Concordia Course Web Sites

HIST 285/A (Fall 2025): INTRO TO LAW & SOCIETY

HIST 324/A (Fall 2025): US 1877-1924

The period from 1877 to 1924 witnessed the transformation of the United States from a rural debtor nation into an urban, industrial, financial, and military power. Accompanying this transformation was an unprecedented gap between the wealthy and the poor and increases in global migration and mobility. This course asks how people from all walks of life experienced, interpreted, and sought to control these changes. How did industrialization and migration reshape gendered and racialized identities? How did workers, the middle class, and the wealthy define the relationship between individual liberty and the social good? How did their political actions and social movements change the meaning of democracy, the role of government, and boundaries of citizenship in the US and abroad?

HIST 392/A (Winter 2025): WAR/PEACE/SOCIETY IN FRANCE

IRST 304/A (Winter 2025): SEXUALITIES/IRISH DIASPORA

IRST 373/A (Winter 2025): IRISH TRAD MUSIC/CANADA

JOUR 325/01 (Fall 2025): SOCIAL MEDIA & MOBILE REPORTNG

JOUR 445/01 (Fall 2025): ADVANCED PHOTOJOURNALISM

Course outline
by ALLEN MCINNIS - Tuesday, 22 July 2025, 9:43 AM
Number of replies: 0

JOUR 445 / JOUR 523:  Advanced Photojournalism
Fall 2025 session

Friday 11:45 to 14:00
Class CJ 3.307
Allen McInnis
allen.mcinnis@concordia.ca
Emergency text messages: 514.953.3951
Office hours by appointment.

Photoshop editing tips will be an office hours extra session.


Course Description:
This workshop course expands on the photojournalism fundamentals, where students apply their knowledge of theory and aesthetics of long‑ and short‑form news photography. Students use digital cameras and other technologies to complete coursework and to master the professional techniques of news photography. Exploring
The class will explore the differences between Spot News, News, News Features, Sports, Business, Portraits, general features and essay work. The class will have weekly assignments of a variety of subjects as well as in class snap assignments and class assignments as a group in the field.
Each student will be required to submit a photo essay. The subject of this essay will be reviewed in class and must be approved before executing the project in the same manner an authorizing editor would approve of such a project.
This class will have a strong focus on editing and captioning images for newspapers, wire services and news websites.

Course Requirements:
This is an in person advanced class. Attendance and participation is mandatory.
Documented medical exceptions may be considered. All class absences and lack of participation will result in grade deductions. 4 absences results in an automatic failure as per department rules.
All material created and submitted for grading must be new material created for the given assignment and must be created by the author. Plagiarism and recycling material will result in a failing grade.
 
This course outline may be altered to reflect the abilities of the cohort as the class advances.


Week 1: 

Brief Introduction / what is photojournalism today
Brief review of class abilities status and equipment
Brief review of ethics, responsibilities of deadlines.
Photograph vs illustration. News vs feature.
Snap class assignment within the CL building.  You will have less than 10 minutes notice of subject matter.
Review assignment as a group
Workflow, importance of captioning and backups
Photo essays, what are they, what will yours be?
Assignment to be given.  All assignments are due before the following Thursday 6pm unless otherwise noted.    

Week 2:
Ethics of Journalism and photoshop
Hard look, assignment photography, setups/portraits
Photography and the law. Misconceptions vs reality and the many grey zones in between.
Review team projects and team work before starting photo essays. 
Photo essays, submit your 2 or 3 potential subjects, group discussion on subjects put forward 
Review weekly assignments as a group
Assignment to be given.  All assignments are due before the following Thursday 6pm unless otherwise noted.     

Week 3: 
The reality of newspaper assignments and expectations in today’s controlled world
Review main fingers of Sports, News, Portraits and Features
Class assignment in CJ Building.                        
Review class assignment as a group
Photoshop crunch
Review last weeks assignment

Assignment to be given.  All assignments are due before the following Thursday 6pm unless otherwise noted.    

Week 4: 
Class assignment on location! 

Location and subject matter to be given no more than 1 day in advance.

Assignment to be given.  All assignments are due before the following Thursday 6pm unless otherwise noted.    

