The School for the Contemporary Arts is committed to the study, production and promotion of contemporary art. The school’s philosophy is that the practice of art, the doing and the thinking, cannot be separated. All programs within the School combine theoretical and critical study with practical experience. Theoretical and critical studies include the historical development of and the interrelationships among the arts and the relationship between art and the world within which it is made. Practical experience is available within studio or laboratory courses, and students are encouraged to acquire additional practical experience by participating in extracurricular productions, exhibitions or performances.
The School offers BA, BFA and MFA degrees. Major program areas include Art and Culture Studies (BA); Dance, Film, Music, Theatre and Visual Arts (BFA). Extended minors are offered in all program areas, as well as minor programs in Art and Culture Studies, Fine and Performing Arts and Film and Video Studies. In addition, the School offers a joint major in Anthropology or Sociology and Art and Culture Studies.
Two of the faculty hold joint appointments with Communication and Women’s Studies Departments.
The School’s course and research areas are:
Faculty Research:
| Art and culture studies Cultural history Cultural policy Cultural theories Dance - analysis/ human movement analysis Dance - anthropology, ethnology Dance - ballet, modern dance Dance - body therapies Dance - choreography and performance Dance - costume design Dance - dance studies Dance - history & criticism, dance theory, aesthetics Dance - music composition Dance - technology Dance - text based dance theatre Film - comedy, documentary film making, dramatic feature films, third world film Film - film & video directing and production Film - feminist film theory and criticism Film - history & criticism, film theory Film - avant garde and innovative film & video production, independent film making Film - sound design and scoring Institutions, patronage, audiences Interdisciplinary performance |
Music - acoustic communication, world soundscape studies Music - acoustic theory, philosophy of music/sound/listening Music - music composition Music - conducting, contemporary music ensembles Music - digital audio signal processing, interactive systems Music - drumming & accompaniment, jazz, popular music Music - electroacoustic music, computer music Music - ethnomusicology Music - history & criticism, music theory Theatre - acting, playmaking, improvisation Theatre - directing and production, dramaturgy Theatre - history & criticism Theatre - lighting design, stage design Theatre - performance studies Theatre - theatre management Theatre - theatre music composition Theare - 20th C. theatre, experimental theatre Visual art - art and technology Visual art - drawing, painting, photography, sculpture, image and text, video art Visual art - feminist art theory and criticism Visual art - gender issues, representation, cultural politics Visual art - history & criticism, aesthetics, critical theory Visual art - installations, public art Visual art - performance art, mixed media works Writing - fiction, poetry, script writing, editing, screenplays |
Undergraduate Courses:
Dance Program
Emphasis is given to contemporary dance technique, composition and experimentation. Courses are offered in fundamental body work, ballet, history and criticism, and movement analysis. Course offerings include:
- Ballet
- Contemporary dance
- Dance composition
- Dance improvisation
- Dance movement/analysis
- History of dance: origins to present
- Integration of human movement
- Performance studies
Film Program
The film program provides a balance of creative, technical and analytical studies. Film and video production courses emphasize the creation of original work as well as the acquisition of technical skills. Film history and theory courses familiarize students with the aesthetic and social issues surrounding contemporary film and video practice.
- Cinema in Canada
- Directing and Acting for film and video
- Film sound
- Film theory
- Filmmaking
- Fundamentals and techniques of film
- History and aesthetics of cinema
- Screenwriting
- Selected topics in film and video production
- Techniques of video
- Video production
Music Program
The music program offers options in composition, electroacoustic music, world music or interdisciplinary collaboration. Courses in music history, theory and criticism provide a balance to the studio courses. The emphasis is on composition and interdisciplinary performance.
- Computer music composition
- Contemporary music analysis and criticism
- Contemporary music performance
- Electroacoustic communication
- Electroacoustic music
- Gamelan
- History of music: 18th century - present
- Music composition
- Music theory
- Selected topics in music
- World music
Theatre Program
The theatre program offers either a performance stream or a production and design stream. The performance stream offers studio courses, supplemented by courses in dramatic literature, theatre history, playmaking and technical theatre.
- Acting
- Context of theatre
- Directing - theory and practice
- Playmaking
- Stage and production management
- Stage design and lighting
- Theatre performance
- Technical theatre
- Theatre production technology
Visual Art Program
The visual art program prepares students to become practising artists. Studio courses are supplemented with history and theory courses. An emphasis is placed on understanding current developments in visual art and other disciplines, and the position and responsibility of the artist within contemporary society.
