Congratulations to all the CPCF graduates who crossed the Convocation stage this spring!
Your passion, dedication and hard work have paid off. We are so proud of all that you’ve accomplished during your time at Brock University, and we can’t wait to see where your next adventure takes you.
class of 2026, Convocation, CPCF, graduation
Categories: Events, News
On the morning of Wednesday, June 10, Dr. Karen Louise Smith, Associate Professor in the Department of Communication, Popular Culture and Film, delivered an address to the graduating Class of 2026.
Dr. Smith reflects on the idea of “milestones,” explaining that while graduation is an important one, milestones also include the personal, professional, and guiding moments that shape our journeys. She encourages graduates to define their own milestones by focusing on the people, ideas, and values that matter most to them as they move confidently into the future.
Watch the complete address here
class of 2026, Convocation, CPCF, graduation
Categories: Events, News
Dr. Barry Grant, Professor Emeritus from the Department of Communication, Popular Culture and Film, has released a new book – Peter Jackson: Film Authorship in a Global Hollywood. Tracing Jackson’s trajectory through detailed textual analysis, Dr. Grant examines how he mobilizes the conventions of Hollywood film genres to speak to audiences in his home country of New Zealand, as well as engage audiences around the world. Dr. Grant is an internationally known film critic and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. His book delivers thoughtful close readings of every Jackson film.
Barry Grant, CPCF, Film, Film Studies, Hollywood
Categories: News
Dr. Duncan Koerber, Associate Professor of Business Communication in the Department of Communication, Popular Culture and Film, has released a new book – Crisis in a Tweet: The Rise of the Social Media Crisis. “Unlike traditional emergencies caused by natural disasters or product failures, social media upheaval originates in the digital realm but leads to real world consequences – job losses, reputational harm, and public shame – disproportionate to the original act.” Dr. Koerber’s research and teaching focuses on crisis communication theory, writing pedagogy, and media and journalism history.
Communication Studies, CPCF, Crisis Communication, Duncan Keorber, Social Media
Categories: News
The 2026 CPCF Campaign Challenge was held on Friday, February 27th at Brock University. It brought together industry experts and three amazing teams of students who pitched their marketing ideas for how to attract young people to take the GO Train’s Toronto-Niagara route. The Department of Communication, Popular Culture and Film would like to thank everyone who contributed to this year’s successful challenge.
The panel of judges – Elizabeth Beale, Chris Giles, Dharmi Gohil and Claire Terrio, all of whom are CPCF grads who have gone on to prove themselves in the world of communication, marketing and media, were very impressed by the interesting pitches made and the professionalism of the three finalist teams.
At the end of the day, the event’s fantastic MCs Harmon Kaur and Solomon Mike, who were last year’s winning team, handed off the O’Malley Cup to this year’s victors. Congratulations to Mercedes Agahzadeh, Arianne D’Arcy, and Sydney Miller who impressed with their professional ad mockups tied directly into a focus on specific seasonal marketing.
Finally, a special thanks to the cup’s original owner, and the constant patron of the competition, Terry O’Malley who joined us for the day’s festivities.
BusinessCommunication, Competition, CPCF
Categories: Events, News
Whether you want to jump on the fast track to graduation, reduce next year’s course load, satisfy a program requirement or pick up an elective, Brock’s Department of Communication, Popular Culture and Film is offering Spring courses to help you advance your area of study and explore topics of interest.
ONM – ONLINE MIXED
How much of what we’re thinking and feeling is communicated without saying a word? In this course, you’ll decode the hidden language of nonverbal cues and gain greater insight into how people manage conversations and relationships across the channels of communication that escape our everyday attention.
Recommended for Business Communication and Media Communication students looking to fulfill a third year COMM 290+ requirement.
Restrictions: Open to Business Communication, Communication, Media Communication, and Popular Culture majors until date specified in Registration guide.
This course may also be of interest to students in Sociology, Psychology, Political Science, LawPlus and Business.
Learn more about our Spring COMM courses, FILM courses and CPCF courses.
For more information or to register for Brock’s Spring/Summer courses, visit brocku.ca/springsummer
Professor Emeritus and Internationally Recognized Horror Scholar, Dr. Barry Grant, will be in attendance to introduce the next film in this year’s anniversary series: Shivers (1975)!
The Brock University Film Society’s “Festival of 50” continues Thursday, January 22 at the Niagara Artist Centre’s Microcinema, with a screening of David Cronenberg’s Shivers (1975). We’ve been revisiting some of the most important films that were released in 1975, the year BUFS was founded, and this is the first of two screenings co-sponsored by the Centre for Canadian Studies that are focusing on Canadian cinema (Canadian exploitation cinema, or Canuxploitation, to be more accurate).
Shivers, of course, was the film that launched Cronenberg as a horror specialist and set him on a path to becoming one of the great auteur filmmakers of the last half century. It’s the film that prompted fans and critics to nickname Cronenberg “the Baron of Blood” and “the King of Venereal Horror.” It’s also a film that caused a furor when it was released in 1975 because of the fact that it had been financed in part by the Canadian Film Development Corporation. As Robert Fulford put it to his Canadian readers in the pages of Saturday Night, “You should know how bad this film is. After all, you paid for it.” How “bad” is Shivers? There’s only one way to find out.
Brock University Film Society, BUFS, CPCF, Film Studies, Student Life
Categories: Events
Film History II (FILM 2P99) has just opened up a few more spaces! If interested contact [email protected]
The class runs Monday 8:00-9:00am and Friday 9:00-12:00pm in STH 215.
The course looks at Hollywood and international cinema from WW2 to the modern era.
The CPCF Campaign Challenge is back for 2026! The Department of Communication, Popular Culture and Film will once again host the event on Friday, February 27.
Teams of students will attempt to solve a contemporary communication issue by developing and presenting a creative pitch that offers a compelling solution. Finalist teams will pitch their ideas to a panel of industry expert judges. The winning team will take home $1,500, with additional cash prizes for the second and third place teams.
This year’s challenge asks: How do you get 18–24 year-olds to switch from cars to the new Toronto–Niagara GO Train route? How would you make the train more attractive than the alternative?
For more information and official contest rules, be sure to check out the Campaign Challenge site. Also, follow us on Instagram and LinkedIn for updates.
Do we need a ‘nutrition label’ for our internet plans?
This was one of the exercises given to prospective students on Dec. 5 at Brock University. The Faculty of Social Sciences hosted high school students from all over the Niagara Region, giving them the opportunity to experience University learning, explore potential career paths and participate in interactive activities led by current students and faculty.
In the session facilitated by the Department of Communication, Popular Culture and Film, Professor Karen Louise-Smith and attendees explored some of the common complaints Canadians have made about their home internet service. They then worked in groups to prototype a nutrition style label for internet plans to provide clearer information to Canadian consumers in the future.
Communication Studies, CPCF, workshop
Categories: Events, News