Week 5: 
Review progress of photo essays subjects.
Deeper dive in to the two types feature photography assignments
Understanding and use of flash, when flash ruins a picture/shoot
Review last weeks assignment as a group
Assignment to be given.  All assignments are due before the following Thursday 6pm unless otherwise noted.  

Week 6: 
Review progress on photo essays, discuss road blocks, address tech issues, overcoming tough situations
Photoshop, captions and backup reminders
Review last weeks assignment
Assignment to be given. Due following Thursday 6pm 


October 17th is fall session reading week.     
 

Week 7: 
Political and PR manipulation of the media. 
How to work with and around the never ending PR control attempts.
Review photo essay progress
Guidelines for single best image end of semester photo exhibit in the CJ Building 
Review last weeks assignment
Assignment to be given.  All assignments are due before the following Thursday 6pm unless otherwise noted.    

Week 8: 
Class location assignment, TBA based on news subject to the day
Review last weeks assignment
Assignment to be given.  All assignments are due before the following Thursday 6pm unless otherwise noted.  

Week 9: 
Quiz
Snap class assignment
Edit, file and review snap assignment. You will have less than 10 minutes notice of subject matter.
Review last weeks assignment
Assignment to be given.  All assignments are due before the following Thursday 6pm unless otherwise noted.  

Week 10: 
Portraits are key element of newspaper and wire service photography.
This class will be a portrait session.
Review last weeks assignment

Assignment to be given.  All assignments are due before the following Thursday 6pm unless otherwise noted.  

Week 11: 
Group discussion on best picture of the class for group exhibit.
Review of photo essays, last chance to tweak before submitting your essay
Deadline for photo essay submission is 12pm Wednesday November 27th!
 
Week 12: 
First half of class open to student requests and review.
Second half of class, viewing class exhibit of the one best image per student in the cohort.
 

Ethics and integrity in journalism: 
Being a working photojournalist is a privilege! 

You are society’s eyes on daily life and historical moments alike that the vast majority of society can never witness first hand. With this privilege comes great responsibility. You are bound to follow the ethical guidelines of journalism and not inject personal opinion or biases in your work. You may never manipulate your images in ways that remove or introduce artificial elements. Plagiarism and fabrication of events will not be tolerated. In most cases, these are considered immediate fireable offences in the industry. 
As photojournalists, we will follow the Canadian Press’s lead on ethics and policy. 
I have also included links for the CAJ and the radio and TV broadcasters guidelines as well as Concordia University’s academic code of conduct. Each student should familiarize themselves with these core rules of journalism. We will discuss this at several points during class.

The Canadian Press:
https://www.thecanadianpress.com/about/our-team-values/our-news-principles/
CAJ:
https://caj.ca/wp-content/uploads/Ethics-Guidelines-v2023.pdf
Radio and TV:
https://rtdnacanada.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/2016RTDNA_Code_Poster_EN.pdf
Academic integrity and code of conduct.
https://www.concordia.ca/content/dam/common/docs/policies/official-policies/Academic-Code-Conduct-2015.pdf


Laws governing photography:
While there is no law that prohibits photography in public, our of anything you can see from the public space, there is a strong jurisprudence in Quebec civil law that may open photographers and their publications up to a civil lawsuits. 
One such lawsuit here in Montreal was settled in the plaintiff’s favour for just over $30,000. 
This civil liability issue is not an issue to be taken lightly.

Restrictions do exist for photography in security zones, ie airports, hospitals and on private property.
This will be addressed in class.
Deadlines:
Newspaper and magazine deadlines are generally not flexible. As such, neither are assignment deadlines.
Things go wrong, stories collapse, and we will discuss how to manage deadlines and how to recover from stories or events that do not pan out. But at the end of the day, a deadline will never be missed. 
Points will be deducted for all missed deadlines.
Weekly assignments must be handed in by 6pm the following Thursday evening.
Filing methods will change and vary between FTP transmission to a FTP server, email and WeTransfer as a backup.
All emails must contain the JOUR 445/523 in the subject line. ie: JOUR 445/523  Assignment 3
Equipment needs:
A camera is not required for the Day One snap assignment but is required at every other class.
The school does have a fair number of cameras including Canon Rebel, Canon 5D and Panasonic cameras that can be borrowed.
These are available to reserve/check out with Benoit Murdaca in the equipment room located in the basement.
Please make sure to have a camera booked for class outings!

