Disclaimer: this course mapping tool is for information purposes only (and does not reflect your ACORN account)
This course provides students with a survey of critical theories appropriate to the study of technological innovation. Students will: 1) explore theories of the social, cultural, and ecological impacts of technological innovation; 2) apply these theoretical lenses to the study of trends in innovation; and 3) propose a product or approach to innovation using social, cultural, or ecological criteria. [24L/12T]
This course investigates the industrial practices and tools of effectively marketing and promoting goods and services online. Topics include analysis of contemporary online advertisement design, the effective use of social media technologies in product marketing, planning online campaigns that reinforce and complement existing marketing and advertising efforts, and understanding key metrics used to evaluate a campaign’s effectiveness. [36L]
This course will explore the theoretical and practical aspects of producing theme based single and sequential imagery within a digital environment. We will explore the conceptual and digital tools as well as workflows and delivery systems that have been developed to produce images.
This course will introduce advanced standards-based frameworks that support the development of responsive front-end systems. Key concepts covered in this course include the application of advanced markup and design strategies, scripting languages applied to dynamic interactions, frameworks and code version control, and foundations of server-side implementations. [36P]
In this course students are introduced to programming languages regularly used in management operations. Students will learn what these languages are, when and why they are applied, and how to read and write basic scripting code. The goal of this course is to familiarize students with scripting so that they can communicate more effectively with programmers in business settings.
From the Orwellian Big Brother to Foucault’s panopticon, surveillance has become an everyday facet of modern life. From a surveillance studies perspective surveillance can be applied as a framework for understanding social, political, and technological interrelationships. This framework can help us study more effectively power, identity, persuasion, and control associated with the spread of Information Communication Technologies (ICT’s). This course will introduce students to viewpoints, vision and visibility in surveillance studies. The class will look at a range of topics from information politics, identification, privacy, security, suspicion, social sorting, bodies, borders and biometrics to explore a range of perspectives under the surveillance studies umbrella. It will introduce students to key issues surrounding data, discrimination, and visibility in a global context to undercover the watched world. [24L]
Sound as Media will provide students with an immersive introduction to the field of sound studies. The course offers a counterpoint to surveys of visual media by exploring acoustic technologies in historical, cultural and spatial context. By considering examples such as the gramophone, public address system, boombox, and MP3 player as well as the theories that account for them, students will develop an understanding of media forms that engage the ear as well as the eye. They will in turn, have the opportunity to apply this understanding to the final project which will give them hands-on experience with creating a sound-based documentary. {24L]
The transition from university studies to professional settings necessitates the articulation of how acquired skill sets, education, professional contacts, supporting resources, and related experiences connect to and influence career trajectories. To facilitate agility in navigating the ever-shifting global economy, within and outside of the classroom students are provided with a mixture of structured, self-directed, independent, and team activities that aid in the development and refinement of professional identities, community networks, communication approaches, and problem solving skills. [24L]
The course approaches current information and communication technologies from critical and historical perspectives. It investigates the interests, motives and tactics of news media, pop culture producers, amateurs, universities, corporations, and governments in promoting, sustaining, and interpreting information and communication systems. It also asks how the focus will be on media and information technologies, more theoretical or methodological readings will necessarily cover other systems. Case studies may include investigations of orality, writing, the printing press, industrialized printing, and electronic media from the telegraph and the telephone to broadcasting and the internet. [24L/12T]
The emphasis in this course will be on theoretical, methodological, and empirical issues in the study of Human-Computer Interaction. Intelligent interface designs, usability assessment, user modeling and the accessibility of the technology for the disabled are among the topics to be examined. Related behavioural investigations concerning the ease and efficiency of users’ interactions with computerized environments will also be discussed. [36P]
Audiences are social constructions which must be imagined to be actualized. Beginning with an exploration of the nature and role of audiences from early 20th century media, students explore how audiences make meaning of popular media platforms today. How are audiences situated within media texts, what role does this play in how media is generated and circulated, and how do audiences both enact and resist media influence? Broadcast models, interactive models, audience reading, gender, culture, race, and audience feedback are investigated. [24L]
This course explores the fundamentals of the process of game design through prototyping. It focuses on the contexts and components of game design, such as design iteration and user testing along relevant dimensions such as art style, narrative, and game balance. Students will be introduced to design across different genres and types of digital games, including games for education, serious games, indie, and AAA games. Working in collaborative groups, students will learn and practice the appropriate methodology to design game mechanics, characters, art assets and other appropriate deliverables in order to create a game or high-fidelity prototype.
