Bachelor of Fine Arts in Media Arts

at York University - School of Continuing Studies Canada

Develop awareness and a sense of social responsibility relating to Indigenous issues. Your access to traditional Elders and ceremonies, and your placements with Indigenous or supporting organizations will provide you with cultural and experiential knowledge about Indigenous lands, languages and cultures.

Indigenous Studies at York is a unique program that combines an experiential emphasis on local Indigenous traditions, treaties and languages with the theoretical insights of Indigenous scholars. We also feature courses that enable students to explore Indigenous literatures, cinema and music, or to develop an awareness of interconnections with Indigenous peoples internationally as well as with the racialized communities situated on Indigenous lands across the Americas due to histories of slavery and indentureship.

Study the health of the world’s population that is intertwined with broader issues, including wealth disparity, environmental degradation, government policy and human rights. Students in York’s Global Health degree examine these and other issues in small classroom settings benefitting from direct interaction with their professors and fellow students. Combine your classroom learning with a fourth-year field placement offered with organizations locally or internationally.

Global Health Courses
All students, whether in the BA or BSc options, are exposed to the major issues that are at the forefront of global health through core courses, including:

• Global Health Governance and Leadership
• Global Health Policy, Power and Politics
• Health and Human Rights
• Determinants of Health: Local to Global
• Chronic Diseases and Care
• Communicable Diseases and Care
• Healthcare Planning for Communities
• Healthcare Ethics
• Agents of Change in a Global World (strongly recommended as an elective course)

Pathways to Medical, Professional Schools & Post-Graduate Training
Taught by professors in all areas of the Faculty of Health – Health Policy & Management, Kinesiology & Health Science, Nursing and Psychology – the Global Health degree provides an excellent foundation for medical school, professional schools (e.g. law, teaching), graduate school and post-graduate training (e.g. nursing).

Global Health as a 2nd Degree
Students who hold an undergraduate degree from an accredited institution and are admissible according to Faculty of Health and York University policies may pursue a second degree in Global Health at York University. With full-time study (i.e., 15 credits per term), students may be able to complete an Honours BA/BSc degree in Global Health in as little as four terms (two calendar years). Students pursuing a Specialized Honours BA/BSc degree in Global Health may complete the program in six terms (3 calendar years).

Students will be assessed as eligible for an Honours or Specialized Honours degree in Global Health if they have graduated with an Honours or 90-credit bachelor’s degree. Students will be granted transfer credit in accordance with the University’s residency requirement. Depending on the program of study from an applicant’s first degree, it is likely that all general education and many elective course requirements will be waived. This will allow students to focus exclusively on their Global Health major course requirements as they fast-track their studies.

Digital Media focuses on the study of 3D simulations and animation, artistic theories and cultural impact. It inspires people with imaginative digital art installations or design of the next generation gaming technology. Using code and programming as tools for creative expression, digital media specialists develop original digital media objects and experiences such as mobile apps, immersive and 3D environments, data visualization, interactive performance and more. 

What You'll Learn 
As a Digital Media student, you will learn about the raw tools that help create digital imagery and sound, including animation and 3D simulations. You will also study larger concepts like artistic theories and the cultural impact of digital media on the world. Most importantly, you will learn to create.

You will begin the program by completing a common core of courses in first year. You will select from one of three specializations based on your interest: Digital Media Development (DMD) that has a greater focus on computer science, Digital Media Arts (DMA) that focuses more on fine arts or the brand new Digital Media Game Arts. 

Whether you are treating a patient, formulating a new drug, unravelling a sub-atomic mystery or modelling climate change, the ability to think and reason at the nexus of disciplines is essential to success. Develop your interdisciplinary mind-set in Integrated Science.  

Integrated Science is an enriched first-year program offering a cohesive set of courses in biology, chemistry, physics and mathematics that can be taken as the first year of any York Science program. Integrated Science is designed around the connections between disciplines, allowing you to experience both the depth and breadth of scientific theory and practice. Some of these connections are inherent to the specific disciplines — like enzymes in biology and reaction rates in chemistry, or Newtonian mechanics in physics and derivatives in mathematics. Other connections are driven by larger questions that you will explore through integrated projects. In Integrated Science, you will learn to approach problems and develop solutions from an interdisciplinary perspective, applying the knowledge and skills that you gain within and across disciplines.

