Faculty of Arts & Science 2016-2017 Calendar

Victoria College

• Creative Expression and Society Minor
• Education and Society Minor
• Combined Degree Programs (CDP) in Arts/Science and Education
• Literature and Critical Theory Specialist in the Comparative Literature Stream | Literature and Critical Theory Major in the Comparative Literature Stream
• Literature and Critical Theory Specialist in the Cultural Theory Stream | Literature and Critical Theory Specialist in the Cultural Theory Stream
• Literature and Critical Theory Minor
• Material Culture Minor
• Renaissance Studies Specialist | Renaissance Studies Major | Renaissance Studies Minor
• Science and Society Minor
• Semiotics and Communications Studies Minor
• Victoria College Courses

Faculty

Victoria College (Vic) is committed to providing students with a personal and inclusive university experience inside and outside the classroom. This is an environment where students and faculty are engaged in building a community that welcomes diversity, embraces creativity and is energized by challenge.

At Vic, we nurture a close-knit learning environment from the very beginning of your academic career. Whether it is through our Vic One program, Vic One Hundred or the 199 courses offered by the Faculty of Arts and Science, every first-year Victoria College student takes at least one small seminar course. You will experience here the academic advantages of being a student at one of Canada’s leading research universities combined with the intimacy of a small liberal arts college.

Vic One

Victoria College offers first-year Arts and Science students an opportunity for a unique educational experience that draws upon the College’s history and identity. Eight streams with differing emphases are available in this foundation year program, known as Vic One. Each is named in honour of respected Canadian leaders with strong ties to Victoria College. The Margaret Chambers stream, named after a Victoria College graduate in mathematics who became an investor and philanthropist, is suited to students interested in commerce, management, economics, and policy. The Northrop Frye stream, named after the former Victoria College professor and distinguished literary critic, focuses on the humanities. The Paul W. Gooch stream, named after the former President of Victoria University who inspired the Vic One program, comprises studies in philosophy, ethics, religion, and diversity. The Norman Jewison stream, named after the former Victoria University Chancellor and celebrated film director, is oriented towards the creative arts and society. The Lester B. Pearson stream, named after the former Canadian Prime Minister, is concerned with the social sciences. The Egerton Ryerson stream, named after the first Principal of the College who was a pioneer in Canadian education, introduces issues in education and teaching. The Arthur Schawlow Stream, named after the Physics Nobel laureate, is geared towards the physical and mathematical sciences. The Augusta Stowe-Gullen stream, named after the first woman to graduate from a Canadian medical school, is of interest to students wishing to pursue studies in the life sciences. The eight streams feature lively seminars and dialogue, and are enriched by weekly plenary sessions with guest professors, visiting artists, writers, ambassadors and other public figures.

The Vic One streams comprise up to three FCEs of the five FCEs taken by most first-year students. Two required courses in each stream are seminar courses given by faculty of Victoria College. They have a limited enrolment of 25 students in each class. The third co-requisite course is listed with each course description.  Students who have questions about their Vic One co-requisite course must contact the Vic One Liaison Officer vic.one@utoronto.ca.

Vic One enrolment requires an application that is found on the Vic One website (www.vic.utoronto.ca). All first-year students in the Faculty of Arts and Science (St. George campus), regardless of college membership, are eligible for admission to Vic One. Admission decisions are based on extra-curricular activities, a short original essay and the student’s entering grades.

PLEASE NOTE: Vic One students are NOT eligible to enrol in Vic One Hundred courses, 199 first-year seminars or any other One program.

Vic One Hundred: First Year Seminars 

Vic One Hundred is a Victoria College initiative that offers first-year Arts and Science students the opportunity to experience a small class environment. These limited enrolment courses facilitate close contact with distinguished teaching faculty and fellow students, while providing an excellent gateway to, and foundation for, subsequent studies.

PLEASE NOTE: Vic One Hundred seminar courses are NOT open to students enrolled in any One program (including Vic One) or 199Y first-year seminars.

Enrolment in a first-year seminar course (199s and Vic One Hundred) is limited to 1.0 FCE. Students may take a combination of Vic One Hundred and 199H seminars as long as enrolment does not exceed 1.0 FCE.

Combined Program (Victoria College and Ontario Institute for Studies in Education)

Offers Year Three Education and Society minor students an opportunity for conditional early acceptance to the OISE Master of Teaching program. This minor is designed for students who are interested in teaching English, History, Social Science and/or Math. Students will take two half graduate courses in Year Four that will count towards their undergraduate degree and their graduate degree. 

Creative Expression and Society Program

(Minor) allows students to develop their proficiency in creative expression by taking part in one or more workshop courses in creative writing or another artistic medium, while studying the relationship of the creative arts to social issues. The reciprocal influence of creative artists on society, and of society and the marketplace on creative endeavours, is examined through courses that treat topics such as: the arts and public opinion; interpretation and reception; reviewing and marketing; censorship and criticism; ethics and accountability in fictional and non-fictional forms. This program fosters the exercise of creativity while making the relationship of creativity and social conditions a subject for reflection and dialogue.

