In the Department of Communication Arts, we believe that understanding and experiencing the many facets of performance and communication contribute to a rich and complete humanities education. All our programs integrate academic and practical work to produce the best education in our disciplines.
We currently offer three sets of degree programs and one minor: Communication Studies, Theatre and Performance, Communication Arts and Design Practice and Digital Arts Communication. Our faculty pursue distinct and overlapping areas of work encompassing teaching, research, and creative activity in digital arts communication, theatre theory and practice, and communication as the processes by which people create meaning in communities.
Our most recent addition is the Communication Arts and Design Practice degree. In the Department of Communication Arts, we are working towards futures defined by more just forms of relationality among humans, and between humans and our environments. This new program will communicate concepts that can change discourses and lead to differences in institutional and social or public behaviour. This academic plan is committed to rigorous theoretically-informed practice; project-based, interdisciplinary and collaborative pedagogy; and experiential learning. The central aim of this new program is to integrate critically informed creative design practices with theoretical analysis of multimodal forms of representation and public processes of meaning-making.
The Department of Communication Arts acknowledges that we are on the traditional territory of the Attawandaron (also known as the Neutral), Anishinaabeg, and Haudenosaunee peoples. The University of Waterloo is situated on the Haldimand Tract, the land promised to the Six Nations that includes ten kilometres on each side of the Grand River. Our active work toward reconciliation takes place across our campuses through research, learning, teaching, and community building, and is coordinated within the Office of the Indigenous Relations.
News
We are thrilled to welcome Emma Brandt to the Communication Arts Department.
The Department of Communication Arts is thrilled to share that Emma Brandt, an AMTD Global Talent Postdoctoral Fellow, joins us from Northwestern University.
Fall 2024 THPERF Courses
Open enrolment has begun! Now is the perfect time to explore the diverse range of courses offered. Explore our exciting courses this semester! Enhance your communication skills in "Performing the Voice," master behind-the-scenes magic with "Stage Management," dive into global cultural analysis in "Performance History," and create impactful art in "Performance Creation." Don’t miss your chance to enrol and unlock your potential!
Communication Studies is looking for Undergraduate Assistants for upcoming terms!
The Department of Communication Arts is seeking Undergraduate Assistants to provide grading and instructional support in Fall 2024 and Winter 2025. The positions will offer successful candidates opportunities to enhance their communication and critical thinking skills, to learn about post-secondary instruction, to collaborate with Communication Arts faculty members, and to apply many concepts addressed in these courses to their own plans of study.
Events
TH’OWXIYA: The Hungry Feast Dish by Joseph A. Dandurand
From the Kwantlen First Nation village of Squa’lets comes the tale of Th’owxiya, an old and powerful spirit that inhabits a tempting feast dish, full of beautiful foods from around the world. But even surrounded by this delicious food, Th’owxiya herself craves only the taste of children. When she catches a hungry mouse named Kw’at’el stealing a piece of cheese from her dish, she threatens to devour Kw’at’el’s whole family, unless he can bring Th’owxiya two child spirits. Ignorant but desperate, Kw’at’el sets out on an epic journey to fulfill the spirit’s demands. With the help of Sqeweqs (a raven), two Spa:th (two bears) and Sasq’ets (a sasquatch), Kw’at’el endeavours to find gifts that would appease Th’owxiya and save his family.
TH’OWXIYA: The Hungry Feast Dish by Joseph A. Dandurand
From the Kwantlen First Nation village of Squa’lets comes the tale of Th’owxiya, an old and powerful spirit that inhabits a tempting feast dish, full of beautiful foods from around the world. But even surrounded by this delicious food, Th’owxiya herself craves only the taste of children. When she catches a hungry mouse named Kw’at’el stealing a piece of cheese from her dish, she threatens to devour Kw’at’el’s whole family, unless he can bring Th’owxiya two child spirits. Ignorant but desperate, Kw’at’el sets out on an epic journey to fulfill the spirit’s demands. With the help of Sqeweqs (a raven), two Spa:th (two bears) and Sasq’ets (a sasquatch), Kw’at’el endeavours to find gifts that would appease Th’owxiya and save his family.
TH’OWXIYA: The Hungry Feast Dish by Joseph A. Dandurand
From the Kwantlen First Nation village of Squa’lets comes the tale of Th’owxiya, an old and powerful spirit that inhabits a tempting feast dish, full of beautiful foods from around the world. But even surrounded by this delicious food, Th’owxiya herself craves only the taste of children. When she catches a hungry mouse named Kw’at’el stealing a piece of cheese from her dish, she threatens to devour Kw’at’el’s whole family, unless he can bring Th’owxiya two child spirits. Ignorant but desperate, Kw’at’el sets out on an epic journey to fulfill the spirit’s demands. With the help of Sqeweqs (a raven), two Spa:th (two bears) and Sasq’ets (a sasquatch), Kw’at’el endeavours to find gifts that would appease Th’owxiya and save his family.