Posted: May 9th, 2013
University takes five spots in British rankings’ top 200
The Department of Communication Studies ranked in the top 100 such programs worldwide. | Photo by Concordia University
Concordia University’s renowned communication studies programs have clinched a spot in the top 100 such programs worldwide in the latest edition of the QS World University Rankings by Subject. Two other disciplines broke through to the prestigious higher-education rankings’ top 150 while two others held their spot (jointly in one category) in that elite group. A sixth program also ranked in the global top 200 again this year.
The education and English programs rose in the rankings this year while accountancy and finance held steady in their top 150 spot since last year, and sociology retained its spot in the top 200.
The QS World University Rankings by Subject are based on several factors including academic reputation, a survey of employers and citations per faculty. While the first 50 universities are ranked sequentially, those that fall between 51 and 200 are grouped into three categories (50-100; 100-150; 150-200).
Concordia’s position, by category, in the 2013 edition of the British-based publication:
• Communication and Media Studies: 51-100 (101-150 in 2012)
• Education: 101-150 (151-200 in 2012)
• English Language and and Literature: 101-150 (151-200 in 2012)
• Accounting/Finance: 101-150 (no change from 2012)
• Sociology: 151-200 (no change from 2012)
The first of its kind in North America, Concordia’s communication studies program was founded in 1965 with a focus on studying communication as an art form. The department’s reputation for innovation persists to this day as it is the first in Canada to have research-creation thesis options in its MA Media Studies and PhD Communication Studies programs. The department is currently home to the only two Trudeau PhD Fellowships in Communications Studies in Quebec.
The department is also the nexxus of significant research with faculty members currently holding two Canada Research Chairs and two Concordia University Research Chairs, three of which are a first in Canada. Mia Consalvo holds the Canada Research Chair (Tier 1) in Games Studies and Design while Krista Geneviève Lynes is the new Canada Research Chair (Tier 2) in Feminist Media Studies and will soon run the Feminist Media Studio. Kim Sawchuck holds the Concordia University Research Chair (Tier 1) in Mobile Media Studies and Charles Acland holds the Concordia University Research Chair in Communication Studies (Tier 2), the first chair in the department.
Illustrious alumni from the Department of Communication Studies include Pierre Even, producer of films including the Oscar-nominated feature Rebelle; Régine Chassagne, philanthropist, musician (Arcade Fire); René Balcer, Emmy award-winning producer and writer (Law & Order); and Hana Gartner, investigative journalist (CBC Television’s The Fifth Estate).
The QS World University Rankings by Subject was launched in 2011, an outgrowth of the QS World University Rankings, published annually since 2004. The expanded version aims to give future students an immediate understanding of which universities perform the best across 30 different subjects.
Related links:
• Department of Accountancy
• Department of Finance
• Department of Communication Studies
• Department of Education
• Department of English
• Department of Sociology and Anthropology
• QS World University Rankings by Subject 2013
• Methodology for the QS Rankings by Subject
Posted: April 3rd, 2013
Congratulations to Dr. Kim Sawchuk and Dr. Krista Geneviève Lynes, who have both recently been awarded new research chair positions.
Dr. Kim Sawchuk | Image © Concordia University
Dr. Sawchuk now holds a Concordia University Research Chair (Tier 1) in Mobile Media Studies, a first of its kind in Canada. Sawchuk directs the Mobile Media Lab, which is dedicated to the critical and creative investigation of mobilities across the humanities, social sciences, fine arts and the sciences. Many of the projects in the Lab that Dr. Sawchuk is currently undertaking explore the use of geo-located media for research on urban environments, digital storytelling, and cultural activism.
Related links:
Dr. Krista Geneviève Lynes | Image © Concordia University
Dr. Lynes is the new Canada Research Chair (Tier 2) in Feminist Media Studies and she will soon be running the Feminist Media Studio, which will support the creative and critical engagement with historical and contemporary forms of politically-engaged feminist art, documentary, independent cinema, and media activism in a globalized world. Through its creation, students and faculty—along with associated scholars and cultural producers—will have access to production and post-production facilities that draw from the complex histories of feminist art and activism.