Education and Society (Arts Program)

(Minor) is for students interested in education to explore topics such as child and adolescent development, equity and diversity, communication and conflict resolution. Students will get hands-on experience in classrooms and are strongly encouraged to explore international placements. Students completing the minor will be well prepared for applying to consecutive education programs.

Literature and Critical Theory Program (Formerly Literary Studies)

(Specialist, Major and Minor) will be attractive to students who wish to read works drawn from a variety of languages and cultural contexts. The program combines close attention to literary texts with theoretical reflection on relations between literary and non-literary works (for example, philosophy, art, film, history). Contemporary debates in literary and cultural theory will play a key role.

Students may enrol in one of two streams, Comparative Literature (Specialist and Major) or Cultural Theory (Specialist and Major). Students may also enrol in the Minor program.

Material Culture Program

(Minor) engages students in the study of material culture (tangible things, broadly defined); supports research projects that originate with studies of artefacts; and fosters trans-disciplinary and inter-institutional dialogues amongst students, scholars, stewards and purveyors of material culture – within the university and at a range of cultural agencies. Students will work with curators and other professionals to analyze the social and cultural relevance of objects as part of understanding a culture or society.  The Minor is designed to complement programs in such disciplines as Asian Studies, Near and Middle Eastern Studies, Geography, History, Art, History of Science and Technology, Semiotics, Renaissance Studies and Anthropology.

Renaissance Studies Program

(Specialist, Major and Minor) studies one of the critical periods in European and world history. The Renaissance witnessed changes in art and literature, in social and political development, and in technology and science that transformed our concept of the world. This interdisciplinary program is particularly attractive to students of history, politics, literature, fine art, history of science, music and theatre, because it assembles aspects of all these studies to focus on one seminal period in Western civilization.

Science and Society Program

(Minor) is an interdisciplinary program that focuses on the different ways science and technology have shaped modern society and, in turn, how society shapes science and technology. Courses in this program address such topics as science and values, science-related policy and politics, ethical uses of technology, scientific revolutions and controversies, modeling and communication of scientific research, and knowledge transfer from research to commercial and societal applications.

Semiotics and Communication Studies Program

(Minor) investigates the science of communication and sign systems, the ways people understand phenomena and organize them mentally, the ways in which they devise means for transmitting that understanding and for sharing it with others. It covers all non-verbal signalling and extends to domains whose communicative dimension is perceived only unconsciously or subliminally. Knowledge, meaning, intention and action are thus fundamental concepts in the semiotic investigation of phenomena.

Victoria College Programs

The Minor in Creative Expression and Society allows students to develop creative and communicative proficiency by taking part in one or more workshop-style courses in fiction, non-fiction, or poetry writing and/or creative expression through aural and visual media. Students will also explore the reciprocal relationship of the creative arts and society by studying social issues in the arts, the influence of writers and artists on society, and the impact of society and the marketplace on creative endeavours. Courses explore such topics as the arts and public opinion; reception and interpretation; marketing and reviewing; censorship and criticism; ethics and accountability. This program fosters the exercise of creativity while making the relationship of creative expression and social conditions a subject for reflection and dialogue.

4.0 FCE including at least 1.0 FCE at the 300+level, with a maximum of 1 FCE at the 100 level. Up to 1.0 FCE may be chosen from approved courses offered by other departments (see list of Cognate Courses).
 

1. At least 1.0 FCE from Group A – Creative Expression: VIC273H1, VIC275H1, VIC279H1, VIC280H1, VIC350Y1, VIC370H1, VIC470H1, VIC479Y1, VIC480H1, IVP210H1. Students who achieve at least 77% in the Vic One course VIC191Y1 may count that course toward the Minor and use it to fulfil this requirement.
2. At least 1.0 FCE from Group B – Social Contexts and Interpretation: VIC209H1, VIC223Y1, VIC270H1, VIC271H1, VIC281H1, VIC320Y1, VIC352Y1, VIC371H1, VIC372H1.  Students who achieve at least 77% in the Vic One course VIC190Y1 may count that course toward the Minor and use it to fulfil this requirement.
3. Up to 1.0 FCE from Cognate Courses:
   ABS300Y1, CIN201Y1, EAS349H1, ENG287H1,  ENG389Y1, DRM428H1 FAH352H1, FAH377H1, INI311Y1, MUS211H1, SMC219Y1, SMC229H1

The Vic-sponsored Education and Society Minor is open to all Arts and Science students. This program is for those who are interested in education, either as a skill that will prepare you for many occupations, or as a strong background for admission to a teacher education program, such as the Combined Degree Program with OISE (separate application required, see below) or another consecutive teacher education program. 

Entry Requirement:

Interested students can apply every spring for September entry into the program.

This is a limited entry program. Meeting the minimum requirements does not guarantee admission to the program.

