Interdisciplinary Fine Arts Courses
Fine Arts Foundational Year CourseThe following courses are required for all Bachelor of/Baccalaureate in Fine Arts students. It is strongly recommended that students take these courses in their first year.
Description:
This core required course, aimed at first-year standing students with fewer than 30 credits completed in a Faculty of Fine Arts degree program, introduces key contemporary concepts, methods, and practices in the arts. Course content, assignments, and discussions work towards building experience in reflective and critical engagement, written and verbal communication skills. Students gain a familiarity with theory in the context of local and global artistic communities, multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary artistic practices. Throughout, students engage in composition exercises, build a sensory and critical vocabulary of the arts, and collaborate across disciplines to assemble a tool kit for future research and creation in the fine arts.
Component(s):
Lecture; TutorialNotes:
This is a required course for all Bachelor of/Baccalaureate in Fine Arts students. It is strongly recommended that students complete FFAR 248 in their first year.
- Students who have received credit for FFAR 250 may not take this course for credit.
Prerequisite/Corequisite:
The following course must be completed previously: FFAR 248.Description:
This core required course is aimed at first-year standing students with fewer than 30 credits completed in a Faculty of Fine Arts degree program. Building on the core skills acquired in FFAR 248, this course deepens interdisciplinary methods and practices in the fine arts by using keywords as central problems to explore contemporary concepts and create original work. The course is structured through lectures and tutorials in which activities and assignments focus on supporting a foundational understanding of research-creation work, and providing opportunities and tools to take risks, experiment, and collaborate beyond one's own discipline. Students complete the course with a research-creation project or research essay.
Component(s):
Lecture; TutorialNotes:
This is a required course for all Bachelor of/Baccalaureate in Fine Arts students. It is strongly recommended that students complete FFAR 249 in their first year.
- Students who have received credit for FFAR 250 may not take this course for credit.
Fine Arts Interdisciplinary CoursesThe following courses are open to students outside the Faculty of Fine Arts. See the course notes regarding admission for students in Fine Arts programs.
Prerequisite/Corequisite:
Students must complete 24 credits prior to enrolling. Permission of the Field School instructor is required.Description:
This course offers hands-on, experiential learning in one or more disciplines in the Fine Arts via faculty-led travel to and residency at a festival, conference, exhibition or partner institution either locally, nationally, or internationally.Component(s):
Field StudiesNotes:
- Students may be considered to repeat this course for credit, provided the subject matter is different each time. Students who have received credit for a field school under another course code may be considered to repeat this course for credit provided the subject matter is different.
- Students enrolled in this course are required to defray the costs of the field school.
Students must apply for this course by submitting required documentation.
Description:
This course offers a study of special topics at the intersection of sexuality and the arts.
Component(s):
Lecture(also listed as BLST 200 )
Description:
This interdisciplinary course offers a broad introduction to Black Studies. Emphasis is placed on themes of Blackness in the Canadian context. This course introduces students to foundational texts and creative expressions covering histories, cultures, and philosophies, using debates and academic traditions of Black scholars in the field. Students develop critical vocabulary and frameworks through the study of Canada’s diverse Black populations and of the African diaspora.
Component(s):
LectureNotes:
- Students who have received credit for BLST 200 may not take this course for credit.
Description:
This course explores how urban design and culture shape social interaction. It surveys the multiple meanings attributed to 'the night' through the lens of urban studies, human geography, sexuality studies, communication studies, and sociology, among others. Through analysis of and reflection on depictions of night, the course considers the binary constructions and representations of night and how those concepts have real world impacts.
Notes:
- This course may not be applied within a BFA degree or any Fine Arts specialization, major or minor program.
- Students who have received credit for this topic under a FFAR 298 number may not take this course for credit.
Description:
This course is an interdisciplinary introduction to the cultural and social processes of food creation and consumption. Students make connections between various aspects of the food world and their own roles and responsibilities within the food system. Through an exploration, not only of things eaten, but also of food spaces and food‑related activities — including design, studio arts, and architecture — students discover that interactions with food are not as matter‑of‑fact as often assumed.Component(s):
LectureNotes:
- Students who have received credit for this topic under a FFAR 298 number may not take this course for credit.
Description:
This course introduces animation to students with little or no background in cinema or animation studies. Topics covered include major producers of animation; concepts, such as character development; and individual artists and genres, such as anime. Upon completion of this course students are able to discuss cartoonality and naturalism as they relate to both mainstream and independent animation.Component(s):
LectureNotes:
- This course cannot be applied within a BFA degree or any Fine Arts specialization, major or minor program.
- Students who have received credit for this topic under a FFAR 298 number may not take this course for credit.