Benoit.Murdaca@concordia.ca

A technical advisors is also available to help students. Please contact Robin Della Corte at:
robin.dellacorte@concordia.ca

If you own your camera, please bring it to class and we will review the strong points and the limitations of all equipment.

Each student must own at least one SD card.
Contrary to popular belief, a fast SD card is not required for most work and most cameras can not take advantage of the fastest cards available. 
You are better off to have a larger card of medium speed range such as a 
Sandisk 64gb 200 m/ps card which should cost approximately $20.00.

It is strongly advised to have a portable USB drive or a large USB stick.
A 128gb Sandisk USB stick should cost about 16 dollars.
A 256gb Sandisk USB stick should cost about 30 dollars.
A 1tb Seagate portable drive should cost about 90 dollars.
The portable hard can also double as a Time Machine backup for your laptop. We will briefly address backups, Time machine, iCloud storage etc.
Data loss happens to everyone. The goal is to minimize it when tragedy strikes.
Over the years I have used every brand and have found there are fewer crashes with Seagate and Sandisk.
Sandisk provides a Data Rescue software license with some memory card purchases. I have data rescue on my laptop in the event of an SD memory card crash.
A laptop is strongly recommended. 
While more and more photographers are working with iPads or the iPad mini for spot news, these are great for getting a few images out fast but do not replace a laptop in the long term workflow.
Best practices for image transfer from camera to iPhone or iPad will be reviewed in class.

Software.

The school is equipped with iMacs that have Photoshop.
There are several alternatives to Photoshop, but Photoshop and Lightroom are the professional standards and you will be required to use them.
Photo Mechanic is by far the industry leader for importing images and embedding IPTC data and managing FTP transmission of final images.
This software has become expensive over the last few years and is now a lease monthly only software.
CameraBits does offer a 40% discount to students with a valid school email address.
Camerabits uses SheerID to verify you before the discount is applied.
Adobe Bridge is available free as an alternative to Photo Mechanic. Bridge is not at the same level as PM.

Always have a Plan B!

FileZilla must be downloaded. It is free and very functional FTP transmission tool.
You will be provided with FTP data to upload assignment images to ensure everyone is FTP compatible.
Always have a Plan C!
Every student should be familiar with and able to use WeTransfer. If you have not used WeTransfer in the past, it is the last resort to file when all else fails.
Google drive and share point are not considered acceptable methods to transmit assignment images.


Filing final images for grading:
When submitting all images for grading, the original un retouched jpeg or RAW file must be saved for potential verification of the integrity of post production work. This means opening your original file and then SAVE AS and rename the file to protect the original file.
Random spot checks will be done throughout the semester. All students must be able to provide the original unmodified images. 
This will be addressed during in class discussions.
All “outs” should be saved for at least 60 days for review on demand.

Grading:
Participation:             1 pt per class
Quiz:                          5 points
Snap assignments      3 points (2x)        
Weekly assignment    5 points (10x)
Photo Essay              25 points    
Bonus points               2 points
This course outline may be altered to reflect the abilities of the cohort as the class advances.

