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.

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.

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).

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. 

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.

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.

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.

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.

This course introduces students to the basic tools of data analysis, most particularly statistics and modeling. 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 enabling creative and enterprise digital production. This course provides hands-on skills on critical design and production suites and platforms used across industries and disciplines, centred on the development of industry-standard creative design.

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.

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.

This course will address the principles and methodologies behind the rules and play of games. It will foster a solid understanding of how games function to create experiences, including rule design, play mechanics, game balancing and the integration of visual, tactile, audio, and textual components into games.

This professional practice course provides students with basic skills in professional communication, acumen, and problem solving that will help them develop personally and professionally.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.