Introduction to Interactive Arts and Science
Information and knowledge acquisition in digital and networked environments. Concepts of originality, authorship, immediacy, hypermediacy and intellectual property in new media. Examination and use of diverse narrative conventions especially those informed by interactivity and new media. Research and hands on application of digital tools for interactivity and multimedia
Seminar, lab, 4 hours per week.
Restriction: open to IASC (single or combined) majors until date specified in Registration guide.
Introduction to Media Computation
(also offered as APCO 1P00)
Programming by example; encoding and manipulating pictures (such as grayscale and colour replacement); pixel manipulation (such as red eye and mirroring); designing and debugging; text manipulation with HTML; file processing; automatic generation and manipulation of web pages; sound processing (such as MP3, encoding, volume and splicing); objects and graphical user interfaces.
Lectures, 3 hours per week; lab, 2 hours per week; tutorial, 1 hour per week.
Restriction: not open to COSC (single or combined), BCB, CAST and CNET majors.
Note: prior computer experience is not required.
Fluency With Technology
(also offered as APCO 1P01)
Skills, concepts and capabilities of computers, networks and the Internet. Topics include representation of information, current hardware, software and network technologies, modelling with Excel, presentations with Powerpoint, Internet searching and basic web page development with HTML.
Lectures, 3 hours per week, lab, 2 hours per week.
Restriction: not open to COSC (single or combined), BCB, CAST and CNET majors.
Note: some prior computer experience is preferred but not required.
Web Media Production
(also offered as STAC 1P02)
Principles of website creation and design. Formatting, lists, images, links and tables with HTML. Web colour and graphics formats with Photoshop, Typography and layout with CSS. Button, rollovers and forms with JavaScript. Introduction to animation and sound with Flash. Usability, accessibility and interactivity. Creation of public interactive web based projects.
Lab, tutorial 4 hours per week.
Introduction to Media Tools
Systematic examination of imaging, multimedia authoring and animation software tools and their application to problems in visualization, representation and sequencing of image, text, video and audio content. Portfolio development emphasizes conceptualization and reflection in new media contexts.
Lab, 4 hours per week.
Restriction: open to IASC (single or combined) majors until date specified in Registration guide.
Note: enrolment limited to 24 students. Materials fee required. Students must supply any additional materials and equipment.
Programming for Interactive Media
(also offered as APCO 1P30)
Introduction to ActionScript and object-oriented programming syntax and usage for classes, functions, properties and events in interactive Flash applications for the web.
Lab, 4 hours per week.
Restriction: open to IASC (single or combined) majors until date specified in Registration guide.
Note: enrolment limited to 24 students. Materials fee required. Students must supply any additional materials and equipment.
Integrity and Literacy in the Information Age
(also offered as APCO 1P50 and COSC 1P50)
Professional issues in computing including historic and social perspectives, legal issues, licensing and copyright, social and ethical issues, professional conduct and information literacy.
Lectures, 3 hours per week; seminar, 2 hours per week.
Note: this course involves seminars and considerable written work. A good command of written and spoken English is required.
Applied Programming
(also offered as APCO 1P93)
Modern software techniques including problem solving and design of effective algorithms, structured program design methodology, subprogram library usage, documentation, correctness, floating-point arithmetic and error analysis.
Lectures, 3 hours per week; lab, 2 hours per week; tutorial, 1 hour per week.
Restriction: not open to COSC (single or combined), BCB, CAST and CNET majors.
Prerequisite(s): APCO 1P00 or 12U mathematics credit.
Introduction to Digital Images, Methods and Concepts
(also offered as STAC 1P95 and VISA 1P95)
Technical foundations of digital images, media methods and concepts including web-based, digital photography, image processing software and printing; foundations of digital media in video, audio and computational production and post-production. Contemporary digital practices within the broader history of visual and media arts.
Lectures, lab, 5 hours per week.
Restriction: open to IASC (single or combined), COMM, COSC (single or combined), STAC, VISA (single or combined) and VISA (Honours) BEd (Intermediate/Senior) majors until date specified in Registration guide.
Prerequisite(s): VISA 1P96 (minimum 60 percent) or permission of instructor.
