This course looks at issues at play in the work of individual artists and art movements in the first half of the twentieth century. Lectures and class discussions will contextualize art-making and its theorization in a framework of the effects of modernization (i.e. urbanization, industrialization, and global capitalism). Significant themes to be addressed include the character and history of the avant-garde, the effects of mass culture, the changing identities and aims of the artist, and the relation of art to politics. The course is not intended as an all-inclusive survey, but rather an introduction to the complex set of aesthetic, philosophical and political concerns in which select figures produced art at the time.

This course is subject to priority rules; see here.

This course guides students through a series of theoretical engagements to promote their abilities to articulate subject positions in support of creative practice. The course draws on a contemporary survey of unique theoretical references to investigate an interrelated set of concerns that includes: language, signification, representation, history, ideology, epistemologies, ontologies, difference, emergence, technology, and new conceptions of ecology. Students are challenged to engage course resources in terms of their own life experiences and to discover ways in which they can theorize their environments as creative practitioners.

This course is subject to priority rules; see here.

This course introduces students to contemporary forms and practices of creative writing. Focusing on each individual, the workshop will foster the development of skill in writing poetry, fiction, and drama. Through a series of examples, exercises, and critiques, students will develop their understanding and abilities in narrative, lyrical, and dialogic contexts, and will also develop their own voices and a portfolio of work. The course will also encourage the exploration of text in other media.

This studio course offers students the opportunity to collaborate on a directed studies project initiated by a public interest organization such as a non-profit community group, charity, or a Non-Governmental Organization (an NGO). Projects may include websites, three-dimensional displays, community art projects, or customized visual presentations which may have elements from every discipline, including English and Critical Studies. Students from all year levels may take this course which models collaboration and vertical learning where knowledge and skills are shared among students, faculty, external research partners, and community group representatives.

Each section of this course runs with a different topic. See here.

These seminars are taught from the viewpoint of a practicing artist, and focus on historical and/or contemporary issues relevant to particular disciplines or subjects. Seminars develop student critical awareness of the content and context of cultural production in relation to a wide range of practices and theories. Students attend lectures and discussion groups; in addition they are required to undertake research, give presentations, complete visual projects, and write papers. Descriptions of specific seminar topics are available by clicking the section hotlink on myEC or through connect.ecuad.ca.

Each section of this course runs with a different topic. See here.

This course is subject to priority rules; see here.

This practice-based academic course brings together students from different areas of specialization who are interested in furthering their understanding of Critical and Cultural Practices. This course is based on a workshop model that will enable students to situate and articulate their own research (performative, conceptual, critical) in relation to larger critical and cultural contexts. Weekly seminars focus on readings and writing projects that are designed to help students to foster critical awareness of the content and context of cultural production in relation to a range of contemporary art practices and theories. Through an exploration of both a broad range of critical + creative practice and textual research students will engage with emergent models of critical inquiry in relation to their own creative-critical practice. In this workshop, students will have the opportunity to articulate key elements of their research through discussions, individual tutorials, peer reviews, presentations, performances and readings that are directed toward the development of final critical projects.

In this six-credit course, students are expected to engage in regular workshops in which they share written work with their classmates and give presentations on key texts or contexts. Students are also expected to meet with the instructor and take on a comprehensive reading list relevant to a practice-based research project. This is a face-to-face course; however, due to the nature of the material and the topics engaged, it is expected that students will also be able to work in an online environment. Descriptions of specific seminar topics will be included with registration information. This course is open to students in all degrees.

This course is subject to priority rules; see here.

The purpose of this studio course is to provide a practice-based learning environment with a focus on Art & Text. Students will explore how text operates within contemporary visual culture and their own art practices. The course offers a framework for examining diverse approaches to text in art, including text-as-image, artworks utilizing the book form, and projects that employ alternative methods of distribution, such as libraries, online databases, hypertext experiments, sound, and writing-based art practices. Through independent text-based art projects, students will engage deeply with text in their work while critically considering current discourse and production within the field.

This course explores the book’s potential to convey artistic concepts through a relationship between form and content, the use of text and image, and notions of sequencing. Students will be introduced to traditional and innovative approaches to book construction, tools, and materials through workshop discussions, critiques, and demonstrations.

This course is subject to priority rules; see here.

This course will bring together students from all areas who are interested in articulating how their work is located within a larger critical, cultural and theoretical context. In a seminar environment, students will be introduced to various research methodologies and will come to a better understanding of what constitutes good critical writing across the disciplines and within various genres. Through discussions, presentations, and readings (provided by both students and faculty), students will learn from their colleagues and develop ideas about their own research as it relates to their art practice and academic studies.

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

This course analyzes narrative and storytelling with a particular focus on serial, time-based, and interactive texts. Students will investigate a variety of dynamic storytelling approaches through the principles of narratology – the study of structures, conventions, and functions of narrative. Students will consider how established approaches to narration, character, world-building, and temporality evolve and shift in the context of serial and dynamic media. Case studies can include fiction and non-fiction serial narratives in print and electronic forms; sound-based and moving-image works; interactive texts; and gaming environments. The relationship between image, text, and sound will be explored across different formats, and the changing role of the reader/viewer/player will be considered. Readings and case studies will trace the evolution, diversification, and innovation in dynamic storytelling, with the goal of giving students a deeper understanding of the compositional choices in their own storytelling practices.

This course is primarily for film, video, illustration, and animation students, but is open to all students who are interested in developing and improving their script-writing skills. Students will learn to develop an idea into a proposal and script that is clear and reflects their vision. Techniques for writing narrative, documentary, and experimental scripts will be practiced and, through exposure to various writing styles and approaches, students will be challenged to activate all their senses and to write to evoke the desired response.

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.