- Contemporary theory in the arts
- Drawing (studio)
- History of art: Renaissance - present
- Interdisciplinary work
- Issues in spatial presentation
- Painting (studio)
- Painting - history - 20th C, Canadian, U.S., European, Asian
- Performance art
- Photography (studio)
- Production technology
- Sculpture (studio)
- Selected topics in visual art
- Video production
Art and Culture Studies
The Art and Culture studies program builds on the interdisciplinary foundation of the School for the Contemporary Arts. It offers courses on contemporary issues in art and culture as well as historical and theoretical topics.
- Arts, audience, patronage, institutions
- Issues in the Fine and Performing Arts
- Contemporary theory in the arts
Graduate Courses:
The interdisciplinary MFA program provides an advanced level of training in the fields of music, dance, theatre, film and visual art. Its goals are the furthering of cross-disciplinary research, technical skill and artistic creativity, and the development of critical awareness of the relatedness of the arts. Courses include seminars and studio courses, as well as a graduating project.
The School has chosen not to focus in these areas:
- Film - animation, commercials
- Music - classical music performance, voice training, pre 17th C music history
- Theatre - classical and pre 17th century theatre history and performance
- Visual art - printmaking, graphics, architecture, commercial art, ceramics, crafts, pre- Renaissance art history
Collection Development Responsibility
Collection development is primarily the responsibility of the Fine and Performing Arts Liaison Librarian. Liaison with the School for the Contemporary Arts is maintained through the Departmental Representative as well as with other faculty members when required. Regular contact with other liaison librarians and teaching departments is nurtured through the sharing of relevant information and materials.
SFU Resources
The WAC Bennett Library is the major location for the University's fine and performing arts book and journal collections. In addition, there is a circulating collection of art slides and sound recordings and a small home use video collection. Music scores are kept with the general book collection in the Bennett Library.
The Instructional Media Centre (IMC) on the Burnaby campus, has a collection of 16 mm films and videos which are licenced for classroom viewing.
The Praxis Centre for Screenwriters, in downtown Vancouver, has a reference library of film scripts and other materials related to film production and studies.
Regional Resources
The University of British Columbia has extensive print collections in the Fine Arts and Music Libraries, as well as strong retrospective book and journal collections to support dance, film and theatre studies. UBC Music Library recordings do not circulate. The slide collection is not available for use outside of the Fine Arts Dept. at UBC. The Wilson Recordings Collection, a small circulating collection of CDs and LPs, is no longer active.
The Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design has a good general art history collection and a strong collection of print and audio-visual materials on 20th century artists, including art exhibition catalogues, films, videos and slides. The slides are not available for loan.
The Vancouver Art Gallery library has a non-circulating collection of books, journals and artists files, with an emphasis on Canadian artists, as well as a slide collection available for loan by the general public, for a small fee.
The Vancouver Public Library has a large Fine Art and Music Department, with a circulating collection of music CDs, music scores, and feature film and performing arts videos. Burnaby Public Library also has a circulating collection of music CDs and feature film videos.
Pacific Cinematheque in downtown Vancouver has a reference library of film related materials. Video In/Video Out in Vancouver has a video resource centre and archives, and handles distribution of artists’ videos. The Canadian Music Centre in Vancouver has scores and recordings available for purchase, and will loan or copy scores for music performances.
Consortia and Document Delivery
SFU belongs to three consortia: Electronic Library Network (ELN); Council of Prairie and Pacific University Libraries (COPPUL); and the Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL). Document delivery agreements exist with all three of these consortia which allow delivery of journal articles and books from participating libraries in a timely manner. Library holdings and direct requesting from over 40 libraries are accessible through the Interlibrary Loan (ILL) web page and from many databases, including the Art Index and Humanities Index. Print materials may be borrowed or photocopied from participating libraries through ILL services. In addition, the Instructional Media Centre is a member of the Media Exchange Cooperative (MECC), which facilitates the borrowing of films and videos from other libraries in the lower mainland.
General Collection Guidelines
Languages: Primarily English and French.
Chronological guidelines: Primarily Renaissance to present day.
Geographic guidelines: Primarily Western Europe and North America. Contemporary artists and performers working in the Pacific Rim, Asia, Africa, and other regions are also of interest.
Types of materials: Primarily split between books and journals. The library also collects sound recordings, music scores, selected home use videos, and visual art slides, to support the curriculum. There will also be an increasing emphasis on electronic journals and web resources.
Date of publication: Emphasis is on current publications. Retrospective acquisitions are of interest for important titles and backfile issues of journals.