Note: enrolment limited to 24 students. Materials fee required. Students might need additional materials which they must supply. A prerequisite for all digital media courses.
Foundation Studio
(also offered as VISA 1P96)
Basic aesthetic and conceptual processes that underlie visual art production. Two- and three-dimensional formal principles, fundamental critical issues and stylistic/material development. Examples from historic and contemporary art practice provide context for studio projects and readings.
Lectures, studio work, 5 hours per week.
Restriction: open to VISA (single or combined) and VISA (Honours)/BEd (Intermediate/Senior) majors until date specified in Registration guide. After that date open to IASC (single or combined) majors.
Note: enrolment limited to 18 students. Materials fee required. Students must supply any additional materials. Production and Design Concentration students may register. Contact the Visual Arts Department.
Studio Now: Introduction to Contemporary Practice
(also offered as VISA 1P97)
The making, thinking and language of contemporary art from the perspective of the studio practitioner; dynamics between contemporary art practice and theory. Emphasis on multimedia, alternative or marginal practices, current studio trends and the cultural reception of art.
Lectures, studio work, gallery visits, 5 hours per week.
Restriction: open to VISA (single or combined) and VISA (Honours)/BEd (Intermediate/Senior) majors until date specified in Registration guide. After that date open to IASC (single or combined) majors.
Prerequisite(s): VISA 1P96 (minimum 60 percent).
Note: enrolment limited to 18 students. Materials fee required. Students must supply any additional materials.
Introduction to Visual Culture
(also offered as LART 1Q98 and VISA 1Q98)
Concepts of art, its vocabulary, structure and varied cultural contexts. Problems of meaning, visual perception and formal structure of the visual arts, functions of art in contemporary society, the function of galleries and museums, and the role of patrons and critics. Contemporary critical methodology.
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours week.
Note: no studio work. Materials fee required.
Completion of this course will replace previous assigned grade and credit obtained in GBLS 1Q98.
Introduction to the History of Western Art
(also offered as LART 1Q99 and VISA 1Q99)
Analysis of key monuments and the prerequisite technology, as well as various ways of looking at the visual past and present. Focus on the visual arts from prehistory through the early 20th century.
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours week.
Note: no studio work. Materials fee required.
Completion of this course will replace previous assigned grade and credit obtained in GBLS 1Q99.
Discourses and Practice in Interactive Games
Key concepts in gameplay and narratology. Examination of interaction design based on usability and human factors. Analysis of interactive and video games from cultural and social perspectives.
Seminar, lab, 4 hours per week.
Restriction: open to IASC (single or combined) majors until date specified in Registration guide.
Prerequisite(s): IASC 1F00 (minimum 60 per cent) or permission of instructor.
Foundations of Geomatics
(also offered as ERSC 2P07 and GEOG 2P07)
Introduction to spatial, metric, graphic and other concepts common to cartography, photogrammetry, remote sensing and geographic information systems (GIS). Properties of maps and air photos and satellite imagery. Principles of map compilation and design. Practical experience in computer mapmaking, image interpretation and GIS analysis.
Lectures, lab, field work, 4 hours per week.
Restriction: open to IASC, ERSC (single or combined) and GEOG (single or combined), GEOG (Honours)/BEd (Intermediate/Senior) majors until date specified in Registration guide.
Prerequisite(s): one of ERSC 1F01 (1F95), GEOG 1F90, 1F91 or permission of the instructor.
Media Tools for Interactivity
Exploration of real-time graphical programming environment for audio, video and graphical processing using patcher programming languages such as Pure Data and Max/MSP. User-centred interaction with systems through tactile, aural and visual senses using sensors and actuators.
Lab, 4 hours per week.
Restriction: open to IASC (single or combined) majors and minors until date specified in Registration guide.
Prerequisite(s): IASC 1F00 (minimum 60 per cent); one of IASC 1P00, 1P10, 1P30, 1P93.
Note: enrolment limited to 24 students. Materials fee required. Students must supply any additional materials and equipment.
Revolutions in Communication
(also offered as HIST 2P25)
Major developments in the history of communication from the invention of writing until the modern information age.
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.
Restriction: open to IASC (single or combined), HIST (single or combined), HIST (Honours)/BEd (Intermediate/Senior) majors and minors until date specified in Registration guide.
