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Arts and Contemporary Studies
- ACS 100 - Ideas That Shape the World ICourse DescriptionThis course examines ideas shaping the contemporary world and arguments that invigorate and challenge our sense of what it means to live as an individual, citizen, and member of a complex, multifaceted, volatile global society. The focus is on these issues as they have arisen in a Canadian context; it studies the contribution of Canadian thinkers to global debates; and it challenges students to articulate their own responses to central issues of the contemporary experience.Weekly Contact:Lecture 2 hrs. Tutorial 1 hr.GPA Weight:1.00Billing Units:1Count:1.00Antirequisites:ACS 104
- ACS 103 - Introduction to the HumanitiesCourse DescriptionIn this course students learn to identify a humanistic perspective, and analyze how this perspective can infuse our understanding of the world around us. Students are also introduced to the various ways in which this perspective is applied in Arts and Contemporary Studies - in particular in the program's subject-based and interdisciplinary options - while gaining some of the academic skills relating to effective research, writing and expression that they will require to excel in a university setting.Weekly Contact:Lecture 3 hrs.GPA Weight:1.00Billing Units:1Count:1.00Custom Requisites:Available only to students in Arts and Contemporary Studies
- ACS 104 - Ideas that Shape the WorldCourse DescriptionThis course is for Architecture students only. This course studies ideas that shape the contemporary world, and explores what it means to live as an individual, citizen, and member of our complex, multifaceted, volatile global society. The focus is on these issues as they arise in the Canadian context; it studies the contribution of Canadian thinkers to global debates, and it challenges students to articulate their own responses to central issues of the contemporary experience.Weekly Contact:Lecture 3 hrs.GPA Weight:1.00Billing Units:1Count:1.00Antirequisites:ACS 100Custom Requisites:Available only to Architectural Science students
- ACS 106 - Introduction to LanguageCourse DescriptionLanguage is arguably what separates human beings from all other animals. It is what enables us to think, create, reason, and even find meaning in our lives. This course is designed to introduce the basic ideas of how language works, how it is used, how it is acquired, and how it changes over historical and social dimensions. The perspective is interdisciplinary.Weekly Contact:Lab 3 hrs.GPA Weight:1.00Billing Units:1Count:1.00
- ACS 210 - Ideas: AntiquityCourse DescriptionConcentrating on the ancient world (ca. 4000 BCE500 CE), this course explores ideas about the origins of the world and human existence, state and politics, the relationship of individuals to communities and the interplay play between the divine and secular. In this course students will consider how these concepts shaped the development of ancient cultures in Mesopotamia, Egypt, Indus Valley, China and the Eastern Mediterranean, and continue to impact contemporary society.Weekly Contact:Lecture 2 hrs. Tutorial 1 hr.GPA Weight:1.00Billing Units:1Count:1.00
- ACS 220 - Ideas that Shape the World: Middle AgesCourse DescriptionThis course examines the development of philosophy, science, art, political thought, and religion in the Middle East and Europe during the time between the end of Antiquity (ca. 500 AD) and the end of the Middle Ages in Western Europe (ca. 1450 AD). This period is characterized, among other things, by conflicts between worldly and religious authorities, as well as between Christianity and Islam, and by the emergence of cities and universities.Weekly Contact:Lecture 2 hrs. Tutorial 1 hr.GPA Weight:1.00Billing Units:1Count:1.00
- ACS 300 - Ideas That Shape the World: Early ModernCourse DescriptionThe Renaissance and Enlightenment mark the departure from a God-centred universe, as thinkers of this period developed scientific explanations of the universe. Exploration and discoveries began to map the cosmos, but also suggested the boundaries of the human. The ideas studied concern the effects of science and rationalism on critical reflection and the imagination, and the profound consequences of a shift towards a print-based culture.Weekly Contact:Lecture 2 hrs. Tutorial 1 hr.GPA Weight:1.00Billing Units:1Count:1.00
- ACS 302 - Introduction to Culture StudiesCourse DescriptionThis course introduces the concepts and debates about the nature of culture and the development of culture industries. Students will examine a range of perspectives on the 'invention' of art and the boundaries between high and low culture. The various meanings of 'entertainment' will be explored. The creation of ideas outside the dominant culture will also be addressed.Weekly Contact:Lecture 3 hrs.GPA Weight:1.00Billing Units:1Count:1.00
- ACS 400 - Ideas That Shape the World: ModernityCourse DescriptionThis course focuses on key themes of the Victorian and modernist experience: Evolution, Revolution, and Relativity. In a cosmos increasingly experienced as destabilized and volatile, the powers of the imagination collide with a sense of alienation and powerlessness in the face of technological, economic and political forces. In music, painting, politics, literature and social thought, individuals explore the uncertainties of the human position, giving voice to new frames of meaning, new grammars of human expression.Weekly Contact:Lecture 2 hrs. Tutorial 1 hr.GPA Weight:1.00Billing Units:1Count:1.00
