Blue-Ruin.org

….And now that I’ve got more time on my hands, Blue-Ruin is BACK and better than ever! Wordpress is yes, and I’m familiarizing myself with the ins and outs of it.

This fall I’m taking four courses, fourteen credits in total. Here’s what I’m taking:

CMNS 310 - Media and Modernity
An examination of the development of communication theory in western social thought from the eighteenth century to the early twentieth century. Discussion is focused around a series of debates about the changing nature of human communication in modernity with specific reference to the rise of modern mass media. Topics discussed include the so-called growth of mass society in modernity; the emergence of Marxism; the origins of modern linguistics; and the rise and reformation of behavioural approaches to communication research.

CMNS 425 - Applied Communication for Social Issues
An advanced seminar in applied communication that focuses on the research and strategic design of media messages, campaigns and programs for public awareness, education, and social change. This course involves the application of theories and approaches in critical media analysis to the tasks of media design and media use for public understanding, engagement and participation around social issues.

REM 100 - Global Change
This course provides students with an overview of global environmental change and its causes from a social science perspective, historically and at the present time. Population growth, an increasing ecological footprint and changes in ideology, social organization, economy and technology will be critically reviewed. New ways of thinking in natural and social science will be considered in relation to specific issues such as land, soil and food; energy, raw materials and solid waste; air pollution and transportation; water, oceans and fisheries; climate change; forestry and biodiversity; urbanization, and alternative futures.

SA 101 - Introduction to Anthropology
An introduction to the study of human social and cultural life from an anthropological perspective. The course will explore the scope and nature of the discipline of anthropology through study of selected cases drawn from both technologically simple communities and complex modern industrial societies

The two first-year classes are requirements that I need to take in order to graduate (REM counts as a science credit and SA is a pre-requisite for a Sociology research methods class I need). And I chose to take CMNS 310 + 425 because the are just interesting to me. So yeah, thats my semester. A nice mix of challenging and easy stuff.