Co-op is offering a Work Experience Course for this coming Spring/Summer 2023 Term.
Applications are now open! Media and Communication Studies, Business Communication, Popular Culture and Film students – this is open to all of you!
Interested in learning more? Register for the next information session:
Friday Nov. 18 from 10am to 11am – https://careerzone.brocku.ca/CampusCareerPublicEvents.htm?eventId=9031
The Department of Communication, Popular Culture and Film mourns the death of Professor Emeritus William “Bill” Henry Nelles Hull, who passed away Wednesday, Nov. 2 at the age of 93.
In the early 1980s, Hull was one of the founders of the Interdisciplinary Program in Communication Studies from which the Department of Communication, Popular Culture and Film (CPCF) evolved following a merger with Film Studies more than two decades ago.
Hull retired from Brock’s Department of Politics, as it was then known, in 1995. He was a major scholar in Canadian and Comparative media policy, especially in the area that used to be known as “broadcasting policy.”
To learn more about Bill Hull and his impact on Brock University, please read The Brock News article.
His funeral will take place on Thursday, Nov. 10 at 11 a.m. in St George’s Anglican Church in St Catharines. Reception to follow.
Ben Skippen (BA ’20) is one of several graduates from Brock’s Department of Communication, Popular Culture and Film (CPCF) translating theory and skills training from their degrees into growing careers.
The Media and Communication Studies alumnus returned to campus for Wednesday’s legacy Convocation ceremony, travelling from Ottawa, where he began working shortly after graduation.
Media and Communication graduate Kristal Lee (BA ’22)
Skippen landed full-time work as an army public affairs officer, first at the Royal Canadian Navy Headquarters and presently on the Military Personnel Command public affairs team at the National Defence Headquarters.
“My degree was useful and relevant to the work I do,” Skippen says. “Homework examples like creating a communications plan, social media, news articles and presentations are all skills I use on the job.”
He isn’t alone in crediting the experiential side of his education with his career success.
Media and Communication grad Kristal Lee (BA ’22) now works in Hong Kong as a Digital Content Executive managing search-engine optimization, content creation and performance assessment of different platforms to assist her marketing team.
“I think the best course and the course I have gained the most from is COMM 4F00, which gave me a chance to gain experiences before graduation,” says Lee. “This was a very precious opportunity for me to get what I wanted to learn and try to put the knowledge to work.”
Business Communication graduate Claire Terrio (BA ’21)
Claire Terrio (BA ’21) majored in Business Communication and converted her CPCF internship at Framar in Niagara Falls into a job as a Social Media Specialist for the company, marketing to 1.1 million followers across platforms through creative content creation. She says she learned how to integrate marketing in CPCF.
“Having a marketing mindset when approaching every task I’m assigned at work has helped me immensely to think strategically with the brand’s identity, positioning and goals in mind,” says Terrio, who is now pursuing a master’s degree in Professional Communication at Toronto Metropolitan University. “This marketing background has given me an edge and made my transition from working on assignments to working on real marketing campaigns fairly seamless, which I am grateful for.”
Donnicia Ellis-Dawson (BA ’21), who majored in Business Communication and minored in Tourism, says she didn’t know how well her degree had prepared her until she was on the job.
“What I loved about the Business Communication program is that it’s so broad, you have the chance to study multiple different career paths like marketing, human resources and event planning all within your four years,” says Ellis-Dawson, who now works as an assistant in the unscripted content department at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). “Not only that, but Media Communications overlaps with the program, allowing you to learn about journalism, public relations and more.”
Business Communication graduate Donnicia Ellis-Dawson (BA ’21)
Adjunct Professor Kate Cassidy has helmed the CPCF internship course, COMM/FILM/PCUL 4F00, for the past six years. She says that a greater need for communication professionals has given Brock CPCF grads a chance to shine in the job market.
Indeed, this year, many were hired even before graduating.
“During the pandemic, the shift to remote work and digital channels significantly increased the need for tech-savvy employees with strong communication skills,” says Cassidy. “Graduates with expertise in business communications, media and film are in high demand.”
She also believes the networking, professional skill-building and reflective practice connected to experiential learning helps students stand out to potential employers.
“As hiring has gotten more competitive recently, I have had employers reach out to me to help them get in touch with my CPCF students,” says Cassidy. “They’re seeking out grads who have communication skills along with workplace experience.”
With so many courses to choose from, you may have missed these FILM course options:
FILM 3R90: Sound & Vision: the Rockumentary
This course focuses on a single genre that has been a mainstay of documentary filmmaking for nearly 60 years now: the “Rockumentary.” The genre’s nickname is in many ways a misnomer, one based on the fact that “rock” rhymes better with “doc,” than, say, jazz, folk, or soul, or any one of a number of other musical genres that have been the subject of the popular music documentary since its inception around 1960.
In this course, we’ll be studying films that concern themselves with a wide variety of musical genres, from jazz, to folk, to soul, to rock, to punk, post-punk, heavy metal, hip-hop, R & B, and beyond. And the rockumentary has not only addressed and represented a great variety of musical styles and cultures — at its best, it has also been a highly creative and dynamic documentary genre, one that has frequently been on the cutting edge of documentary representation. It’s also been ambitious, tackling all kinds of timely issues: counterculture, sexuality, race, gender, the generation gap, subculture, moral panics, drugs, class warfare, taste, digital culture, etc. This course has it all.
In short:
Are you a fan of FILM?
Are you a fan of MUSIC?
Are you a fan of POP CULTURE?
This may very well be the course for you!