This course introduces students to the theoretical and practical study of how interactive digital media and systems affect, influence and reshape our society and what does it mean to be a "user" in the information-centric society. It will expose students to specific theoretical issues such as privacy by design, usable privacy, marginalized and at-risk user groups, the digital divide, behavioural modification (persuasion) through new media, ICT4D (info tech for development) and empowerment/alienation through intelligent interactive systems. Focus will be on developing skills that will enable students to propose changes (design, policy, framework) to existing and future envisioned interactive technologies that address the issues analyzed. [36P]
Virtual environments, immersive 3D environments accessed via computers or virtual reality headsets, comprise a unique and futuristic communication environment. Virtual environments have the potential to support a wide variety of activities related to information creation, distribution, and reception and can support social, economic, and cultural causes. Compared to everyday information practices, however, those enacted in virtual worlds are uniquely characterized by multimodality, synchronicity, digital embodiment and geographic distribution of users. In this course, students engage in participatory learning in virtual environments, using avatars to assess how the world’s technological and social affordances support and constrain information practices. Using theories of gaming, virtuality, and information lifecycles, students critically analyse how information is produced and used in these environments. [24L, 12T]
Students on International exchange programs are encouraged to seek out courses in digital media and technologies that enrich their learning within an international context. This course is intended as an opportunity for students to study global issues and contexts abroad that provide a comparator to the Canadian media and communications landscape. [36S]
An in-depth examination of selected topics in communication, culture and information technology. Topics vary from year to year, and the content in any given year depends upon the instructor. The contact hours for this course may vary in terms of contact type (L, S, T, P) from year to year, but will be between 24-36 contact hours in total. See the UTM Timetable. [24L]
This course provides an opportunity for third or higher year students to assist with the research project of a professor in return for 399H course credit. Students have an opportunity to become involved in original research and enhance their research skills. Based on the nature of the project, projects may satisfy the Humanities, Sciences or Social Sciences distribution requirement. Participating faculty members post their project description for the following summer and fall/winter session on the ROP website in mid-February and students are invited to apply at that time. See Experiential and International Opportunities for more details.
This course explores how infrastructures shape society, culture, and understanding of the human condition. We examine different infrastructures from electric networks to communication networks, data farms, environmental sensing systems, smart cities, and satellite technologies and our reliance on them. We will also examine how these infrastructures are sustained and maintained. By building on critical theories and approaches to infrastructures and their impact, the course investigates the power of infrastructure to establish the conditions of our daily lives. [24L]
This course provides students with an in-depth study and critical analysis of research methodologies within the discipline of communications and new media. Students will learn to explicitly identify generalizable findings, ethical concerns, study limitations, and new contributions to the field of knowledge using existing studies in qualitative, quantitative and mixed methodologies. Students will also gain experience in identifying and assessing problems within a research design and develop the ability to recommend revisions and/or new contexts and techniques for replicating the studies. [24L/12T]
How does consumerism affect symbolic production, circulation and transactions? Major modern theories of mass communication will be presented (Fiske, Bourdieu, Benjamin, Jenkins, Frankfurt school, and Marxist approaches). Students will explore new structures of mass communication in relation to popular culture systems, and their economic, technological and institutional dimensions. Topics include Disney, Hollywood, celebrity culture, social media, and user generated content in digital environments. [24L]
This course provides an introduction to games studies. It reviews the history of games, from board and card games through to the latest digital games. It enables students to understand the medium of games through various lenses such as critical theory and ethnography. Students are introduced to the concepts of game narrative, the influence of technology in digital games, and the emergence of game paradigms such as casual games, serious games, game ‘modding’, and subversive play. [36L]
This course will address traditional storytelling and the challenges of interactive narrative. Students will develop a solid understanding of traditional narrative theory as well as experimental approaches to storytelling in literature, theatre and film with relevance to game development.
