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Creative Industries

Creative Industries

  • CRI 100 - Creative Industries Overview
    Course DescriptionThis introductory foundation course defines the subject of Creative Industries as an area of academic study and surveys the various academic and creative disciplines to be covered over the course of the B.A. program. The course will focus in particular on how each discipline sees the world and on the sorts of knowledge and interpretations that structure these different perspectives on subjects and issues to be covered. Students will explore the advantages and challenges of interdisciplinary study and begin to develop strategies for benefitting the most from their Creative Industries studies.
    Weekly Contact:Lecture 3 hrs.
    GPA Weight:1.00
    Billing Units:1
    Count:1.00
    Prerequisites:Only available to Creative Industries students
  • CRI 200 - IP Issues in the Digital Age
    Course DescriptionIntellectual Property laws were developed to protect traditional literary, artistic, dramatic and musical works. This course introduces students to the legal principles underlying IP and explores how digital technology and the Internet have changed the rules, upsetting the traditional balance between content creators and content users and undermining many of the business models of the past. Current issues faced by policy-makers related to content use and the exploitation of IP rights will be investigated in the context of their repercussions for creators and creative enterprises.
    Weekly Contact:Lecture 3 hrs.
    GPA Weight:1.00
    Billing Units:1
    Count:1.00
    Prerequisites:CRI 100
  • CRI 300 - Digital Design Studio
    Course DescriptionWorking effectively in the Creative Industries requires an understanding of media production based on sound principles of digital design. This studio course provides a project-based introduction to developing digital media content for the Web. Using industry-standard software and production practices, students will design and produce digital content. Taking into account current media ecologies, students will learn the basics of graphic design, interaction design, audio/video production and web authoring.
    Weekly Contact:Lab 3 hrs.
    GPA Weight:1.00
    Billing Units:1
    Count:1.00
    Prerequisites:CRI 200
  • CRI 400 - Entrepreneurship in Creative Industries
    Course DescriptionThis course applies entrepreneurship theory and principles to the practice of entrepreneurship in Creative Industries. Entrepreneurs in Creative Industries drive the creation of new cultural products, firms, and markets, generating new wealth and new cultural value. They are visionary change agents who leverage cultural knowledge and talent to produce commercially viable, sustainable and socially desirable cultural products and services. This course will nurture the skills and attitudes of nascent entrepreneurs in the Creative Industries to allow them to successfully plan, launch, and manage small firms in the Creative Industries. It will critically review the key characteristics of successful enterprises, entrepreneurs and leaders within the cultural and more commercially focused Creative Industries, it will look at the range of business models that exist, review how best to build a financially sustainable firm, and provide models of entrepreneurial/business support relevant and useful for entrepreneurs in Creative Industries.
    Weekly Contact:Lecture 3 hrs.
    GPA Weight:1.00
    Billing Units:1
    Count:1.00
    Consent:Departmental consent required
  • CRI 410 - Government and Advocacy
    Course DescriptionThis course examines the politics around Creative Industries. It surveys the interests of governments in supporting Creative Industries, the industrial, professional and lobby groups that promote them and the public interest organizations that campaign for alternative structures and resource allocations. Students will develop an understanding of the political tensions and power relations that surround the Creative Industries and the strategies and activities of the various different types of organizations engaged in them.
    Weekly Contact:Lecture 3 hrs.
    GPA Weight:1.00
    Billing Units:1
    Count:1.00
  • CRI 420 - From Writer to Reader
    Course DescriptionThis overview of the book publishing industry in Canada today will follow the path of books in Canada from creation by authors to consumption by readers, and beyond. Topics will include the identity of the Canadian writer; literary agency; the structure of the publishing house through the publishing process (acquisitions and editorial; rights management; design and production; marketing, sales, and publicity; distribution); self-publishing; the role of the media and social media; book festivals, reading circuits, and literary awards; book and device sales, both brick-and-mortar and online; libraries and the used book market; and book clubs.
    Weekly Contact:Lecture 3 hrs.