Persuasive Discourse: Theoretical Foundations
(also offered as ENGL 2P28 and WRIT 2P28)
Classical foundations, historical developments and contemporary theory. Includes the relation of language use to cultural practices, ethics, identity and power. Analysis of various genres of texts and persuasive writing in popular culture and mass media.
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.
Prerequisite(s): one credit from IASC 1F00, COMM 1F90, ENGL 1(alpha)90 to 1(alpha)99, WRIT 1(alpha)80 to 1(alpha)99 or permission of the instructor.
Great Myths in Literature and Art
(also offered as CLAS 2P50)
Most influential myths in Greek and Latin literature and in ancient art, emphasizing continuity of themes and images. Selected readings in major genres of poetry and prose. Selected works of painting and sculpture.
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.
Prerequisite(s): CLAS 1P95 and 1P97.
Representing the World in Modern Fiction
(also offered as ENGL 2P57)
Major modes in the representation of human experience in modern fiction: romance, realism, modernism and postmodernism. Novels and short stories.
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.
Prerequisite(s): IASC 1F00, one ENGL credit numbered 1(alpha)90 to 1(alpha)99 or permission of the instructor.
Web 2.0 Content, Construction, Collaboration
(also offered as APCO 2P60)
Context and topics in web-based interactive environments, communities and social networks designed for sharing content, user interaction and collective intelligence. Blogs, videoblogs and vodcasts; peer 2 peer and consumer 2 consumer; RSS, agents and recommender systems; social networks; online communities and virtual environments; tagging, bookmarking; wikis; mashups; collaborative and open source software and working environments.
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.
Introduction to Literary Theory
(also offered as ENGL 2P70)
Approaches to meaning and interpretation in the contemporary study of literature.
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.
Prerequisite(s): IASC 1F00, one ENGL credit numbered 1(alpha)90 to 1(alpha)99 or permission of the instructor.
Internet Technologies
(also offered as APCO 2P89 and COSC 2P89)
Concepts and techniques for building and maintaining advanced interactive Web sites. Topics include XML and SGML, database connectivity and forms handling, basic animation, graphics optimization for the Web, scripting, advanced searching and Web design for accessibility.
Lectures, 3 hours per week; lab/seminar, 2 hours per week.
Prerequisite(s): IASC 1P00 (minimum 60 percent) and 1P01 (minimum 60 percent), or COSC 1P03 (minimum 60 percent).
Computer-Mediated Communication
(also offered as COMM 2P90)
Nature of computer-mediated communication (CMC) and its role in social, educational and interpersonal contexts. Introduction to technology and methodologies essential to explore the potential of CMC.
Lectures, 3 hours per week.
Prerequisite(s): IASC 1F00, COMM 1F90 or permission of the instructor.
Hypertext: Reading and Writing in New Spaces
(also offered as COMM 2P91)
Theory, philosophy and politics of Hypertext as a communicative mode. Topics include critical theory in a Hypertext context, changing perceptions of reader narrative, new forms of Hypertext fiction and Hypertext compared with other electronic textuality.
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.
Prerequisite(s): IASC 2P90 or permission of the instructor.
Critical Practice in the Fine and Performing Arts
(also offered as STAC 2P93)
Interdisciplinary approach to key ideas about music, art, dance and drama through critical readings and guided exposure to selected public fine and performing art events. Exploration of issues in aesthetics and criticism using varied theoretical approaches.
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.
Prerequisite(s): one of IASC 1F00, DART 1F93, MUSI 1F10, VISA 1Q98 and 1Q99.
Note: event attendance is required; events fees required.
Completion of this course will replace previous assigned grade and credit obtained in STAC 2F90.
Embodied Text: Art Beyond the Artifact
(also offered as STAC 2P94)
Consideration of the ways that art functions outside the conventions associated with words, texts, paintings and scores. Creative process and projects that put into practice musical, visual, movement and theatre vocabularies through the exploration of spatial/temporal/aesthetic/embodied forms of art in performance.
Seminar, workshop, 4 hours per week.
Prerequisite(s): IASC 2P93 (STAC 2F90) or permission of the instructor.
