Course Information

This course allows students to explore communication and peace at a variety of levels including intrapersonal, interpersonal, group, organizational, and global conflict. Students are exposed to issues such as personal conflict relating to beliefs, attitudes, values, and worldviews; how communication can help (or hinder) interpersonal relationships; communication and conflict in groups such as larger movements and or social collectives; and how communication strategies are meaningful in conflict amongst organizational systems such as business/economic institutions (including schools, healthcare and governments). The course considers communication and conflict on a broader level by examining political relationships between nations, and peoples’ relationships with the natural world. Students are exposed to practical strategies for using communication to promote peace and build understanding at both the personal and global levels.

General Assignment Guidelines

1. Please use APA style as outlined in our university library’s guidebook: http://www.uoit.ca/assets/Section~specific/Current~students/Academic~resources/Library/PDF/APA.pdf

2. Plagiarism is an extremely serious academic offence and carries penalties varying from failure in an assignment to suspension from the University. Definitions, penalties and procedures for dealing with plagiarism are set out in the UOIT’s "Academic Conduct Policy" which is printed in section 5.15 of the UOIT Calendar. It outlines what Academic Misconduct and Professional Unsuitability means and the penalties for violating this policy.

3. For your protection: because assignments sometimes get lost, and because questions of authorship sometimes arise, it is essential that you be able to document your creative process in producing assignments. You should keep your research notes and rough drafts for essays and assignments, even after the finished work has been graded and returned. When composing on a computer, preserve copies of work in progress at regular intervals so that you have a track record of how the assignment evolved. Print hard copies of the work at different stages, or use the ‘save as’ function on the computer to record successive drafts. The sequence of drafts should be carefully noted. An inability to provide these materials, if requested, will constitute grounds for failure on the assignment and will result in a report kept on file in the Faculty of Education.

4. All assignments must be original, produced by you, and prepared for this course alone. An essay prepared for or used in another course will be failed automatically. If you are drawing from assignments done for previous or current courses, please discuss this before submission.

Late Assignments

Non-negotiated Late Assignment
This is an assignment that has been handed in late, after the first ten minutes of class without a prior agreement between the student and the professor to extend the time for submission of the assignment. Such assignments will be considered late and will be assigned a grade of zero.

Negotiated Late Assignment
This is an assignment that has been handed in late with the permission of the professor. The professor and student, through discussion, have mutually agreed on the time/extension and penalty (if applicable) that the student will receive.

Extenuating Circumstances
The professor will consider individual, rare extenuating circumstances that may cause an assignment to be late. The student must provide documentation to validate the extenuating circumstance which might include hospitalization, death of a family member or significant other. The professor will have the discretion to determine any extension in such situations.

Please note that emails to the professor should be properly written, including salutation, proper use of English, punctuation, spelling, capitalization, etc.

I am happy to reply to text messages of an urgent nature. If you are texting, please be sure to explain your situation clearly. I invite students to provide their cell numbers as a means of being contacted or so that you may contact me in case of emergency or urgent issues. Sometimes I may need to contact students as a group in the event that class must be cancelled, or sometimes students need to contact me if there is an issue which requires immediate attention. Please note that participating in text communication is ENTIRELY OPTIONAL and NOT REQUIRED in this course. You do not need to provide your cell number if you do not wish to do so.

Please see the FSSH Professional Guidelines Document in BlackBoard. This document assists with your preparation as a student and professional.