This course applies a variety of theoretical and practical approaches to consider the multiple and often conflicting ways representations in media are produced and consumed. The study of representations is approached from the perspective that they are best understood as both discursive and ideological. Questions to be examined include: What does it mean for historical and contemporary representations to carry economic, ideological and discursive power? To what extent do audiences hold power to resist or negotiate with representations? How might we interrogate the notion that we live in a post-feminist, post-racialized society in which older ideas about gender, race and power no longer apply or need re-thinking? [24L]
A study of theories in communication and meaning with different reference to advertising, advertising messages, and advertising management. [24L]
This course will instruct students in the use of programming languages such as Python or Processing for novel applications, including cases from animation, design, and information visualization. Appropriate use of code libraries, platforms and programming techniques will be developed. Assessment will be based on both programming and the expressive use of programs in their case context. [24L/12P]
This course focuses on investigating the impacts of the digital enterprise on sustainability. The course presents an overview of the sustainability challenges and the concrete approaches to solving those challenges with the use of technology. The course uses an active learning approach allowing students the opportunity to learn while working on different sustainability projects linked to digital enterprises. [24L/12T]
This course explores how media and media technology have shifted the nature of the existing political and social orders, We will focus on how social movements and political challengers have used media to disrupt and, in many cases, overthrow leaders, corporations, and governments. This will bring us in contact with theories of social movement mobilization, political communication, and digital media. We will also explore the ways that legacy and digital media have changed to be in service of misinformation and state repression. [24L]
This course will provide students with an understanding of investment appraisal from a financial standpoint. It will provide them with the necessary tools to construct the financial component of a business plan and analyze the financial performance of a company. It will examine the practical problems of capital budgeting and highlight the techniques of performing ongoing monitoring of a company’s financial health and risks. [36P]
Overview of individual and group behaviour in organizations, including motivation, communication, decision making, influence and group dynamics. Examination of major aspects of organizational design including structure, environment, technology, goals, size, inter-organizational relationships, innovation and change. [24L]
This course explores macroeconomics through the analysis of national and international crises. The course begins with a discussion of the nature of economics, a brief examination of markets, and a discussion of crisis and growth. We survey the institutions and dynamics of growth in the post WWII period, their breakdown in the 1960s and the spread of international crisis in the 1970s, and the crises of various economic policy responses from the 1980s to the present. After this historical overview, we explore macroeconomic theory and its development over the last 50 years. We study the Keynesian model and its emphasis on employment and output, its crisis in the late 1960s and early 1970s, the rise of monetarist alternatives, the elaboration of aggregate supply and demand models highlighting prices instead of employment, the surge of supply-side and rational expectations economics during the Reagan administration and the continuing debates among economists over the merits and problems of the various theoretical approaches. The course closes with an examination the various forms of crises tied to the emergence of information and communications technologies and the knowledge economy. [24L]
Approaches to the management of complex technical projects will be investigated. Topics include project estimating, costing and evaluation, organizing and managing project teams, quantitative methods for project planning and scheduling, introduction to computer-based project management tools. The course may involve an applied field project. [24L]
This course introduces students to critical approaches to social media drawing from theories and fields including software studies, platform studies, critical theory and political economy. The course provides students with tools and theories to analyze and understand current social media connectivity, and how social media platforms function as socio-cultural systems. [24L]
This course examines the policy and regulatory frameworks that shape media, culture, and technology in Canada. The course surveys the historical development of communication policy in Canada, broadly understood, and introduces students to issues and debates in the development of communication policy for specific sectors such as broadcasting, creative industries, platforms, and the internet. [24L/12T]
This course introduces students to the strategies and processes of social innovation through usability studies, systems analysis, and artifact prototyping for new products or services for underserved groups. Students will learn various techniques of understanding user needs requirements and design methodologies, and apply this knowledge to create socially innovative prototypes to apply to real world situations. By the end of this course, students will have worked in groups to develop design alternatives for a technological artifact or system of their choosing, gain knowledge of human-centred design strategies and learn how to become change agents through case studies, best practice analyses, and relevant readings. [36L]
This course will examine the principles, theory and practice behind the production of games. By examining the history and contributions of early founders such as Atari and Activision, all the way to present-day leaders such as Electronic Arts and Sony, students will gain an understanding of how the global video game industry operates. The lectures and practical work will foster an approach to the understanding of game production issues including technology, law, marketplace and audience demand. [36L]
Technology continues to reshape the physical contours of our built environments as much as it redefines our conceptualization of how we inhabit and interact within them. This course investigates how urban form, space, infrastructure and communication are mediated by new and evolving technologies. [24L,11T]
Examining the medium of comics and graphic novels and its evolution in an era of digital production and dissemination. Starting from a foundational understanding of the visual grammar of comics, students create their own graphic narratives and later explore the dynamics of digital dissemination by creating viral and memetic content for an Internet audience.