Introduction to Web-based Interactive Media
(also offered as APCO 2P95, COMM 2P95, STAC 2P95 and VISA 2P95)
Basic technical and design foundations of web-based media production, including image processing, interactive web design and multimedia production. Locates contemporary digital practices within the broader history of cultural production, tracing developments in technology and media arts.
Seminar, lab, 5 hours per week.
Restriction: open to IASC (single or combined), COMM, VISA (single or combined) and VISA (Honours)/BEd (Intermediate/Senior) majors until date specified in Registration guide.
Prerequisite(s): one of IASC 1F00, APCO 2P89, COMM 1F90, VISA 1P97.
Note: enrolment limited to 24 students. Materials fee required. Students might need additional materials and equipment, which they must supply.
Introduction to 3D Modelling and Animation
(also offered as COSC 2P96 and VISA 2P96)
Concepts and skills of 3D modelling and rendering. Approaches to building models, using texturizing, lighting, cameras and rendering as well basic animation techniques. Relevant historic and theoretical perspectives on 3D and virtuality situating 3D within creative process and broader critical practices in cultural production.
Seminar, lab, 5 hours per week.
Restriction: open to VISA (single or combined) and VISA (Honours)/BEd (Intermediate/Senior) majors until date specified in Registration guide.
Prerequisite(s): one of IASC 1F00, 4.0 COSC credits, VISA 1P97.
Note: enrolment limited to 24 students. Materials fee required. Students must supply any additional materials and equipment.
Digital Video Art
(also offered as VISA 2P97)
Concepts of basic videography and its applications within conceptual and aesthetic studio practice. Camerawork, composition and lighting; digital video and audio editing, special effects, composing, text and titling; and DV output. Critical analysis of recent and contemporary film and video practices.
Lectures, lab, 5 hours per week.
Restriction: open to VISA (single or combined) and VISA (Honours)/BEd (Intermediate/Senior) majors until date specified in Registration guide.
Prerequisite(s): IASC 1F00, VISA 1P97 (minimum 60 percent) or permission of the instructor.
Note: enrolment limited to 18 students. Materials fee required. Students must supply any additional materials and equipment.
Introduction to Sound Design
(also offered as VISA 2P99)
Approaches to the conceptualization and production of sound recording, notation, field-recording, foley arts, soundtrack production, experimental music and performance.
Lectures, lab, 5 hours per week.
Restriction: open to VISA (single or combined) majors until date specified in Registration guide.
Prerequisite(s): IASC 1F00, 2P97 or permission of the instructor.
Note: enrolment limited to 18 students. Materials fee required. Students must supply any additional materials and equipment.
Imagining Immersive Worlds
Critical approaches and cultural discourse on virtuality, immersion and simulation. Topics may include impact of virtual worlds on identity, play, and stories; developing game/simulation in a virtual environment focusing on process.
Seminar, lab, 4 hours per week.
Restriction: open to IASC (single or combined) majors and minors until date specified in Registration guide.
Prerequisite(s): IASC 2F00 (minimum 60 per cent) and one IASC credit numbered 2(alpha)00 or above.
Note: enrolment is limited to 24 students. Materials fee is required. Students must supply any additional materials and equipment.
Survey of Humanities Computing
(also offered as HIST 3F90)
Research and concepts associated with the emerging discipline of humanities computing. Topics may include use of computer games in the humanities, hypertext design and delivery and current theory treating the use of multimedia as an instrument for expression.
Seminar, 3 hours per week.
Restriction: open to students who have completed 10.0 overall credits.
Note: enrolment limited to 20 students.
Interdisciplinary Workshop
(also offered as DART 3F96 and VISA 3F96)
Advanced studio workshop in interdisciplinary studio practices, including video, performance, audio and conceptual art, including interventions and other time-based or experimental media. Projects involve collaboration and investigation of alternatives for public dissemination of artworks.
Lectures, studio work, reading, movement exercises, off-campus projects, 5 hours per week.
Prerequisite(s): one credit from VISA 2P95, 2P96, 2P97, 2P98, (2F96), 2P99 or permission of the instructor.
Note: enrolment limited to 18 students. Materials fee required. Students must supply any additional materials. Several field trips are organized outside of the regular course meeting time. Students participating in field trips are expected to pay their own expenses.
