Remembering Our Past: Reconstructing the Field of Canadian Communication Studies

Abstract

Doing a historiography of the field of Canadian communication studies is very much a work in progress for which many of the building blocks are not yet known. Three types of information are needed. Information on the sociohistorical setting in which our field emerged, on the founders who conceptualized it in different universities (French and English), and on the theoretical emphases of our field. This paper brings together some of this contextual evidence. Résumé: L'historiographie des études en communication au Canada reste à l'état de projet, de nombreux éléments du développement de ce champ d'études demeurant toujours dans l'ombre. La réalisation de ce projet requiert trois catégories d'information, soit : le contexte socio-historique dans lequel le champ s'est développé; les fondateurs qui ont conceptualisé ce champ dans diverses universités, tant anglophones que francophones; et les approches théoriques que ceux-ci ont privilégiées. Cet article rassemble quelques-unes de ces données contextuelles.

“More and Better” Research? Critical Communication Studies and the Problem of Policy Relevance

“…An intellectual history juxtaposing successive policy research voices, such as Sandra Braman's in the U.S. context (2003), would constitute invaluable primary material in the Canadian setting, building on already-existing studies of past Royal Commissions and related endeavours (cf. Berland, 1995;Robinson, 2000).…”

Journalism Education in the United States and Canada: not merely clones

“…3 After all, culture in general became a way through which Canada could construct its own national identity, and this led to massive state intervention in the cultural arena (Robinson, 2000).…”

“…The other new degree programs are at Mount Royal College (Calgary) and University College of the Cariboo (Kamloops, BC). 5 A good overview of communication studies in Canada is found in Robinson (2000). 6 The in uence of government is strikingly similar in the broader eld of communication studies, where various royal commissions are credited with spurring the growth of that discipline.…”

(Re) formulations disciplinaires : quelles orientations pour quelle(s) identité(s) ?

“…55-58). Robinson (1975Robinson ( , 2000 et Pfau (2008), il propose de compléter l'étude d'objets spécifiques par des considérations processuelles et transversales pour faciliter les échanges internes. Il entreprend de retracer les repères historiques et d'entrecroiser des développements programmatiques qui définiraient la (quasi) discipline de la communication.…”