    GPA Weight:1.00
    Billing Units:1
    Count:1.00
  • CRI 430 - Canadian Media Entertainment Industries
    Course DescriptionThis course surveys the media and entertainment marketplace in Canada, focusing on its economic, political and cultural dimensions. The domestic production of media and entertainment products and services and their national and global distribution are studied together with the business practices and ancillary personnel and services that are required to finance, market and manage these enterprises. Recommended only for students in third or fourth year.
    Weekly Contact:Lecture 3 hrs.
    GPA Weight:1.00
    Billing Units:1
    Count:1.00
  • CRI 500 - Project Management
    Course DescriptionCreative Industries typically organize their work into discrete projects to produce shows, films, books, exhibitions, etc. This course introduces students to the diverse aspects of project management including project planning, budgeting, financing, scheduling, cost control, procurement and contracting, and provides practical tools and techniques that apply to any creative project. Through hands-on exercises, students will learn how to effectively manage all phases of a project; how to develop a breakdown schedule, identify task relationships, employ estimating techniques, and develop a procurement strategy; and how to report results to ensure that the project progress is clearly identified and communicated to stakeholders.
    Weekly Contact:Lecture 3 hrs.
    GPA Weight:1.00
    Billing Units:1
    Count:1.00
  • CRI 510 - Art and Business of Gaming
    Course DescriptionVideo games constitute one of the most dynamic and growing segments of the Creative Industries. This course explores the history, aesthetics, and cultural impact of video games while familiarizing students with the production, distribution and marketing processes that have evolved to stimulate this young industry. Issues confronting the video game industry as well as applicable developments in design and technology will be among the topics covered.
    Weekly Contact:Lecture 3 hrs.
    GPA Weight:1.00
    Billing Units:1
    Count:1.00
  • CRI 520 - Design Management
    Course DescriptionThis course is an introduction to the business of design. It explores the link between design and the managing of design business activities. It outlines the function of the design manager as the orchestrator of other professionals including designers, technologists, administrators, and marketers. Topics include an overview of design fields; multidisciplinary alliances; client relationships; client/contractor contracts; the studio environment; corporate culture and organizational frameworks.
    Weekly Contact:Lecture 3 hrs.
    GPA Weight:1.00
    Billing Units:1
    Count:1.00
  • CRI 530 - Talent Management
    Course DescriptionThis course examines the crucial role of professional management for all types of artists and entertainers. Instruction focuses on the roles of personal manager, booking agent, talent agent, casting agent, road manager, and company manager. Additional topics will include the organization and business practices of talent agencies, talent career development, artist unions, and terms specific to the contracting of talent.
    Weekly Contact:Lecture 3 hrs.
    GPA Weight:1.00
    Billing Units:1
    Count:1.00
  • CRI 540 - Marketing the Creative Industries
    Course DescriptionThis course will be of interest to students who wish either to pursue a career in the Creative Industries or to advance their knowledge of strategic marketing in the context of a challenging, rapidly changing environment. It will examine the particular demands and techniques of marketing media products - films, TV shows, video games, books, magazines etc. - that are characterized by a short shelf life. The marketing of creative talent - the packaging and selling of celebrity artists - will be studied in the context of applicable consumption dynamics and changing global mechanisms for the promotion and distribution of creative goods.
    Weekly Contact:Lecture 3 hrs.
    GPA Weight:1.00
    Billing Units:1
    Count:1.00
  • CRI 550 - The Book in Canada
    Course DescriptionUnderstanding the creative landscape today requires an understanding of the forces that shaped it in the past. This course will survey the development of book publishing and retailing in Canada from early-twentieth-century importation from abroad to the advent of large-chain retail. Topics will include the development of a Canadian textbook market; the story of Harlequin; the impact of the Massey Commission; the creation of Canadian trade-only publishing, changes in ?branch-plant? publishing, and the rise of small presses; and bookselling from the stationery store to the national-chain retail and the advent of Internet sales.
    Weekly Contact:Lecture 3 hrs.
