Victoria College

This course will be about the social and historical role of the school. The course will examine schools and learning as social, political, intellectual, and economic phenomena. Restricted to first-year students. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

This course focuses on connecting theories and practice of teaching with a view to having students develop their personal understanding of teaching. Students will be involved in a practicum. Restricted to first-year students. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

A study of culture with a view to developing basic concepts with examples drawn from the visual arts, music, film, literature, architecture, and/or local urban artefacts. Restricted to first-year students. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

A study of culture with a view to developing basic concepts with examples drawn from the visual arts, music, film, architecture, and/or local urban artefacts. We will emphasize how contemporary thought has affected the practice of everyday life. Restricted to first-year students. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

A study of the ideas and concerns of creative thinkers and their impact upon cultures. The course includes literary, scientific and/or religious intellectuals from the major traditions. Attention to modes of reasoning, cultural definition and expression. Emphasis on philosophical and artistic concepts. Restricted to first-year students. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

A study of art, with a focus on poetry, as an essential mode of experience and knowledge, in the context of contemporary and modern society. Along with literary artists, the course includes writers on history and sociology and presents the interplay between artistic vision and socio-political situations. Restricted to first-year students. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

Vice is popular: a prestigious university press has brought out a series of seven books on the Seven Deadly Sins. This course examines such questions as the following. Are greed, lust and gluttony just bad names for necessary and otherwise acceptable instincts? What is the place, in a good human life, of such qualities as honesty, trust, civility and the like? Are vices and virtues culturally determined or a matter of individual preference? Can character be taught, or is it rather a matter of genes and luck? Restricted to first-year students. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

This course examines how political ideas are formed and developed through literature, art, plays, essays and philosophical works in the twentieth century. Restricted to first-year students. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

This course explores current legal and philosophical debates around equality, discrimination, and the shaping of individual and group identities. It addresses the way values, affiliation, and identities have an impact on the public sphere of law and policy-making – and the ways in which law and policy, in turn, shape our conceptions (and misconceptions) of people's identities. Restricted to first-year students. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

This course examines different values, beliefs, and traditions relating to the natural and social world, ethical living, and the common good. Restricted to first-year students. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

How rhetoric and statistical analysis are used to communicate scientific observations and theories to different audiences will be examined in lectures and seminars. Uncertainty, belief, evidence, risk assessment, random error and bias will be discussed using examples drawn from literature, the arts and the physical, life and social sciences. Students will prepare a research grant application on a scientific topic of their own choice. Restricted to first-year students. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

An examination of scientific theories and their logic in life and physical sciences. Experimental design, novel device production, data analysis and modeling will be discussed using examples drawn from primary source material in the natural sciences. Students will prepare a research paper on a topic designed in consultation with the instructor. Restricted to first-year students. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

How is science performed and what enables scientific progress? What are our responsibilities as scientists? We base the discussion mostly on the development of microscopy tools. We look at how scientific discoveries affect and were affected by society. This course explores the complementary skills and knowledge needed by modern scientists. Restricted to first-year students. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

This course introduces students to some of the issues in the philosophy of science, in general, and in the philosophy of physics, in particular. Topics include the scientific method and its controversies, the meaning of time and its properties, realism versus competing approaches, thought experiments, and quantum mechanics. Restricted to first-year students. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

This course will review issues in contemporary world affairs, from the fall of the Berlin Wall to the present day. The course will examine the politics and practice of foreign policy decision making. Issues to be covered include the collapse of the Soviet Union, intervention in humanitarian crises, and the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq. Restricted to first-year students. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

This course explores how public service and citizenship are developed. Topics may include the role of law and government, civil liberties, rights and responsibilities, and the role of protest. Emphasis on individuals and movements that have shaped modern memory. Restricted to first-year students. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

A seminar course that examines the contribution of an individual or individuals to the public sphere. The course will explore how public service and citizenship are developed in social, philosophical, and cultural contexts. We will examine our evolving role in developing collective, cultural and counter memory. Restricted to first-year students. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

This course uses events to discuss the nature of society including major revolutions, economic crises, and the impact of significant artistic, cultural and technological developments. Emphasis on our responsibilities towards social justice. Restricted to first-year students. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

What is a leader? Are leaders born or are they made, and if they are made is there a craft to being able to lead others? Through works of art, film, and literature, this course examines the various types of men and women who become leaders from natural-born talents to statesmen and state-crafters and individual entrepreneurs with the purpose of defining those qualities that make for the leaders of tomorrow. Restricted to first-year students. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

This course introduces policy applications of measurement tools and economic concepts by analyzing current issues in the news, such as public spending and debt, health care, social security, energy, climate change, innovation, and education. Concepts from the philosophy and history of economic thought will be used to address such questions as: What is the nature of economic explanations? Do they tell us the truth about reality? Restricted to first-year students. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

Drawing together philosophical background readings with contemporary applications, this course addresses issues of corporate social responsibility, business ethics, human rights, diversity, and equity, and considers how these topics intersect with a wide range of global practices. Restricted to first-year students. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

The artist, filmmaker, poet or dramatist has changed society and how we imagine our future. The course explores a number of paradigm cases of how the arts have interacted with social problems. Both historical and current examples of the role of the imaginative arts will be explored. Restricted to first-year students. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

This course addresses social issues through the exploration of creative activity and the imaginative arts. Topics will be discussed from historical, ethical and philosophical perspectives, and might be considered either in a group or individually. Restricted to first-year students. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

