Art Department

This course will introduce students to the art of drawing. Students will become familiar with conventional drawing materials including graphite, charcoal, conté, ink, and pastel. A disciplined daily working practice and routine will develop throughout the course, offering students transferable skills to all their academic pursuits. This course aims to encourage students to engage in further artistic study and life-long learning. Credit will be granted for only one of ART 101 or ART 100. Three credits.

This course will continue students’ development in drawing based on the foundation of Introduction to Drawing I. Students will explore the use of conventional drawing materials and techniques while learning basic colour theory, advanced study of value and subtractive drawing, figure drawing, and abstract representation. An end-of-term self-directed artwork assignment is a summation of the course’s learning outcomes. Credit will be granted for only one of ART 102 or ART 100. Prerequisite: ART 101, or portfolio demonstrating drawing skills. Three credits.

This course focuses on design principles and elements such as unity, balance, repetition, line, shape, and colour. The course provides students with a vocabulary and working knowledge of visual communication. Students develop their visual problem-solving skills and explore their creativity through studio projects and class discussions. Three credits.

This course will afford students the opportunity of working in a variety of art media while exploring techniques, presentations, concept and materials. Projects may include painting, printmaking, sculpture, animation, textiles and more. Students with some prior knowledge of drawing and/or art experience will benefit most from this course. Three credits.

Long before human beings developed written language, we were making works of art. This introductory survey examines art and architecture within the intellectual and social contexts of their historical production. It provides a working knowledge of the history of art from prehistory through Classical Greece and Rome, to the great cathedrals of the Medieval period. Students will begin to develop critical tools for studying visual culture and achieve a deeper understanding of cultural history. Three credits.

This section of the art history survey begins with works of art and architecture of the Italian Renaissance, where new ideas (including the notion of genius) had major repercussions for the cultural and artistic history of subsequent periods, including the Baroque, Romanticism, the 20th century, and our contemporary era. Students will learn new ways of observing and interpreting art, enrich their appreciation of art and architecture, and further deepen their understanding of cultural and intellectual history. Three credits.

It may come as a surprise to the History Channel, but ancient monuments were not built by aliens. Rather, they stand as evidence of the complex societies that existed throughout the ancient world and the goods, ideas and people that connected them. From the Han Dynasty in China to the Roman Empire in Europe to the early trade networks of the Nok in West Africa, the ingenuity, mobility and interconnectedness of premodern cultures will be explored. Credit will be granted for only one of ART 143, HIST 103 or HIST 116. Cross-listed as HIST 103. Three credits.

This course deals with the vocabulary, nature and physical properties of colour: hue, value and intensity. Studio assignments provide practise in learning colour relationships in unified and contrasting colour schemes. Three credits.

This interdisciplinary course develops drawing and observational skills alongside a critical awareness of the role of image-making in knowledge production about the natural world. Students will learn drawing techniques from a studio art instructor and apply them to the study of specimens, under the supervision of a biology instructor. An art history instructor will teach slow looking techniques and the history of collaborations between artists and scientists in the last 500 years. Three credits.

This introductory course will teach students the fundamental principles of representational painting – artworks created through the careful observation from life. Emphasis will be placed on learning techniques of studio painting and brushwork in conjunction with a thorough understanding of the formal qualities of colour: hue, value, and tone. Credit will be granted for only one of ART 204 or ART 200 or ART 299 ST: Intro to Painting. Prerequisites: ART 101, 102. Three credits.

This course is designed for students to further their technical and conceptual skills of representational painting acquired in ART 204. Subjects of increasing complexity are explored, including an investigation into landscape painting, the figure and independently researched topics. Prerequisite: ART 204, or portfolio demonstrating painting skills. Credit will be granted for only one of ART 205 or ART 200 or ART 299 ST: Intro to Painting. Three credits.

This course introduces the copper-foil method of stained glass. Students will create original designs, with encouragement and support to engage with their unique style preferences, perspectives, and cultures. They will learn basic technical skills to complete a two-dimensional stained glass artwork using materials (including coloured, textured glass) and equipment in the studio. Prerequisites: ART 101, 102, 115 or portfolio demonstrating drawing and design skills. Three credits.

In this intermediate-level course in the copper-foil method of stained glass, students will create original designs inspired by their unique style preferences, life experiences, and perspectives. They will build upon and extend the technical skills learned in ART 211 to produce a three-dimensional stained glass art project, such as a lamp. Prerequisite: ART 211 or portfolio demonstrating stained glass design and studio skills. Three credits.