Department of Journalism
Undergraduate Grading Equivalence Chart as of January 2020
The Department of Journalism is committed both to teaching students how to practice
journalism as well as how to conduct themselves as working professionals. Students are
asked to consider the below definitions when reflecting upon their own course work.
Grade Grade Points Numerical Value
A+ 4.3 95-100
A 4.0 90-94 Outstanding
A- 3.7 85-89
B+ 3.3 80-84
B 3.0 75-79 Very Good
B- 2.7 70-74
C+ 2.3 65-69
C 2.0 60-64 Satisfactory
C- 1.7 55-59
D 1.0 50-54 Marginal Pass
F 0.0 < 50 Failure
R 0.0 < 50 Very Poor - Failure
What Assignment Grades Mean
A Outstanding Exceptional work, answers the key questions and/or includes
most or all key elements, no obvious holes or errors, it is well
produced, clear, concise, well organized, meets most or all
expectations.
B Very Good Good, solid work, but not exceptional. Answers some of the key
questions and/or key elements, but may lack details, still needs
some editing or correction. Generally well produced, clear,
coherent, but not exceptional.
C Satisfactory May contain acceptable elements, but lacks answers to many
questions or important details/elements, could be clearer, more
cohesive, contains errors or holes, indicates a lack of full effort.
Note: see performance policies below.January 2020
D Marginal Unacceptable work. Some limited effort has been made, but
suffers from one or more serious flaws, such as: instructions not
followed, poorly executed, errors in fact, presentation errors,
etc.
F Fail Work that demonstrates a serious lack of effort and/or caring.
Demonstrates a failure to apply basic skills of reporting and/or
critical thinking. Work is very poorly produced.
Note: see performance policies below.
Undergraduate Students Performance Policies
1. Student receiving a C- or less in one journalism course may move forward on
probation.
2. Students receiving a C- or less in two or more journalism courses in any given
semester must meet with the Undergraduate Program Director, and, in consultation with
the Chair, discuss whether they will be allowed to continue to the next level on
probation or repeat the courses before they move forward.
3. Students whose GPA falls below 2.0 will be asked to take 24 credits outside the
program and maintain a GPA above 2.0 in order to be readmitted to the journalism
program.
4. Concordia requires all students to have a minimum of 2.0 to graduate.
Failing Grades "F," "FNS," "R," and "NR" notations
1. "F" indicates failure in a course in which a supplemental examination is available.
2. "FNS" indicates failure in a course in which no supplemental examination is
available.
3. In a course graded "R," a student is not permitted to write a supplemental
examination, apply for a "MED" or "DEF" notation, or complete work late.
4. Not Reported "NR" indicates that a student appears to have unofficially withdrawn
from a course. It is assigned by the Registrar when no material is available to
evaluate and the instructor has been unable to submit a grade. "NR" carries a grade
point value of zero and counts as a failure.

In a course with an "NR," a student is
not permitted to apply for a "MED" or "DEF" notation, write deferred or
supplemental examinations, or complete work late.
Detailed information regarding the above can be found in the Undergraduate Calendar.

Department of Journalism
Graduate Grading Equivalence Chart as of January 2020
The Department of Journalism is committed both to teaching students how to practice
journalism as well as how to conduct themselves as working professionals. Students are
asked to consider the below definitions when reflecting upon their own course work.
Grade Grade Points Numerical Value
A+ 4.3 95-100
A 4.0 90-94 Outstanding
A- 3.7 85-89
B+ 3.3 80-84 Very Good
B 3.0 75-79 Good
B- 2.7 70-74 Acceptable
C 2.0 55-69 Marginal
F 0.0 0-54 Failure
What Assignment Grades Mean
A Outstanding Exceptional work, answers the key questions and/or includes
most or all key elements, no obvious holes or errors, it is well
produced, clear, concise, well organized. Meets most or all
expectations.
B Good Good, solid work, but not exceptional. Answers some of the key
questions and/or key elements, but may lack details, still needs
some editing or correction. Generally well produced, clear,
coherent.
C Marginal Contains acceptable elements, but still needs considerable work.
Lacks answers to many questions and/or does not include needed
elements, needs editing for details, clarity, cohesion, etc.
Note: see C Rule below.
F Fail Work that demonstrates a serious lack of effort and/or caring.
Demonstrates a failure to apply basic skills of reporting and/or
very poorly produced.
Note: see F Rule below.January 2020
Graduate Students Performance Policies
1. F Rule
Graduate students who receive a failing grade in the course of their studies will be
withdrawn from the program unless continuation in the program is requested by the
student’s program or Faculty and approved by the Dean of Graduate Studies. If
withdrawn from program, students may apply for re-admission (see Withdrawal for
Academic Reasons). Students who receive another failing grade after re-admission will
be withdrawn from the program and will not be considered for re-admission.
2. C Rule
Graduate students who receive more than one C grade during the course of their studies
will be withdrawn from the program unless continuation in the program is requested by
the student’s program or Faculty and approved by the Dean of Graduate Studies. Course-
based programs in the John Molson School of Business do not have a C Rule. Individual
programs may have more stringent regulations; students should check their program’s
entry or with the Graduate Program Director.
Students who have been withdrawn may apply for re-admission (see Withdrawal for
Academic Reasons in Graduate Admission section). Students who receive another C
after re-admission will be withdrawn from the program and will not be considered for
re-admission. Students should refer to the section on Academic Standing in their
program’s calendar entry.