This course is a general orientation to conflict theory, and develops a basic understanding of essential conflict resolution principles that will complement the study of conflict theory. The course will examine the differences between conflicts and disputes, the functions and desirability of conflict, and the conditions that facilitate conversion of conflicts from destructive to constructive. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

This course examines a specific event, or events, in relation to the public sphere. The course will use events or an event as an entry point to discuss the nature of society including topics such as major revolutions, economic crises, the impact of the appearance of significant artistic or cultural works, and the impact of technological changes. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

Metaphors and motivations of journeying have long intrigued human beings as they have attempted to understand the meaning of their existence: the setting out, the seeking for a desired object, the pilgrimage of religious observance, and the longing to return home. Through texts, art, music and film, this course will explore some of the shaping journey-myths of our culture from classical, Hebrew, medieval and modern sources. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

This course explores central developments and ongoing controversies in the scientific study of the human mind, brain and behaviour. It examines topics such as: psychoanalysis, behaviourism, humanistic psychology, evolutionary psychology, intelligence testing, and feminist perspectives. Goals include understanding the historical evolution and social relevance of scientific psychology. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

In this course we examine major episodes in the history of evolution and genetics in the twentieth century. Topics include Darwinian evolution, sociobiology and evolutionary psychology, eugenics, and genetic screening and therapy. We will examine different views about the control of evolution and genetic manipulation in their socio-cultural-economic context and discuss the ethical and social implications of those views. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

This course will examine a number of questions related to the origins of national identities and the sustainability of nation-states. Topics covered will include: language, ethnicity, religion, politics, war, symbols, the arts, sport and public spectacle, and cuisine. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

A study of the ideas and concerns of innovators who questioned traditional views and values. The course includes creative thinkers who challenged basic concepts on politics, literature, religion, and society. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

By means of short texts, film or art works this course explores such themes as the effect of technology on the political, the nature of democracy, the question of resistance through art and the role of violence in the social. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

There has never been a period of time, nor has there ever been a culture, without some kind of puzzle tradition. Are puzzles just playful artefacts, intended merely to entertain? Or are they mirrors of something much more fundamental in human life? The course will take a close look at what puzzles tell us about the human mind and human culture. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

This course will study accounts of world travelers and explorers from the Middle Ages to the present, including representative examples drawn from the Age of Exploration, the Grand Tour, scientific and map-making expeditions, and the contemporary genre of travel writing. Particular attention will be given to the trans-cultural nature of travel, and the interactive aspects of the gulf between the observer and those observed. Students will analyze the diverse motivational factors behind excursions and expeditions, and apply a critique to written accounts in light of such factors as self-discovery, knowledge and imagination, Eurocentrism, orientalism, cultural relativism, colonialism/imperialism, race, gender, and eco-tourism. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

This course explores the depiction of the Renaissance in a wide range of plays, films and novels. The focus is on the exchange between film, fiction, and ‘fact’, and on how the values and concerns of the present shape creative recreations of the past in popular culture. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

In this course we will study a number of literary and cinematic works that take up questions of power, duty, rights, responsibility, and freedom. Our texts will be drawn from a long history, and from many parts of the world. The sequence however will not be chronological. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

A study of how literature challenges prevailing political beliefs and social norms. We will situate our discussion in the broader context of human rights and freedoms. We will examine cases where literature has been censored and writers have been imprisoned or driven into exile. Part of this course involves a community service-learning component. We will consider how this literature contributes to debate and advocacy around issues of social justice. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

This course examines two key issues about the performing arts that concern both artists and theorists: the nature of interpretation and of expression. What might we mean when we say that a work, a piece of music or a dance for example expresses something? What is it to express? And what is the nature of interpretation? Are there any constraints or boundaries on interpretation? We will draw on both philosophers and non-philosophers to explore these sorts of questions. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

This course provides an introduction to modern forms of ancient narratives, exploring the ways in which selected ancient literary sources and myths have been adapted to modern Canadian literature. Ancient narratives or ‘old stories’ are often reused, reinterpreted or reconstructed in modern narratives and given new relevance in a contemporary context. Students will encounter sources and contexts of ancient narratives. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

This course introduces students to the study of healthcare by asking foundational questions about how evidence and knowledge are produced in the context of healthcare problems. Students will explore how different frameworks for clinical practise (e.g. Evidence-based Medicine, Person-Centered Healthcare) conceptualize evidence and how different methodologies impact how healthcare research is conceived, reported, and understood. Students will learn to critically appraise healthcare research studies and assess their evidence value and implications for clinical practice. Restricted to first-year students. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

This course investigates issues arising from the translation of scientific evidence for public consumption, including in the development of public policy and in confronting problems of social and global significance. Areas of focus will include climate change, global health, and clinical medicine. Students will explore concepts including the perception and communication of risk, the generalizability of research findings, probabilistic and mechanistic thinking, and the use and abuse of scientific authority and “expertise” in public discourse. Restricted to first-year students. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

This interdisciplinary course explores the contemporary character of globalization. The world is shrinking as money, goods, people, ideas, weapons, and information flow across national boundaries. Some commentators assert that a more tightly interconnected world can exacerbate financial disruptions, worsen the gap between rich and poor nations, undermine democracy, imperil national cultures, harm the environment, and give unconstrained freedom to predatory corporations. Others proclaim that globalization - understood as capitalism and free markets - fosters economic growth, encourages creative collaboration, inspires technological breakthroughs, and enhances human prospects for a better life, in rich and poor countries alike, in unprecedented ways. Our task is to evaluate the evidence and draw our own conclusions. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

