Languages and Communication profile

A message moving from a sender to a receiver. Seems simple enough. Now factor in the variables that can make this message lost, misunderstood, less effective, even meaningless. Communicating to one person vs. communicating to hundreds, thousands, or millions faces significant challenges. This course is designed to introduce first-year students to many types of mass communication/journalism from the printed word and photojournalism, to broadcast and online communication. Students will also examine communication from a global approach and learn how media is developed and regulated in other cultures. Students will begin to learn news writing styles, mass communication laws and ethics.

Students will learn the basics of analysing and interpreting works of art while exploring the artistic production from Antiquity to approximately 1850. Students will learn to use correct terminology relevant to art history and visual analysis. This course will also introduce students to art historical research, by showing them how to gather and make sense of documents relevant to the production and legacy of artworks. These research skills, as well as the content of the course, will be geared towards ensuring the contextualization of artworks (within their historical, social, political, religious and ideological contexts). Students will gain an awareness of the development of art and the sequence of art historical periods and major themes in art. Attention will also be given to introducing students to a variety of interpretative approaches in art history so that their outlook on the meaning of art and artworks can be expanded. Such a course should foster a greater sense of cultural awareness among students and, when applicable, contribute to their artistic practice.

When we think of film, of movies, the thought of Hollywood is often the quickest to enter our minds as the most familiar cultural object. In practice, since the advent of cinema, moving pictures have been produced across the world as diverse systems of cultural expression, developing unique narrative traditions, themes and visual languages, parallel to those of the dominant Hollywood movie industry. With an emphasis on contemporary films from three chosen countries, the course will develop links between national cinemas and their historical and social contexts, accomplished through focusing on the nation’s most renowned filmmakers.

This course introduces students to some of the important cultural figures, stakeholders and debates that influence and/or reflect the development of the arts, literature and communication in Quebec and in Canada, and the national cultural identities based on them. The course could include some content from the visual arts, the performing arts, literature and film/television; it will also include content from both the English and French parts of Quebec and Canada.

While it is not a survey course in Quebec/Canadian art and literature, it will cover certain iconic works and key cultural forces in order to illustrate the issues being discussed.

In this course students will develop their ability to make critical judgments in the context of contemporary issues and debates involving communication and mass media. The course will adopt a case-study approach and the topics to be addressed may include identity and representation in the media, the role of the media in the formation and sustenance of culture and community, the impact of globalization on cultural identity, the role of communication and the mass media in social control and social change, as well as the general impact of rapid technological change in the communication sphere, shifting conceptions of private and public, the commodification of information and culture, and challenges to democracy.

In this course, students will explore the contemporary cultural diversity of Hispanic and/or Germanic societies through the analysis of their respective literatures, films, and visual arts. They will be introduced to a documented characterization of the cultures involved as well as the appropriate theoretical terminology required to contextualize and compare cultural objects.* Theories explored can be, but not limited to: cultural theory, literary theory, intercultural mediation, socio-pragmatics, semiotics, etc.

Le cours Expression Musicale couvre les éléments de base du langage musical populaire: mélodie, paroles, harmonie, rythme, forme et instrumentation. Les étudiants utiliseront les notions acquises pour analyser et comparer des chansons issues du répertoire populaire francophone, anglophone, espagnol ou allemand.

This course introduces students to the study of cinema through an exploration of film genres, the works of selected directors, and the language of cinema. Students will be guided to appreciate and understand a collection of significant Hollywood films, while learning how they are constructed and how to decipher their embedded meaning.

This course will provide an introduction to the fundamentals of Western Music, including but not limited to basic materials, music notation, ear training, aesthetics, and the listening experience. The course requires no previous experience in music.

This digital image course is an introduction to still and moving images. Students will develop skills in the creation of photography and videography, using computer technologies. In photography-based projects, students will learn how to operate the digital camera manually and explore compositional and design choices. We will explore digital retouching in portraiture with the Adobe Photoshop software. Students will also explore stop motion animation with the Adobe Premiere Pro software. This course will emphasize artistic investigation and discovery through directed exercises. Assignments are structured enough to push students to develop their technical abilities while at the same time flexible enough to allow for individual creative expression.

