By the end of the program, students graduating will be able to:
1.1 Demonstrate knowledge of the focus and findings of significant social science and humanities research fields in the discipline of Canadian and trans-national communication and digital media studies, such as mass communication, communication technology, political economy of communication, communication policy, global/international communication, intercultural communication, interpersonal communication, feminist communication, visual communication, promotional communication, political communication, history of communication, communication theory, and cultural studies.
1.2 Demonstrate knowledge of key scholarly concerns, issues and developments in the discipline of communication and digital media studies, as reflected by relevant peer-reviewed journals, journal articles, books, policy documents, news reports and other relevant works.
1.3 Demonstrate knowledge of the past, present and emerging problems pertaining to the organizations, policies, practices, products, uses and effects of communication and digital media in society.
2.1 Demonstrate knowledge of what a research method is.
2.2 Demonstrate knowledge of a range of communication and digital media research methods such as: organizational/institutional analysis, media production and industries analysis, policy analysis, discourse analysis, content analysis, semiotic analysis, rhetorical analysis, interviews and surveys, ethnography, reception studies, cultural studies, and data analytics.
2.3 Demonstrate knowledge of research resources available (library, scholarly databases, journals, the news, websites, everyday life) and an ability to evaluate the quality of them.
2.4 Demonstrate knowledge of what a theory is.
2.5 Demonstrate knowledge of a range of canonical and emerging theories of communication, technology, culture and digital media developed by a plurality of key thinkers and their works.
2.6 Demonstrate the ability to describe and critique these theories and key concepts related to them.
3.1 Demonstrate the ability to utilize a variety of communication and digital media studies research methods to conduct research on different facets of communication and digital media across a number of social contexts: economic, technological, political and cultural.
3.2 Demonstrate the ability to analyze how a wide range of individuals, groups and organizations use communication technologies and media to inform, entertain and persuade; produce, distribute, consume and prosume content across platforms and in different social contexts; and, how society may be transformed by communication and digital media.
3.3 Demonstrate the ability to apply a variety of theories and concepts pertaining to communication and digital media through grounded studies and interpretations of communication and media organizations, processes, practices, products, contents, and audiences.
4.1 Define the fundamentals of and demonstrate professional writing skills: the ability to write to a grammatical standard and style demanded by the university and a number of other professionally relevant writing contexts in order to report, inform, persuade, debate or tell a story.
4.2 Define the fundamentals of and demonstrate public speaking skills: the ability to effectively communicate ideas that inform or persuade a plurality of publics in live and mediated contexts.
4.3 Define the fundamentals of and demonstrate interpersonal communication skills: the ability to exercise emotional intelligence, engage and interact with people from circumstances unlike one’s own, collaborate and teamwork, manage time, cope with pressure, flexibly adjust to different circumstances, and give and take constructive feedback.
4.4 Define the fundamentals of and demonstrate intercultural communication skills: the ability to recognize and adapt one’s communication to different cultural contexts, identities and spaces, locally and globally, nationally and trans-nationally, in a multicultural world.
4.5 Define the fundamentals of and demonstrate digital communication skills: the ability to access, view, create, manage, publish, circulate, store, edit, modify, remix, respond to, and critically evaluate digital media content using hardware, software and online platforms.
4.6 Define the fundamentals of and demonstrate critical media literacy skills: the ability to critically analyze, evaluate and interpret the workings of communication organizations, media messages and images, and their effects, with regard to social power relations.
5.1 Academic autonomy: Demonstrate the ability to take responsibility for one’s own learning process; independently pursue knowledge by formulating, asking and answering questions; and, make reasoned decisions that support intellectual growth and life-long learning.
5.1.1 Defend ethical value-judgements about one’s own learning process, as well as the courses, methods, theories, projects and practices engaged with.
5.1.2 Formulate solutions to problems using the identified appropriate theories and research-based methods.
5.2 Civic autonomy: Demonstrate the ability to become informed about the society in which one lives; describe the causes, consequences and possible solutions to a number of social problems and actively participate in public discussions, practices and projects that aim to change society, for the better.
5.2.1 Defend ethical value-judgements about communication and digital media with regard to their power to support or undermine the pursuit of a democratic, fair, inclusive, equitable and just society.
5.3 Professional autonomy: Demonstrate the ability to take responsibility for one’s own professional development; independently hone professionally relevant knowledge and skills according to career aspirations and goals, and make reasoned decisions that support professional growth and accomplishments.
5.3.1 Defend ethical value-judgements about the professional communications organizations, roles, processes, practices and products one may encounter or contribute to.
5.4 Media autonomy: Demonstrate the ability to think for oneself about the benefits and costs of living in communications technology and media-saturated society. Evaluate various media organizations, the roles they play, the goals they pursue, the messages and images they create and circulate, and the impacts and effects they may have on society.
6.1 Demonstrate intellectual modesty.
6.2 Demonstrate the ability to question and evaluate the claims and statements made about communication and digital media by oneself, professors, authors, journalists, and students.
6.3 Practice self-reflection in regard to the ways that one’s personal experience, history, worldview, social status, identity, location may shape how one perceives and thinks about communication and digital media in society.
6.4 Describe different points of view on one topic, issue, or problem related to communication and digital media in society.
6.5 Demonstrate an ability to think dialectically about communications and digital media by formulating and expressing conflicting positions about the same topic, issue or problem.
