Course Description
INF1001H – Introduction to Critical Information Policy Studies is a required core course for the Critical Information Policy Studies (CIPS) concentration. This course introduces the theoretical, instrumental, and applied uses of information and informational processes in the development of policy across public and private sector domains. The course examines the social, institutional, political, legal, and economic implications associated with the design, structure, and implementation of information processes and systems, with an emphasis on how policy shapes information practices and embodies power relations between organizations and individuals. We frame our discussions of these issues in the context of emerging information technologies, modalities, and the contemporary policy debates that surround them. Focal issues include: the politics, ethics, and values of information; information as an economic phenomenon; the institutional structure of knowledge and cultural production; and the role of information professionals in all of these activities.
This course can be used to fulfil the “Critical Perspectives” Professional Requirement.
Exclusion: INF/FIS 1210
Note: Title and Description are effective September 1st, 2025. Previously “Knowledge and Information in Society”