In The Origin of Species Darwin concluded there was no evidence to suggest that life was designed by a higher power. A corollary of this is that our lives lack any necessary purpose or meaning. Our readings will be directed to the question of what it means to lack ‘Meaning’. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

An introduction to the academic study of everyday life. A cross-disciplinary discussion class drawing on a wide variety of examples from ordinary life, fantasy, and culture. We situate the apparently innocuous within larger patterns of social relations and social change. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

Based on reading and discussion of science fiction and popular science in the context of social issues, this seminar course explores the fantastic visions of humanity's future inspired by scientific advances during the twentieth century. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

This course examines the emergence of a global modern world in relation to the upheavals of the Renaissance (1350-1700) and its discoveries and innovations in culture and society. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

The name of Machiavelli unleashes powerful opinions and responses and conjures up trickery, duplicity and cynicism. Yet Machiavelli himself is arguably the least Machiavellian of political figures of the Italian Renaissance. This course examines the writings of Niccolò Machiavelli, placing them in their historical context in order to understand this most controversial figure of the Renaissance, his influence and his lasting legacy. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

Topics vary from year to year. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

Topics vary from year to year. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

How and when have political posters been used? What forms do they take? How have they changed over time? What can these visual artifacts tell us about the relationship between art and propaganda, and about the political movements that have mobilized visual strategies to advance their aims? This course involves visits to several poster collections, develops visual literacy skills, and highlights the role of the visual in societies past and present. Restricted to first-year students. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

This course will examine the materiality of objects with a view to understanding how artefacts are made, their circulation, consumption, and the importance of things to social and cultural life. An investigation of artefacts from various collections in and around the university will be undertaken to develop basic methods for the study, description and analysis of material culture. In addition to hands-on exploration of objects, topics may include antiquarians and their methods, material culture in colonial contexts, and materials in contemporary user-friendly design. Restricted to first-year students. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

An introduction to the theory and practice of holography. Human perception & 3D visualization; fundamentals of 3D modeling; ray and wave optics; interference, diffraction, coherence; transmission and reflection holograms; colour perception; stereograms. Applications of holography in art, medicine, and technology. Computer simulation, design, and construction of holograms.

Stories give shape and substance to the things we believe in, from scientific theories and sacred texts to literary tales and philosophical propositions. They perpetuate ideals and identities, and sustain institutions and communities. This course will take up a set of texts from the arts, sciences, religions and several other storytelling traditions, ancient and modern, considering their claims to authority and making connections between them.

This course investigates the history and contemporaneity of innovation as a response to social, scientific, and environmental challenges. Students will acquire key frameworks for understanding the workings of innovation, the place of creativity, and the social impacts of new and disrupted organizations. Through historicizing key moments of innovation (from the Gutenberg printing press to today’s healthcare discoveries) and considering related issues (including intellectual property and sustainability) students will develop approaches to understanding the past, present, and future of creative disruption.

Surveying scenarios for public and private musical listening, from historical contexts to the present, this course explores critical questions about how we listen, including the relationship between musical genres and listening situations, the definition of music vs. noise, the influence of spectatorship, and the impact of changing technologies. Students discuss the changing aesthetics and ideologies of musical listening, considering ways in which listening shapes our understanding of the social and our awareness of communities.

In light of the environmental crisis, this seminar surveys a wide range of oral and written literature in order to discover how our approach to nature has changed over the centuries, what gains and losses have attended modernity, and what older cultures can teach us as we seek to preserve threatened ecosystems.

This course will sketch the vital role or the drama of the human body, aspects of its performance, comedy, tragedy and death, through selected parts of history, in life and as reflected in “art.”

This course is for aspiring fiction writers who wish to deepen their craft. Each seminar will feature a lecture on technical issues such as plot and characterization, as well as an analysis of a short story by a classic writer. Students will write their own stories, with editorial input from the instructor.

A creative writing course for students interested in an introduction to writing for theatre and film. Seminars will focus on technical issues including plot, characterization, dramatic structure, dialogue, image-based storytelling, and aspects of dramaturgy. Seminars may also include analyses of notable plays and screenplays across a variety of genres. Students will write their own scripts, with editorial input from the instructor.

This course examines the forms, style, aims, and ethics of non-fictional forms such as documentary writing, journalism, and life-writing. It combines the study of examples from contemporary media with exercises in writing non-fictional prose.

A workshop course (with a literature component) in writing poetry. Designed for those with a serious ambition to be writers as evinced in work they are already doing. The literature component emphasizes multicultural dimensions of contemporary writing in English.

This course explores ways in which popular music, sound and sound technologies have influenced our understanding of the recent human condition. Drawing on a variety of theoretical perspectives, we consider the musical uses of technology as both a material culture and a set of distinctly innovative practices that can create powerful transformations of consciousness, meaning and value.

The course explores what change we hope to produce through a wide range of new enterprises. The main goal is to develop critical perspectives on enterprises in the widest sense, including start-up companies, non-profits, arts institutions, community outreach organizations, and social activism. What would make these changes ethical? When we evaluate the endeavours, how can we compare economic benefits, social disruption, questions of exclusion and diversity, sustainability in several senses, and the processes of change themselves? Where are the limits of social responsibility in entrepreneurial creativity?