Applicants MUST have completed the following in order to apply:
 

• PSY100H1 with a minimum grade of 70 
• obtain a grade of 73 or greater in at least 3 FCE
• Minimum of 4.0 Full Course Equivalents (FCE)

Please Note: The recommended preparation for admission to this program is the Vic One Egerton Ryerson stream in education.

Program Requirements

(4.0 FCE including at least 1.0 FCE at 300+ level) 

1.  PSY100H1 
2.  All of: JSV200H1, JSV201H1, JSV202H1
3. VIC360H1/VIC360Y1 
4. VIC362H1 
5. One FCE from: VIC361H0, VIC363H1, a course related to Education and Society at the 300+ level selected from the offerings in Sociology, Anthropology or Geography (Arts).

Combined Degree Programs (CDP) in Arts/Science and Education

The Combined Degree Program in Arts/Science and Education is designed for students interested in studying the intersections of teaching subjects and Education, coupled with professional teacher preparation. Students earn an Honours Bachelor’s degree from the Faculty of Arts and Science (St. George) and an accredited professional Master of Teaching (MT) degree from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE). The CDP permits the completion of both degrees in six years with 1.0 FCE that may be counted towards both the undergraduate and graduate degrees.

Program requirements:
1. Minor in Education and Society, Victoria College
2. Major in one of the following areas, corresponding to the first teaching subject:

• English
• History
• Mathematics
• Psychology
• Sociology
  

3. Minor in an area corresponding to the second teaching subject as determined by OISE. See http://pepper.oise.utoronto.ca/~jhewitt/mtresources/intermediate_senior_teaching_subject_prerequisites_2016-17.pdf)

Application Process
Applicants apply successively to the H.B.A./H.B.Sc. program, the MT program, and the CDP. See the department/college page for admission requirements in the relevant Major and Minor programs.

In the Spring term of Year 3 of the Bachelor program, students apply at OISE for conditional admission to the MT. To be considered for conditional admission to the Master of Teaching and the Combined Degree Program, students must meet the following admission requirements:

• Have completed or be on course to complete the Education and Society Minor Program (Victoria College)
• Be registered in the 3rd year of the H.B.Sc. or H.B.A. Degree Program, in one of the above listed major programs.
• Have completed at least half of the teaching subjects prerequisite courses (i.e. 3.0 FCEs in 1st teaching subject, and 1.5 FCE in 2nd teaching subject) by the end of third year.
• Have an average grade equivalent of at least B+, normally demonstrated by an average grade in the 2nd year.
• Provide at least two letters of reference.
• Meet other qualifications as specified by the MT program.

See: http://www.oise.utoronto.ca/mt/How_To_Apply.html

Once students have accepted a conditional offer of admission to the MT program, they will be eligible to take 1.0 graduate FCE at OISE in their fourth year, which will count towards both the undergraduate degree and the Master of Teaching degree.

If the student does not meet the above conditions, the offer of conditional admission to the Combined Degree Program will be rescinded. Students in this position could apply separately to the Master of Teaching outside of the Combined Degree Program.

For students to be given full, unconditional admission to the MT program, they must:

• Maintain at least a B+ (3.3) average in their final year or over senior courses.
• Achieve a grade of at least B+ average in the 1.0 graduate FCE taken in Year 4.
• Have completed required courses to meet the first and second teaching subjects.
• Successfully complete the requirements for the H.B.Sc./H.B.A. program.
• Have the undergraduate degree confirmed.
  

Academic Path to Completion for the CDP
Year 1-4: H.B.Sc./H.B.A program and degree requirements
Year 4: 1.0 FCE in the MT graduate courses
Year 5-6: 9 FCEs of the MT program requirements

Enquiries: vic.academics@utoronto.ca; 416-585-4441

Literature and Critical Theory Program

The Literature and Critical Theory program (formerly Literary Studies) is based on a pair of ideas. The first is that many of the most important issues that engage our attention call for a multidisciplinary approach. The second is that the kind of critical analysis demanded by the study of literary texts offers powerful tools for investigating other cultural and social forms, both past and present. Central to the program is the comparative study of forms of representation – texts, media, institutions, and theories — in diverse cultures and historical periods. This requires thinking seriously about what it means to compare and what it means to translate.

The Literature and Critical Theory program will attract students who are interested in exploring and generating links between literature and historical, cultural, political, social, and psychological forces. The program trains students to think about how problems of the present are tied to those of the past, and to consider critically how we both represent this past and imagine possible futures. Students will be engaged in the practice of close, contextualized analyses of literary texts and other discursive forms, including artefacts, institutions and social practices, originating in different languages, geographical locations, and historical periods.

Literary production, like all forms of cultural production, invariably exceeds the boundaries of the nation, and increasingly so in today’s globalized world. The boundaries between various cultural media are similarly porous, and the aesthetic values by which we identify, judge, and classify literary and cultural objects are historically shaped. For these reasons, students will be encouraged to study in more than one language and to work with a variety of media. Our courses explore literary and cultural movements across languages, geographical regions, epochs, media, and disciplines.