Integrated Science offers a number of benefits for first-year science students:

• Small class size: With limited enrolment, class sizes are about a tenth of that of some of the larger first-year science courses. You will quickly feel part of a cohesive and caring community.
• Strong faculty connections: You will get to know your professors very well, so you can begin building your professional network from day one.
• Block scheduling: Integrated Science classes and labs are scheduled in blocks during the week. You will be in the Integrated Science classroom on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 9am to 1pm, leaving your afternoons free for studying or other commitments. In any given week, you will normally have two three-hour labs on Tuesdays and/or Thursdays. This type of schedule is especially well suited for students who commute to York or have additional commitments outside of school.
• Innovative teaching and learning methods: As an Integrated Science student, you will progress through four carefully designed stages of learning — Prepare, Apply, Solidify and Integrate — to deepen your understanding of scientific concepts. Professors use innovative teaching practices such as peer instruction in the classroom to further enhance your learning process.
• Depth and breadth in the sciences: If you enjoy all the sciences and aren’t yet sure exactly what you want to focus on, Integrated Science offers you the opportunity to explore across biology, chemistry, physics, and math before entering the second year of any of our York Science programs.
• Preparation for health-professional exams: If you are considering writing your MCAT, PCAT or DAT in the future, then Integrated Science can help you acquire a strong and necessary background in introductory biology, chemistry and physics, as well as teaching you critical-thinking and reasoning skills.

Did you know that studying philosophy is great preparation for law school, an MBA or other graduate studies? Philosophy majors regularly perform much better than average on the Law School Admissions Test (LSAT), the Graduate Management Admissions Test (GMAT) and the Graduate Record Examination (GRE).

This program is offered by the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies on the Keele Campus.

The word 'philosophy' is derived from the Greek for "love of wisdom" and is one of the world's oldest subjects of study. Philosophy pursues questions in every dimension of human life, and its techniques apply to problems in any field of study or endeavor. It is a reasoned pursuit of fundamental truths, a quest for understanding and a study of principles of conduct.

Explore life’s deepest questions concerning the nature of happiness, the requirements of justice, the limits of knowledge, and the meaning of freedom. You’ll discover how to develop answers to these questions and how to engage in fruitful argument with alternative points of view. These skills are applicable to all areas of modern life: intellectual, professional and personal.

Efforts are made to blend contemporary and historical issues and many of our professors draw their inspiration from widely separated philosophical approaches. In keeping with this, there is a great deal of cross-disciplinary work. The department offers a wide range of courses which examine contemporary problems and issues such as:

• Applied ethics
• Philosophy of mind
• Social and political philosophy
• Argumentation theory
• Feminism

Computer science blends theoretical knowledge and practical skills to explore intriguing topics –computer systems that mimic human vision or helping design pharmaceutical drugs. Learn the theoretical limitations of computing and methodologies that lead to efficient, accurate computing.

What You’ll Learn

We offer BA and BSc degrees – both providing you with the same computer science and math expertise. In the BA program, you’ll complement your studies with courses from the Liberal Arts (e.g., humanities, social sciences). In the BSc program, the complementary courses will be in the sciences (e.g., biology, chemistry, physics). A degree Minor or Double major will allow you to just sample or deeply explore another discipline.

You may also choose one of our three International Honours degrees – iBA, iBSc or the Dual Specialized degree. In the iBA or iBSc degree, you will add a study abroad component to your learning, with culture and language courses of your exchange destination. The International Dual degree leads to two degrees, one from York and one from the Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University in Germany while completion of your undergraduate thesis at the University of Crete in Greece!

After the third year of your Honours degree, you can take part in our internship program to gain valuable professional experience.

Some Courses You’ll Take

• Data Structures
• Software Design
• Communication Networks
• Artificial Intelligence and Logic Programming
• Database Systems
• Building E-Commerce Systems
• Data Mining
• User Interfaces

York's Portuguese & Luso-Brazilian Studies program covers not only the Portuguese language but also the culture, history and literature of the entire Lusophone (Portuguese-speaking) world across all continents. Learn about and engage with a diversity of cultures – their art, literature, music, history and social and political landscapes through courses such as:

• Luso-Brazilian Cultures and Cinemas
• Cannibal Brazil: Cultural Encounters in Literature and Film
• Language in Context: Portuguese in the Greater Toronto Area
• Mapping Brazilian Identity Through Fiction: History, Race and Gender

The Portuguese language is the fourth most widely used language in the world, spoken daily by over 250 million people.

Its study will prepare you for work both nationally and internationally, offering you instant entry to Portugal, Brazil, Angola, Mozambique, Cape Verde, Guinea Bissau, São Tomé e Príncipe, East Timor as well as numerous Lusophone communities around the world - Canada, USA, Germany, France, Switzerland, Australia, South Africa, Venezuela, Luxemburg  - and the territories of Macau and Goa.

We are the only university in Canada that offers a course solely dedicated to the region of the Azores. The Culture and Literature of the Azores delves into the uniqueness of this North Atlantic archipelago, whose natives make up the majority of the Portuguese immigrants in Canada.
Our program offers many opportunities for you to move beyond academics, exploring experiential education opportunities, and engaging in cultural events that will enliven your learning.

