Simon Fraser University
Engaging the World

Course Outlines

Fall 2025 - CMNS 215 D100

Media and Identity (3)

Class Number: 2557

Delivery Method: In Person

Overview

  • Course Times + Location:

    Sep 3 – Dec 2, 2025: Thu, 12:30–2:20 p.m.
    Burnaby

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

Media and identity centers the idea of "social position" and that media are created and interpreted from and through specific perspectives and experiences of the world. Media and public discourse are shaped through various axes of social position that include gender, race, sexuality, ability, nationality, and other markers of identity.

COURSE DETAILS:

Personal and collective identity influence how individuals perceive and perform digital media. Qualitative research addresses identity and its political implications within societies. Complex layers of nationalism, race, gender, class, and other modes of being and knowing must be unpacked to define identity in North American contexts. This course will move beyond purely political or systemic approaches, and provide introductory concepts for the study of identity and digital media. Topics covered in the course include:  Being, Self, Identity Theory, Networks, Language, Social Identity, Perception, Difference, and Conflict Theory. The course will use the Internet to study theory of identity, and draw on fields such as Trans Studies, Black Studies, Indigenous Studies, Postcolonialism, Feminism, and Queer Theory.

Grading

  • Tutorial Attendance and Participation 10%
  • In-Class Activities 10%
  • Midterm Take Home Exam (Open Book) 30%
  • Qualitative Research Journal 20%
  • Annotated Bibliography 20%
  • Research Reflection 10%

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.

NOTE -- Tutorials do not start in Week 1 (3-9 September 2025) -- unless specified by the Instructor.  If your tutorial is scheduled to occur prior to your first lecture -- please check with the course Canvas page, or with your Instructor (via email), to find out if you will have a tutorial in the first week of Fall Semester 2025.   If your tutorial occurs after the first lecture, then just ask in the first lecture whether or not there will be tutorials during Week 1.

Materials

REQUIRED READING:

Cover, Rob. 2023. Identity and Digital Communication : Concepts, Theories, Practices. Routledge.

Required textbook available online through SFU Library or at the SFU Bookstore.

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.