Courses and topics

ARTS 130 – Athletes and Icons

This course adopts a historical perspective to study several of the world's most famous athletes. Using biography to explore iconic figures in various professional sports, students will investigate the cultural ascendance of athletic superstars and their influence on both sport and society.  

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ARTS 130 – Beyond Borders: The Adventure

This comprehensive course on culture shock explores its dimensions, theories, and effects. Through engaging activities like discussions, debates, and immersive projects, you will apply theories to practical scenarios. Emphasis on coping strategies, communication skills, and cultural understanding equips you for adaptability in diverse cultural contexts, fostering global competence.

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ARTS 130 – Capitalist Realism?

In this course, students will learn to recognize, define, and reflect on the relationship between economics and social agency in late-capitalism and develop an understanding of the role of consumer culture and liberalism in the contemporary world.

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ARTS 130 – Colour Theory

This course will immerse students in the exploration of colour and its application in various fields. Through theory, colour-mixing, and the practical application of concepts into our every day, we will gain a deeper understanding of colours' psychological and emotional impact, and its role in visual communication, design, art, and more.

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ARTS 130 – Consent and Commitment

This course will explore intimate romantic relationships: consent for sexual activity and commitment to remain with a partner. Although we will use interdisciplinary methods to answer some of the questions about these topics, our primary theoretical focus is attention to language use through elementary discourse analysis and strategies for effective communication about these topics.

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ARTS 130 – Conspiracy and Fake News

Conspiracy theories are an expression of the social anxieties, fears, and in some instances desires of individuals in their relationship with the modern state and the public sphere. Through an interdisciplinary examination of the role of hoaxes, conspiracy theories, and fake news, both historical and contemporary, we will examine the social and historical reasons that allow these ideas to take hold and seem believable.

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ARTS 130 – Ethics of Belief

The ethics of belief investigates the nature and norms of belief. What are beliefs, and what does it mean to believe responsibly? Are beliefs private or public? We will consider whether science, philosophy, culture, tradition, or religion can provide adequate grounds or guidance for our beliefs.

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ARTS 130 – Friendship: Relationships of C

Aristotle claimed that no one would choose to live without friends. Friendships make our lives sweet, but specific friends come and go. And hardly any of us really know what we mean when we call someone a "friend." Some of us may worry that our modern, technological world inhibits the formation of deep friendships, but others will celebrate the fact that we can remain connected to those friends we would have lost before the digital era. This course, then, will examine various perspectives on friendship, allowing students to develop their own ideas in tension with some of the classic texts on friendship. Our inquiry into friendship will, necessarily, be personal, but we will also consider friendship as more than a private relationship, but possibly as a necessary condition for a sustainable and participatory democracy.

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ARTS 130 – Ghosts, Cults, and End Times

The paranormal, cults, and end time prophecies are salacious, scary, and at times reflective of the social milieux in which they develop. These ideas and beliefs are concepts that are prevalent cross-culturally, including our own Western culture, although they are often dismissed in academia, they can provide a lens through which to observe and learn about the past and contemporary times. Using mixed methods, this course will examine the rise of paranormal experiences and beliefs, cults, and end times prophecies, through media consumption, oral history, and pop culture. The role of mass media and pop culture will be analyzed to understand how they shape perceptions and attitudes towards new religious movements, ghost hunting, tales of Cryptids, and cults.

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ARTS 130 – How Should We be Working?

Note: This section is partially reserved for students co-registered at St. Jerome's.

Work is something that we are going to be doing for most of our lives. Consequently, it is crucial to read, discuss, research, and write about how we might make our working lives as productive, fulfilling, and enjoyable as possible by asking how much control should we have over the work we do, how many types of "jobs" should we be doing, who should be the ones doing the work, what conditions should we work in, and how long should we be working?

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ARTS 130 – Humans & the Non-Human World

Humans are the animals that have forgotten they are animals. We live in a complex community of diverse species (humans, mammals, birds, insects, plants, and trees), and yet we have come to think only of our human selves. This course explores the narratives and perceptions that inform our interspecies relationships. 

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ARTS 130 – Improvisation

The theory and practice of spontaneity! From comedy, to music, to dance, to literature, this course will teach students to identify improvisational techniques across disciplines.

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ARTS 130 – Intersecting Identity & Image

Note: This section is fully reserved for online students.

Students are asked to consider the relationship between images and the way that we think about ourselves and each other. How might popular culture and other image-based sources help “mediate” our identities, and what impact might it have on our everyday lives?

