Program Structure

Normally completed in 12 months, this program combines coursework and a Major Research Paper (MRP). You will take three courses in both the fall and winter terms. In addition to two required courses (Graduate Seminar in Communication Studies and Research Methods), you will take four elective courses in Communication Studies or a related area.

Under faculty supervision, you will complete your MRP (50-60 pages) in the summer.

We also offer a thesis option.

Co-op Option

The Communication Studies MA program offers a Co-operative Education option. Co-op students have the unique opportunity to obtain paid employment and professional communication experience in non-profit organizations, the public sector, community groups, and organizations in creative industries. Co-op students are encouraged to pursue work terms in sectors and roles that align with their research interests.

The co-op option is a competitive entry and a limited enrolment option available to full-time students. Students in the co-op option complete their coursework in the fall and winter terms (September to April), have their co-op work term in the spring/summer (May to August), and write their major research paper or thesis in the subsequent fall semester (September to December), typically completing all MA program requirements in approximately 16 months.

How to Apply

Applicants indicate their interest in being considered for co-op when they apply to the MA program. Admission to the co-op option is not guaranteed by admission to the MA program in Communication Studies. Laurier’s Co-op Office conducts interviews with shortlisted applicants and makes co-op option admission decisions.

Students who apply to the co-op option should not apply to the regular stream. If the co-op application is not recommended by Laurier’s Co-op Office, the application will be moved to the regular stream by the department.

Work Term Process

The Co-op Office administers the work term application process. Students are required to apply to job postings and interview with prospective employers. While employment cannot be guaranteed, every effort is made to ensure that suitable employment is available for students admitted to the option. Students are welcome to seek out employment positions independently; however, these positions must be approved by the Co-op Office in order to be designated as co-op work terms.

Co-op students are required to pay co-op fees. Following their work term, co-op students are also required to submit to the graduate coordinator a short paper about their employment experience in relation to their coursework and/or research project. Co-op students must be registered in CS695: Major Research Paper or CS699: Thesis in their final semester in the program.

Additional information and regulations are available on the Co-op website.

Student Research

Here’s a small sample of MRPs completed by our graduates:

• The Appification of Work
• vitaminwater® Uncapped: Better Lives through Better Self-Regulation
• The Commercialization of Facebook: The Exploitation of Free Labour and the Commodification of Sociability
• WikiLeaks: A Vehicle for Pursuing Accountability for Public Bodies, Transparency, and Fact?
• Facebook Me! Corporeality, Identity, and Gender on Facebook
• Reveling in Urban Transformation: Toronto’s Scotiabank Nuit Blanche
• Multiculturalism in the Canadian News Media: Analyzing the Shariah Law Debate in Ontario
• Nonverbal Communication in Disney Pixar Films
• Exploring the Threshold: Investigating Space and Place in Toronto’s Doors Open Event
• Policy Communication and Zoning Processes: A Case Study of the City of Kitchener’s Warehouse District
• Being International: Cosmopolitan Identities and International Students at a Canadian University
• Getting Lost En Route to Adulthood: Problematizing and Reinventing the Millennial Generation in Quarterlife Crisis Self-Help Literature
• Discourses of Liminality in Afrofuturist Hip-Hop Albums of MF Doom, Dr. Octagon, and Deltron Zero
• Positions on Anonymous: Tricksterism, Autonomist Marxism, and Online Dissent
• Click, Converse, Consume: How Corporate Fans are Produced at the Click of a Button
• Assessing Unpaid Internships in Canada’s Magazine Industry