- ACS 401 - Introduction to Research and StatisticsCourse DescriptionThis is a one-semester course within the Arts and Contemporary Studies program with a format of two one-hour lectures and a one-hour lab per week. No familiarity with the fundamental elements of research or statistics is assumed. The course gives students the practical methods needed to statistically describe and analyze phenomena and to present those results. Emphasis throughout the course is on practical uses and application of these techniques, rather than on their mathematical derivations.Weekly Contact:Lecture 2 hrs. Lab 1 hr.GPA Weight:1.00Billing Units:1Count:1.00
- ACS 402 - Introduction to Global StudiesCourse DescriptionDo we really live in a 'global village'? The focus of this course is on the historical evolution of political, cultural, economic, and environmental inter-relationships between peoples and nations. Beginning with the 19th and 20th centuries we examine the creation and collapse of empires, the emergence of international law and organizations, the origins and consequences of war and the conflict over global integration. Nationalisms, ideologies, ethnic and religious conflicts, terrorism and other dynamics are studied within these contexts.Weekly Contact:Lecture 3 hrs.GPA Weight:1.00Billing Units:1Count:1.00Antirequisites:POL 208
- ACS 403 - Introduction to Diversity and EquityCourse DescriptionThis course examines different forms and expressions of diversity and inequity, including social class, gender, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, ability, and age. We will explore the social-historical origins and structural determinants of these foundations for organizing inter-group relations, while paying attention to the complex ways in which they intersect. Major emphasis will be put on a critical examination of institutional practices, policies, and government legislation related to diversity and equity.Weekly Contact:Lecture 3 hrs.GPA Weight:1.00Billing Units:1Count:1.00Antirequisites:SOC 300
- ACS 500 - Ideas That Shape the World: Post-AtomicCourse DescriptionThis course focuses on volatile themes of contemporary and post-modern experience, as the world is opened up to the voices of the "other". The marginalized, and thinkers and artists of other cultures, expand and destabilize the boundaries of the human, while discoveries of genetic science suggest something of the profound unities that underlie the evolution of human diversity. The ideas to be considered range from the genome project to contemporary architecture to the Uncertainty Principle.Weekly Contact:Lecture 3 hrs.GPA Weight:1.00Billing Units:1Count:1.00
- ACS 800 - Senior Group ProjectCourse DescriptionThis capstone course brings students together for a collaborative project enabling application of various skills, competencies and knowledge acquired in the program. "Showcase" event(s), such as charrette, simulation, forum or conference, on a critical issue or area of engagement in contemporary society, will be planned, organized, marketed and presented by the students. The "showcase" event, highlighting what students have learned in the program, will be open to the public, including prospective employers.Weekly Contact:Lab 3 hrs.GPA Weight:1.00Billing Units:1Count:1.00
- ACS 900 - Senior SeminarCourse DescriptionThe Senior Seminar provides fourth-year ACS students the opportunity to develop advanced research, presentation and writing skills in a specialized area of study related to the material covered in the five Ideas that Shaped the World ACS courses. Students will normally be required to write a major paper. Course content varies according to the instructor's research interests and expertise. Students must have a minimum 70 percent average in their best six ACS courses or permission of the program prior to enrolling in this course.Weekly Contact:Lecture 3 hrs.GPA Weight:1.00Billing Units:1Count:1.00
- ACS 910 - Fellowship PracticumCourse DescriptionStudents in their fourth year will have the opportunity to workshop and practice their interdisciplinary skills in a professional setting. Fellowship practice is designed to provide an opportunity to students to experience the importance of analytical and critical thinking, interdisciplinary approaches to institutional spaces and organizational problems, as well as experience the demands of fast paced environments. Students are supported by a team-directed approach with course work, professional development support, and professional supervision. See teaching department for consent criteria.Weekly Contact:Lab 3 hrs.GPA Weight:1.00Billing Units:1Count:1.00
- ACS 950 - Directed Research CourseCourse DescriptionThis course offers students the opportunity for advanced study with a professor in the Faculty of Arts. Topics are determined jointly by the student and professor. Normally, students must have completed at least 25 credits before taking ACS 950 and have a CGPA of no less than 3.0. Students must submit a completed application form to the ACS Program Office at least 20 business days before the start of the relevant semester. Departmental and program consent required.Weekly Contact:Lecture 3 hrs.GPA Weight:1.00Billing Units:1Count:1.00
