Diploma in Fine Arts

at Kwantlen Polytechnic University - Richmond Campus Canada

Advanced Game Development is a full-time, two-year, cohort program comprised of industry-level courses covering game development’s core disciplines: art, design, programming and production. Students will create various assignments, projects and games that will be assembled into a portfolio that is fit for working in the games industry.

In the design courses, students will learn crucial skills for designers, such as critical analysis, creative problem solving, communication and collaboration. While covering in-depth design theory, students also get hands on practical software skills with various industry standard engines and design tools, such as Unreal, Unity and the Adobe Creative Suite.

The art courses focus on environment and character modelling, texturing, animation, technical art and procedural art, while also teaching foundational artistic theory that can be applied to any creative medium. Students will be able to produce their own art assets for their games.

In the programming courses, students will learn the latest industry techniques in the fields of game programing, networking, AI, rendering and more. Students will learn to work with Visual Scripting, but also dive into programming languages such s C# and Python. Students will learn how to build full games from the ground up, to make their creative visions a reality and have the practical production skills necessary for their career in game development.

Once sufficient foundational knowledge has been gained, students will work together in teams under tight time and creative constraints to create games and prototypes. This will teach students the importance of production and project management in an agile framework.

Concentration in English at the Associate level is an excellent foundation for a variety of careers and further studies. Those who wish to pursue a B.A. Major or Minor in English are encouraged to take a variety of English courses within an Associate of Arts degree.

Transfer to a Bachelor of Arts Program:-
Students who complete the Associate of Arts degree in English are eligible for admission to KPU's Bachelor of Arts, Major or Minor in English programs, as well as to KPU's Bachelor of Arts programs in other areas, as long as other third year entry requirements are met.
Students who receive an Associate of Arts degree in English from KPU will also have appropriate course coverage to be eligible to enter the English Major program at any other university in British Columbia. (UBC has additional requirements that students will need to complete, and UVic strongly recommends that students also have reading knowledge of a second language; however, direct entry is available into the B.A. English programs at most other institutions, including SFU.)

The Philosophy Major at KPU provides students a broad-based, general education in the principal areas of Western Philosophy. Philosophy majors will complete courses in logic, epistemology, metaphysics, ethics, and history of philosophy. The program is expressly set up to satisfy a variety of additional pedagogical and intellectual objectives, chief among these being the development of critical reasoning and writing skills, both in general and with regard to specialized research in the discipline. Philosophy majors at KPU will experience a learning environment that is supportive and challenging. It is one that prepares students for graduate work in philosophy. It develops effective citizenship, community leadership, and the critical reasoning, writing, and problem-solving skills required for successful careers in any area.

The Bachelor of Arts Major in Philosophy provides students the opportunity to build a sturdy educational foundation in one of the core areas of the Humanities. All Philosophy majors take a course in formal logic at the 1000-level. At the 2000-level, five courses in philosophy are obligatory: Moral Theory (the study of the nature of right and wrong), Metaphysics (the study of the nature of reality), Epistemology (the study of the nature and limits of knowledge), Ancient Greek Philosophy, and Modern Philosophy.

Upper-level students will have the following options: to take smaller, more participatory courses in Special Topics in Philosophy; to pursue an Applied Ethics Stream by taking specially designed courses in Business, Environmental, and Biomedical Ethics; to participate in a Practicum course where research and work skills are enhanced; and to apply to a selective sequence of honours courses with a focus on researching and writing an honours thesis.

Engineering First-Year at KPU is a two-semester program designed for well-prepared students to meet the requirements for direct transfer to the second-year of an engineering degree program.

KPU's Engineering First-Year program includes many of the courses and topics common to the first-year of engineering degree programs at UBC, UVic and SFU.

Transfer to UBC
The KPU program most closely resembles UBC's first-year engineering curriculum.  Successful completion of the KPU program with a sufficiently high GPA may qualify the student for UBC's second-year Engineering Transfer admissions guarantee. Please see the UBC Engineering website for specific details on engineering transfer.

Transfer to UVic
Students that successfully complete the KPU program with a sufficiently high GPA may be considered for admission to second year on an equal footing with 1st year UVic engineering students. Please see the UVic Engineering website for specific details on engineering transfer.

Transfer to SFU
Students that successfully complete the KPU program with a sufficiently high GPA may be eligible to transfer to second-year engineering at SFU. However, there will be first-year courses specific to the SFU engineering programs that students may need to complete at SFU. Please see the SFU Engineering website for specific details on engineering transfer.

The B.Sc. in Health Science program is designed to prepare students for public and private sector careers in health research, health practice, health product production and distribution, and health management. It also prepares students for entry into schools of health or graduate studies.

The objectives of the degree are as follows:

• To provide students with a strong foundation in the basic sciences together with writing and critical thinking skills.
• To provide students with a broad knowledge of the various health professions involved in the Canadian health system.
• To equip students with the skills and knowledge necessary for employment in health service delivery, health research, production and distribution of health products, and other health-related fields.
• To provide students with the educational prerequisites necessary for entry into a) post graduate degrees in the sciences, and b) qualified health professional programs (e.g. medicine, dentistry, physiotherapy, medical technical programs, pharmacy).
• To provide students with the opportunity to integrate an understanding of complementary medicine (e.g., naturopathy, traditional Asian medicine) with the basic sciences.