Description:
This course examines the subculture of hip hop in its contemporary and historic forms. Students study hip hop as a political and social movement that formed in reaction to the status quo in the United States and manifests through practices such as rapping, breakdancing and graffiti. The course covers a variety of media and perspectives through class discussions, self‑directed writing, and assigned readings, which are oriented to increase the students’ understanding of hip hop and its relationship to the changing nature of technology, corporate media, race relations and youth culture.Component(s):
LectureNotes:
- This course may not be applied within a BFA degree or any Fine Arts specialization, major or minor program.
- Students who have received credit for this topic under a FFAR 298 number may not take this course for credit.
Description:
This lecture course introduces students to digital games, their history and their relationship to contemporary art practices. Digital games are considered as a medium of play, social interaction and artistic expression. The course situates digital games in an (art) historical context in order to better understand concepts of play in a digital age and the relevance of games to current art practices, beginning with examples of earlier games and their role as material culture. Students then reconsider the roles played by the art, the artist and the player/gamer as they are situated at the intersection between art, play and technology. Class discussions address life in virtual spaces and the relationships of power, capital, gender, ethnicity and other identities to both games and contemporary digital media.Component(s):
LectureNotes:
- Students who have received credit for this topic under a FFAR 298 number may not take this course for credit.
Description:
This course invites students to consider fashion as a key site for the construction of both the self and the social collective. Looking at a century of fashion and dress from a global perspective, the course explores decolonial approaches to studying fashion history and de-centres European fashion houses and the star system of designers as the only contributions of 20th-century fashion.Component(s):
LectureNotes:
- This course cannot be applied within any Fine Arts specialization, major or minor program.
- Students who have received credit for this topic under a FFAR 298 number may not take this course for credit.
Description:
This course is an introduction to one of the world's most popular film genres, Bollywood. The course offers, through screenings and lectures, an opportunity to study the theory, culture and historical development of the Indian films being produced in Mumbai/Bombay. The course focuses on specific themes covered in this popular yet often contested genre, studying the aesthetics and narrative styles of some prominent filmmakers from this industry.Component(s):
LectureNotes:
- This course cannot be applied within any Fine Arts specialization, major or minor program.
- Students who have received credit for this topic under a FFAR 298 number may not take this course for credit.
Description:
This course focuses on the powerful auditory dimension of moving pictures. Since the late 1920s, a sophisticated discourse has been woven into the voice, sound effect and music recordings that accompany screen images, yet its presence and contribution is still largely unnoticed by the vast majority of viewers. Over the term, critical and listening skills are developed promoting a fuller appreciation and understanding of cinematic and televisual sound design, as well as teaching students how to use their ears as well as their eyes whenever the moving contents of a screen draw their attention.Component(s):
LectureNotes:
- This course cannot be applied within any Fine Arts specialization, major or minor program.
- Students who have received credit for this topic under a FFAR 298 number may not take this course for credit.
(also listed as SOCI 2910)
Description:
This course is an interdisciplinary survey of the major issues and challenges of the AIDS pandemic before the year 2000, introducing students to a broadly based overview of its scientific, social and cultural impacts. Students examine the history of the pandemic and responses to it by governments, medical authorities, businesses, religious and community groups, as well as artists and cultural producers.Component(s):
LectureNotes:
(also listed as SOCI 292)
Description:
This interdisciplinary course examines the cultural, creative, and artistic responses to HIV/AIDS. Through the lens of diverse historical and contemporary forms of expression, course content and class discussions focus on pandemic-related narratives relevant to the intersections of race, gender and sexuality.
Component(s):
LectureNotes:
Description:
A course at the introductory level which provides an opportunity for the study of specialized aspects of Fine Arts.Component(s):
LectureNotes:
- This course may not be applied within a BFA degree or any Fine Arts specialization, major, or minor program.
Description:
A course at the introductory level which provides an opportunity for the study of specialized aspects of Fine Arts.Notes:
- This course may not be applied within a BFA degree or any Fine Arts specialization, major, or minor program.
Interdisciplinary Studies in Sexuality Courses
Description:
This introductory course surveys selected issues in sexual representation in the arts, primarily in the West. Media from the visual and performing arts including recent digital and interactive technologies are considered as well as various genres such as the classical nude, autobiography and pornography. The impact of the Sexual Revolution, feminism, and intersectionality is analyzed, with an emphasis on the diversity of sexualities and aesthetics in both the traditional and contemporary artistic environments. Although not a studio course, students may submit creative work undertaken independently as a course assignment.Component(s):
LectureDescription:
This course surveys topics in queer, trans, and sexuality studies through the lens of culture. Examining queer and trans cultures alongside foundational texts in queer studies, trans studies, and related fields, the course considers contemporary thinking and cultural practices, such as sexual and gender norms and identities, subcultural communities and practices, queer aesthetics and art, and queer activism and politics.