Visual Studies Abroad
Topics in an area of mutual interest to the student and instructor.
2010-2011: Creative Cities of Culture: New York
(also offered as DART 3M07, STAC 3M07 and VISA 3M07)
Creative and performance aspects of New York City and environs. Emphasis on the urban spectacle, cultural assets and policy, presentation, production, and management. Examination of public space, architecture, cultural generation, and the interaction between artforms, context and the city.
Restriction: permission of the Studies in Arts and Culture Director.
Prerequisite(s): one STAC credit; one credit from DART, MUSI, VISA or permission of the instructor.
Note: students are expected to pay their own expenses.
Media Transformations in the Creative Arts
(also offered as STAC 3P01 and VISA 3P01)
The trajectory and influences of new media on the development of and discourses in 20th century and contemporary creative production including the arts, broadcast, film, video and electronic arenas such as the internet, games and interactive media. Overview of fundamental concepts, practices and language. Consideration of aesthetics, production, script and story, direction, authorship, collaborative process and distribution.
Lectures, 3 hours per week.
Prerequisite(s): two IASC, COMM, ENGL, STAC, VISA or WRIT credits or permission of the instructor.
Geographic Information Systems
(also offered as ERSC 3P05 and GEOG 3P05)
Principles and use of computer-based systems for capturing, managing, manipulating, analysing and displaying data relating to the Earth's surface, emphasizing raster applications. Practical work using Idrisi.
Lectures, lab, 5 hours per week.
Restriction: open to IASC (single or combined), GEOG (single or combined), GEOG (Honours)/BEd (Intermediate/Senior) and ERSC (single or combined) majors until date specified in Registration guide.
Prerequisite(s): IASC 2P07 or permission of the instructor.
Expanded Video Process and Production
(also offered as STAC 3P10 and VISA 3P10)
Practical and conceptual strategies in moving image production using digital video capture, other time-based media and emerging technologies. Contextualization in contemporary discourses. Script, location, directing actors, sequence, production design, planning and process, editing and effects.
Lectures, studio work, 5 hours per week.
Restriction: open to VISA (single or combined) until the date specified in Registration guide. Students must have a minimum of 8.0 overall credits.
Prerequisite(s): two IASC, STAC or VISA credits or permission of the instructor.
Note: enrolment limited to 18 students. Material fees required. Students must supply any additional materials
Dramatic Creation for Contemporary Cultural Practice
(also offered as DART 3P14, STAC 3P14 and VISA 3P14)
Components of dramatic story. Understanding character, dramatic action, structure, direction, improvisation, tempo, rhythm, voice and body potential. Theory and practical application in projects for creators in the arts, media and film.
Seminar, workshop 3 hours per week.
Prerequisite(s): two IASC, COMM, DART, STAC or VISA credits or permission of the instructor.
Note: enrolment limited to 18 students. Materials fee required. Students must supply any additional materials.
Students will not receive earned credit for STAC 3P14 if DART 2F92, 3P92 or 3P53 have been successfully completed.
Social and Political Aspects of Digital Gaming
(also offered as COMM 3P26 and PCUL 3P26)
Critical investigation of digital gaming, particularly of the interrelationships between communication, media, computing and software development.
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.
Restriction: students must have a minimum of 9.0 overall credits or permission of the instructor.
Prerequisite(s): IASC 2F00 or COMM 2P20.
Rhetorical Analysis
(also offered as ENGL 3P28 and WRIT 3P28)
Analysis of literary and non-literary texts using categories, insights and practices of classical and contemporary rhetorical studies. Texts include poetry, fiction, drama, journalism, scientific and political writing, and advertising. Attention to the rhetoric of public spaces, issues of social justice, and the building and maintenance of human communities.
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.
Prerequisite(s): two IASC or ENGL credits, one WRIT credit numbered 2(alpha)00 or above or permission of the instructor.
Contemporary Literature in English
(also offered as ENGL 3P39)
The postmodern period emphasizing the forms, approaches and cultural responses that have characterized writing in English in the later 20th century.
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.
Prerequisite(s): one of IASC 2P57 and 2P70, two ENGL credits numbered 2(alpha)00 to 2(alpha)99 or permission of the instructor.