A workshop course (with a literature component) in writing fiction and poetry. Designed for those with a serious ambition to be writers as evinced in work they are already doing. Does not offer instruction for beginning writers. Presupposes perfect and sophisticated written language skills. The Literature component emphasizes multicultural dimensions of contemporary writing in English.

This course will examine how a variety of international authors, both nineteenth century and modern, handle the themes of mortality, sexual passion and love in their short fiction. Particular emphasis will be placed on the artistry of the writers' presentation, the role of dialogue, the economy of narrative, etc. Students will read Chekhov, The Kiss, Lady with a Dog and Tolstoy, Master and Man but will also be exposed to such contemporary popular authors as Elmore Leonard, When the Women Come Out to Dance; Truman Capote, Mojave; Richard Ford, The Occidentals; Philip Roth, The Dying Animal; Ian McEwen, The Cement Garden; and David Bezmozgis, Natasha.

This course explores how music creatively reflects and inspires our sense of self, place and community through readings, close listening, case studies, and creative responses. We consider various sites of musical imagination, and the genres that intersect with them. Course discussion addresses how music participates in the social life of creativity, imagination and fantasy, and what these roles mean for music's significance in society and culture. No prior experience in music composition required.

This seminar course looks at the history and evolution of documentary journalism in print and/or visual media through changing contexts, including challenges in the digital era. Students discuss major stories in the news, focusing on some important practitioners of the genre and on ethical issues such as privacy, objectivity, and partisanship.

While readers and audiences often are considered to be cultural "consumers," this course will consider reception as an active, creative, and often collaborative activity, by examining formal and informal practices of reviewing and response that may include fan/fanfic cultures, book clubs, community and nation-wide reading programs, and award competitions. Such contexts of reception will be considered along with their social, economic, and ethical implications.

Music is often understood as the most ephemeral and transcendent of the fine arts, even if that means overlooking the physical realities of music's production and dissemination. We will examine these materialities here, from paper and technologies of print, through to instruments for making and studying sound, and architectural spaces for its market circulation; we will see how music and its instruments provided the raw material for the emergence of a nineteenth-century science of acoustics.

This course provides students with an experiential learning opportunity in community-engaged research combined with critical reflection and academic discussion within a seminar setting. Through a placement in social enterprise organizations, students develop research-based approaches to support their organization in assessing needs, impact, and resources. Alongside this hands-on experience, interdisciplinary seminar discussions will help students understand how research methodologies, standards, and protocols are deployed in community settings. Not eligible for CR/NCR.

This course surveys the growth of the field of Acoustic Ecology and the aesthetic, political, and ethical questions it engages. Students learn about creative and musical practices associated with this new attention to sound, and they gain experience with the practice of field recording and sonic-environmental sampling. The course culminates with a final Soundscape composition or creative mapping project. No previous experience in sound recording or composition required.

Advanced young writers in this fourth-year seminar work to produce a short novel appropriate for submission to an agent or a publisher. The class does not offer instruction for beginning writers. It is intended for serious writers interested in learning about writing novels at a professional level.

A workshop course in writing poetry. Designed for those with a serious ambition to be writers as evinced in work they are already doing. Does not offer instruction for beginning writers. Presupposes perfect and sophisticated written language skills.

This course focuses on raising awareness and sensitivity to equity and diversity issues facing teachers and students in diverse schools and cultural communities. It builds knowledge of how oppression works and how cultural resources and educational practices may be brought to bear on reducing oppression and improving equity. The field experience in this course entails observation of and participation in equity and diversity efforts in a culturally-rooted school and/or community organization.

This course examines how children and adolescents develop and explores how best to facilitate their growth and learning in the area of education. Major topics include cognitive, emotional, social, moral, physical and language development. Themes addressed include interpersonal relationships such as pro-social and aggressive behaviour, as well as the influence of schooling, family life and culture. This course includes a 20-hour field experience located in a school and entails observation of development across various age groups. This may be satisfied by participation in Vic Reach or in another organization with the approval of the Program Coordinator.

This course aims to develop an understanding of social conflict and cultural diversity. How does conflict act as a catalyst for change? What do socio-cultural, cognitive, and motivational approaches teach us about conflict? Topics include: effects of conflict, human rights principles, cross-cultural understanding.

Builds understanding of teaching as professional practice. The course primarily focuses on the research base underlying policies and documents such as the Foundations of Professional Practice. This course is restricted to students enrolled in the Education and Society Minor (Arts).

While pedagogical theory has long emphasized the place of language acquisition in literacy, recent educators have begun exploring the role of digital, visual, print, and critical literacies in education. This course introduces students to a multiple literacies framework through the pedagogical lens of social justice and diversity. Class participants learn to integrate the multimodalities of literacy in their teaching practice and expand their understanding of 21st-century literacy. This course requires students' enrolment in the Education and Society Minor or permission of the instructor.

Students are required to complete an internship in an educational environment. This can be satisfied by participation in an organization with the approval of the Program Coordinator. Written assessment of the internship is required. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

Students are required to complete an internship in an educational environment in Beijing, China. Arranged through Victoria College and the Centre for International Exchange, the Beijing International Exchange is only for students in the Education & Society Minor. Written assessment of the internship is required. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

Students are required to complete an internship in an educational environment. This can be satisfied by participation in an organization with the approval of the Program Coordinator. Written assessment of the internship is required. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

This course will compare selected works of Chinese and Canadian authors with a view to the presentation of such writing in an educational setting.