This course brings a gendered lens to the study of media and technology. The course explores the (re)production and (re)presentation of gender through communicative practices in a variety of mediums, including print media, TV, activist media, video games and online platforms. The course develops an understanding of gender ideologies and how media, technologies, and communication help produce gender. The course examines the way gender identities are constructed by mainstream and alternative media; gendered divisions of media and digital labour; the relationship between ICTs and the performance of gender and sexuality; masculinities, gender politics; feminist theory; and the construction and negotiation of gender in relation to mediated environments. [24L]
This course presents economic principles that explain how markets help organize exchange and production among competing but nevertheless cooperating economic units. Theories of consumer demand, the economic nature and function of business firms, optimal business decision rules of monopoly, oligopoly, and anti-combines regulations, as well as game theory, are presented. Efficiency criteria pertaining to the operation of firms and markets, the role of property rights, and the scope for public policy, are also examined.
Techniques for developing a comprehensive marketing strategy will be developed with particular emphasis on digital products and services. The nature of digital markets, approaches to advertising, pricing and such areas as versioning will also be discussed.
The course analyzes the relationship between media systems, communication technologies, and power. As an introduction to a political economy approach, this course surveys how media, culture, information and technologies are produced, circulated, and consumed, with attention to both historical developments and contemporary practices in the digital era. The course provides a basic understanding of media systems, technologies, and culture production in relation to the market, the state, and civil society. Students will develop a basic understanding of the political, economic, cultural, and regulatory environment in which media, culture, and technologies are produced, and pay particular attention to the implications of processes such as globalization, digitization, marketization, and commodification for social life. [24L, 12T]
This course provides a comprehensive overview of the activities and processes that take place in organizations. Major emphasis is placed on the investigation of the varied measures that can be developed to assess and subsequently improve the performance of the organization. The interpretation of measures in managerial decision-making will also be investigated in detail. [24L]
This course has been designed to provide students with a basic understanding of the role of computers and communication systems in modern organizations. Unlike programming courses, the focus here is on the application of computer-based systems to support information requirements for problem solving and managerial decision-making. Topics include concepts of information, humans as information processors, survey of hardware and software applications, introduction to information systems analysis and design. [24L/12T]
This course introduces students to the basic tools of data analysis, most particularly statistics and modeling that are critical for subsequent courses in Marketing and Data Analysis II. Students are introduced to basic principles of descriptive and inferential statistics with a focus on the types of data that they will typically encounter in a digital environment.