Related links:
Posted: January 7th, 2013
From Gran Turismo to WWE SmackDown, sports-based video games represent a wide variety of pursuits. When it comes to the people who actually play those games, however, little is known. How do sports video game players fit their games into a larger sports-related context? And how does their playing of video games inform their media usage and general sports fandom?
That’s what Concordia University communication studies Associate Professor Mia Consalvo sought to discover when she embarked on a large-scale study of video game players, the results of which were recently published in Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies.
Along with Abe Stein and Konstantin Mitgutsch from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Consalvo, who also holds a Canada Research Chair in Game Studies and Design, conducted an online survey of 1,718 participants to pin down demographics, habits, attitudes and activities of sports video game players.
The researchers found that the majority of those who play sports video games are male (98.4 per cent), white (80 per cent) and in their mid-20s (average age of 26 years). In comparison with other representative video game player demographics, the field is less diverse and the average player is younger. Based on the data about the larger game-playing population, it seems that the sports gamers are drawn from a more traditional demographic of game players, at least when it comes to console and certain personal computer-based video games.
“Perhaps one of the biggest findings to emerge from this study is unsurprising, but finally documented,” notes Consalvo. “The overwhelming majority of sports gamers – 93.3 per cent – self-identify as sports fans. That identity pushes beyond the playing of sports-themed video games. Attending sporting events, watching them on television, participating in those activities themselves as well as following certain teams or sports were regular parts of their daily lives.”
Consalvo says she hopes to gain more insight into why there is little diversity in the player demographics, and why female players are in a minority. “While this study provides new insights into who sports video game players are and what they play and why, we still lack knowledge on how these players relate their passion for video games to their sports fandom in general,” she says. She hopes to address these questions in her forthcoming book, co-authored with Stein and Mitsgutsch, titled Sports Videogames.
Update: Maria Consalvo was interviewed on March 4, 2013 on Global’s Morning News. You can find the video here.
Posted: September 7th, 2012
Congratulations to our fulltime faculty, who in the last 2 years, have successfully received external research funding for research, research-creation, and media arts from agencies including SSHRC, FQRSC, NCE Grand, CFI, CIHR, Canada Council, CALQ, and the Reynard Program, among others.
Internal research projects and initiatives have also been awarded from numerous programs through the Vice-President Research and Graduate Studies and the Faculty of Arts and Science.
Through these various competitive awards, Communication Studies Faculty are developing innovative scholarly and creative projects that are making major contributions to communication studies, cultural studies, media studies and the fine arts.
Posted: September 14th, 2010
Normand Landry is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Department of Communication Studies at Concordia University, where he holds a postdoctoral scholarship from the Fonds québécois de la recherche sur la société et la culture (FQRSC).
Before coming to Concordia he was affiliated with Media@McGill unit for critical communications research (McGill University) and the Communication Policy Research Laboratory (LRPC) at Université de Montréal. His current work focuses on abusive lawsuits, social movement theory, law and democratic communications. He will be working with Prof. Leslie Shade.
Posted: March 15th, 2010
Members of the Mobile Media Lab, Director Kim Sawchuk, Owen Chapman, Leslie Shade and Rae Staseson, were guest researchers at the Multimedia University, Faculty of Creative Multimedia, in Cyberjaya, Malaysia.
Dr. Kim Sawchuk had previously been a guest scholar in November 2009 and helped to develop, along with Dean Harold Thwaites of the Faculty of Creative Multimedia, a memorandum of cooperation for research exchanges between MMU and Concordia. In February Sawchuk, Chapman, Shade and Staseson were part of the official signing ceremony of the memorandum of cooperation with MMU President Dr. Zaharin bin Yusoff.
The busy week of activities and exchanges consisted of various meetings with undergraduate and graduate students, faculty and staff; public presentations/exhibitions, performances and screenings; and meetings off campus with media artists from Kuala Lampur. This successful research trip is the beginning of numerous future projects and exchanges between Concordia and MMU.
The exchange was funded by a Faculty Mobility Program grant from the Vice-President, Research & Graduate Studies.
Click here for more images from the exchange.
