Communications, Culture, and Journalism Studies Diploma

Learn the foundations of media and writing, and explore the functions of news and communications media, the history of journalism, and cultural policy and theory.

Communications explores how meaning is made in a range of contexts, including advertising, television, film, popular culture, and the internet. Learn how communication is fundamentally related to the development of self and society and examine how the messages of the contemporary world influence perception of such issues as gender, race, class, and community.

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Female Communications, Culture, and Journalism Studies student

Campus

  • Kelowna
View schedule and campus details
Legend:
  • Full program offered
  • Partial program offered

Credential

Diploma

Delivery options

Full-Time, Part-Time

  • International students eligible

Tuition and fees

2023-24: $4,590.14 per year

Program details

The Diploma in Communications, Culture, and Journalism Studies (CCJS) is a two-year interdisciplinary diploma that foregrounds a critical analysis of the mass media as contemporary society's most pervasive agent of political and cultural transformation. Students will explore the social, political, and economic functions of news and communications media, the history of journalism, and cultural policy & theory. Particular attention will be paid to questions of social justice, as well as of identity and constructions of gender, race, class, sexuality, and nationality.

Housed in the Department of Communications, CCJS offers students foundational courses in media theory, writing-intensive courses in Communications and English, and a selection of elective breadth courses from a range of departments --including Anthropology, History, Philosophy, Geography, Political Science, Sociology, and Women's Studies.

While students may proceed directly to potential entry-level careers in communications, journalism, public relations, marketing, advertising, research, writing, publishing, consulting or new media, especially in small markets and independent digital environments, completion of this program is intended primarily to provide students with the liberal arts education necessary for further study.


Key transfer options for graduates of this diploma include:

  • Simon Fraser University, Bachelor of Arts, Communication
  • University of British Columbia Okanagan, Bachelor of Arts, Cultural Studies
  • Thompson Rivers University, Bachelor of Journalism
     

This program is intended primarily to provide students with the education necessary for further study. After transfer and additional study, career options include:

  • Journalist
  • Communications Coordinator
  • Public Relations Specialist
  • Marketing Coordinator
  • New Media Consultant
  • Social Media Manager

This diploma can only be completed in full at the Kelowna campus. A selection of courses is offered at the Penticton, Vernon and Salmon Arm campuses but a number of specialized courses and second year courses are only offered at the Kelowna campus. 

For more information, book an appointment with an Education Advisor.

This diploma can only be completed in full at the Kelowna campus. A selection of courses is offered at the Penticton, Vernon and Salmon Arm campuses but a number of specialized courses and second year courses are only offered at the Kelowna campus. Depending on course availability and offerings, students may not be able to complete the program in two years, four terms, with five courses per term.

For more information, book an appointment with an Education Advisor.

Campus Start date Schedule
Kelowna Jan. 08, 2024
Kelowna Sep. 04, 2024
Kelowna Jan. 06, 2025

Admission requirements

Regular Applicants: A regular applicant will be a secondary graduate or a secondary school student, or its equivalent, who has or who will complete the requirements for senior secondary graduation, or its equivalent, not less than one month prior to commencement of classes for the semester to which admission is sought - either fall or winter. The following minimum entrance requirements will apply to regular applicants:

  • B.C. secondary graduation, or equivalent.

  • English 12 with minimum 60% or alternatives.

Students with a passing grade of less than 60% in English 12, English 12 First Peoples or TPC 12 will be admissible to the first year of the program, subject to the following conditions:

  1. Registration is restricted to courses for which the student satisfies the prerequisites. Registration in first-year English courses is, therefore, prohibited.

  2. Successful completion of the English entrance requirements within the first year of studies. This may be done in one of the following ways:

    • Successful completion of English 12, English 12 First Peoples or TPC 12 or an equivalent course with a minimum grade of 60%. This may be done concurrently through the College's Adult Basic Education Program or by completing an equivalent course through a distance education program.

Mature Applicants: A mature applicant will be at least 19 years of age and will not have attended secondary school on a full-time basis for a minimum period of one year.

Secondary graduation is waived for mature applicants. The English entrance requirements, as stated above, must be satisfied prior to admission. Admission may be granted on the condition that the entrance requirements will be completed prior to the commencement of classes for the semester to which admission is sought - either fall or winter.

Program outline

Year 1

Foundational courses:
Students must complete all of the following courses:
CMNS 100 - Introduction to Communications
CMNS 110 - Introduction to Mass Communication
CMNS 120 - Journalism Fundamentals
CMNS 130 - Introduction to Digital Media
ENGL 100 - University Writing
ENGL 153 - Critical Writing and Reading: Narrative
Breadth courses:
Students must complete three of the following course options:
ANTH 121 - Introduction to Cultural Anthropology
CMNS 160 - Introduction to Film Studies
INDG 100 - Introduction to Indigenous Studies
PHIL 114 - Introduction to Logic and Critical Thinking I
SOCI 111 - Introduction to Sociology I
GSWS 100 - Introduction to Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies
Note: Students interested in SOCI 216 or SOCI 217 should take SOCI 111 from the first year breadth list AND also SOCI 121 as one of their first year Arts electives in order to fulfill pre-requisite requirements.
Students may also select from either of these courses:
GEOG 128 - Human Geography: Space, Place and Community
GEOG 129 - Human Geography: Resources, Development and Society
Or one of either of these courses:
HIST 122 - Canada Since 1867
HIST 125 - Contemporary World from World War II to the Present
Or one of either of these courses:
POLI 101 - Introduction to Politics
POLI 114 - Engaging in International Development

Year 2

Foundational courses:
Students must complete three courses from the following options:
CMNS 200 - Communications in the Everyday
CMNS 230 - Communication and Culture
CMNS 240 - The Culture of Television
CMNS 250 - Cultural Industries in Canada
CMNS 260 - Topics in Communications
CMNS 270 - New Media
CMNS 280 - Applied Communication
CMNS 290 - Introduction to Video Game Studies
Students may also select from either of these courses:
CMNS 235 - Professional Writing and Communications
ENGL 235 - Professional Writing and Communications
Students must also select one of the following courses:
ENGL 215 - Studies in Reading Film
ENGL 219 - Intermediate Workshop in Creative Writing - Creative Non-Fiction
ENGL 222 - Studies in International Literature in English
ENGL 231 - Studies in Popular Narrative
Note: Students choosing ENGL 219 should request a pre-requisite waiver from the English Department Chair.
Breadth courses:
Students must complete two courses from the following options:
GEOG 201 - Food and Society
GEOG 210 - Introduction to Environmental Issues
Students may also select from either of these courses:
POLI 222 - Global Political Economy
POLI 240 - Contemporary Political Ideologies
Or one of any of these three courses:
SOCI 202 - Introduction to Social Problems
SOCI 216 - Media and Society
SOCI 217 - Consumer Society
Or one of any of these three courses:
GSWS 202 - Women and Politics
GSWS 215 - Gender and Popular Culture
GSWS 216 - Feminism and Film
Science courses: Two Science courses in Laboratory Science, Mathematics, Computer Science or Statistics. For a list of possible options, see the Associate of Arts program.
Elective Arts courses: Three 1st or 2nd year courses from any discipline. A university-level language course is recommended for students who have not completed a Grade 12 high school second language course.

The Diploma in Communications, Culture, and Journalism Studies will be granted upon the successful completion of 60 prescribed compulsory and elective credits, as follows: twenty-one credits in Communications credits, nine credits in English, fifteen Breadth credits, nine Arts Electives credits, and six Science credits.

Additional information

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