Topics/Series Courses
A topics course is one that is not regularly offered at the University of Lethbridge. Departments may use topics courses to try out a new course that they are considering regularizing, or for faculty to offer courses related to their research. Series courses are a group of courses within a certain genre and the offering changes every semester. You may take multiple topics and series courses for credit as long as each offering is distinct (i.e. having significantly different titles).
If you have any questions about topics courses, please contact the Fine Arts Advising Office (W660).
2025-2026 | Topics/Series Courses
DRAMA
Shakespeare for the Intimidated
A performance-based approach to the study of Shakespeare. We will engage in a variety of activities and presentations to make the text relevant and bring it to life. We will view and analyze stage and film productions of the plays as well as study their historical context.
Prerequisites: Completion of 15 University courses (a minimum of 45.0 credit hours) or admission to the Post Diploma program.
Theatre Production for Scientific Purposes
The intention of this course is to create and present a series of short scenes for the purposes of scientific study. Working with Dave Smith from Drama, and Chelsea Ekstrand from Neuroscience, the goal is to create a walking tour with various stops locations to watch scenes take place.
Prerequisites: One of Drama 2825, Drama 3310, Drama 3420, Drama 3740, or New Media 2030 AND Third-year standing (a minimum of 60.0 credit hours) AND permission of instructor.
Note: Students planning on enrolling in Drama 4850 - Theatre for Scientific Purposes are advised to contact the course instructor for additional details about this course offering.
ART
Introduction to Art Making
Introduction to Art Making is designed to support non-art majors develop an appreciation for contemporary art. It is open to those with no previous art-making experience but will also allow those with some experience to grow their skills. Through weekly hands-on assignments, students will explore significant movements and techniques in contemporary art including in drawing, painting, sculpture, and media art.
Textile Art Studio I & II (Embodied Textiles)
Embodied Textiles will provide experience in a wide range of fibre material practices through hands-on workshops. Students will a series of thematic projects in textile art with a focus on the embodied, performative and communicative aspects of textiles.
Senior Studio I & II
- Annie Martin
History of Photography
This is a historical thematic introduction to the history of photography. We will discuss a wide variety of approaches to the medium so as to consider how and why photography has become such a fundamental visual communicative medium over the past 160 years. Art-related photography will be central, but the class will also deal with photography situated in the broader culture. Photography is a constant in our everyday life, and this course will concentrate on deciphering the significance of these images that surround us.
Critical Issues in Contemporary Indigenous Art
This course examines current critical issues in contemporary Indigenous art and visual culture from across the settler-colonial areas of North American, as well as Australia and New Zealand. We will explore how Indigenous arts are understood in the communities in which they are made, how indigenous artworks have been understood in Western art historical discourse and museum exhibitions, as well as the relationship between “historic” and “contemporary” indigenous arts. This course will investigate the recent role of indigenous art in the questioning of identity and self-representation, decolonization, sovereignty, self-determination, and anti-colonial resistance. The course will rely heavily on course readings and class participation, structured like a seminar it is organized both thematically and geographically in order to address the specific concerns of the land, visual culture, survivance, and Indigeneity.
Prerequisite(s): One of Art History 1001, Art History 1002, or Third-year standing (a minimum of 60.0 credit hours)
MUSIC
Song as Cultural Heartbeat
This is an exploratory course designed to introduce students to the concept of song study in historical, cultural and experiential context. The course will offer students the opportunity listen, discuss, and respond to a wide variety of song from many styles and eras, including popular styles, classical song, folk song, and traditional song. Students will be actively involved in the course, writing their own musical auto-ethnography, building playlists, meeting songwriters, having a karaoke evening, and investigating and presenting in class on a style of song that particularly interests them. Music reading skills are not required. Students are encouraged to bring their own skills, strengths and song interests into the course.
Gender and Sexuality in Pop Music
Can you hear gender? How are ideals of masculinity and femininity expressed in pop song and how have these changed over time? In what ways do musicians and songwriters communicate sexuality in sound or in performance? This interdisciplinary seminar explores these questions from a variety of analytic perspectives including music studies, media studies, women and gender studies, and queer theory. Throughout the semester we’ll listen to a range of genres within pop music—from blues and country to bubblegum and emo.
History of Rock and Roll to 1970
Punk: Histories and Subcultures
This course provides an introduction to punk music and culture in historical and contemporary manifestations. Students will analyze and discuss topics ranging from political and social change, racism, and riot grrrl to DIY, scenes, and zines. We will read in subcultural, feminist, and queer theory, and we will listen to the genre as an international and ongoing phenomenon, providing a counterbalance to New York and UK-centric, straightwhiteboy narratives of punk.
Prerequisite: 15 university-level courses (a minimum of 45.0 credit hours) - as per calendar
Equivalent: Music 3200 – History of Rock and Roll: 1948-1970
NOTE: Not counted in the 16-course Arts & Science major or the core courses in the B.Mus. degree.