    GPA Weight:1.00
    Billing Units:1
    Count:1.00
  • CRI 560 - Topics in Creative Industries
    Course DescriptionThis course, the subject matter and the availability of which may change from year to year, examines specific issues, themes, trends and/or developments that have currency within the field of creative industries. Topics may be proposed by permanent faculty, guest professionals or students.
    Weekly Contact:Lecture 3 hrs.
    GPA Weight:1.00
    Billing Units:1
    Count:1.00
    Consent:Departmental consent required
  • CRI 600 - The Creative Process
    Course DescriptionHow do creative ideas happen? How can we foster our creativity and the creativity of those around us? What is the nature of creativity in teams and organizations and how can it be facilitated? Utilizing readings drawn from both psychological theories of creativity and management literature on innovation, and exploring the conflicting ideas of creativity theorists such as Abraham Maslow, R.W. Weisberg, Margaret Bodin and Robert Sternberg, this course delves into the dual nature of creativity as both an individualistic process and a product of formal systems of organization, as a synthesis of subconscious thoughts and rational analysis, and as the complex interaction of divergent and convergent thinking. Case studies will illuminate the creative process within the Creative Industries in terms of the relationship of creative individuals to the commercial context in which their ideas are developed and delivered.
    Weekly Contact:Lecture 3 hrs.
    GPA Weight:1.00
    Billing Units:1
    Count:1.00
    Prerequisites:CRI 200
  • CRI 610 - Public Relations and the Press
    Course DescriptionPublic relations and media relations are two critical communication functions within the Creative Industries. Utilizing case studies and practical exercises, this course introduces students to the basic principles and practices that enable enterprises to communicate effectively to the public. Students will learn how news organizations operate and explore the tools that enhance effective interaction with the press. Traditional techniques of public relations such as press releases, backgrounders and PSAs will be examined together with newer strategies for image management through online digital media.
    Weekly Contact:Lecture 3 hrs.
    GPA Weight:1.00
    Billing Units:1
    Count:1.00
  • CRI 620 - Live Entertainment and Event Marketing
    Course DescriptionThe spectrum of live entertainment and artistic events is extensive, ranging from rock concerts, nightclubs, jazz festivals, tournaments and theme parks to ballet, opera, parades and fashion shows. This course will focus on the particular challenges involved in marketing live events, and the specific advertising, publicity, pricing and promotional techniques and related management practices that have proven successful in addressing these challenges.
    Weekly Contact:Lecture 3 hrs.
    GPA Weight:1.00
    Billing Units:1
    Count:1.00
  • CRI 630 - Advertising Theory and Practice
    Course DescriptionThis course will present an overview of the advertising industry and its creative functions. It will examine the interrelationship of the institutions of advertising, the advertisers, the advertising agencies and the media, and will explore how advertisers are adjusting to and exploiting new digital technologies. It introduces research and details methods of determining advertising objectives, budgets, establishing target audiences, interpreting audience ratings and circulation figures. Students will also gain an understanding of key ethical and legal issues particular to this creative field.
    Weekly Contact:Lecture 3 hrs.
    GPA Weight:1.00
    Billing Units:1
    Count:1.00
  • CRI 640 - Global Cultural/Entertainment Marketplace
    Course DescriptionThis course examines the impact of globalization on the cultural industries and focuses on international trade in cultural products. We will look at the role of multinational entertainment firms, the importance of global markets to Canadian Creative Industries and consider other models that shape the global cultural marketplace including international co-productions, franchised content, the service production sector and others. Recommended only for students in third or forth year.
    Weekly Contact:Lecture 3 hrs.
    GPA Weight:1.00
    Billing Units:1
    Count:1.00
  • CRI 650 - The Business of Book Publishing
    Course DescriptionThis course examines the financial and management aspects of publishing, with emphasis on book publishing. Specific topics include strategic planning and business management; understanding financial statements, budgeting, and forecasting; the decision to publish; sales, promotion, and distribution; contracts, copyright, subsidiary rights, and legal concerns; program planning, co-publishing, and packaging; and human resources considerations.
    Weekly Contact:Lecture 3 hrs.