“Batik” is the Javanese name for an ancient and contemporary art form originating in many parts of the world, notably Asia and Africa. Dyes and resist (such as melted wax, mud, or paste) are applied alternately to cloth to create permanent designs. After learning basic skills for mixing dyes and applying wax to cloth, each student will create original artworks in their own style, with encouragement to draw upon their perspective, identity and culture. Prerequisites: ART 101, 102, 115 or portfolio demonstrating drawing and design skills. Three credits.

Tapestry weaving has been practised by cultures around the world for over 2,000 years. In this course, students will first learn the basic techniques of tapestry weaving and later apply them to a small tapestry of their own design. Tapestry-woven cloth plays numerous cross-cultural roles: social, spiritual, political, economic, and artistic. These many facets of tapestry will be explored through a series of videos that highlight cultural traditions and international perspectives. Three credits.

This is a studio drawing course focused on drawing the human portrait. Students will be taught the basic structures and anatomy of the human head and various ways to render the features of the face. Students will develop their drawing skills working from live models and through demonstrations by the instructor. There will be a cultural and historical examination of the use of portraiture throughout the world. Prerequisite: ART 101. Three credits.

This is a hands-on, introductory studio sculpture class with an emphasis on creating vessels and architectural forms, and exploring figurative approaches in clay. Students will be taught the processes of clay sculptural building, including mould-making, plaster-casting, and plasticine. Students will develop and hone hand-eye coordination as well as fine motor skills through tactile 3-D modelling in clay. Prerequisites: ART 101, 102. Three credits.

Students will learn two standard techniques of fine-art printmaking: etching and linocut. Students will gain knowledge of printmaking, its materials and tools by means of instructional demonstrations, hands-on printmaking projects balancing technical knowledge with artistic concept and vision, and the study and in-class presentation of other printmakers’ work. Credit will be granted for only one of ART 233, ART 231, or ART 298 ST: Printmaking. Three credits.

The Indian sub-continent has been a crossroads of people and cultures throughout human history. The resulting material production helped create a state out of a multi-ethnic region and transformed economies and design throughout the globe. Creative production also provided the language to speak back to colonial systems and to shape modern South Asian nation-states. This course examines cultural developments in South Asia beginning with the Mughals in the 16th century and ending in the 1970s. Cross-listed as HIST 235. Three credits.

Students will learn elements of cinematic language, focussing on documentary film: the basic principles of storytelling, cinematography, editing, sound recording, and producing; how to operate as a one-person crew using their own equipment; and how to analyze films to understand cinematic vocabulary. Students must have access to a mobile device or camera that can shoot video and a computer that can run basic editing software. Additionally, students will expand their understanding of cinema through watching films, focusing on independent documentary works by Canadian filmmakers who are underrepresented in the industry (women, Indigenous, Black, People of Colour, and LGTBQ2S+). Credit will be granted for only one of ART 259 or ART 295 ST: Digital Video Production. Three credits.

In this course, students will learn the basics of animation. Projects include simple 2D animation and stop-motion. There is a self-directed final project in which students will expand on acquired technical and theoretical knowledge of animation fundamentals. Animation comes in many styles, so a high level of drawing skill is not a requirement for this course. A laptop and digital camera are necessary. Open-access free animation software will be used. Three credits.

Intimately linked to identity and experience, the human body has constituted a wellspring of formal and conceptual explorations for artists across time and space. This thematic art history survey critically examines the relationship between ideas about the body and artistic representation. Students will use visual analysis and key concepts, like the Gaze and intersectionality, to study a wide range of artworks, from scientific illustrations to performances, that stem from a variety of cultural contexts. Three credits.

This course is designed for students interested in learning to effectively use digital photography as a means for self-expression, artistic medium, or cultural comment. No equipment is required, except for a smart phone. Credit will be granted for only one of ART 271 or ART 297 ST: Digital Photography. Three credits.

From its agricultural practices to the growth of urban centres Britain was fundamentally transformed from the 18C. ‘Britishness’ emerged from large-scale modern technical production, a democratic form of government that was wrestled into being, and colonial dominance. This course will examine the lived experiences of this change and how the resulting challenges are recorded in art and material culture. Cross-listed as HIST 282. Three credits.