(12.5 FCE, including at least 3.0 FCE at 300-level and 1.0 FCE at 400-level)
 

1. First year in program: VIC202Y1
2. First or second year in program: VIC203Y1
   
   Second or higher years in program:
3. 3.5 FCE from VIC204H1, VIC301H1, VIC302H1, VIC303H1, VIC304H1, VIC305H1, VIC306H1, VIC307H1, VIC308H1, VIC401H1/VIC401Y1, VIC403H1, VIC494H1/VIC494Y1. 
4. 0.5 FCE in Breadth Requirement Category 5: The Physical and Mathematical Universes, or another half course approved by the program director, to fulfill the Quantitative Reasoning competency required in the program.
5. VIC402H1 
6. 6.0 FCE in languages or literatures drawn from other departments. At least 4.0 of these involve reading texts in a language other than English, including at least 2.0 at the 300+ level. These courses must be pre-approved by the program coordinator to ensure they will be counted towards this program of study.

(7.5 FCE, including at least 1.5 FCE at 300-level and 0.5 FCE at 400-level)
 

1. First year in program: VIC202Y1
2. First or second year in program: VIC203Y1
   
   Second or higher years in program:
3. 2.5 FCE from VIC204H1, VIC301H1, VIC302H1, VIC303H1, VIC304H1, VIC305H1, VIC306H1, VIC307H1, VIC308H1, VIC401H1/VIC401Y1, VIC403H1, VIC494H1/VIC494Y1
4. 0.5 FCE in Breadth Requirement Category 5: The Physical and Mathematical Universes, or another half course approved by the program director, to fulfill the Quantitative Reasoning competency required in the program.
5. VIC402H1 
6. 2.0 FCE in a language or literature drawn from other departments, where texts are read in a language other than English.  At least 1.0 FCE must be at the 300+ level. These courses must be pre-approved by the program coordinator to ensure they will be counted towards this program of study.

(12.5 FCE, including at least 3.0 FCE at 300-level and 1.0 FCE at 400-level)
 

1. First year in program: VIC202Y1
2. First or second year in program: VIC203Y1
   
   Second or higher years in program:
3. 3.5 FCE from VIC204H1, VIC301H1, VIC302H1, VIC303H1, VIC304H1, VIC305H1, VIC306H1, VIC307H1, VIC308H1, VIC401H1/VIC401Y1, VIC403H1, VIC494H1/VIC494Y1, 
4. 0.5 FCE in Breadth Requirement Category 5: The Physical and Mathematical Universes, or another half course approved by the program director, to fulfill the Quantitative Reasoning competency required in the program.
5. VIC402H1
6. 4.0 FCE in ONE other discipline – African Studies, Anthropology, Caribbean Studies, Cinema Studies, Classics, Drama, East Asian Studies, Equity Studies, Fine Art, History, Music, Political Science, Philosophy, Psychology, Sociology, Women and Gender Studies, and other departments as approved by the program coordinator.
7. 2.0 FCE in a language other than English, including at least 1.0 at the 300+ level.

(7.5 FCE, including at least 1.5 FCE at 300-level and 0.5 FCE at 400-level)
 

1. First year in program: VIC202Y1
2. First or second year in program: VIC203Y1
   
   Second or higher years in program:
3. 2.5 FCE from VIC204H1, VIC301H1, VIC302H1, VIC303H1, VIC304H1, VIC305H1, VIC306H1, VIC307H1, VIC308H1, VIC401H1/VIC401Y1, VIC403H1, VIC494H1/VIC494Y1 
4. 0.5 FCE in Breadth Requirement Category 5: The Physical and Mathematical Universes, or another half course approved by the program director, to fulfill the Quantitative Reasoning competency required in the program.
5. VIC402H1 
6. 1.0 FCE in ONE other discipline – African Studies, Anthropology, Caribbean Studies, Cinema Studies, Classics, Drama, East Asian Studies, Equity Studies, Fine Art, History, Music, Political Science, Philosophy, Psychology, Sociology, Women and Gender Studies, and other departments as approved by the program coordinator.
7. 1.0 FCE in a language other than English at the 200+ level.