Video Games in the Classroom
(also offered as EDUC 3P62)
Research and current issues related to the integration of video games and other interactive new media technologies into the elementary and secondary school instructional program.
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.
Restriction: open to students with a minimum of 6.0 overall credits.
Advanced Topics in Digital Culture
(also offered as COMM 3P90)
Explorations of topics such as virtual communities, cyber-identity/identities and cyber-spirituality.
Lectures, lab, seminar, 4 hours per week.
Prerequisite(s): IASC 2P90 or permission of the instructor.
Technology and Culture
(also offered as COMM 3P92 and PCUL 3P92)
Exploration of mutually productive relationships among cultural practices and technologies, using historical and contemporary examples.
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.
Prerequisite(s): one of IASC 1F00, COMM 2P20, 2P21 or permission of the instructor.
Introduction to Human Computer Interaction
(also offered as APCO 3P94 and COSC 3P94)
Human factors in the design and support of computing systems. Design methodologies such as GOMS, TAGs and Task Analysis. Design principles relating to various interaction paradigms.
Lectures, 3 hours per week; lab/seminar, 2 hours per week.
Prerequisite(s): two credits from IASC (minimum 60 percent), APCO (minimum 60 percent), COSC (minimum 60 percent) or permission of the instructor.
Internship in Interactive Media
Part-time internship in a business related to interactive media or the gaming industry.
Tutorial, 1 hour per week, plus internship placement time.
Restriction: open to IASC (single or combined) majors with permission of the instructor.
Note: enrolment will be limited to the number of placements available. Students will be required to submit a project setting the internship experience within a theoretical framework.
Innovations in Advanced Digital Media
(also offered as STAC 3P96 and VISA 3P96)
Introduction to advanced interactive media concepts and visualization technologies. Design and workflow issues and integration of visual effects and 3D animations with live action media. May include motion capture, 3D and 2D animation, HD, 2K and 4K live action video and 3D graphics software.
Seminar, 3 hours per week.
Interactive Media Portfolio
Cumulative portfolio that presents and reflects upon individual and team work (process and completed productions) developed through Interactive Arts and Science program.
Lab, 4 hours per week.
Restriction: open to IASC (single or combined) majors with a minimum of 10.0 overall credits.
Prerequisite(s): IASC 3F00.
Note: enrolment limited to 15 students. Materials fee required. Students must supply any additional materials and equipment.
Directed Studies
Program of study through research and readings designed in consultation with the faculty member directing the course.
Restriction: open to IASC (single or combined) majors with a minimum 10.0 overall credits or approval of the Director.
Note: arrangements must be made with the Director prior to registration.
Directed Project
Interactive media project with directed readings designed in consultation with the faculty member directing the course.
Restriction: open to IASC (single or combined majors with a minimum 10.0 overall credits or approval of the Director.
Note: arrangements must be made with the Director prior to registration.
Innovations in Advanced Digital Media
(also offered as STAC 3Q90 and VISA 3Q90)
Introduction to advanced interactive media concepts and visualization technologies. Design and workflow issues and integration of visual effects and 3D animations with live action media. May include motion capture, 3D and 2D animation, HD, 2K and 4K live action video and 3D graphics software.
Seminar, 3 hours per week.
Special Studies in the Visual and Perfoming Arts
Topics in an area of interest to the student and instructor.
Team-based Practicum in Interactive Media Design and Production
Principles and methodologies around interactive design; interface design and information design in relation to the conceptualization, planning and production of an interactive multimedia project taking into account diverse and complementary roles of writing, narrative structure, play mechanics, and the creation and integration of visual and audio elements.
Seminar, lab, 5 hours per week.
Restriction: open to IASC majors with a minimum of 14.0 overall credits and a minimum 75 percent major average and permission of the instructor and the Chair.
Note: enrolment limited to 20 students. Materials fee required. Students must supply any additional materials
Topics in History and Computing
(also offered as HIST 4F30)
Historians' use of the computer to support interpretation, expression and teaching. Material presented through readings and an applied exercise: 3D model construction. Use of photographs, maps and 3D modelling software to generate models of historic buildings.
Note: no programming or software experience required.