    GPA Weight:1.00
    Billing Units:1
    Count:1.00
    Prerequisites:CRI 420
  • CRI 660 - Ethical Issues and Practices
    Course DescriptionThis course will provide a general foundation in ethical philosophy and a framework for the development of a methodology of discernment. Case studies will explore various issues and challenges in ethical decision-making and leadership in management, marketing and creative practices across the Creative Industries sector. Issues covered will include cultural and sexual stereotyping, journalistic objectivity and ethical implications of technology. The course will help students nurture a sense of ethical judgment when dealing with problematic issues but will also encourage a proactive application of ethical values in their creative careers.
    Weekly Contact:Lecture 3 hrs.
    GPA Weight:1.00
    Billing Units:1
    Count:1.00
  • CRI 700 - Human Resources in Creative Industries
    Course DescriptionThis course exposes students to the theory and practice of human resources management in the context of the Creative Industries and is intended to provide students with the fundamentals necessary to effectively administer the human resources function of a creative enterprise. Using case studies drawn from this sector, the course will examine areas such as human resources planning; recruitment, selection and evaluation of staff; training and development; labour relations; approaches to compensation and benefits; relevant legislation and future trends.
    Weekly Contact:Lecture 3 hrs.
    GPA Weight:1.00
    Billing Units:1
    Count:1.00
    Prerequisites:CRI 600 and BSM 600
  • CRI 710 - Creative Industries Research Methodology
    Course DescriptionThis course asks how information about the Creative Industries can be collected and analyzed. It surveys research methods that are both useful within the Creative Industries and crucial to studying them. We will review information retrieval techniques as well as methods of data collection (audience research; content analysis; critical and textual analysis; surveys; interviews; focus groups etc.). Through practical exercises we will develop the research skills that are required of many careers within the Creative Industries (grant, report and policy brief writing etc.) as well as in advanced graduate degrees.
    Weekly Contact:Lecture 3 hrs.
    GPA Weight:1.00
    Billing Units:1
    Count:1.00
    Prerequisites:CRI 600
  • CRI 720 - Media Regulation and Communication Policy
    Course DescriptionThis course looks at the institutional and legal structures of media and communication in Canada and internationally. Drawing on texts and perspectives from important thinkers and analysts such as Lawrence Lessig, Marc Raboy, Peter Grant, and Robert McChesny, we will examine the policy frameworks that shape broadcasting, print, digital and internet, music and more. We will also consider various crosscutting communication policy issues such as copyright, production quotas and subsides and human rights. Recommended only for students in third or forth year.
    Weekly Contact:Lecture 3 hrs.
    GPA Weight:1.00
    Billing Units:1
    Count:1.00
  • CRI 730 - Strategic Leadership in Cr. Industries
    Course DescriptionThis course is designed for persons who aspire to executive leadership roles in for-profit or not-for-profit organizations in Creative Industries. Drawing on contemporary leadership theories, the course provides opportunities for comprehensive development of personal leadership potential through supervised reflection, networking, executive coaching, interaction with peers, and learning from seminars, guest speakers, scholarly literature, and case studies. Issues examined include: theories of leadership; the nature of leadership; values, ethics, and vision; conviction and the courage to act; leadership principles and styles; relationship building with stakeholders and shareholders; art versus commerce; team building, group dynamics and creative collaboration; delegation; conflict resolution; stress and change management; communication; character and power; and leadership tools, techniques, and strategies. Specific learning outcomes are: a theoretical understanding of leadership; practical application of leadership theory to cases in relevant creative/cultural industry environments; and development and articulation of a personal leadership philosophy.
    Weekly Contact:Lecture 3 hrs.
    GPA Weight:1.00
    Billing Units:1
    Count:1.00
    Prerequisites:CRI 400
  • CRI 750 - Emerging Technologies in Cyberspace
    Course DescriptionThe rapid introduction and applications of emerging digital technologies and online services are challenging and in many cases overturning traditional modes of creation, marketing and dissemination in the Creative Industries and many of the business models based upon them. At the same time new opportunities are emerging for the enterprising creator and the creative enterprise. This course will explore what is on and just over the horizon with the intention of cultivating students? ability to recognize and exploit the possibilities inherent in technological change while minimizing the risks that they pose to established practices.