The topic for 2025-2026 is Fighting for Peace: Art and Material Culture in War. Communities construct stories about themselves and make sense of trauma through art and material culture. This course will examine cultures of war in the past three centuries, using case studies to examine how the symbolic depiction of self and others is used to support violence, how conflict is depicted by artists and processed by participants materially, and how violence and the devastation of war are made sense of on the home front. Three credits.

Weave your way through Celtic knots and ”horror vacui” fear of empty space,” and discover the art of the Celts. From the Battersea Shield to the Book of Kells, we will trace our way through the extraordinary legacy of weaponry, jewellery, illuminated manuscripts, Celtic crosses, and Sheela-na-Gigs to arrive at a deeper understanding of the people who made them. Acceptable as a course in history. Cross-listed as ANTH 321 and CELT 321. Three credits. Offered 2025-2026.

This course will trace Catholic themes and ideas about Catholicism in literary, musical, architectural, or artistic works from the beginnings of Christianity to the early Renaissance. Credit will be granted for only one of ART 331, CATH 331 or CATH 330 Cross-listed as CATH 331. Three credits.

This course will be concerned with developing drawing to accurately reproduce plant forms. Non-flowering and flowering plant form and diversity will be covered. Prerequisite: ART 101, 102 (100) or BIOL 202 or portfolio demonstrating drawing or painting skills. Three credits.

This course provides intensive study of human anatomy with the purpose aimed towards figure drawing. Students will focus on the skeletal and muscular systems, studying both bone specimens and live models. Using graphite and charcoal, students will gain the knowledge to accurately draw the human figure and place their work within the historical context of figurative art. Prerequisite: ART 101, 102 (100) or portfolio submission. Three credits.

Recentering women in the history of art, this course critically examines the structures that excluded them and the narratives that erased them. It looks at how gender has shaped the discipline of art history and at texts that envision more inclusive methods. Students will draw on their experiments with looking techniques to write about women’s contributions to various visual and material cultures, from the discovery of butterfly metamorphosis to the secret “invention” of abstraction. Cross-listed as WMGS 354. Three credits.

This course builds on ART 259. Students will learn key components of cinematic grammar (for example, tone, casting, and pacing) and will create projects, to which they will bring their unique creative vision. Students will also analyze films, primarily those created by underrepresented filmmakers (women, BIPOC, and 2SLGTBQ+). To take this course, students must have access to a mobile device that can shoot video and also a computer that can run basic editing software. Credit will be granted for only one of ART 359 or ART 386 (2021-2022). Prerequisite: ART 259. Three credits.

This course examines late 15th- and 16th-Century Italian art and architecture beginning with the work of Donatello, whose sculpture foreshadows the monumental “High Renaissance” style established by Leonardo, Michelangelo, and Raphael. The role these artists played in the rise of the notion of artistic genius later led to problems linked to artistic license. We will consider style and technique in artworks, but also how art functions in its social and political context. Three credits.

20C Britain portrayed itself as a leading democratic world power, having built a multiethnic nation and modern empire. Even as decolonial movements spoke back, Britain’s rule was portrayed as benign and its decolonizing experience as peaceful. It wasn’t. This course examines ‘the Irish question’ through a colonial lens, critically examining how British institutions worked to control culture and identity in order to undermine democratic social-justice discourse. Cross-listed as HIST 384. Three credits.

The topic for 2025-2026 is (De)Colonizing Animals. The relationship between industrializing society and animals was transformed in the modern imperial era. Animal products had industrial function, their parts contributed to fashion trends, and they were personified in children’s stories and by keeping them as pets rather than as tools. Imperial control was reflected in the desire to classify and dominate exotic animals by collecting them and through games culture; and the democratization of hunting became key to masculine identity in the 19C. Three credits.

The topic for 2025-2026 is (Re)Building Notre Dame Cathedral. When fire ripped through Notre Dame in 2019, people mourned the loss of “a symbol of Paris.” But in its many centuries Notre Dame has seen much change. In this course we will examine the materials, artistry and artisans that created Notre Dame in the Middle Ages, the culture and economies in which the Cathedral and its society participated and how the Cathedral was perceived differently over times of peace and turmoil. Three credits.

The topic of 2025-2026 is The (After) Lives of Francis of Assisi. Francis remains one of the most popular Catholic saints. From creating the first nativity—in a church, complete with live animals— to preaching to the birds, Francis reshaped Catholicism into a more experiential, emotional faith. This class explores images and texts about Francis to see how the saint was perceived in his own time and now. This class also includes an optional 9-day trip to Rome and Assisi during the February break - cost yet to be determined. Three credits.