Delivery mode: Online

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ARTS 130 – Language Matters

The section "Language Matters" engages students in the exploration of the power of language. It highlights the dual (cognitive and social) nature of language and enhances students' social awareness, ethical judgment, and communication competencies. It motivates students to reflect upon their discursive practices and helps them identify the ways to advance their academic skills.

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ARTS 130 – Mindtools to Maximize Memory

Understand the most important skill in today's world: learning how to learn. This course is a condensed guide to memory techniques that provide an optimal state of performance and productivity. The goal is to have students learn about, and apply, cognitive techniques that are based in years of psychological research. 

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ARTS 130 – Nonbinary Digital Storytelling

With a focus on interactive fiction and games, in this course we will examine how binaries–either-or concepts, comparisons and conditions–shape our lives and experiences. We will read and play works by queer and racialized artists as we learn to critique these binaries, as well as adopt creative tools to author our own digital stories.

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ARTS 130 – Performing Listening

Description coming soon.

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ARTS 130 – Reading Race

This course will explore the representation of race in Canadian newspapers to determine the ways that the mainstream media perpetuate racist stereotypes while positioning Canada as a multicultural and racially harmonious society.  We will also examine counter-narratives that resist these representations and challenge perceptions of Canada as an inclusive nation.

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ARTS 130 – Scary Teachings: Indigenous Horror

Note: This section is partially reserved for students co-registered at St. Jerome's.

In this course we will examine if an engagement with horror genre short stories, novels, and films created by First Nations authors and film makers can provide a path for settle/colonials to meaningfully engage with the work of Reconciliation. In addition to the creative works we will explore, we will be reading from the 2015 Truth and Reconciliation reports.

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ARTS 130 – Social Justice and Social Development

Note: This section is fully reserved for Social Development Studies students and online students.

In this course students will be asked to critically reflect on social justice issues from diverse and multiple perspectives.

Delivery mode: Online

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ARTS 130 – Ten Days that Shook Canada

Focusing on ten different days that forever transformed the history of what is now Canada, this course introduces you to moments of dramatic change across time and space. In conversation with the people of the past, with your peers, and in your course work, you’ll engage with themes and issues still current today.

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ARTS 130 – The Board Game Renaissance

In this course, students will explore the world of game studies and literary text analysis through the lens of modern board gaming. Commercial conditions for board games today are ideal for the production of truly involved and masterful art objects, perfect for demonstrating how play can create a new dimensionality for literary texts, game design, and textual analysis.

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ARTS 130 – The Power of Media

Are you interested in finding out how the media impacts your views? How it sways you into favouring one news interpretation over another? In this course, we will explore how the media establishes and maintains power structures by promoting certain ideologies, and how our own opinions are frequently shaped by these ideologies. We will also look at media platforms and their potential for exercising agency, with the goal to strengthen your critical media literacy skills.

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ARTS 130 – What are you saying? (EMLS)

Note: This section is only open to learners of English as an additional language. It is an English for Multi-Lingual Speakers (EMLS) section.

What you say and how you say it is determined by more than just your own ideas. Come explore how social, global, and local influences affect your communication.

ARTS 140 – 90s Pop Culture

The bright promises of Star Trek, the satire of The Simpsons, Oprah’s therapeutic morality, Nirvana's social criticisms. The 1990s were a time of unbridled optimism in tech innovation, social equality, and belief in progress–but like anything gilded, when we scratch the surface we find hidden realities. Through the venues of popular television, film, and music, this course explores the key cultural media trends of the era and how they help to explain our own current predicaments. Together in a constructive seminar, let’s learn about 1990s gender dynamics, images of Indigeneity, representations of Black life, political culture, utopian and dystopian machinations, satire, and the anatomy of alt-rock and other popular contemporary music of the "go-go 90s".

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ARTS 140 – Blueprints for Progress 

Note: This section is partially reserved for students co-registered at St. Jerome's.

Ideologies provide a picture of what society should be like and outline the means for moving from where we are to where we need to go. Topics include capitalism, Marxism, Nazism, conservatism, radical Islam, feminism, racism, colonialism, and environmentalism and how they have shaped our societies and our personalities.

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ARTS 140 – Can We Measure Originality?

Can we quantify Shakespeare's literary talent? How innovative are the films of Christopher Nolan? Is originality a fact or a value? This course explores the dynamic between cultural innovation and tradition and the data behind it.

