Graduate Course Catalog

Discipline

FOOD, CULTURE & COMMUNICATION (CM5076)

This course introduces you to cultural and communication perspectives of food. A focus on food allows us to explore the construction and maintenance of social boundaries between inside and outside, private and public, individual and collective. The topic also offers an excellent window into questions of power, and the expression and maintenance of social hierarchies and inequalities. Among our goals: to compare and understand what food and drink mean, in a variety of contexts, both historical and contemporary; to consider how such meanings are entwined with questions of identity, both individual and collective; to critically explore how food and drink are bounded and shaped by relations of power; to look for answers to our time’s pressing concerns such as the sustainability of our food systems and the alienation of the modern consumer.
We approach the study of food in a holistic manner, with the intent of learning concepts that will enable us to think critically about modern processes and contemporary identities using a range of theoretical approaches. Our approach is also dialogical and collaborative in that we constantly try to understand different points of view. Third, we focus on ethnographic perspectives and methodologies in particular and examine meaning, power and change as they are expressed and negotiated in everyday contexts.

COMMUNICATION & THE GLOBAL CITY (CM5077)

This course looks at the interface between communications and urban space. With the rapid spread of neo-liberalism and the internet, urban theorists see the city as increasingly ‘capsularized’. Across the planet, new forms of human-created environment—the theme park, the free-trade zone, the gated community—are constructed. While urban space has often been carefully designed, well crafted public-relations strategies now situate cities at local and global levels. Thus, within a framework of contemporary urban theory underpinned by case studies, students will reflect on the affective politics of the city, thinking critically about the interplay between mediated communication and urban policy, public space and built form.

VISUAL DESIGN PRACTICUM (CM5080)

This course is an intensive introduction to the basics of design principles for a variety of communications strategies. Through hands-on lab time with step-by-step instruction, students will learn the fundamentals of working with Adobe Creative Suite in order to create their own brand and its accompanying visuals. Presentations by professionals working in various fields of design and communications will familiarize students with their first-hand experience.

Design literacy is essential to all areas of communication, whether in traditional print, digital media, websites or video. This class will focus specifically on the relationship between image and text, providing students with a solid foundation for any further study of graphics or web design they may wish to undertake in the future, as well as training students to interact effectively with professional designers.. The class will be comprised of lecturers on the fundamentals of design, presentations by and workshops with working professionals, and hands-on lab time to learn practical technical skills as applied to students’ individual branding projects.

It suits students who plan to work in advertising, NGOs, branding, global advocacy or any other field of communications. Design literacy is an essential skill, indispensable for the effective communication of any organization’s message. Students will gain appreciation of graphic design; learning how typography color, composition, photography, illustration, etc. work together to produce effective conduits of information.

COLLABORATIVE METH. IN CONFLICT RES. (CM5081)

This course acquaints students with theory and research on collaboration, with particular emphasis on the relationship between collaboration and communication in situations of cultural and ethnic conflict. It begins with a focus on what sorts of problems and conflicts are best suited to collaborative interventions, and then sets out the essential features of a high-quality collaborative process and the various communicative acts that are essential to creating and maintaining such a process, which students practice in a simulation of a variety of cross cultural contexts.

TOPICS IN COMMUNICATIONS (CM5091)

Topics change each semester- see the current Academic Schedule for current course descriptions.

THESIS (CM5095)

At the end of the course work students have the option of completing a thesis or an 6-credit Internship.
In the last semester of their studies students may choose to complete a 14,000 to 20,000 word thesis (instead of an Internship). Additional paperwork available in the Office of the Registrar is MANDATORY for registration of the thesis. CM 5095 will count as 8 credits for catalogs prior to 2022-2023. 6 credit is in effect for students who start in Fall 2022 and beyond.

GLOBAL COMMUNICATIONS RESEARCH SEMINAR (CM5097)

This graduate course focuses each semester on a topic of current research within the field of communications. Each week, the topic will be explored in a dual format: a seminar accompanied by a guest lecture by a different researcher in the field. The course aims to provide a comprehensive overview of debates of contemporary relevance to communications scholarship.

INTERNSHIP (CM5098)

In the last semester of their studies students may choose to complete an Internship (instead of a Thesis) with a corporation, international organization, government body or NGO - requires a 50-60 page report and represents 3/6 months' work. Registration of the internship is subject to the MA Program Director's approval. Please contact the Internship Office for more information. CM 5098 will count as 8 credits for catalogs prior to 2022-2023. 6 credit is in effect for students who start in Fall 2022 and beyond.

EDITORSHIP (CM5850)

Through this editorship, a graduate student assumes a senior role in an undergraduate workshop that trains students in magazine writing and production through hands-on experience working on a high-quality student magazine, the Peacock. Students participate in a newsroom setting in a variety of roles -- from writing and editing to pagination and layout -- to produce the Peacock in both print and online versions. Graduate editors hold leadership roles in the AUP student media such as Art Director or Deputy Art Director. Editorships count for two credits and may replace a module within the MAGC program and may very exceptionally be taken on top of a 16 credit course load with permission of the program director.