Advances in technology have provided users ready access to empowering technologies of creative expression. This emergence of prosumer and amateur production technology has both destabilized and revolutionized established practice in digital imaging, time based media, gaming, and design. This course provides a survey of contemporary theories, technologies and critical challenges in a variety of media of creative expression. [24L/12P]
This course will explore foundational techniques of web development and design in the context of human-centred technologies, and design of experiences, interfaces and interactions. Topics include development of semantic web properties using contemporary programming techniques; standards-based design of responsive accessible systems; and production of rich media for online displays. [36P]
This introductory course in information architecture is a foundation of user interface design. Information architects work in organizations to design interfaces that enable users to find and navigate complex data via technology. Using architectural and design concepts to create and organize user-friendly information structures, this course includes exploring theories and hands-on practice with information organization, structure, categorization, representation, navigation and modeling. [24L/12P]
This course introduces the principles behind the rules and play of games. It will foster a solid understanding of how games function to create experiences, through the use of core elements such as game world, characters, interactivity, and the mechanics of gameplay. The course will also situate games within their historical and cultural contexts and discuss current economic models and production trends within the games industry. [36L]
This professional practice course provides students with basic skills in professional communication, acumen, and problem solving that will help them develop personally and professionally. [24L]
Students will develop skills in the areas of bitmap/vector graphics, audio/visual production and editing, 2D/3D modeling and animation, and video game design. Students will produce immersive environments while addressing and engaging issues of remix culture and intellectual property. [24L, 12P]
This course provides students with the opportunity to learn the skills necessary to produce responsive web content. Students will develop skills in the areas of website design, interactive and animated web content, mobile app development, and mobile game development. [36P]
An in depth examination of selected topics in communication, culture, information and technology. Topics vary from year to year, and the content in any given year depends on the instructor. The contact hours for this course may vary in terms of contact type (L, S, T, P) from year to year, but will be between 24-36 contact hours in total. See the UTM Timetable. [36L]
This course offers an overview of critical theoretical concepts and applies them to contemporary media. Students will use concepts from social theory, media studies and technology studies to critically analyze the many facets of the evolution and pervasiveness of digital media. [24L]
This course builds upon the concepts introduced in CCT218H5, Introduction to Digital Culture, through an exploration of the design and development of online information services (e.g. websites, digital libraries). It examines the standards, modeling approaches, and methods for testing. Students will experiment with different approaches to design of websites or other online services for different types of delivery devices (e.g. desktops, mobiles).
Communication campaigns and projects, whether they involve marketing, politics, or advertising require the establishment of objectives, tasks, and milestones. Furthermore developing and managing campaigns requires the development of knowledge and skills relating to the management of teams. Students will acquire analytic skills allowing them to understand the development and management of communication campaigns and projects. Current theory and research will comprise an integral part of the course as will study of the appropriate software tools. A significant component of the assessment for this course will be a group project that will involve the design of a communication campaign or project which will be presented to a group of experts. [24L]
This course examines the nature of communications in organizations. Communications are the glue that holds organizations together. Understanding theoretically and practically the multi-faceted functions of communication in and between organizations is essential for anyone seeking to develop a career in an organization whether it be private or public. Students will acquire analytic skills allowing them to understand organizational communication from a variety of different perspectives. They will also be required to develop and actively critique practical examples of organizational communication.
This is a project-based course that focuses on analyzing and evaluating the persuasive impact of the images we use every day to make decisions about our social networks, what we buy, how we live, what we care about, and who we are. Students will learn about rhetorical devices used in visual communications and then work in teams to create a persuasive awareness campaign for an NGO, Government Agency, Healthcare organization or other social interest group as the final project. [24L]
The principles and techniques of user-centered, functional design are introduced and applied to the analysis of software interfaces and the creation of multimedia documents. The roles of shared metaphors and mental models in clear, concise and usable designs are emphasized. Students will produce multimedia documents, which make effective use of text, colour, user input, audio, still, and time-based images. [24L/12P]
An introduction to the cognitive, social, dyadic and group factors that shape communication and relational development between people. The objective of this course is for students to learn and apply the communication processes involved in encoding and decoding messages that help us understand others around us. Students will learn concepts, theories, and skills related to interpersonal communication. Topics include impression management, interpersonal influence, relational development, and conversational skills. [24L]
This course examines different information and communication technologies (ICTs) through the analysis of such genres as contemporary written, visual, oral, electronic and musical forms. It illustrates a range of theoretical perspectives that seek to explain the relationship between communication and technology. This course will also examine, briefly, the history of ICTs. [24L, 11P]
This course critically examines the written, visual, aural, and dynamic rhetoric as it pertains to communications for academic and other purposes across a range of digital and interactive media discourses. [24L, 11T]
This experiential learning course introduces students to the practice and theory of coding, programming, and basic development of user-oriented software. The lectures illustrate a core range of software development concepts that provide the foundations needed for the practical coding of front-end applications such as mobile interfaces or of back-end software such as introductory artificial intelligence or social media analysis. The practicals are lab-based and focus on applying these theoretical skills to solving problems grounded in a critical understanding of the interaction between people, culture, and society, by developing software or apps in languages such as Java, Objective C, Swift, Python. [24L, 12P]
This course introduces students to the foundational principles and analytical tools from the management discipline that are appropriate for understanding enterprises in the context of the networked information economy. Particular emphasis is given to the interconnections between information and communications technologies, innovation, the role of managers and their decision-making processes, and related social, cultural, and economic institutions.