(4.0 FCE, including at least 1.0 FCE at 300+ level)

1. VIC202Y1 
2. 3.0 FCE from:  VIC203Y1, VIC204H1, VIC301H1, VIC302H1, VIC303H1, VIC304H1, VIC305H1, VIC306H1, VIC307H1, VIC308H1, VIC401H1/VIC401Y1, VIC402H1, VIC403H1, VIC494H1/VIC494Y1

What does it mean to live in a “material world”? What might we learn from studying the things that surround us?  In an increasingly consumer-oriented, globalized and digital age, how do objects express the longstanding beliefs and values of different societies?  Material culture is the study of objects – clothing, household goods, machinery, built forms – that show signs of human influence. The program engages students in the study of material culture (tangible things, broadly defined); supports research projects which originate with studies of artefacts; and fosters trans-disciplinary and inter-institutional dialogues amongst students, scholars, stewards and purveyors of material culture – within the university and at a range of cultural agencies. We examine the meanings people invest in their things, across cultures and time periods, and consider processes of production and consumption, including moments of invention, exchange, use, re-use, divestment, disposal, and collection.  Students will work with curators and other professionals to analyze the social and cultural relevance of objects as part of understanding of a culture or society. The Minor is designed to complement programs in such disciplines as Asian Studies, Near and Middle Eastern Studies, Geography, History, Art, History of Science and Technology, Semiotics, Renaissance Studies, and Anthropology.

(4.0 FCE including at least 1.0 FCE at the 300+ level)
 

1. VIC224Y1/VIC225Y1
2. 2.5 FCE from VIC224Y1/VIC225Y1 (if not used to fulfill requirement 1), VIC229H1, VIC229Y1, VIC326H1, VIC328H1, VIC329H1, VIC329Y1, or cognate courses, with at least 0.5 FCE at the 300+ level.  No more than 1.0 FCE may be chosen from the list of cognate courses. 
3. VIC444H1

Cognate courses:
ANT200Y1, ANT204H1, ANT311Y1, ANT314H1, ANT315H1, ANT317H1, ANT320H1, ANT322H1, ANT324H1, ANT346H1, ANT347Y1, ANT349H1, ANT372H1, ANT378H1, ANT457H1, ARH305H1, ARH309H1, ENG287H1, FAH101H1, FAH206H1, FAH207H1, FAH215H1, FAH216H1, FAH230H1, FAH231H1, FAH246H1, FAH260H1, FAH262H1, FAH270H1, FAH272H1, FAH303H1, FAH309H1, FAH318H1, FAH327H1, FAH328H1, FAH330H1, FAH331H1, FAH338H1, FAH341H1, FAH348H1, FAH364H1, FAH371H1, FAH372H1, FAH373H1, FAH374H1, FAH376H1, FAH381H1, FAH436H1, FAH463H1, FAH465H1, FAH480H1, FAH481H1, FAH483H1, FAH484H1, FAH485H1, FAH486H1, EAS406Y1, EAS251H1, EAS272H1, EAS297H1, EAS272H1, EAS297H1, EAS378H1, EAS411H1, EAS412H1,  GGR107H1, GGR124H1, GGR216H1, JGI216H1, GGR220H1, GGR221H1, GGR240H1, GGR241H1, GGR246H1, GGR252H1, GGR254H1, GGR320H1, GGR329H1, GGR336H1, GGR339H1, GGR341H1, GGR342H1, GGR343H1,  GGR352H1, GGR356H1, GGR360H1, GGR361H1, GGR363H1, HIS302H1,  HIS305H1, HIS310H1, HIS315H1, HIS319H1, HIS347H1,  HIS363H1, HIS374H1, HIS387H1, HIS463H1, HIS484H1, HPS201H1, HPS202H1, HPS201H1, HPS211H1, HPS307H1, HPS313H1, IVP210H1, MST200Y1, NMC260H1, NMC360H1, NMC362Y1, NMC363H1, NMC364H1, NMC365Y1, RLG305H1, RLG307H1, VIC348Y1. Students who achieve at least 77% in Vic One courses VIC183H1 or VIC184H1 may count one of these toward the Minor and use it to fulfil this requirement

The Renaissance Studies Program lets you study one of the most critical periods in European and world history. Changes in art and literature, in social and political development, and in technology and science transformed European concepts of the individual, society, and the world.

Many aspects of our modern world had their origin in this period: our emphasis on the study of human affairs; our irrepressible interest in the exploration of the universe, in science, and in medicine; the institutions of church and state as we know them today. The Renaissance is also a period of unparalleled European contacts with non-European civilizations – from the powerful Islamic world of the Near East and North Africa to the great pre-Columbian civilizations of the Americas, from the uncharted forests of equatorial Africa to the exotic lands of the Indian subcontinent and the Far East, nothing seemed too distant or too inaccessible for the European mind or merchant.

This interdisciplinary program is particularly attractive to students of history, politics, literature, fine art, history of science, music and theatre, because it assembles aspects of all these studies to focus on one seminal period in Western civilization.

