Courses

This course traces the diverse artistic movements that developed in urban centres throughout Europe from The Great Exhibition of 1851 in London to the Dada movement in Zurich in the 1920s. Students consider the changing role of the artist and the way in which both the subject matter and the stylistic treatment of their art are shaped by and are a response to this modern world.

This course explores how art strategies (in traditional mediums such as painting, sculpture, and architecture, as well as film, video, performance) and the critical debates that arose in Europe and North America in the aftermath of the First World War to the present day, reflect the social, economic, and political context charting the rise and fall of modernism and the transition to postmodern practices within the visual arts. The role of art in society, its relationship to mass culture, and what is at stake in maintaining socially engaged art today are considered.

Cultivating an informed engagement with our predominantly visual culture, this course combines photographic technical skill (composition, lighting, darkroom procedures, etc.) with informed cultural photographic theory relating to aesthetic, ethical, and theological issues. Participants are encouraged to embody a re-visioning as photographers and thinkers who embrace a Christian view of the world and its inhabitants.

An exploration of the conception, production, and analysis of imagery in graphic communication design, including photos, illustrations, and graphic marks. Imagery-based problems are investigated in multiple design contexts and formats. Specialized rendering techniques, digital studio practices and iconographic style development are considered.

An exploration of integrated conceptual thinking and formal experimentation with type and related symbol systems in graphic communications. Emphasis is placed on type as image, principles of typesetting, hierarchy, and structure. The complex interaction of type in relation to other graphic elements in multiple design contexts and formats is considered.

An exploration of integrated conceptual thinking and formal experimentation with the structural and organizing systems at work in graphic communications. Emphasis is given to the development of unified graphic systems spanning multiple design contexts and formats.

Introduces students to the design of interactive digital experiences with a focus on website design, User Experience (UX) design, and User Interface (UI) design. Students will learn the core concepts and principles of interaction design by working through technical and design projects using industry standard design software. Students leave this course with the ability to build basic websites and design digital experiences that follow current interaction design standards and methodologies.

This course introduces students to a broad range of critical and theoretical texts that have impacted art practices and the discipline of art history in the 20th century through to the current day. The role of enlightenment aesthetics and the rise of mass culture are explored in relation to the formation of cultural modernism and how Marxist, psychoanalytic, and poststructuralist theories have challenged modernist conceptions. This course investigates the implications for Christians engaging with visual culture today; considers the theoretical underpinnings of postmodern theory; and cultivates the critical thinking skills necessary to engage in current critical debates within visual culture.

This project based, upper level art and humanities interdisciplinary capstone course fosters interdisciplinary collaborative research and socially engaged art-making practices. Also known as relational aesthetics, socially engaged art explores art as a state of encounter that integrates social science practices alongside art-making practices, co-creating with community organizations to develop socially engaged projects.