This course provides an introduction to the intersecting fields of critical race, media, and cultural studies. We will pay particular attention to dynamics of social difference and power and the communication strategies and technologies through which these are navigated, reproduced and interrupted. Students will be introduced to critical and analytical tools for understanding the cultural and media circulation, regulation and reimagination of things like race, sexuality, time, gender, class, indigeneity, space, ethnicity, ability and nationality. These critical tools equip students with the skills to write, design and build ethical innovations in new media and culture.
From voice responsive cars and virtual assistants to social robots and smart toys, people are increasingly interacting with communicative technologies in their daily lives. In this course students will consider the implications of this evolution in communication practice – informing design, ethics, efficacy, privacy, and other implications. Human-machine communication is a specific area of study within communication encompassing human-computer interaction, human-robot interaction, and human-agent interaction.
This course provides an introduction to research design, conduct, and analysis for making informed business decisions. The course will focus on basic methodologies, qualitative and quantitative methods, data sources, reliability, validity, and other measurement issues, data collection and research design, ethics in research, and report writing and presentation.
An introduction to the basic concepts and skills of design thinking as an interdisciplinary subject. Emphasizes creative and critical thinking in the design process; provides the student with the theory and operational skills necessary to solve design problems in the realms of symbolic and visual communication, material objects, environments, and organized services and activities.
This course examines a range of theoretical perspectives and worldviews that assess the cultural and social changes brought about by modern technology. These perspectives will be used to analyze the potential problems initiated by the introduction of digital and computing technologies to various contexts. Possible topics include: cybernetics; media convergence; artificial intelligence/life; smart technology; digital environmentalism and digital warfare.
This course will provide a detailed review of copyright, trademark and patent law with a special emphasis on how they apply to digital media. This course will also review the law of contract as it applies to digital industries and investigate the relevant tort law. In addition, other regulatory issues will be discussed such as telecommunications and broadcasting law both from a Canadian and an international perspective. [24L/11T]
This course is a survey of research methodologies in the field of communication and media. A central goal of the course is to train students how to critically assess methods commonly used in social science research. Students will also become familiar with how to properly collect and interpret quantitative and qualitative social science research data.
How written or spoken statements, gestures, and aesthetic objects come to have meanings. How we recognize and fail to recognize such meanings. The nature, systems, and processes of interpretation. The role of mental models. [24L, 11T]
This experiential learning course introduces students to the practice and theory of coding, programming, and development of user interfaces. The lectures illustrate an advanced range of software development concepts needed for the practical coding of user interfaces across a variety of devices. The practicals are lab-based and focus on applying these theoretical skills to design, implementation, and testing of user interface software components. Students will have the opportunity to acquire project management and software engineering skills Scrum, Agile), programming languages (Java, Javascript, Objective C, Swift, and other mobile and web programming languages), and evaluation methodologies (unit testing, bug tracking). [24L, 12P]
This course introduces students to the critical study of computing and its interaction with culture and society. It examines how relations between humans and technology create different kinds of technocultures. Students will explore contemporary technologies from both a technical and cultural/historical point of view, focusing on the labour of coding, the materiality of software code, the role of intellectual property, and the cultures that sustain and arise from digital media production. [24L]
An introduction to foundational theories for studying the relationship between media, technology and society. The course presents technology as a social practice and considers a wide variety of concepts and methods for studying its cultural and political significance. [24L, 11T]