(10 FCE, including at least 3.0 FCE at 300-level and 1.0 FCE at 400-level):

1. 3.0 FCE from: VIC240Y1, VIC241Y1, VIC341H1, VIC342H1, VIC343Y1, VIC344H1, VIC345H1, VIC346H1, VIC347H1, VIC348Y1, VIC349H1/VIC349Y1, VIC392H1/VIC392Y1, VIC449H1/VIC449Y1, VIC492H1/VIC492Y1
2. 1.0 FCE in Literature from: ENG220Y1, ENG301H1, ENG302Y1, ENG303H1, ENG304Y1, ENG330H1, ENG331H1, ENG335H1, ENG336H1; FRE319H1, FRE320H1; ITA200H1, ITA249H1, ITA312H1, ITA325H1, ITA332H1, ITA356Y0, ITA357Y0, ITA370H1, ITA400H1, ITA420H1,  ITA431H1; PRT351H1; SPA352H1, SPA368H1, SPA452H1, SPA454H1
3. 1.0 FCE in History: HIS243H1, HIS301H1, HIS308H1, HIS309H1, HIS319H1, HIS357Y1, HIS362H1, HIS368H1, HIS403H1, HIS438H1, HIS443H1
4. 1.0 FCE in Art from: FAH230H1, FAH330H1, FAH331H1, FAH333H1, FAH335H1, FAH337H1, FAH338H1, FAH340H1, FAH341H1, FAH344H1,FAH370H1, FAH371H1, FAH393Y0, FAH430H1, FAH432H1, FAH433H1, FAH434H1, FAH435H1, FAH436H1, FAH440H1, FAH470H1
5. 1.0 FCE in a Research Course (a 299Y1, 399Y1, on a Renaissance Studies topic, or VIC392H1/VIC392Y1, VIC492H1/VIC492Y1)
6. 2.0 FCE in a language relevant to Renaissance Studies – French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Latin, German (only one may be at the introductory level).
7. VIC440Y1

(6 FCE, including at least 2.0 FCE at 300+ level)
 

1. 2.0 FCE from: VIC240Y1, VIC241Y1, VIC341H1, VIC342H1, VIC343Y1, VIC344H1, VIC345H1, VIC346H1, VIC347H1, VIC348Y1, VIC349H1/VIC349Y1, VIC392H1/VIC392Y1, VIC449H1/VIC449Y1, VIC492H1/VIC492Y1
2. 1.0 FCE in Literature from: ENG220Y1, ENG301H1, ENG302Y1, ENG303H1, ENG304Y1, ENG330H1, ENG331H1, ENG335H1, ENG336H1; FRE319H1, FRE320H1; ITA200H1, ITA249H1, ITA312H1, ITA325H1, ITA332H1, ITA356Y0, ITA357Y0, ITA370H1, ITA431H1, ITA400H1, ITA420H1; PRT351H1; SPA368H1,  SPA352H1, SPA368H1,  SPA452H1, SPA454H1
3. 1.0 FCE in History: HIS243H1, HIS301H1, HIS308H1, HIS309H1, HIS319H1, HIS357Y1, HIS362H1, HIS368H1,  HIS403H1, HIS438H1, HIS443H1
4. 1.0 FCE in Art from: FAH230H1, FAH330H1, FAH331H1, FAH333H1, FAH335H1, FAH337H1, FAH338H1, FAH340H1, FAH341H1, FAH344H1, FAH370H1, FAH371H1, FAH393Y0, FAH430H1, FAH432H1, FAH433H1, FAH434H1, FAH435H1, FAH436H1, FAH440H1, FAH470H1
5. VIC440Y1

(4 FCE, including at least 1.0 FCE at 300+ level)
 

1. 2.0 FCE from: VIC240Y1, VIC241Y1, VIC341H1, VIC342H1, VIC343Y1, VIC344H1, VIC345H1, VIC346H1, VIC347H1, VIC348Y1, VIC349H1/VIC349Y1, VIC392H1/VIC392Y1, VIC440Y1, VIC449H1/VIC449Y1, VIC492H1/VIC492Y1
    
2. 2.0 FCE in Literature, History, or Art from:
   
   Literature: ENG220Y1, ENG301H1, ENG302Y1, ENG303H1, ENG304Y1, ENG330H1, ENG331H1, ENG335H1, ENG336H1; FRE319H1, FRE320H1, FRE441H1; ITA200H1, ITA249H1, ITA312H1, ITA325H1, ITA332H1, ITA356Y0, ITA357Y0, ITA370H1, ITA400H1, ITA420H1; PRT351H1; SPA352H1, SPA368H1, SPA452H1, SPA454H1
   
   History: HIS243H1, HIS301H1, HIS308H1, HIS309H1, HIS319H1, HIS368H1, HIS357Y1, HIS362H1, HIS403H1, HIS438H1, HIS443H1
   
   Art: FAH230H1, FAH330H1, FAH331H1, FAH333H1, FAH335H1, FAH337H1, FAH338H1, FAH340H1, FAH341H1, FAH344H1,FAH370H1, FAH371H1, FAH393Y0, FAH430H1, FAH432H1, FAH433H1, FAH434H1, FAH435H1, FAH436H1, FAH440H1, FAH470H1

The Science and Society program studies the complex, interdependent relationship between science, technology, and society. The influence of scientific research and its applications is evident in virtually all aspects of modern life, from our conception of societal obligation and familial relations, to our interaction with the commonplace materials and objects we use to sustain ourselves. However, scientific and technological development is in turn affected by and shaped by politics, public opinion, moral beliefs and cultural practices. 

