Course

New Media and Society

Faculty
Language, Literature & Performing Arts
Department
Communications
Course Code
CMNS 2223
Credits
3.00
Semester Length
15 weeks
Max Class Size
35
Method(s) Of Instruction
Lecture
Seminar
Course Designation
None
Industry Designation
None
Typically Offered
To be determined

Overview

Course Description
This course offers an introduction to the social, political, economic, and cultural aspects of new media. Tracing the evolution of new media from tools of mass communication to key players in the new information society, focus is given to key communication concepts that students can use to critically evaluate new media's ability to create political, economic, and social change. The ideas of "new media" will first be situated historically and set up as manifestations of different kinds of power. The course will then examine contemporary debates around new media practices and platforms. Students will be encouraged to examine their own new media practices alongside new and emergent trends.
Course Content

Students will be exposed to an array of theories and topics that pertain to the bigger category of "New Media and Society." The goal is to provide students with an opportunity to gain a broad understanding of new media as a terrain marked by diverse struggles for communication, power, capitalism, and control.
A sample of topics may include:

  • Social media and mobile technologies
  • eSports and gamification
  • Network infrastructure and its relationship to: representation, identity, political engagement and social ties
  • Participatory culture and remixing
  • Consumption, capitalism, and influencer behaviour
  • Commodification of personhood and wearable technology
  • Algorithms and big data
  • Surveillance capitalism and data colonialism
Learning Activities

In this course, students engage with a variety of learning activities including, lecture, seminar-style discussion and group work. Students will also be asked to participate in research and debate.

Some or all of the following methods will be used:

  • Lecture/seminar
  • Debate
  • Production of written/audio/visual production across a variety of platforms
Means of Assessment

Assessment will be based on course objectives and will be carried out in accordance with the Douglas College Evaluation Policy. An evaluation schedule will be presented at the beginning of the course. The exact means of assessment will be responsive to the adjusting media landscape.
An example of assessment types and weights is below:

  • Final research project: 25%
  • Assignments and journals: 20%
  • Video presentation: 10%
  • Midterm exam: 15%
  • Final exam: 20%
  • Attendance and participation: 10%
Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of the course, students will be able to:

  1. Develop a comprehensive understanding of what constitutes the new media landscape
  2. Identify the key communication theories that may apply to a study of new media
  3. Identify and critically evaluate key areas of concern that pertain to the rise of new media
  4. Identify and interpret the various sides of a media debate without resorting to binaries
    or dualities of "right" or "wrong"
  5. Defend their positions on several media debates using scholarly sources as well as their
    own experiences, while considering opposing viewpoints in a debate
  6. Defend a viewpoint in a casual debate, respecting the other viewpoints and providing
    clear evidence to support their own viewpoint
Textbook Materials

There is no assigned textbook for this course. Readings will be made available to students and will cover canonical readings and recent per-reviewed journal articles.

Requisites

Course Guidelines

Course Guidelines for previous years are viewable by selecting the version desired. If you took this course and do not see a listing for the starting semester / year of the course, consider the previous version as the applicable version.

(Current)

Course Transfers

These are for current course guidelines only. For a full list of archived courses please see https://www.bctransferguide.ca

Institution Transfer Details for CMNS 2223
Alexander College (ALEX) ALEX CMNS 2XX (3)
Athabasca University (AU) AU CMNS 2XX (3)
Camosun College (CAMO) CAMO CMNS 1XX (3)
College of the Rockies (COTR) COTR COMC 2XX (3)
Columbia College (COLU) COLU CMNS 253 (3)
Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU) KPU COMM 3220 (3)
LaSalle College Vancouver (LCV) LCV COM 2XX (3)
North Island College (NIC) NIC SOC 2XX (3)
Quest University (QU) QU HUM 2330 (4)
Simon Fraser University (SFU) SFU CMNS 2XX (3)
Thompson Rivers University (TRU) TRU CMNS 3800 (3)
Trinity Western University (TWU) TWU MCOM 2XX (3)
University Canada West (UCW) UCW COMM 304 (3)
University of British Columbia - Okanagan (UBCO) UBCO MDST_O 101 (3)
University of British Columbia - Vancouver (UBCV) UBCV ARTS_V 1st (3)
University of the Fraser Valley (UFV) UFV MEDA 350 (3)
University of Victoria (UVIC) UVIC SOCI 220 (1.5)
Vancouver Community College (VCC) VCC ENGL 2XXX (3)
Vancouver Island University (VIU) VIU MEDI 113 (3)
Yorkville University (YVU) YVU GES 2XXX (3)

Course Offerings

Winter 2025