 with respect to Academic Integrity, and Policies S10.02, S10.03 and S10.04 as regards Student Discipline. [Note: as of May 1, 2009 the previous T10 series of policies covering Intellectual Honesty (T10.02), and Academic Discipline (T10.03) have been replaced with the new S10 series of policies.]
Materials
REQUIRED READING:
Course readings will be available either online, through the SFU Library’s electronic journals system, or via Canvas.
Registrar Notes:
SFU’s Academic Integrity web site http://students.sfu.ca/academicintegrity.html is filled with information on what is meant by academic dishonesty, where you can find resources to help with your studies and the consequences of cheating. Check out the site for more information and videos that help explain the issues in plain English.
Each student is responsible for his or her conduct as it affects the University community. Academic dishonesty, in whatever form, is ultimately destructive of the values of the University. Furthermore, it is unfair and discouraging to the majority of students who pursue their studies honestly. Scholarly integrity is required of all members of the University. http://www.sfu.ca/policies/gazette/student/s10-01.html
ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: YOUR WORK, YOUR SUCCESS