The B.Sc. in Health Science is designed around a core of required basic science and health science courses, complemented by health science and open electives that provide graduates with a solid science foundation but also with critical health research, communication, and management skills for future success.

Graphic designers function as creative problem solvers, design planners and strategists, as well as skilled communicators and technologists.  They demonstrate a passion for design and creativity, have design and critical thinking skills, a solid understanding of business and marketing, well-developed research capabilities, and a broad based understanding of the social, cultural, and environmental implications of design.  They are team players, team leaders, and can be employees, freelancers, or self-employed entrepreneurs.

Today, the visual communications field (aka graphic design) is broader than ever before, providing graphic designers with wide-ranging career opportunities.  Graphic designers create visual identities for corporations, marketing campaigns for businesses, fundraising campaigns for non-profit organizations, layouts for publications, promotional posters, websites and interactive applications, product packaging, advertising campaigns, retail displays, marketing communications design, and much more.

WHY STUDY GRAPHIC DESIGN FOR MARKETING AT KPU?

What makes the GDMA Degree different?  In addition to developing skills in design and technology, graduates of GDMA acquire a solid marketing edge that sets them apart from other design school graduates.  They know how to create effective marketing communication designs that reach specific target audiences, strategically plan a marketing campaign to meet their client's needs, brand a company, design eye-catching packaging, and create websites and apps to promote businesses and not-for-profit enterprises in the marketplace.  GDMA graduates have the know-how to successfully and effectively get the job done!

The Bachelor of Applied Science in Sustainable Agriculture degree is unique to North America and is distinguished from other agriculture degree programs by providing a broad scope of study related to sustainable food production as an integral and fundamentally critical element of sustainable human existence. Through a distinctive and exceptional combination of classroom and farm-based learning, the program offers a comprehensive perspective on:

• The science of agro-ecosystem design and stewardship;
• Innovative and ecologically sound crop production methods;
• Sustainable farm business management; and,
• The economic, social, and environmental challenges facing our food system

The curriculum is designed in recognition of the need for both practical and academic training within the new powerful movement in sustainable agriculture. Students will be immersed in a setting which fosters experiential learning and exploring personal interests and inclination. During our four year Bachelor degree program, students will work to realize three major learning outcomes:

The ability to grow fruit and vegetable crops within a sustainable ecological context. A full spectrum of experiential field-based agricultural courses are offered in Year 3 which, by necessity, follows a complete crop cycle beginning in the spring and extending through summer into the fall. These applied courses function as a mechanism to bring the theoretical concepts and principles of sustainable agro-ecosystem design, function and management to practical realization.

Develop the business, sales and marketing skills necessary to manage a sustainable agricultural farming business. The development of these skills is facilitated by the inclusion of a broad base of foundational courses supplemented by a multidisciplinary business management course in Year Four.

Develop practical, problem solving and research skills as well as an understanding of government, economic and business environments and policies needed to address issues of and advance sustainable agri-food systems, as related to employment in government, non-government organizations and the private sector.

The BBA in Marketing Management program includes intensive applied business training with an emphasis on marketing management, as well as new and emerging media and marketing analytics. The practical learning outcomes are grounded in curriculum that is accountable, global, team-based and uses contemporary quantitative and qualitative tools. Course content is industry driven and was developed in consultation with industry experts to ensure that KPU's BBA in Marketing Management graduates are ready to work. This degree is an appropriate goal for individuals who aspire to acquire leadership positions in the marketing profession.

The Bachelor of Arts, Major in Asian Studies degree will allow you to develop the competencies characteristic of a traditional BA program while preparing you to respond creatively to the challenges you will encounter in an increasingly interconnected world. In this four-year interdisciplinary program, you will not only acquire practical skills that you can employ in your multicultural communities locally, you will also develop the intellectual and cultural competencies required to operate successfully in a world where the nations of East and South Asia are increasingly influential.

As an Asian Studies student you will begin your first year of studies with courses that introduce you to Asian Studies as a discipline and to the countries and cultures of East and South Asia. These courses will begin to build the critical thinking, communication, and intercultural competencies that will allow you to succeed in more advanced courses. As you progress to more narrowly defined regional and thematic courses, you will examine in greater depth the societies, cultures, political systems, economies, and histories of the peoples and nations of South and East Asia, as well as their interactions with Canada and the rest of the world.

The B.A. Major in Political Science offers the chance to explore the political world through an innovative suite of offerings that combines a solid foundation in scholarship with 'hands-on' learning opportunities in debate, diplomacy, and policy. The Bachelor of Arts Major in Political Science is designed with a special focus on emerging power dynamics at the national, trans-national, and global levels, and is therefore an ideal choice for those with a serious interest in engaging with the many dimensions of power in the modern world.

As a Political Science B.A. Major, you will begin your studies with a broad range of introductory courses that expose you to the key sub-fields within the discipline (Canadian and comparative politics, international relations, and political thought), before gradually transitioning to more specialized courses in the second- and third-year levels, and advanced-level seminar work in the fourth year of study. You will also take at least one 'experiential' course instilling hands-on skills in debate, diplomacy, and policy, as well as one upper-level course on emerging trans-national sites of power.