Offered: January 09, 2023 to April 7, 2023
Format: Lectures, seminar, screening, 5 hours per week
Prerequisites: Prerequisite(s): FILM 1F94 and one of FILM 2P20, 2P54, PCUL 2P70
Crosslisting: also offered as COMM 3R90 and PCUL 3R90
Notes: this course may be offered in multiple modes of delivery. The method of delivery will be listed on the academic timetable, in the applicable term.
FILM 4P28: Special Topics in Video Production
Theory, practice and technique of filmmaking, focusing on idea development, creative process and methods of production.
January 09, 2023 to April 7, 2023
Format: Workshop, seminar, 3 hours per week; additional production time as required.
Restrictions: permission of the Department.
Prerequisites: Prerequisite(s): three FILM credits.
Crosslisting: also offered as COMM 4P28
Notes: Consult the Department regarding permission to register. Enrolment limited to 15 students. Material fee required. This course may be offered in multiple modes of delivery. The method of delivery will be listed on the academic timetable, in the applicable term.
Assistant Professor of Communication, Popular Culture and Film Duncan Koerber’s research focuses on the teaching of writing skills and the theory of crisis communication. In crisis communication, he is particularly interested in understanding why public crises develop in social media, and why social media crises have become so common and so damaging to organizations’ images and people’s careers. He also studies media and journalism history.
Koerber is one of 11 Brock researchers and scholars who received funding under the 2020-21 round of the VPR Canada Games Grant program. Here, he discusses his research project titled “Social Media and Large Sporting Events: Social Media Crisis Monitoring of the Niagara 2022 Canada Games.”
Please give a brief overview of your research project
This project is about how crises during large sporting events are sparked or amplified by social media users on Twitter. I’m also interested in researching best practices for dealing with crises that occur on social media.
Part One of the project, now completed, saw a Brock student produce a literature review report of previous studies on the use of social media during large sporting events. Part Two of the project will see a Brock student use public relations industry software to monitor Canada Games-related Twitter posts during the event in August. What’s uncertain is that we obviously don’t know if a social media crisis will occur during the Canada Games. But we’ll be ready, capturing all the Games-related tweets. If a crisis happens, we can use the tweets as our primary source material for analysis on many different levels.
What do you expect will be the outcome of your research?
This project will generate new research on social media content during one large sporting event. As well, Part One of the project, the literature review, found that very little research has been done in this specific area. Instead, researchers in different fields have been studying slightly different topics. I hope this study will bring together these streams of research and push them forward in a new direction. With the Canada Games as a central case study, the project will offer insights into social media, crisis communication and large sporting events.
How will this contribute to knowledge, or understanding, of the Canada Summer Games?
This project is a case study of one Canada Games, which will provide analysis and advice for social media managers of future Canada Games. But it will also link this major Canadian sporting event to others like the FIFA World Cup and Olympic Games. Researchers and practitioners studying those events will be able to build on the analysis and advice from the Canada Games.
How did you become interested in this research?
For the past three years, I’ve been working on a book about social media and crisis communication. The study of social media in crisis situations is a relatively new research area. Even less research has been done on sports and social media crisis. I’m a big sports fan too, so this project brings these interests together.
How do you plan on sharing your research?
The research will be disseminated in a journal article, likely in the area of communication studies or public relations.
In 2013, Teagan Chevrier met Tyrell Lisson on Facebook, where the two began chatting in a group for incoming first-year students to Brock University and noticed they had similar interests: both were film studies majors and enjoyed listening to Fall Out Boy and Bring Me the Horizon. They agreed to meet up during the second day of orientation week to wander around campus – and ended up spending the next eight hours together. “We had so much in common, it was spooky,” Chevrier, a film editor, says. “The time just flew by.”
Within a week and a half, they were officially an item.
At first, Lisson, a film producer, was drawn to Chevrier’s punk aesthetic. And he quickly realized her temperament perfectly complemented his. “She’s the yin to my yang,” he says. “I can get pretty wound up about things, and she’s there to ground me.” Chevrier felt like she had finally met someone she could talk to forever.
And they’ve been talking ever since. After six years of dating, Lisson decided to propose while in Hawaii on a vacation with Chevrier’s family. On the second day of the trip, while the rest of the family was watching hockey playoffs, Lisson suggested they take a stroll on Waikiki Beach. Choppy waves crashing onto the shore kept Lisson from getting down on one knee, but he clinched the “yes” regardless.
They chose 10/10/2020 as their wedding date because Chevrier liked the symmetry and selected The Elm Hurst Inn & Spa in her hometown of Ingersoll, Ont. as the venue because, she says, “we didn’t want to do something that was ‘modern city,’ but we also didn’t want to go full-on ‘wedding in a barn.’”
The Department of Communication, Popular Culture and Film congratulates Nick Printup, one of four winners of the National Share Your Roots Virtual Reality Competition hosted by Uber, the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business and ORIGIN.
Printup, a Media and Communication Studies graduate, pitched an idea for a virtual reality video to create a cultural learning experience about the origin of Lacrosse. He was selected as a semi-finalist (1 of 15 from across Canada) at which point the competition called for people to vote for the semi-finalists online to aid the judges in making their decisions.
Having been selected as one of four recipients, he will be awarded a video production of I approximately $35,000 to turn his idea into a (virtual) reality. Printup hopes to begin filming by the end of the summer within the Niagara Region.
Congratulations Nick!
Read Nick’s bio here.
Another research forum will be held on March 10. Speakers will be announced shortly.
Additional research forums will be held on Feb. 25 and Mar. 10. Speakers will be announced shortly.