Courses in this program explore topics such as ethical uses of technology, scientific revolutions and controversies, science-related policy and politics, modeling and communication of scientific research, and knowledge transfer from research to commercial and societal applications.

(4.0 FCE, including at least 1.0 FCE at 300+ level)
 

1. HPS200H1
2. 1.0 FCE from: VIC206H1, VIC207H1, VIC274H1, VIC278H1, IMC200H1, IVP210H1. Students who achieve at least 77% in the Vic One course VIC170Y1 or VIC172Y1 may count that course toward the Minor and use it to fulfil this requirement.
3. 1.0 FCE from: HPS202H1, HPS260H1, HPS307H1, HPS308H1, HPS324H1, HPS350H1
4. An additional 0.5 FCE from program requirements 2. and 3. above.
5. An additional 1.0 FCE from program requirements 2. and 3. above and/or from the approved list of cognate courses below:
   ANT358H1, ANT364H1, BIO220H1, EEB215H1, ENV200H1, ETH220H1, GGR223H1, GGR321H1,  JGE321H1, PHL273H1, PHL281H1, PHL373H1, PHL381H1, PHL384H1, PSY328H1, WGS275H1

Semiotics is the science of communication and sign systems, in short, of the ways people understand phenomena and organize them mentally, and of the ways in which they devise means for transmitting that understanding and for sharing it with others. Although natural and artificial languages are therefore central to semiotics, its field covers all non-verbal signalling and extends to domains whose communicative dimension is perceived only unconsciously or subliminally. Knowledge, meaning, intention and action are thus fundamental concepts in the semiotic investigation of phenomena.

NOTE:  This is a limited enrolment program.  Admission will be determined by a student’s mark in ANT100Y1/LIN100Y1/PHL100Y1/SOC101Y1/(SOC102H1+SOC103H1)/one FCE in Vic One.  A final mark of 73% will be required for admission. Achieving that mark does not necessarily guarantee admission to the program in any given year.

(4 FCE, including 1.0 FCE at the 300+ level)
 

1. 1.0 FCE from: ANT100Y1, LIN100Y1, PHL100Y1, SOC101Y1, (SOC102H1+SOC103H1), one FCE in Vic One. 
2. 1.0 FCE from: VIC220Y1, VIC223Y1 
3. 1.0 FCE from: VIC320Y1, VIC322H1, VIC323Y1, VIC324H1, VIC325H1
4. 1.0 FCE from Groups A-E.
   
   Group A: Anthropology
   ANT204H1, ANT253H1, ANT322H1, ANT329H1, ANT334H1, ANT351H1, ANT356H1, ANT366H1, ANT425H1, ANT426H1, ANT427H1, ANT450H1; JAL328H1, JAL355H1
   
   Group B: Linguistics
   LIN200H1, LIN229H1, LIN232H1, LIN333H1, LIN341H1, LIN456H1; JAL328H1; JLP315H1, JLP374H1
   
   Group C: Philosophy
   PHL200Y1, PHL201H1, PHL235H1, PHL240H1, PHL243H1, PHL244H1, PHL245H1, PHL285H1, PHL304H1, PHL307H1, PHL310H1, PHL311H1, PHL314H1, PHL315H1, PHL316H1, PHL317H1, PHL320H1, PHL321H1, PHL322H1, PHL325H1, PHL326H1, PHL340H1, PHL342H1, PHL346H1, PHL351H1, PHL385H1
   
   Group D: Psychology
   PSY210H1, PSY220H1, PSY260H1, PSY270H1, PSY280H1, PSY311H1, PSY312H1, PSY316H1, PSY320H1, PSY323H1, PSY362H1, PSY370H1, PSY371H1, PSY372H1, PSY421H1, PSY434H1; JLP315H1
   
   Group E: Other Related Area Courses
   CDN221H1, CIN201Y1, CIN270Y1, CIN301Y1, CIN310Y1, CIN330Y1, CIN332Y1, CIN314Y1; CLA203H1, CLA204H1, CLA219H1, CLA305H1, CLA388H1, CLA389H1; COG250Y1; DRM200Y1, DRM230Y1, DRM264H1; ENG382Y1, ENG384Y1; FAH231H1, FAH245H1, FAH246H1, FAH270H1, FAH272H1, FAH337H1, FAH346H1, FAH348H1, FAH372H1, FAH374H1; HIS316H1, HIS374H1, HIS375H1, HIS459H1, HIS460H1; HPS201H1, HPS202H1, HPS250H1, HPS324H1; INI301H1, INI305H1; JFV323H1, JUM203H1; MUS200H1, MUS211H1, MUS303H1; NEW240Y1, NEW302Y1, NEW303H1; RLG200H1, RLG210Y1, RLG211H1, RLG212H1, RLG227H1, RLG230H1, RLG232H1, RLG233H1, RLG249H1, RLG301H1, RLG304H1, RLG305H1,  RLG315H1, RLG316H1, RLG327H1, RLG336H1, RLG337H1, SLA331H1, SLA442H1, SLA495H1, SLA496H1, SMC210H1, SMC219Y1, SMC387H1, SMC361H1, SMC397H1, SOC265H1, SOC365H1, SOC367H1, SOC381Y1, SOC388H1; VIC202Y1, VIC224Y1, VIC302H1, VIC305H1, VIC306H1, VIC307H1, VIC322H1, VIC343Y1, VIC345H1; VIS201H1, VIS202H1, VIS203H1, VIS204H1, VIS205H1, VIS206H1, VIS207H1, VIS208H1, VIS209H1, VIS212H1, VIS213H1, VIS307H1, VIS312H1, VIS313H1; WGS271Y1, WGS372H1

