Mounting concerns about a variety of environmental issues, from pollution to global warming to the extinction of species, have begun to inform the practices in art, design and media. Those concerns imply forms of action being taken about those issues. But what ethical assumptions underlie various actions. Is it a concern for human well-being? For animals? For all life? Or, even more broadly, for ecosystems? In other words, which things count ethically? The primary goal of this course is to prepare students to understand and to critically evaluate various ethical perspectives on human beings’ interactions with nature and these perspectives’ applications to environmental issues. An important secondary goal is to provide students with tools to integrate those perspectives into their practice as cultural workers.

The course acknowledges the interdependence of all beings within the ecologies we share. It invites students to explore knowledge about local ecological systems and more-than-human life, and practice earth-informed, place-based, sustainable material creativity. The course uses immersive field approaches to help foster connections with local ecologies, land, water and earth, and beings who reside here. It engages with topics including climate change, habitat degradation and species extinctions, and explores knowledge from fields such as multispecies studies, social and environmental justice, and Indigenous worldviews to inform forward looking creative practice based on care and reciprocity with land and lifeworlds. Students gain knowledge about artists working within this realm. The course consists of outdoor field sessions in local places, workshops, collaborations, seminars, assignments, and projects. Students share their processes and projects in dialogue with their colleagues.

This foundational course introduces students to Indigenous peoples, worldviews, cultures, and ways of knowing through the lens of contemporary Indigenous artists and their cultural expressions. Situated within a basket of Indigenous values, this curriculum privileges Indigenous presence and the gifts that Indigenous cultures have contributed and continue to contribute to the social, ecological, cultural and political fabric of Vancouver, British Columbia and Canada. Through thematic based lessons, presentations, interviews, readings and films, we will trace important moments in Indigenous histories emphasizing the diversity of Indigenous peoples in Canada and North America. This course will also track the impacts of Indigenous-settler relations as they inform our current historical moment and aims at decolonizing our lenses and developing an understanding and validation of a plurality of knowledges and alternative histories. A central tenet of this course is understanding the spirit of place and the importance of the local, and the ways in which place informs us as artists, designers, guests and community members. By fore-fronting place and the land, we are situated, as teachers and learners, in a reciprocal, responsible relationship with the Indigenous ethos of “all my relations.” An integral part of this course will teach Indigenous values through Indigenous material workshops that may include beading, brush-making and working with natural ochres. This course may also include field trips on the land and attending local Indigenous cultural events like powwows or Hoobiyee (New Year Festivals). Indigenous Presence can be taken as an elective in any of the four years of a program. All students are welcome in this course.

Creativity is a part of the day-to-day flourishing of all beings. Humans and other beings creatively problem-solve, produce knowledge and meaning, communicate with others, and play. Human creativity is generated in relation to other life forms; throughout history, other animals, plant-life and mineral bodies have played a central role in how meaning is made in human cultures. This course examines the relationality between humans and other lifeforms. It looks at the physical involvement of other animals in knowledge creation, and how other animals are represented in text, visual and auditory forms. The course asks students to consider how the involvement of other animals in creative processes and their outcomes have consequences for both humans and other animals. Critical thought from a range of disciplines is examined, such as ethics of care, ecofeminism, biology, philosophy, zoosemiotics, ecopoetics, indigenous thought, fiction. The course includes lectures and readings, and students will participate in discussions, presentations and written assignments.

This course focuses on practical hands-on methods for sustainable design. Students will have the opportunity to apply sustainable design strategies to support the development of a product of their choosing, such as their degree project. This course fosters application of a spectrum of approaches including Life Cycle Assessment, product longevity, design for repair, persuasive design, product-service-systems, systems design, design for composting and others.

Priority is given to INDD students in Years 3 and 4. Students outside of the registration priority group may register/waitlist for this course as of the registration rule release date.

This course offers the opportunity to study sustainability from a number of perspectives. Through an examination of specific contexts such as culture, society, economics, social justice, accessibility, technology, and the environment, students will gain a better understanding of the issues and needs as they relate to design practice and the consequences of design action or inaction relative to humanity, nature and culture. Assignments are research-based and integrate with studio activities.