The School of the Arts, Media, Performance & Design (AMPD) is pleased to announce a new degree stream, the Bachelor of Fine Arts in Media Arts in the Department of Cinema and Media Arts.

The cultural effects on technology mean that cinema is no longer a stand-alone art form. It increasingly overlaps with other evolving areas, such as video games, mobile media, social media, streaming media distribution, 3D graphics and computer generated imaging, and digital archiving.

In AMPD’s new Media Arts program, students are invited to become critical thinkers by doing, making and collaborating. In this program, for example, students will have the opportunity to create multimedia digital publications, practice social justice by using social media to engage with a community, write a trans-media story meant to cross film and game platforms, render 3D for animation, virtual reality or a gaming environment, and produce interactive documentary. Drawing on the powerful legacy of cinema history, criticism and theory, students will actively create in the expanded field of media studies, media culture and media industries, in which cinema is an integrated element.

This new program is framed around a series of flexible media practice courses taken concurrently with media history, theory and criticism, culminating in a capstone project and a media industry placement.

The resulting BFA will offer students a broad, expansive view on multiple types of contemporary practice including television, Internet practices, mobile media, gaming, interactive media, and cutting edge digital technologies such as 3D and virtual reality. Students will graduate with the ability to blend curatorial, producing, and media-making abilities with the historical investigation of contemporary media, especially screen-based and social media.

Passionate about the environment? Gain the scientific acumen required to have an impact on environmental issues. Environmental Science is the application of a combination of scientific disciplines to issues and questions regarding environmental problems.

Gain extensive hands-on experience
Environmental Science at York includes a compulsory Research Design & Field Study course that gets you out using the equipment of the profession. This involves a long weekend at Algonquin Park at The Frost Centre working on a project. You'll learn to use water, soil and climate monitoring equipment and geographic information systems that can be put to use immediately and directly on the job with organizations like the Meteorological Service of Canada and Environment Canada.

Our professors are conducting research on such areas as the survival of plant life in the High Arctic, the Oak Ridges Moraine and the contribution of peat lands to the Greenhouse Effect. York is home to one of Canada's most sophisticated indoor flumes to predict water flows and the structure of rivers.

What's the difference between Environmental Science and Environmental Studies?

• Environmental Science is the scientific study of the environment and the effects of humans on environmental systems. You will acquire knowledge from many academic disciplines including biology, chemistry, engineering, geology, economics, political science and physics. You will also undertake specialized courses in the study of the environment. The program emphasizes field experiences, undergraduate research, and environmental problem-solving.
• Environmental Studies focuses on the complex issues regarding the sustainability of the global environment in the face of human development. The program integrates humanities, natural and social science, environmental policy and planning perspectives. You will gain a broad educational background needed to assist in developing sustainable development policies to create positive social change within the environmental context. Real world links to practical environmental issues are developed through internships, study abroad programs, environmental problem-solving at the local and regional levels and participation in campus environmental planning.

An optimal learning environment. Quality professors, small program size, group tutorials, help sessions, peer mentoring, laboratory experience and regular feedback helps you to get the most out of the program.

Designed to inspire, develop and enhance creative and critical thinking, the curriculum in AMPD's Department of Dance fosters deeply embodied and intellectual learning. Canada's largest and most comprehensive dance program educates innovative, thoughtful and articulate dance professionals, prepared to be engaged leaders in diverse environments.

Program Structure
Dance students take a common first year and then branch into one of two streams according to their interests and goals. Upper-year students may audition to join the department's resident company, the York Dance Ensemble. They also have the opportunity to gain hands-on training in lighting design for dance, to embrace emerging media and integrate technology into their dance practices, and to extend their professional experience through field placements, collaborative research and guest teaching.

Streams
Choreography/Performance
This stream centres on studio work in contemporary/modern dance, with options in urban, contemporary/ballet and world dance forms. Students acquire specialized knowledge and skills in movement observation, production and performance, informed by an understanding of choreographic elements and principles, somatics and embodied storytelling. they learn to create and present original works in a variety of performance spaces incorporating professional production values and contemporay media technologies.

Dance Education
Students in this stream explore practical and theoretical aspects of teaching dance in a variety of communities and settings, including innovative approaches and experience working with children, youth, adults in all stages of life, marginalized individuals and people with disabilities. Graduates are prepared to enter the field as educators in recreational, community-based and private settings.

Featured Facilities

• Five spacious rehearsal studios
• Two choreography studios
• Black box dance theatre-studio
• A 600-seat thrust stage
• Strate Dance Studio Theatre
• Pilates conditioning equipment
• Extensive costume collection
• Audio and video recording facilities
• Extensive library collection of dance books and periodicals
• Dance-specific computer software and peripherals