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ARTS 140 – Cannabis Culture

This course investigates the budding culture surrounding cannabis in modern society and the impact it has at both macro and micro levels. Students taking this course will develop information and analysis skills through the exploration of cross-disciplinary concepts like identity, behaviour, and relationships, in relation to our discussion of cannabis.

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ARTS 140 – Culture Decoded

In our increasingly interconnected world, understanding and navigating cultural differences is not just a valuable skill but a necessity. "Culture Decoded" is a transformative course designed to unravel the complexities of global diversity, focusing on the exploration of cultural differences and codes that shape societies around the world.

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ARTS 140 – Diasporas and Food Cultures

Over the last two centuries, globalization and the migration of communities have made available a medley of new foods available to the public. This course looks at how diasporas and the movement of cuisines have transformed the global food market and the dietary patterns of people.

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ARTS 140 – Engineering Consent

You may feel in charge, but how do you know? Engineering Consent explores the untold and controversial history of corporations and politicians and their use of psychoanalysis, to market individualism and desire to shape modern society to their interests during the 20th century: The Century of the Self.

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ARTS 140 – Ethics and AI

Imagine you apply for a bank loan and are denied for reasons that can't be explained to you and despite your dedication to paying your bills on time, you cannot make an appeal. Is that fair? How can an algorithm be held accountable for mistaking a cancer diagnosis? The number of ethical problems that arise in applications of artificial intelligence are growing all the time. This course will be an investigation in moral inquiry, considering ways that artificial intelligence is impacting our contemporary way of life. 

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ARTS 140 – Everyone’s A Detective

With ever-present surveillance, online data-mining, and a 24 hour news cycle, it seems like anyone can be a detective. This class also aims to critically examine our cultural imperative for more knowledge, our notions of the criminal/victim, and the scientific discoveries and technological inventions which have made our armchair detecting possible.

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ARTS 140 – Feminist Disability Studies

In this course we’ll delve into the newly burgeoning field of feminist disability studies, an intersectional framework for understanding the workings of power and privilege upon bodies that have been marked as “other” against an imaginary norm. Class discussions will engage with the following topics: medicalization of bodies, resistance to normative understandings of the body, ableism, chronic illness, issues of representation, eugenics and state violence, disability rights and justice, and access and accommodation. Our classroom environment will prioritize care of our bodyminds and encourage open and gentle communication with each other.

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ARTS 140 – From Polar Bears to Bumblebees

Throughout this course, we will delve into the fascinating world of data analysis and effective communication, with a specific focus on the intricate relationship between biodiversity and the economic impact of endangered species. We will explore various research design principles, data collection techniques, quantitative and qualitative data analysis methods, as well as the art of presenting findings in clear and compelling ways. By the end of this journey, you will not only possess a deeper understanding of the importance of data and information analysis but also the ability to critically evaluate research, generate insights, and effectively communicate your findings to diverse audiences.

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ARTS 140 – Generative AI and You

We're going to look at how Generative AI tools work; where they succeed and where they fail; where they can fit into our lives and where we should keep them out; where they can help us and where they can hurt us. 

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ARTS 140 – Homelessness and Addiction

Central to this Arts First seminar will be an understanding of the role of the historical, political and economic influences of addiction and homelessness–particularly structural violence and social suffering in creating and enabling the very possibilities for drug addiction, poverty and homelessness.

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ARTS 140 – How the Sausage is Made: An Exploration of What and How We Eat

We all gotta eat! And yet, we often have very different opinions and views on food. This course is an exploration of how and what we eat. Topics we will cover include comfort foods, recipes, food markets and marketing, dietary movements, food accessibility and insecurity, culinary sustainability, and the future of food. As we examine various genres that explore what we feed our bodies, we will investigate how information, methods of analysis, and communication in various food industries create knowledge (and influence consumer attitudes) about our food. By gaining skills to assess, examine, and evaluate both qualitative and quantitative data, we will use these skills to reconsider our own perspectives on how and what we should eat.

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ARTS 140 – Irrational Economics

This class explores the insights that behavioural economics holds for understanding personal and collective decision-making across a wide range of areas that impact our lives, using experiences of decision-making as a vehicle for understanding the influence of perceptions about facts and information.

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ARTS 140 – Social Change and Social Development

Note: This section is fully reserved for Social Development Studies students and online students.

Drawing on the work of social theorists, activists, artists, film-makers, writers, poets, and pop icons, this course asks: How can everyday people work together to effect social change? Through experiential learning and a case study approach, students will explore the possibility of turning social justice goals into action.