This course will challenge the widely accepted idea that people need to be born with a special gift or natural ability to excel in mathematics. New research in education and cognitive science suggests that young learners often struggle in school because they are not taught in a way that allows their brains to work efficiently. This course will examine barriers that prevent students from learning and methods of teaching that can help all students reach their full potential (not only in math).  Math lovers and math phobic students are welcome:  the course aims to help students develop deeper levels of confidence and understanding in mathematics so they can become effective teachers themselves.

In-depth study of a topic related to education and society. Content varies with instructor. Please see Victoria College website for current offerings.

In-depth study of a topic related to education and society. Content varies with instructor. Please see Victoria College website for current offerings.

This course takes place on exchange, in Beijing, China. Students will study five traditional Chinese arts topics and their impact on Chinese culture.

This course explores representation as a cultural and political problem from antiquity to the modern era. Representation will be analyzed as a means of depicting or constructing reality and as a tool for constituting individual and collective subjectivity. We consider literary and other modes of representation in their historical contexts.

This course examines the literary and non-literary representations that accompany imperial conquests and hegemony from pre-modern times to the emergence of the modern nation-state. We compare the establishment, interpretation and reinvention of cultural forms of empire (e.g. Ottoman, Persian, Roman) at local, national, transnational and global levels.

This course will consider the problem of canons in a variety of contexts: the aesthetic (including the literary, visual arts and music), but also the religious, the political, the philosophical and other discursive forms. Special focus will be on the problem of the relations across these boundaries.

This course examines the literary and non-literary representations that accompany imperial conquests and hegemony from the emergence of the modern nation-state through more recent developments in globalization. We compare the establishment, interpretation and reinvention of cultural forms of empire (e.g. British, Japanese, Spanish) at local, national, transnational and global levels.

This course is a writing intensive class devoted to the practice and analysis of critical writing. We will explore the critical tradition, the public(s) for whom one writes, and the choice of voice, point of view, and writerly form. The class will be structured around workshop style discussion and writing exercises.

An introduction to representations of history, in which we will consider concepts that turn on the problem of time such as tradition, periodization, genealogy, memory, crisis, revolution, eschatology, and utopia.

This course will explore the problem of memory in relation to both collective and individual trauma. What pressure does trauma place on language, and agency, and how does it figure in commemoration, narrative, monumentalization, and other modes of representing the past?

This course will explore what it means to “act” in cultural, political, religious, and psychological realms. We focus on the historically shifting relations between theory and practice, between artifice and agency, and between theatricality and spectatorship.

This course will consider some of the ideologies and practices of various institutions at work in the production and transmission of cultural objects and social power. These may include the family, museum, hospital, prison, university, library, and theatre, as well as fields such as publishing and religion.

This course will consider relations between various cultural media – such as film, literature, photography, visual art, architecture – with specific attention to the historical demands and possibilities posed by technological change.

This course explores the phenomenon of historical periodization in its various modes, including as a stylistic concept, a set of discursive norms for cataloguing and grouping cultural forms, and a means of organizing and contesting historical narratives.

Though “identity” might suggest sameness, it is historically unstable and has many components, including ability/disability, age, class, ethnicity, gender, health/illness, ‘race,’ sexuality, and religion. This course considers the complexities of identity-formation and identity-transformation as captured in literary texts and cultural artefacts over a wide range of historical and cultural contexts.

This course offers senior students in Literature and Critical Theory the opportunity to take part in a graduate seminar in Comparative Literature. Topics change annually.

This course offers senior students in Literature and Critical Theory the opportunity to take part in a graduate seminar in Comparative Literature. Topics change annually.

This course will consider questions of adaptation, appropriation, imitation, hybridity and incommensurability across languages, geographical regions, epochs, media, and academic disciplines. Course topics may include the role of translation in the historical projects of nation-building and empire.

Content varies depending on instructor. In-depth examination of selected issues.

This course provides an opportunity to design an interdisciplinary course of study, not otherwise available within the Faculty, with the intent of addressing specific topics in Literature and Critical Theory. Written application (detailed proposal, reading list and a letter of support from a Victoria College faculty member who is prepared to supervise) must be submitted for approval on behalf of Victoria College. For application procedures visit the Victoria College website. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

This course provides an opportunity to design an interdisciplinary course of study, not otherwise available within the Faculty, with the intent of addressing specific topics in Literature and Critical Theory. Written application (detailed proposal, reading list and a letter of support from a Victoria College faculty member who is prepared to supervise) must be submitted for approval on behalf of Victoria College. For application procedures visit the Victoria College website. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

This course is about things - the everyday objects of past and present cultures. It examines the meanings people have invested in objects and how those meanings have changed over time. Using interdisciplinary approaches, students investigate objects found in homes, retail spaces, cities, art galleries and museums in order to develop new understandings of the objects that structure their daily lives and their material world.

This course is about things - the everyday objects of past and present cultures. It examines the meanings people have invested in objects and how those meanings have changed over time. Using interdisciplinary approaches, students investigate objects found in homes, retail spaces, cities, art galleries and museums in order to develop new understandings of the objects that structure their daily lives and their material world.

Through a multidisciplinary approach, this course opens new perspectives on the history of artifacts, the evolution of a world of things, and the analysis of material culture. Lectures and tutorials are supplemented by hands-on exercises in museums and local communities.

An in-depth examination of some aspect of Material Culture theory or practice. Content in any given year depends on instructor. Not offered every year.

An in-depth examination of some aspect of Material Culture theory or practice. Content in any given year depends on instructor. Not offered every year.

