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).
Spring 2022 - Topics/Series Courses
Art and Activism
ARHI 4150 A
3.0 Credit Hours
This seminar course will focus on activist art, and examine connections between art, politics and social justice in a variety of historical contexts before considering the relation between contemporary art and activism. Students will be required to partake in some form of activism over the course of the term. Student research presentations will focus on art from the 1960s to the present, and may include diverse self-directed topics from Ai WeiWei’s work with refugees to topics of local or national interest, such as Jaime Black’s Red Dress Project concerned with missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls. A component of the grade may be comprised of a relevant art project. Warning: this course will cover topics that are emotionally difficult.
Prerequisite: ARHI 1002 or ARHI 1000; and at least one ARHI course at the 3000 level
Advanced Studio
ART 3040
6.0 Credit Hours
The following instructors will be available as supervising faculty members for the above mentioned classes in Spring 2022:
-
David Miller
Students who register for these courses will interview with each of the supervising faculty members to determine which faculty member will be their instructor of record. Students must ensure they are registered in the correct section of the course with their assigned instructor by the end of the add/drop period.
Senior Studio
ART 4048 & 4049
6.0 Credit Hours
The following instructors will be available as supervising faculty members for the above mentioned classes in Spring 2022:
-
David Miller
Students who register for these courses will interview with each of the supervising faculty members to determine which faculty member will be their instructor of record. Students must ensure they are registered in the correct section of the course with their assigned instructor by the end of the add/drop period.
Screen Acting: Theory and Analysis
CINE 4850 / DRAM 4850 A
3.0 Credit Hours
A study of major stylistic approaches to performance throughout the history of film, television, and other media, and an overview of prominent theories that focus on the work of screen actors. Students will acquire specialized means of understanding screen actors’ expressive capabilities, and the methods to critically examine actors’ performances through close, formal analysis.
Prerequisite: Cinema 1000 and third year standing (a minimum of 60.0 credit hours), or Drama 1000, and third year standing (a minimum of 60.0 credit hours)
Projection Design
DRAM 3821 A
3.0 Credit Hours
Course introduces the principles of projection design and construction in a theatrical environment including exploring the interpretation, visualization, and conceptualization of projections for the purpose of storytelling and the basic principles of theatrical projection construction techniques, tools, materials, vocabulary and personnel. Course reviews creative interpretation, practical documentation, and implementation of design information through developing an understanding of and approach to projection design and construction production processes, practices, and technologies. Course will include demonstrations and involve the practical application of beginner techniques through paper projects as well as hands-on experience.
Prerequisite: Drama 2810
Speech Communications II
DRAM 3850 YA (Calgary Campus)
3.0 Credit Hours
This course focuses on guest artists who will join the class for lectures, discussions, and work sessions centered around holding the integrity of your artistic voice in various creative contexts. We will hear the first-hand accounts and techniques used by diverse theatre professionals in different areas of theatre, and all levels of experience.
Prerequisite: Drama 2100, Drama 2810, and completion of 15 university level courses (a minimum of 45.0 credit hours)
Electronic Popular Music Production Seminar
MUSI 3000 A
3.0 Credit Hours
DAA and Studio musicians collaborate to produce electronic popular music. This course covers, in depth, a variety of electronic music styles including House, Techno, Drum & Bass, Hip-Hop, and EDM. Each week, students learn about the main characteristics and origins of a popular music genre. They do a deep analysis of a modern song in each style, and then take it as a reference to develop a musical idea using a DAW. In this process, students learn to: record, edit, arrange, and mix audio samples and electronic instruments.
Prerequisite: Music 3360 or Music 3460
History of Jazz
MUSI 3200 A
3.0 Credit Hours
This course provides a comprehensive overview of jazz history, covering the major jazz styles and important musicians that have pioneered this music. We will trace jazz from its infancy, beginning in New Orleans and will highlight how this music has developed through the years and has grown into various sub-genres. Some of the styles that will be covered include: Early Jazz, Swing Era, Bebop, Cool and Fusion. Other topics will include learning important jazz terminology, becoming acquainted with the preeminent jazz artists within each style and most importantly analyzing how jazz has evolved and inspired other music genres since early in the twentieth-century.
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.
History of Rock and Roll Since 1970
MUSI 3200 B
3.0 Credit Hours
This course is meant to be a follow‑up course to the History of Rock and Roll to 1970. It will cover the fragmentation of rock 'n' roll styles through the seventies and eighties and nineties, beginning with the trends of the late sixties, through the mass marketing of the early seventies, moving to the technological boom that characterized much of eighties rock and roll, and ending with rock alternatives and Alternative rock and roll from the nineties.
Equivalent: Music 3200 – History of Rock and Roll: 1968-1990
Prerequisite: 15 university-level courses (a minimum of 45.0 credit hours) - as per calendar
NOTE: Not counted in the 16-course Arts & Science major or the core courses in the B.Mus. degree
NOTE: Students with credit in Music 2850 (History of Rock ‘n Roll), 2850 (3850) (Popular Music in the 20th Century) or 3010 cannot receive credit for the same offering in the Music 3200 series.
NOTE: Credit is not allowed for MUSI 3200 – History of Rock and Roll, and either of MUSI 3200 - History of Rock and Roll: 1948-1970 or MUSI 3200 – History of Rock and Roll: 1968-1990.
Analogy Audio Production
MUSI 3850 A
3.0 Credit Hours
In this course, students focus on analog audio processing. They learn the ins and outs of the analog outboard gear we have on campus, as well as practical electronic concepts. Students develop a music production only using "out of the box" techniques. Creative mixing and mastering techniques are covered.
Prerequisite: Music 3630
World Instruments for Audio Engineers
MUSI 3850 B
3.0 Credit Hours
This course will introduce international musicians from countries like Brazil, Colombia, Kenya, Philippines, India, Israel, Spain, and Peru. These guest speakers will present an instrument and music style that is native to their country. Students will learn about how these instruments are used to celebrate and preserve ceremonies, oral history, and other life events. Additionally, students will learn techniques to record instruments that are not commonly found in a recording studio. These instruments may include cuatro, cajon, qanun, djembe, surdo, repique, berimbau, and oud.
Prerequisite: Music 2550
Games in Human History
NMED 3850 A
3.0 Credit Hours
This course provides a historical survey of games and the evolution of games across time and through various cultures, beginning with ancient board games (3500 BC) and ending with modern board, video, card, and war games. The course will cover the various functions which games have served (entertainment, gambling, status, competition) as well as the long-standing human interest in play, chance, rules, and competition. Emphasis will be placed on the evolution of games throughout history, the application of key technologies which have been used to create games (wood working, metallurgy, glass/stone work, paper and printing, electronics and computing), and the social structures and fandom which coalesce around games. An overarching goal will be to illustrate the similarities between ancient and modern forms of games, including the reasons and motivations which have throughout history drove humans to create and experiment with games.
Prerequisite: Third-year standing (a minimum of 60.0 credit hours)