The Minor in Communication Studies provides undergraduate students with a critical understanding of the role that media and technologies play in communication and society. Specifically, it presents students with intellectually challenging and innovative instruction in key traditions of Communication and Media Studies. The minor presents new theoretical and methodical approaches to the social life of technologies as well as exploring the historical development and transformation of media and communication forms.
Note: The Communications Minor is an academic, not a professional program. Thus, we do not offer courses designed to prepare students to work in the radio, television, film, or telecommunications industries. Nor do we offer courses or credits for internships in media-related professions such as journalism, public relations, or advertising, for example. Instead, internship credits need to be pursued through students' Major areas of study, drawing on these internships resources. McGill also has a Career Placement Service that helps students plan their futures. For additional information to guide your choices, please see the below section on Internship and Job Resources.
Program Requirements
The Minor in Communication Studies at McGill requires completion of 18 credits. Students must complete COMS 210 in addition to five other courses (all with a grade of C or higher) selected from the list of offerings each semester. Two of those five complementary courses may be taken outside of our department or outside of McGill; these two classes cannot count toward any other minor or major. Please consult this list for courses outside of our department that will count toward our minor. While we try to keep the list up to date, there might be others classes being offered at McGill that would qualify. Please email the UPD (csadvisor.ahcs [at] mcgill.ca) with the full name of the course and, preferably the syllabus, to inquire whether it can count toward the minor. Most have prerequisites and all classes have limited enrollments.
Download this checklist for more information and to track your progress in the program:
cs_minor_requirements_2021.pdf
Courses
Here is a list of COMS courses and eligible courses in other departments.
Admissions
Go to McGill's Undergraduate Admissions page for up-to-date admissions and application information.
Program Brochure
Download a PDF of the Communication Minor program brochure.
Communications Minor Brochure (PDF)
Study Away
Learn more about the Study Away program. Students considering studying abroad and/or taking courses outside McGill must refer to the Study Abroad Policies (PDF).
Find out more about online courses outside of McGill, and transferring credits from other institutions. Download course approval forms for transfer credits for regular courses and summer courses (PDFs).
When selecting courses to take while studying away from McGill University, please consider the following guidelines:
- Courses must have academic content (studies, surveys, theories, or principles) and be comparable in method of evaluation (written or oral assignments, exams) to McGill courses.
- Courses must be applicable towards the fulfillment of the host university’s own bachelor degree.
- Courses cannot be practical (“how to”) and/or skill-based such as public speaking, media designing, journalism, photography, sports, etc.
- Courses cannot be applicable toward the fulfillment of the host university’s certificates and/or diplomas, including personal and professional development programs.
- Courses must meet the Faculty of Arts Transfer Credit Policy.
Note regarding Online Courses: Online courses can only be approved as electives, and only 6 elective credits are allowed for online courses in the Faculty of Arts. For a proposed online course, students must get the course evaluated and approved for McGill equivalencies by a corresponding McGill department on the "Minerva Course Approval and Transfer Credit Form" concurrently with the "Minerva Study Away" application. If a department determines that the course does not meet a correspondence, the student should then consult directly with their Faculty advisor who will review and, if approved, assign generic equivalencies and transfer credits in consultation with the Associate Dean. If the department does deem the proposed course appropriate for transfer credit based on its academic content, then the student must request final approval from the Associate Dean in the Faculty of Arts for online courses. (IUT: Inter-University Transfer process is only for Quebec universities)
How to get involved on and off-campus
Art History & Communications Studies Student Association (AHCSSA)
To meet other COMS minors and get involved, please visit the AHCS Undergraduate Students Association.
The Communications Studies Representative for the AHCSSA is responsible for acting as a liaison between undergraduate COMS minors and the department. The representative also helps to coordinate events for the Art History and Communications Studies department including wine and cheeses, discussions about graduate school, and speaker panels. Feel free to contact the COMS rep with any questions about the department. Send your message to the AHCSSA e-mail account. Or, visit the Student's Associations' Facebook page.
Get involved with other McGill media organizations
CKUT - Montreal/McGill campus-community radio station
The McGill Daily - weekly independent student newspaper
The Tribune - weekly independent student newspaper
Le Délit - weekly French-language independent student newspaper
What is Communication Studies?
Here are some resources to help you find out more:
Articles (online):
Communication as the Discipline of the 21st Century
Larry Gross
Communication as Social Science (and More)
Craig Calhoun
If Everything is Mediated, What is Distinctive About the Field of Communication?
Sonia Livingstone
Books:
Mediascapes 3: New Patterns in Canadian Communication
Edited by Leslie Regan Shade
Formations: a 21st-century media studies textbook
Edited by Dan Fleming
American Communication Research: The Remembered History
Everette E. Dennis, Ellen Wartella
McQuail's Mass Communication Theory
Denis McQuail
Contact
Feel free to contact the CSadvisor.ahcs [at] mcgill.ca (Undergraduate Program Director) for more detail about the overall academic program of courses and course selections, the field of communication studies, graduate study and academic career planning, or inquiries regarding course equivalencies and inter-university transfer credits.