Home :: Master of Publishing (MPub) :: Courses

Courses

Master of Publishing candidates must complete 49 credits. The curriculum comprises six courses (24 credits) and three projects (13 credits), offered exclusively within the program; followed by an internship (6 credits) and a research project (6 credits) that demonstrates the student’s ability to apply acquired knowledge in an industry setting.

Both the seminar and project courses of the Master of Publishing program are invigorated by the constant research activities of the Canadian Centre for Studies in Publishing. Our faculty work closely with the publishing industry in researching business dynamics, Internet technologies, emergent media forms, cutting-edge design, elegant editorial insight, understanding of industry dynamics, appreciation of the historical record, and a wide range of theoretical perspectives. MPub project courses are themselves research endeavours, exploring the cutting edge of book, magazine, and new media publishing.

The MPub internship is specifically designed as a research-oriented project, aimed at producing a project report describing original research in an applied setting.

See CCSP Research and the CCSP Press for more information about current research directions at the CCSP.

Semester One: September – December

Pub 601 – Editorial Theory and Practice
The theoretical component of this course focuses on theories of composition and rhetoric. The practical component focuses on the various types of editing that take place in publishing. Students are examined on both the theory and their attained competence in editing.

Pub 602 – Design and Production Control in Publishing
A consideration of the theory, principles, traditions and current trends in publication design as applied to print and electronic publishing. Students will undertake design exercises in addition to learning the relationship between design, costing and print production.

Pub 605 – Book Publishing Project
Students are assigned to groups (simulated book publishing companies) and are given a company profile for which they develop a season’s titles. They form a team based on industry roles: publisher, editor, subrights manager, production manager, art director, promotion and marketing manager. Each team produces the editorial profile, costing and marketing plans for the list, designs the covers, and makes a final presentation to an industry panel.

Pub 800 - Publishing Industry: Structure, Function and Policy
An examination of the contemporary state and developing trends in the Canadian publishing industry. Emphasis is placed on book publishing, business dynamics, government policy, and international trade. Attention is also given to magazine and multimedia publishing and comparisons with other countries are drawn.

Semester Two: January – April

Pub 600 – Topics in Publishing Management
An analysis of management issues essential to the daily operation of publishing firms. Emphasis will be placed on the distinctive nature of publishing as a cultural/information industry, the applicability of theory and practice in marketing and accounting, and the legal underpinnings of publishing.

Pub 606 – Magazine Publishing Project
Students are assigned to groups and form a team based on common roles in the industry: publisher, comptroller, editor, production manager, art director, advertising director, marketing and distribution manager. In consultation with faculty and industry speakers the team develops a magazine concept, creates a business plan including cost projections, and identifies the readership demographics and potential. Design mockups are produced and a final presentation made to an industry panel.

Pub 607 – Publishing Technology Project
Students create their own home pages and working in a team environment, participate in a web publishing project that may include the CCSP web site. Normally the web publishing project is real rather than a simulation. Students will be assigned to roles based, in part, on their interests but most importantly on their capabilities as judged from the course work completed before the commencement of the project.

Pub 801 – History of Publishing
A consideration of publishing from the time of Gutenberg to the present day including discussion of the medium of print and its influence on human expression and thought. Emphasis will be placed on the role of publishing and publishing policies in society.

Pub 802 – Technology and Evolving Forms of Publishing
An examination of the nature of technology and the social, cultural, legal, economic and political implications of evolving publishing business forms, publication formats, markets, policies and, especially, technology. Opportunities for Canadian publishing in domestic and global markets will be emphasized.