LAWS 4100/A (Fall 2025): ADV TOPS/LAW & SOCIETY

LING 300/B (Winter 2025): SOCIOLINGUISTICS

MSCA 680/A (Fall 2025): FOUNDATIONS OF BTM

This course will provide graduate students with an overview of the business technology management (BTM)/Management Information Systems (MIS) literature in a range of research areas, exposing students to classic and modern BTM literature that has been influential in the development of the field. Foundational articles and more recent articles are reviewed to highlight the role/impact of digital technologies in organizations. In this seminar, students will 1) survey the literature in MIS/BTM and evaluate key concepts/theories, academic literature, and managerial issues, 2) synthesize journal articles in written and oral form, and identify major research and management themes within and across topics, 3) discuss the organizational and societal impacts of leveraging digital technologies in organizations, and 4) write a research paper for submission to a conference or a journal. This seminar will help students develop an understanding of the evolution of the BTM discipline and identify major research areas. The integrative coverage of topics provides students in various disciplines such as management information systems, management, marketing, and finance with the necessary knowledge to conduct conceptual and empirical research on inter-disciplinary topics related to the role of digital technologies in organizations.

For each session, we will explore recent articles in leading MIS/BTM journals (e.g., MIS Quarterly, Information Systems Research, and the Journal of Management Information Systems), leading management journals (e.g., Strategic Management Journal) and well-respected practitioner journals (e.g., Harvard Business Review, Sloan Management Review, and MIS Quarterly Executive). Each week between 3 and 5 articles are assigned. All articles can be accessed through the course website (i.e., Moodle). The course will follow a seminar format and will focus on the discussion of assigned readings.

PHIL 361 - Early Modern Philosophy II: 18th Century

Winter 2025

Instructor: Dr. Olivia Sultanescu

Email: olivia.sultanescu@concordia.ca

Office hours: Monday & Wednesday, 4:15 pm – 5:15 pm (My office is in the Gray Nuns building (GN), accessible through the classroom entrance located at 1175 Rue Saint-Mathieu, near Boulevard René-Lévesque.)

Class schedule: Monday & Wednesday 2:45 pm – 4:00 pm

Room: H 431 

Course description

This course is an introduction to eighteenth-century European philosophy.  The first part of the class is devoted to topics and questions pertaining to the distinctive ways in which philosophers of this period conceive of the nature of the mind and the possibility of knowing the world outside of it.  We will examine the so-called theory of ideas, according to which the basic constituents of the mind are simple ideas, each of which is acquired through experience.  On this picture, all mental activity can be accounted for in the light of operations on simple ideas.  We discuss John Locke’s elaboration of this view, and we briefly explore George Berkeley’s response to Locke.  We then move on to David Hume, the central figure of this course, whose project is to construct a fully naturalistic account of human nature.  By scrutinizing the mental operations distinctive of the human mind, Hume tries to show that rational capacities play a lesser role in our engagement with the world than has been traditionally thought.  We examine both the skeptical and the constructive phases of Hume’s philosophy.  The second part of the class is devoted to a brief investigation of the question of the nature and origin of language.  To what extent can the theory of ideas and the broader conception of the mind associated with it account for the possibility of communicating through meaningful utterances?  We examine the views on language put forward by Locke, Jean Jacques Rousseau, and Johann Gottfried Herder.  In the third and last part of the course, we turn to issues concerning morality and agency.  Our central question, with which philosophers of the eighteenth century were deeply concerned, is what lies at the heart of morality: emotion, reason, or something else?  We carefully examine Hume’s treatment to this question, and we end with a brief discussion of some responses to Hume.