In this course, students will produce a fiction (or documentary) video through the completion of a large scale individually driven project done in teams. This course is the only production course in cinema and comes in the 3rd semester after students have had a chance to take film theory and survey courses. This allows students who have learned cinematic languages to now apply their critical knowledge in creating a work of cinematographic art.

This course builds on the course Art History Basics that introduced students to the artistic production ranging from Antiquity to 1850 while having them familiarize themselves with art historical terminology, methodologies and research. While covering the period spanning from 1850 to today, this second course in art history will aim at strengthening the research skills developed in the first course and providing students with a greater capacity to analyse artworks from a variety of viewpoints. This course will focus on the close study of artworks and, for this reason, will be comprised of in-depths discussions of a limited amount (six to eight) of masterworks that cover the period from Realism to today. The discussion of these works will be preceded by an introduction to the styles, themes, periods, approaches, etc. relevant to their understanding. Students will be working on at least one in-depth study of the work of art from a variety of perspectives for this course, and they will present their results in oral and written form. As they gain a more thorough understanding of specific works of art, students will also familiarize themselves with some of the criteria generally used to criticize art and learn to apply them.

(Pre-requisite: 520-110-LE)

This course introduces students to fundamentals of popular music interpretation and performance in a choral context. Students will receive training in vocal performance and choral singing. Students who possess previous training in a band instrument will participate in an instrumental ensemble and receive training on their instrument. Creative thinking will allow student to create their own arrangements of songs, using knowledge acquired in previous music courses. This course will culminate in a series of live performances, produced by the students, and open to the public.

In the integrative course, students are expected to use knowledge and experience that they have obtained previously in the program in order to conceive, produce, and document an original large-scale work. The primary component of the class is the individual (or group) project, which may be completed in written form, or in an artistic medium approved by the course instructor (for example, a film).

Elementary Spanish I is an optional course for students in the Languages profile who have no previous knowledge of Spanish. It will help students to analyze elements of Spanish grammar and to learn new elements of Spanish and Latin American culture and Hispanic culture.

Spanish II is either the second Spanish course for students without prior knowledge of Spanish or the first course for students with prior knowledge of Spanish. It will help students analyze elements of Spanish grammar and to learn new elements of Hispanic cultures. It is a prerequisite for Spanish III.

(Pre-requisite: 607-BEA-03 or equivalent)

Spanish III will help students analyze elements of Spanish grammar and learn new elements of Hispanic cultures. In this course, students will integrate linguistics into the learning of the language. It is a compulsory course for students in the Languages Profile. It is either the third Spanish course for students without prior knowledge of Spanish or the second course for students with prior knowledge of Spanish who started with Spanish II. Spanish III is a pre-requisite for Spanish IV.

(Pre-requisite: 607-202-LE)

Spanish IV is the last Spanish course in the Languages Profile. It will help students analyze elements of Spanish grammar and learn new elements by exploring further on Hispanic cultures.

(Pre-requisite: 607-303-LE)

The aim of this course is to introduce students to the fundamentals of the German language, which is the most spoken mother tongue in Europe, and to the cultural aspects of the major German-speaking countries (D-A-CH-L) for a well-rounded understanding of the language and its context. Topics focus on everyday situations with an emphasis on vocabulary and grammar acquisition as well as beginner’s conversation.

This course builds up on the foundational knowledge established in the beginner course. Students will delve deeper into the language, focusing on expanding vocabulary, refining grammar skills, and enhancing overall linguistic proficiency. A linguistic component is introduced to the course, contributing to a more comprehensive and effective learning experience. The course incorporates more authentic materials. Interactive activities remain integral. Cultural components continue to play a role, fostering a deeper understanding of the cultural context.

(Pre-requisite: 609-102-LE)

While also expanding on vocabulary and deepening the understanding of grammatical structures, students will be introduced to adapted German literature to enhance the overall language learning experience by building essential reading comprehension skills and enhancing students’ vocabulary further. Different cultural components complete the course.

(Pre-requisite: 609-203-LE)

In this course, the student’s ability to integrate the knowledge and skills acquired in the Languages and Communication Profile will be assessed by means of a project focused around a theme that shows the student’s ability to make links between communication concepts and languages. This course hosts the Comprehensive Assessment.