Delivery mode: Online

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ARTS 140 – The American Impact on Canada

The course is an examination of the impact the US has had on Canadian politics, society, culture, political culture, nationalism and economic development from the late 1700s to the present.

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ARTS 140 – The Economics of Information

Note: This section is fully reserved for online students.

Information – who knows what, and whether what they know is true – influences the gains that people receive from economic exchange. This course examines how information affects the distribution and equity of social outcomes, and the ways that societies can use what is known about these effects to improve prosperity.

Delivery mode: Online

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ARTS 140 – The Economics of Luxury

What is a luxury? Is the idea of luxury different from person to person? Can anyone start a luxury business? What does it mean for something to be called luxury? Discuss these questions and more in The Economics of Luxury! Students will delve deep into the theory of luxury economics. Students will expand their understanding of how luxury businesses are different from standard businesses and how they must be managed accordingly. Economic models of luxury firms and how they fit into our society will be explored.

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ARTS 140 – The Study of Comics

Note: This section is partially reserved for students co-registered at St. Jerome's.

Students will cultivate an understanding of broad research methods through the analysis and exploration of the specific history, context, and practice surrounding the comics artform and the parallel evolution of the field of comics studies.

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ARTS 140 – To steal or not to steal?

Are you intrigued by the advantages of qualitative methods of inquiry for sociology and criminology? In proposing a study of crime and deviance as any other human activity that bears a complex relationship to broader processes of media representation, consumption, and identity production, Cultural Criminology demands that researchers place themselves in situations that often challenge their emotional, moral, and ethical footholds.  In this course we will look at the theory and practice of Cultural Criminology to critically evaluate its approach to the study of crime and emotion, the media, consumerism, and/or identity construction. 

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ARTS 140 – Understanding What Isn’t Said

Students will learn to use qualitative and quantitative tools to measure and analyze verbal and nonverbal communication in the domains of message, relationship, space, and time. We will explore taxonomies to categorize different kinds of communication mishaps using different communication channels and media. Course includes a $50 materials fee. 

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ARTS 140 – Video Game Research Methods

Videogames are more than just a hobby; games are complex social, cultural, and political texts worth studying. Approaching game studies through both humanities and social science methodologies, students will analyze their findings to come to meaningful conclusions about the games that surround many of us. You don’t have to be a “gamer” to do well in this class; you just have to want to know more about them.

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ARTS 140 – What Is Mental Health?

We constantly hear about the importance of mental health and our need to “manage” it. But what do we mean by mental health? Is it something identifiable and quantifiable? Why has it become so important for describing our lives and experiences in the 21st century? This course will trace some of the history of the concept of mental health, as well as adjacent concepts like wellness, self-care, optimization and “the good life.” We will look at notions of health in history and map some of the ways that this notion has changed over time, in particular since modernity. We will also critically examine the ways that this notion shows up in modern culture, often in dubious ways as a means of exploiting our fears and insecurities and selling products in the name of wellness and self-optimization.

ARTS 130 – Rebellion to Academic Writing

Are you a rebel? Do you want to ‘unlearn’ what you know about academic writing and ‘relearn’ how to be a scholarly writer? Are you interested in reinventing academic writing? In this course, you will learn about systemic injustices that keep you blind and/or passive against growing your unique voice and style in your academic writing.  You will learn to be a strong, interactive, and critical writer by writing with choices and politics based on your identity.

Delivery mode: Online

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ARTS 130 – Social Justice and Social Development

Note: This section is fully reserved for Social Development Studies students and online students.

In this course students will be asked to critically reflect on social justice issues from diverse and multiple perspectives.

Delivery mode: Online

ARTS 140 – From Polar Bears to Bumblebees: The Economics of Wildlife Conservation

Throughout this course, we will delve into the fascinating world of data analysis and effective communication, with a specific focus on the intricate relationship between biodiversity and the economic impact of endangered species. We will explore various research design principles, data collection techniques, quantitative and qualitative data analysis methods, as well as the art of presenting findings in clear and compelling ways. By the end of this journey, you will not only possess a deeper understanding of the importance of data and information analysis but also the ability to critically evaluate research, generate insights, and effectively communicate your findings to diverse audiences.

Delivery mode: Online

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ARTS 140 – Social Change and Social Development

Note: This section is fully reserved for Social Development Studies students and online students.

Drawing on the work of social theorists, activists, artists, film-makers, writers, poets, and pop icons, this course asks: How can everyday people work together to effect social change? Through experiential learning and a case study approach, students will explore the possibility of turning social justice goals into action.

Delivery mode: Online