School of Journalism and Communication
(Faculty of Public Affairs)
Media Production and Design (MPAD) Courses
Introduction to Storytelling: The Context
Theories, origins and evolution of story within society as the digital age shapes the way we construct and consume narratives. How stories are conceived through words, sound and images, and how they resonate with and influence audiences.
Introduction to Storytelling: The Practice
Finding and telling stories in engaging ways using text and basic images. Assignments build basic skills in research, interviewing, writing, storytelling, editing and ethics. How to structure and pitch for publication.
Basics of Visual Communication I
Introduction to visual storytelling through video. Students develop editorial and technical skills to produce video stories that include scripting to images. Students will also learn the basics of video shooting on a range of equipment as well as basic video editing skills.
Basics of Visual Communication II
This course expands from video theory and practice to still photography and multimedia projects, with emphasis on hands-on work with a theoretical underpinning, giving students the practical and technical skills to tell stories in multiple formats.
Introductory Data Storytelling
Governments use data for tracking. Numbers guide public policy and can become powerful and important stories. Students will gain a theoretical understanding of the promise and pitfalls of data availability alongside the practical skills needed for powerful data-based storytelling.
Writing for Media
This course tests student baseline skills, then develops writing capabilities tailored to specific media formats. Coursework is based on the principle that the best way to improve technique is through regular writing and timely constructive critiques.
Media Law
A survey of laws that affect the Canadian media. Specific areas include the development of freedom of expression, the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and statutory and common law limitations on freedoms of the press, including publication bans, libel and contempt of court.
Prerequisite(s): Second-year standing in the Bachelor of Media Production and Design program.
Lectures three hours a week.
Directed Studies
Directed Studies on select topics. Students interested in pursuing this course need to contact a faculty member to discuss a proposed directed study.
Unscheduled.
Storytelling and Social Media
Social media in storytelling. Theory-based lectures, hands-on course modules, discussions and presentations. Students will learn tactics to apply social media for research, gathering information, finding contacts and promoting their own work.
Civic Engagement and Public Institutions I
Expert sources from Canadian institutions discuss covering the economy, justice, environment and security. How public policy is made, the role of the public and how the media analyze information, develop ideas, and produce stories.
Lectures three hours a week.
Civic Engagement and Public Institutions II: Minor Design Project
Group work building on the fall term course. Production of a public institutions mini-project involving the various development stages that will be employed in the final year capstone project, including the creation of a detailed design document to guide group projects.
Media Ethics in a Digital World
An examination of ethical issues relating to production of news and other forms of information content, particularly as they relate to digital environments. Discussion of various approaches to ethical decision-making, application in contemporary settings.
Internet and Big Data Law
The legal use of big data to create content and analyze information. Who owns data; privacy and security implications within a legal landscape fraught with legal concerns and policy challenges.
Lectures three hours a week.
Special Topic
Examination of a topic in storytelling and media not covered in depth in other courses.
Lecture three hours a week.
Co-operative Work Term
Capstone Project
Student groups develop a capstone project beginning with story development and planning, completion of a story design document including project description, research, key vistas and sketches or storyboards. Group presentations leading to final media project at the end of second term.
Prerequisite(s): MPAD 2002, MPAD 3003, ITEC 2100, ITEC 2400 and fourth-year standing in the Bachelor of Media Production and Design program.
Media Industries Now and Next
Changes in the media, the public’s relationship with the media and how journalists, news organizations and other media players respond. Practical issues and challenges in the professional life of an information producer.
Prerequisite(s): Fourth-year standing in the Bachelor of Media Production and Design program.
Lectures and discussions three hours a week.
Freelance Media Survival Skills
Preparation for freelancing to publications and production houses. Resumes, finding potential buyers, interviews, establishing and marketing an individual as a business, accounting and management and dealing with taxes and benefits. Pitching stories, ideas and services.
Lectures three hours a week.
Special Topic
Students will choose a topic from a list of journalism options, to be announced each year.
Prerequisite(s): Fourth-year standing in the Bachelor of Media Production and Design program.
Seminar three hours a week.
Directed Studies
Directed study on select topics. Students interested in pursuing this course need to contact a faculty member to discuss a proposed directed study.
Unscheduled.
Special Topic
Examination of a topic in storytelling and media not covered in depth in other courses.
Prerequisite(s): Fourth-year standing in the Bachelor of Media Production and Design program.
Seminar three hours a week.
Gender, Identity and Inequality
How social concepts of gender, identity and inequality influence journalism. Theoretical and textual analysis. Historical and contemporary case studies from mainstream and alternative media exploring journalistic expression, professional practices, status and expectations, and cultural representations.
Also listed as JOUR 4501.
Prerequisite(s): fourth-year standing in the Bachelor of Media Production and Design program.
Seminar three hours a week.
Journalism and Conflict
For as long as there has been conflict between peoples, there have been those who bear witness and recount their observations. This course examines journalism and conflict with an emphasis on journalistic perspectives but also through discussion of interdisciplinary literature and academic research.
Also listed as JOUR 4502.
Prerequisite(s): fourth-year standing in the Bachelor of Media Production and Design program.
Seminar three hours a week.
Journalism, Indigenous Peoples and Canada
Students will explore how journalism in Canada has been associated with colonialism, be challenged to confront misrepresentation in the news media, and learn to consider new strategies and ethical frameworks for covering Indigenous people in the era of reconciliation.
Also listed as JOUR 4503.
Prerequisite(s): fourth-year standing in the Bachelor of Media Production and Design program.
Seminar three hours a week.
The Media and International Development
A critical examination of the use of journalism as an instrument of international development, historically and currently. To what extent have these efforts been successful? On what grounds are they justified? In what regard have they been instruments of propaganda.
Also listed as JOUR 4504.
Prerequisite(s): fourth-year standing in the Bachelor of Media Production and Design program.
Seminar three hours a week.
Note: Not all courses listed are offered in a given year. For an up-to-date statement of course offerings for the current session and to determine the term of offering, consult the class schedule at central.carleton.ca.
Summer session: some of the courses listed in this Calendar are offered during the summer. Hours and scheduling for summer session courses will differ significantly from those reported in the fall/winter Calendar. To determine the scheduling and hours for summer session classes, consult the class schedule at central.carleton.ca