Simon Fraser University
Engaging the World

Course Outlines

Spring 2026 - CMNS 210 D100

Media History (3)

Class Number: 4989

Delivery Method: In Person

Overview

  • Course Times + Location:

    Jan 5 – Apr 10, 2026: Mon, 12:30–2:20 p.m.
    Burnaby

  • Prerequisites:

    CMNS 110 or 130, with a minimum grade of C-.

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

Explores the social and cultural histories of media technologies and techniques for doing historical analyses of media. Topics include: communication over a distance; technologies of inscription; electric media; broadcasting; wireless; cinema; and early computing.

COURSE DETAILS:

This is an introductory survey course on the history of media and communication.  The course begins with the challenges contemporary media and technology pose for everyday life. From here, we trace the evolving relationship between media and technology, human communication, forms of social organization, power, and the history of consciousness and ideas. Among history of communication themes, students will be introduced to the ways orality and literacy effect social communication and organization; the impact of printing and moveable type on social history; and the effects of the arrival of electronic, and then digital media on actual and potential forms of social and interpersonal relationships. We will situate media in specific geographies and communities of use, for example, by studying the role of print in settler colonialism in Canada, and by looking at undersea telecommunications cables in relation to globalization. Throughout the course, we will explore how media have been constitutive of hierarchies related to race, gender, ability, and other forms of social difference. By taking this perspective, we will be able to situate media technologies within larger social, political, and economic histories, and relations of power.

Grading

  • Mid-Term Exam: held in class, on 9 February 2026 20%
  • Term Paper: Newspaper Article Analysis (divided across two assignments) 50%
  • Quiz: held in class, on 30 March 2026 15%
  • Course Participation 15%

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 and Labs do not start in Week 1 (5-9 January 2026) -- unless specified by the Instructor.  If your tutorial/Lab is scheduled to occur prior to your first lecture/seminar -- please check with the course Canvas page, or with your Instructor (via email), to find out if you will have a tutorial/Lab in the first week of Spring Semester 2026.   If your tutorial/Lab occurs after the first lecture/seminar, then just ask in the first lecture/seminar whether or not there will be tutorials/Labs during Week 1.
 

REQUIREMENTS:

  1. Mid-Term Exam:  Held in class, on 9 February 2026 -- 20%

The exam will be held in class and will cover the first half of the course. Students will be asked to write two essays and will be given a choice of topics.

  1. Term Paper:  Newspaper Article Analysis, divided across two assignments -- 50%

Formal proposal, Due 9 March 2026, Final Paper, Due 30 March 2026

Students will choose a historical newspaper or magazine article (published before 1996) about a new communication technology. Students will write a 7-page paper that summarizes and critiques how the article portrays the social aspects of that new technology. Students will learn how to search newspaper databases through the library website in a class workshop. Students will submit and receive feedback on a proposal for this paper before submitting the final draft.

  1. Quiz: held in class, on final day of course, on 30 March 2026 -- 15%

The exam will be short answer based on key concepts raised in the course. 

    4. Course Participation -- 15% 

Reading comments, course attendance and participation.

Materials

REQUIRED READING:

Course readings will be made available through the course CANVAS page.

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.