Victoria College Courses

• Vic One
• Vic One Hundred
• Creative Expression and Society
• Education and Society
• Literature and Critical Theory
• Material Culture
• Renaissance Studies
• Science and Society
• Semiotics and Communication Studies
• Vic Capstone
• Other Vic Seminars

Admission to the Vic One Program is open to first-year students and by application only. Applications are accepted in the spring prior to the commencement of the academic year; no exceptions will be made.

Each Vic One stream comprises up to 3 FCE of the five FCE taken by most first-year students. Two required courses in each stream are seminar courses with a limited enrolment of 25 students in each class; none of these is eligible for the CR/NCR option. The third co-requisite course is listed with the stream description.  Students who wish to discuss other options for their Vic One co-requisite course must contact the Vic One Liaison Officer at vic.one@utoronto.ca.

The following courses are available to students already admitted to Vic One:

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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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?  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. 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.  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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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.  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? 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.  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. 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. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

PLEASE NOTE:  Weekly Vic One Plenary sessions on Wednesday 4-6pm will be added to students' schedules as a tutorial section associated with the Vic One courses.

Vic One Hundred seminars are designed to provide the opportunity to work closely with an instructor in a class of no more than twenty-five students. These interactive seminars are intended to stimulate the students’ curiosity and provide an opportunity to get to know a member of the professorial staff in a seminar environment during the first year of study. 

Please see the list of Vic One Hundred seminars below.  None of these courses is 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.

This course examines how political ideas are formed and developed through literature, art, plays, essays and philosophical works in the twentieth century. 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 will examine the phenomenon of individuals and communities who rebel against the general social norms upheld by the majority in societies throughout history. These societal conventions can include generally-accepted moral and religious tenets, as well as the formal legal or political powers employed by those with the levers of social control. The rebels' motives can range from the purely criminal, as with many notorious outlaws, to struggles for social justice, in the case of rebellious slaves or proponents of civil disobedience. Students will develop a theoretical framework which they can apply to the lives and motivations of a diverse representation of social rebels and outsiders, among them: pirates and mutineers, bandits and members of street/biker gangs, anarchists, disaffected intellectuals and religious leaders, punks and goths. Besides examining the sociological and philosophical aspects of rebellion, the course will consider the rebel as a prominent element in popular culture. 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 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 social organization, politics, science, travel, art and architecture, literature and philosophy, religion and music. 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.

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.

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.  

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.

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 photojournalism and documentary photography, their changing contexts and challenges in the digital era. We investigate photographs old and new. Students discuss major visual stories in the news. They also read writings about photography and photojournalism from some of its most important practitioners. No camera required. Students from all disciplines and areas of interest welcome.

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.

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 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.

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 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.

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. 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.

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 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.

This course explores representation as a cultural and political problem.  Representation is both a means of depicting or constructing reality and a means of constituting individual and collective subjectivities.  We will consider literary and other modes of representation in their historical contexts.

An introduction to the history and ideologies of empire (east and west, old and new), with special attention to the establishment and transformation of the modern nation and its cultural forms.  Our comparative approach will examine how cultural forms are established, interpreted, and reinvented 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 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. 

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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. 

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.

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.

Studies the international culture emerging in media and literature and examines recent communication theory as it applies to literary, social and cultural issues.

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.

The study of readings from major French literary semioticians is combined with the practical application of theory to the analysis of selected literary texts. This course is taught in English. (Not offered in 2016-17; offered every three years.)

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.

Capstone courses provide opportunities for students to work closely with senior faculty on projects that involve substantial research, leadership, and/or interdisciplinary components, so as to consolidate their academic experiences and prepare to move beyond undergraduate studies.

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.

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 genres and contexts. This course is Pass/Fail. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

Victoria College offers other course modules that allow students to incorporate supervised individual projects, experiential learning, research experiences, and international opportunities into their academic studies. Seminars on special topics offered on an occasional basis are also included in this category.

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 http://www.artsci.utoronto.ca/current/course/rop. 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.

Topics vary from year to year.

Topics vary from year to year.