Aesthetic Noise: Philosophy, Noise, Music, and Art
Disruptive, disturbing, dangerous, and unwanted are all adjectives that are commonly attributed to the word noise. Though generally interpreted as negative, the artist can reveal additional possibilities of noise by using it as an artistic material. When used aesthetically, it is possible for noise to communicate the ineffable. However, to gain an understanding of noise in this context, it will need to be filtered through multiple philosophies. In this course, we will explore the works of various artists who use noise as an anesthetic material and then filter the works through classical and continental philosophies to better understand noise’s potential. In doing so, we find that in the hands of an artist, noise can become a call for justice, symbolize trauma and be a mechanism for its discharge. It can also be a means of emotional and spiritual expansion. Noise presents nearly limitless possibilities when used aesthetically. In addition to exploring works and philosophies of noise, the student will create a work of noise drawing inspiration from the materials covered in class.
Prerequisite: Completion of 15 university-level courses (45.0 credit hours) with a major offered by the Faculty of Fine Arts.
Recommended Background: Experience with a digital audio workstation would be an asset.
Substantially Similar: Music 4850 – Aesthetic Noise: Noise in Audio Art Making prior to 2025-2026.
NOTE: Students with credit for Music 4850 - Aesthetic Noise: Noise in Audio Art Making cannot receive credit for Music 3850 – Aesthetic Noise: Philosophy, Noise, Music, and Art.
NEW MEDIA
Invitation to Design
This introductory course provides a broad survey of design for undergraduate students of all majors. It explores the evolution, practices, industries, cultural contexts, societal implications, technological intersections, and human-centered aspects of design. Students will examine how design shapes and is shaped by society, technology, and emerging innovations (such as artificial intelligence).
Enhancing Human Creativity with AI
This course explores how to harness creative thinking by blending traditional methods—such as sketching, brainstorming, and iterative prototyping—with cutting-edge AI tools and techniques. Students will examine the interplay between human creativity and machine-generated insights, learn the fundamentals of AI-driven generative processes, and develop tangible projects that demonstrate an integrated approach to problem-solving and expression.
Prerequisite: 15 university-level courses (a minimum of 45.0 credit hours)
Note: Intended for Non-New Media Majors
ART
Introduction to Art Making
Introduction to Art Making is designed to support non-art majors develop an appreciation for contemporary art. It is open to those with no previous art-making experience but will also allow those with some experience to grow their skills. Through weekly hands-on assignments, students will explore significant movements and techniques in contemporary art including in drawing, painting, sculpture, and media art.
Senior Studio I & II
- Mandy Espezel
History of Japanese Art Seminar
CINEMA
Video Essay Production
This course teaches students to use video essays as a tool for advancing scholarly positions in an audiovisual format. By integrating media analysis with video essay production methods and techniques, students will gain a deeper understanding of academic visual rhetoric.
Prerequisite(s): New Media 1000 AND 15 university-level courses (a minimum of 45.0 credit hours)
FINE ARTS
Introduction to Visual and Cultural Studies
Praxis Shapes the World: Contemporary Politics, Issues, and the Arts
This course integrates theory and creative practice to address contemporary social and political issues. By exploring topics such as climate change, global migration, technology and ethics, human rights, and political polarization, the course equips students with the skills and ability to express their artistic objectives through critical writing, creative outputs, and oral communication. This approach fosters a deep understanding of the arts' role in societal engagement and prepares students for diverse careers in the creative arts, making it highly relevant for a multidisciplinary academic program.
Prerequisite(s): Admission to a Master’s program
MUSIC
History of Rock and Roll Since 1970
History of Jazz
Prerequisite: 15 university-level courses (a minimum of 45.0 credit hours)
NOTE: Not counted in the 16-course Arts and Science Music major or the core courses in the B.Mus. degree.
Electronic and Popular Music Production
NEW MEDIA
Invitation to Design
New Media Aesthetics
This course explores the intersection of new media art, aesthetic theory and emerging technologies, examining how digital, interactive, and networked forms build on and transform notions of art, design, beauty, and sensory experience. Engaging with new media artworks, aesthetic theory, and creative practices, the course examines how new media forms and technologies impact artistic creation, cultural production and consumption, and the ways in which we perceive and relate to the world around us. Additionally, this course will help students frame their own creative work in terms of ongoing debates in new media.
Prerequisites: New Media 2150 OR Third-year standing (a minimum of 60.0 credit hours)
Technologies of Supremacy: Media as Tools of Hate Violence, and Propoganda
- the early days of film (e.g., film and the KKK in the early 1900s, Nazi Germany)
- mid-century innovations in TV and radio
- early use of the internet and message boards (e.g., Stormfront)
- contemporary use of social media and podcasts (e.g., GamerGate, the alt-right, Andrew Tate, AI).
- new media approaches to countering hate