    Weekly Contact:Lecture 3 hrs.
    GPA Weight:1.00
    Billing Units:1
    Count:1.00
  • CRI 800 - Managing Creative Enterprises
    Course DescriptionThis capstone course builds upon the required B.A. Creative Industries industrial work placement, which must be completed prior to the end of this course. Using the research conducted during their placement, students will undertake a report that analyzes the management systems of their workplace company, assesses its strategic directions, and evaluates its strengths and weaknesses relative to the industrial environment in which it is operating. Course content is designed to facilitate the report by focusing on the organization, operation and strategic planning of creative enterprises and the criteria for appraising their efficacy.
    Weekly Contact:Lecture 3 hrs.
    GPA Weight:1.00
    Billing Units:1
    Count:1.00
    Prerequisites:CRI 700 and CRI 710
  • CRI 810 - Studies in Creative Collaboration
    Course DescriptionThe image of the solitary artist toiling away in romantic isolation has given way to the contemporary reality of creative production in many fields that builds upon multidisciplinary expertise on the part of a diverse team to achieve an end product arising from consensus-building and collaboration at many steps in the process. Applying theories of organizational behaviour, this course uses case studies and role-playing techniques to examine and familiarize students with best practices in collaborative creative work.
    Weekly Contact:Lab 3 hrs.
    GPA Weight:1.00
    Billing Units:1
    Count:1.00
    Prerequisites:CRI 700
  • CRI 820 - Global Licensing/Distribution Agreements
    Course DescriptionIt is essential for content creators to have the ability to market and exploit their intellectual property to others, both in Canada and internationally. Intellectual property is increasingly the primary subject matter of commercial transactions, as domestic and foreign licensing, distribution, and technology transactions allow intellectual property owners to commercialize their assets. In this practical course, legal issues and key contractual matters will be examined in both a Canadian and international context, and domestic rights and remedies will be compared with those found in legal systems around the world. Various contracts involving the exploitation of creative content will be examined, including license agreements, distribution agreements, asset and share purchases, and joint ventures.
    Weekly Contact:Lecture 3 hrs.
    GPA Weight:1.00
    Billing Units:1
    Count:1.00
    Consent:Departmental consent required
  • CRI 830 - Cultural Policy
    Course DescriptionThis course examines the place of the Creative Industries within the larger effort to use law and policy as a way of encouraging and shaping cultures. Through examination of issues such as global trade in cultural products and cultural imperialism, Canadian content quotas, public service broadcasting, cultural diversity and accommodation of minorities, we will consider the role played by the Creative Industries in constructing and contesting cultures and reflect on the complex relationship between culture, policy and creativity.
    Weekly Contact:Lecture 3 hrs.
    GPA Weight:1.00
    Billing Units:1
    Count:1.00
  • CRI 840 - Management of Soft Innovation
    Course DescriptionThe study of innovation within academe has focused almost exclusively on the development of new products, processes, services and management methods that create value through improvements in functional performance. In contrast to this broad area of functional innovation, ?soft innovation? refers to the introduction of changes of an aesthetic or intellectual nature that have substantive market impact. This course examines the two types of innovation belonging to this latter category: (1) the creation of new aesthetic or intellectual products (e.g. books, musical recordings, ballets, paintings, video games); and (2) aesthetic innovation in products that are primarily functional (e.g. automotive design). Using case studies from the Creative Industries - the main source of aesthetic products - the course will probe how innovation is cultivated and managed in this industrial sector and will identify new trends in the commercialization of creative content.
    Weekly Contact:Lecture 3 hrs.
    GPA Weight:1.00
    Billing Units:1
    Count:1.00
    Consent:Departmental consent required
  • CRI 850 - Directed Reading Course
    Course DescriptionThis directed reading course is intended to permit the student to survey a coherent body of literature in an area of study related to the student's program objectives.
    Weekly Contact:Tutorial 1 hr.
    GPA Weight:1.00
    Billing Units:1
    Count:1.00
    Consent:Departmental consent required