This course explores the material cultures which form around food and foodways in contemporary culture. It looks at foods as objects of production and consumption and at the material landscapes (culinary tools, the geography of the kitchen and restaurant, the archives - recipes, cookbooks, menus - that home cooks or chefs use) in order to "expose" the social, cultural and political dimensions of cooking, entertaining and eating.

This course explores the materiality of digital objects, from image and music files to digital documents to video games and other software, and considers their status as material culture. It involves the primary study of digital objects and also considers the technological infrastructures, cultural contexts, and signifying systems in which they are produced, circulated, and interpreted.

Students examine the expression of cultural identities in objects. Students are taught to think critically about the construction, use, display, and exchange of objects with significance for cultural identity. In addition to lectures and discussions, students participate in guided visits to sites – everyday, ritual, institutional – where negotiation of identity through objects occurs.

A practical or experiential learning opportunity under the supervision of a faculty member, normally at a museum, art gallery or other cultural agency (as approved by the supervisor). Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

A practical or experiential learning opportunity under the supervision of a faculty member, normally at a museum, art gallery or other cultural agency (as approved by the supervisor). Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

Content varies depending on instructor. Selected issues are examined in depth and at an advanced level.

This fourth year seminar, required for students pursuing a minor in material culture, will have opportunities to explore themes in material culture studies, museum exhibitions and collections as well as processes of object analysis in greater depth and at an advanced level. Specific topics and research projects will vary according to the interests and specialties of course instructors and students.

An interdisciplinary introduction to the civilization of the Renaissance illustrated by a study of the institutions, thought, politics, society and culture of both Italy and Northern Europe. Italian city states such as Florence, Urbino and Venice, Papal Rome and despotic Milan are compared with the northern dynastic monarchies of France and England.

Focusing on famous works like Michelangelo’s David, Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Cervantes’ Don Quixote, and Monteverdi’s Orfeo, this course explores some of the greatest masterpieces of the European Renaissance and their afterlives, cross-cultural adaptations, and appropriations in later and modern popular culture.

An in-depth study of late medieval and early modern scientific worldviews, with a focus on interconnections between natural philosophy, cosmology, theology, astronomy, optics, medicine, natural history, and ethics. Through a consideration of early modern ideas including free will and determinism, the finite and infinite universe, teleology and mechanism, theism and deism, and deduction and intuition, this course investigates some of the period’s key metaphysical and methodological assumptions, and reveals how an evolving scientific understanding informed the Renaissance worldview.

An interdisciplinary course exploring the history, art, architecture, literature, and music of the Renaissance in one or more cities from ca. 1400-1650. The course will investigate how local political and social-historical contexts shape ideas and cultural forms, and so illustrate the process and effects of cross-fertilization in the Renaissance period.

A study of the changing conception of the human self in the Renaissance, and of its representation by major authors: Erasmus, Rabelais, Marguerite de Navarre, Castiglione, Machiavelli and others.

Focusing on writers from various geographical areas, the course examines a variety of texts by early modern women (for example, treatises, letters, and poetry) so as to explore the female experience in a literate society, with particular attention to how women constructed a gendered identity for themselves against the backdrop of the cultural debates of the time.

An interdisciplinary approach to questions of gender and sexuality in early modern Europe, with special focus on the representations of the sexual drive, the gender roles of men and women, and varieties of sexual experience in the literature and art of the period.

An interdisciplinary approach to questions of gender and sexuality in early modern Europe, with special focus on the representations of the sexual drive, the gender roles of men and women, and varieties of sexual experience in the literature and art of the period.

Focuses on analysis of short stories and longer prose works including, in English translation: Boccaccio's stories of love, fortune and human intelligence in the Decameron; Rabelais' humorous parody of high culture in Gargantua; the tragic tale of Romeo and Juliet; and the adventures of picaresque rogues in Lazarillo de Tormes and Nashe's Unfortunate Traveler.

This course examines the various media (printing press, representational art, music, preaching) and social and political forces (family and political networks, censorship, education, etc.) that conditioned the communication of ideas in early modern society.

This course examines the changing views of the Renaissance, from the earliest definitions by poets and painters to the different understandings of contemporary historians. We will pay attention to the interests and biases that have informed the idea of the Renaissance as an aesthetic, social, political, gendered, and eurocentric phenomenon.

Studies in the development of new forms in music, drama and dance in the Renaissance. The course will consist of seminars and lectures, and may incorporate live performances taking place in Toronto in addition to recordings.

This course will study four Renaissance Italian urban environments, beginning with the medieval city of Siena followed by the construction of Renaissance urban space in republics, principalities, and papal Rome. Field trips and illustrated lectures will introduce students to Renaissance urban, cultural, and political history.

Recommended Preparation: VIC240Y1, another course in Renaissance Studies or permission of the instructor. (Offered in Siena only)

Studies in an aspect of the Renaissance based around lectures, seminars, and readings. Content in any given year depends on instructor. Not offered every year.

Studies in an aspect of the Renaissance based around lectures, seminars, and readings. Content in any given year depends on instructor. Not offered every year.

This course provides an opportunity to design an interdisciplinary course of study, not otherwise available within the Faculty, with the intent of addressing specific topics in Renaissance studies. Written application (detailed proposal, reading list and a letter of support from a Victoria College faculty member who is prepared to supervise) must be submitted for approval on behalf of Victoria College. For application procedures visit the Victoria College website. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

This course provides an opportunity to design an interdisciplinary course of study, not otherwise available within the Faculty, with the intent of addressing specific topics in Renaissance studies. Written application (detailed proposal, reading list and a letter of support from a Victoria College faculty member who is prepared to supervise) must be submitted for approval on behalf of Victoria College. For application procedures visit the Victoria College website. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

An interdisciplinary seminar on Florence in the 15th and 16th centuries: humanism, culture and society in the republican period, the rise of the Medici, Florentine neoplatonism, the establishment of the Medici principate, culture, society and religion.

A study of Montaigne as a multifaceted historical and cultural figure, as a mirror to sixteenth-century history, as product and observer of the religious divisions, political transformations, and cultural evolutions in an age marked by religious war, the growth of the state, the advent of the printed book, and the dissemination of the humanist project across western Europe. The course examines Montaigne’s essays, travel journals, and important scholarly works on Montaigne, in the context of contemporary gender relations, colonial empire, religious belief, and early modern Europe’s complex relationship with Greco-Roman Antiquity.

This course explores the intellectual and historical contexts of the Renaissance book and applies a digital humanities approach to its study, focusing on books printed in Western Europe between 1500 and 1700. Through a close examination of early and rare books, students explore three major areas in Renaissance intellectual history: 1) humanist rhetoric, politics, and literature, 2) Reformation studies, and 3) natural history, science, and medicine. Regular guest lectures sponsored by the Centre for Reformation and Renaissance Studies will introduce students to scholars from beyond the UofT; the course also involves experiential learning with digital exhibitions and rare books.

An in-depth study in an aspect of the Renaissance based around lectures, seminars, and readings. Content in any given year depends on the instructor.

An in-depth study in an aspect of the Renaissance based around lectures, seminars, and readings. Content in any given year depends on the instructor.

This course provides an opportunity to design an interdisciplinary course of study, not otherwise available within the Faculty, with the intent of addressing specific topics in Renaissance studies. Written application (detailed proposal, reading list and a letter of support from a Victoria College faculty member who is prepared to supervise) must be submitted for approval on behalf of Victoria College. For application procedures visit the Victoria College website. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

This course provides an opportunity to design an interdisciplinary course of study, not otherwise available within the Faculty, with the intent of addressing specific topics in Renaissance studies. Written application (detailed proposal, reading list and a letter of support from a Victoria College faculty member who is prepared to supervise) must be submitted for approval on behalf of Victoria College. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

For application procedures visit the Victoria College website.

An introduction to the theory and practice of holography. Human perception & 3D visualization; fundamentals of 3D modeling; ray and wave optics; interference, diffraction, coherence; transmission and reflection holograms; colour perception; stereograms. Applications of holography in art, medicine, and technology. Computer simulation, design, and construction of holograms.

This course explores central developments and ongoing controversies in the scientific study of the human mind, brain and behaviour. It examines topics such as: psychoanalysis, behaviourism, humanistic psychology, evolutionary psychology, intelligence testing, and feminist perspectives. Goals include understanding the historical evolution and social relevance of scientific psychology.

In this course we examine major episodes in the history of evolution and genetics in the twentieth century. Topics include Darwinian evolution, sociobiology and evolutionary psychology, eugenics, and genetic screening and therapy. We will examine different views about the control of evolution and genetic manipulation in their socio-cultural-economic context and discuss the ethical and social implications of those views.

An in-depth study of late medieval and early modern scientific worldviews, with a focus on interconnections between natural philosophy, cosmology, theology, astronomy, optics, medicine, natural history, and ethics. Through a consideration of early modern ideas including free will and determinism, the finite and infinite universe, teleology and mechanism, theism and deism, and deduction and intuition, this course investigates some of the period’s key metaphysical and methodological assumptions, and reveals how an evolving scientific understanding informed the Renaissance worldview.

An introduction to competing conceptions of scientific knowledge and the role of sociocultural factors in shaping scientific methods, theories, and evidence. Can science provide objective knowledge of the external mind-independent world, or are the empirical aspirations of science limited by the social, cultural, economic, political, and religious contexts that shape “science” itself? Can scientific knowledge reach certainty? How do sociocultural factors affect the process of theory acceptance? This course considers “science” as an epistemological battleground from 17th century debates on inductive reasoning to contemporary arguments about “alternative” science.

This course examines influential efforts to study human beings and society scientifically, from the seventeenth century to the present. We consider major contributions from prominent thinkers, such as Thomas Hobbes, Adam Smith, Karl Marx, and Sigmund Freud. We also review the contemporary relevance and persistent controversies about their ideas.

Models frame our understanding and treatment of illness and are the most fundamental element of the scientific method. Theology, history, and literature may use models in different ways than natural and medical sciences but fundamentally all modelling is an attempt to accurately predict and manipulate the future.

In-depth study of a topic related to science and society. Content varies with instructor. Please see the Victoria College website for current offerings.

This course will introduce the main elements of semiotic theory, applying it to the study of human culture, from language, myth, and art to popular forms of culture such as pop music and cinema. It will deal with primary texts in the development of semiotics, and cover a broad range of cultural applications of semiotic theory.

Theories and models of applied semiotics: analysis of sign systems as articulated in various forms of artistic and cultural production.

An in-depth examination of some aspect of semiotic theory or practice. Content in any given year depends on instructor. Not offered every year.

Theories of signification studied with a focus on major works in the semiotics of modern and contemporary culture.

This course will introduce the field of forensic semiotics, which is new and in the process of being developed within the general field of semiotics. The course will look at the usage of semiotic notions, methods, and techniques in the area of forensic science. This includes the analysis of facial expression, sign-based clues left at crime scenes, body language, the symbolism of tattoos in gang behaviour, the role of ritual and slang in criminal gangs and in organized crime syndicates, and the analysis of conversations and written materials produced by criminals and their meanings. Experts in the field (from the judiciary, police, and other areas) will be invited to give guest lectures.

This course will deal with media semiotics, both in the traditional sense of the study of meanings in all media (from print to digital) and in how new digital media are changing the nature of signification and communication. The course will look at the usage of semiotics to study how meaning is negotiated in interactive media versus the older and still extant one-way media (print and radio, for example). The course will utilize actual media materials (comic books, television programs, text messages, and so on) on which semiotic analysis can be conducted.

This course provides students with an experiential learning opportunity in community-engaged research combined with critical reflection and academic discussion within a seminar setting. Through a placement in social enterprise organizations, students develop research-based approaches to support their organization in assessing needs, impact, and resources. Alongside this hands-on experience, interdisciplinary seminar discussions will help students understand how research methodologies, standards, and protocols are deployed in community settings. Not eligible for CR/NCR.

This course examines higher education in Canada using Victoria University and Victoria's affiliates as a case study. Topics covered include learning communities, mentoring, experiential learning, and international contexts of education. Students gain practical mentorship experience through placement in first-year Victoria College courses. Not eligible for CR/NCR.

This seminar provides academic support for individual work placements in a specific sector of employment, through interdisciplinary readings, integrative discussion, and critical reflection on the culture of labour and the acquisition of workplace skills and experience. Assignments will include reflective exercises and critical analyses, leading to participation in a capstone seminar. Not eligible for CR/NCR.

The seminar involves a critical assessment of current foreign policy issues and contemporary world problems. Issues and case studies to be analyzed include: 1. International military interventions to respond to imminent threats or humanitarian crises, issues of legitimacy and effectiveness. e.g., Iraq, Afghanistan, Kosovo, Haiti. 2. Canada-US relations in international crisis management, the track record and the way ahead. 3. Globalization, international terrorism, and their effects on sovereignty, diplomacy and international institutions.

These courses provide an opportunity to design an interdisciplinary course of study not otherwise available within the Faculty. Written application (detailed proposal, reading list and a letter of support from a Victoria College faculty member who is prepared to supervise) must be submitted for approval on behalf of Victoria College. For application procedures visit the Victoria College website. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

These courses provide an opportunity to design an interdisciplinary course of study not otherwise available within the Faculty. Written application (detailed proposal, reading list and a letter of support from a Victoria College faculty member who is prepared to supervise) must be submitted for approval on behalf of Victoria College. For application procedures visit the Victoria College website. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

These courses provide an opportunity to design an interdisciplinary course of study not otherwise available within the Faculty. Written application (detailed proposal, reading list and a letter of support from a Victoria College faculty member who is prepared to supervise) must be submitted for approval on behalf of Victoria College. For application procedures visit the Victoria College website. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

These courses provide an opportunity to design an interdisciplinary course of study not otherwise available within the Faculty. Written application (detailed proposal, reading list and a letter of support from a Victoria College faculty member who is prepared to supervise) must be submitted for approval on behalf of Victoria College. For application procedures visit the Victoria College website. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

This seminar provides work-in-progress support for students pursuing full-year or half-year Individual Studies projects. In an interdisciplinary seminar, students receive training and practice in project design, professional skills, and effective communication in a variety of fields and contexts. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

Topics vary from year to year depending on the instructor.

Topics vary from year to year depending on the instructor.

A practical or experiential learning opportunity under the supervision of a faculty member.

A practical or experiential learning opportunity under the supervision of a faculty member.

Credit course for supervised participation in faculty research project. Details at https://www.artsci.utoronto.ca/current/academics/research-opportunities/research-opportunities-program. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

An upper level course. Topics vary from year to year depending on the instructor.

An upper level course. Topics vary from year to year depending on the instructor.

These courses provide an opportunity to design an interdisciplinary course of study not otherwise available within the Faculty. Written application (detailed proposal, reading list and a letter of support from a Victoria College faculty member who is prepared to supervise) must be submitted for approval on behalf of Victoria College. For application procedures visit the Victoria College website. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

These courses provide an opportunity to design an interdisciplinary course of study not otherwise available within the Faculty. Written application (detailed proposal, reading list and a letter of support from a Victoria College faculty member who is prepared to supervise) must be submitted for approval on behalf of Victoria College. For application procedures visit the Victoria College website. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

These courses provide an opportunity to design an interdisciplinary course of study not otherwise available within the Faculty. Written application (detailed proposal, reading list and a letter of support from a Victoria College faculty member who is prepared to supervise) must be submitted for approval on behalf of Victoria College. For application procedures visit the Victoria College website. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

These courses provide an opportunity to design an interdisciplinary course of study not otherwise available within the Faculty. Written application (detailed proposal, reading list and a letter of support from a Victoria College faculty member who is prepared to supervise) must be submitted for approval on behalf of Victoria College. For application procedures visit the Victoria College website. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

Course content, travel destination, etc., will depend on the instructor. Topics will vary from year to year. Course not offered every year. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

Credit course for supervised participation in faculty research project. Details at https://www.artsci.utoronto.ca/current/academics/research-opportunities/research-opportunities-program. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

Topics vary from year to year.

Topics vary from year to year.