Coordination and cooperation with other campus resources: Films and videos which are licenced for classroom viewing (public performance rights) are located at Instructional Media Centre (IMC). Over the past 10 years, the library has purchased some public performance films and videos which are held at IMC. The IMC film and video catalogue is available for searching from the Library KIOSK. The SFU Art Gallery receives art exhibition catalogues from selected galleries; the catalogues are donated as gifts to the Library. The Bennett Library is also on a direct mailing list for donations from some galleries.
Other factors for consideration: The School for Contemporary Arts offers some art and music history and theory courses and art studio classes in downtown Vancouver. Slides and music recordings must be borrowed from the Burnaby campus for use downtown. The School is actively looking for a site for a new building; some of the sites being considered are in downtown Vancouver. Such a move must consider the impact on library resources and use.
Subjects and Levels of Collecting
Definitions of collection levels are derived from the American Library Association's Guide for Developing Collection Policy Statements, 1989. Collection levels will be applied after the subject categories have been determined.
Subject descriptors
Subject categories (descriptors) have been taken from Blackwell's Book Services Approval Plan Subject Thesaurus and the Library of Congress Subject Headings. These subject descriptors are guidelines to determine which books or forms are sent on approval to the Library
Other subject categories may be added as required.
There are currently no approval plans set up for the purchase of music recordings, music scores, performing arts videos or fine arts slides, which are obtained by individual orders or donations.
SUBJECT HEADINGS
FINE ARTS
Fine arts - general works (SA: aesthetics)
History of art - general works, surveys
PRIMITIVE ART
Primitive art - general works (SA: Modern art - primitivism)
PRIMITIVE ART BY TYPE (SA: Archaeology)
Rock art
Cave painting
Primitive masks
Primitive totems
Primitive utensils
Primitive body ornaments
PRIMITIVE ART BY PERIOD
Magdalenian art
Hunter style art
Second hunter style art
Paleolithic period art
Mesolithic period art
Neolithic period art
Megalithic period art
PRIMITIVE ART BY REGION
Scythic art
Polynesian art
Micronesian art
Melanesian art
Indonesian art
Early Australian art
Maori art
PRIMITIVE AFRICAN ART
Primitive African art - general works
Ethiopian & Sudan art
West Coast African art
East Coast African art
Central African art
South African art
North African art
NATIVE AMERICAN ART
Native American art - general works
Native American art - designs and motifs
PRE-COLUMBIAN AMERICAN ART (SA: archaeology)
Pre-Columbian American art - general works
Eskimo art
NW Coast Native American art
Plains Indian art
Great Lakes Native American art
Southwest Indian art
East Coast Indian art
LATIN AMERICAN ART
Latin American art - general works
Archaic Mexican art
Mayan art
Zapotec art
Toltec art
Aztec art
Inca art
Amazon region art
Fuegian art
Period of conquest art
EGYPTIAN ART
Egyptian art - general works
Old Kingdom Egyptian art
Middle Kingdom Egyptian art
New Kingdom Egyptian art
Saite art
Ptolemaic art
WESTERN ASIATIC ART
Western Asiatic art - general works
Early Babylonian art
Assyrian art
Neo-Babylonian art
Persian art
Seleucid art
Parthian art
Sassanian art
ISLAMIC ART
Islamic art - general works
Early Islamic art
Abbasid period art
Persian pre-Mongol art
Spanish art
North African art
Mesopotamian art
Persian Mongol art
Syrian art
Turkish art
Art of Asia Minor
Modern Arabian art
WESTERN ART TRADITION
Western art tradition - general works
Thracian art
GREEK ART
Greek art - general
Cycladic art
Minoan art
Mycenean art
Homeric Greek art
Archaic Greek art
Classical Greek art
Hellenistic period art
Etruscan art
ROMAN ART
Roman art - general works
Early Roman art
Classical Roman art
Christian Roman art
Byzantine art
Medieval art
Celtic art
Carolingian art
Ottonian art
Romanesque art
Gothic art
Late Gothic art
Renaissance art - general works
Early Renaissance art
High Renaissance art
Northern Renaissance art
Mannerism art
Baroque art
Rococo art
Chinoiserie
AMERICAN ART (SA: Native American art)
Colonial American art
Western American art (pre-19th C)
CANADIAN ART - general (pre-19th C)
MODERN ART (Art from ca.1800- on)
Modern art - general works
Neo-classic art
Romantic art
Realist art
Primitivism (Modern art)
Impressionist art
Post-impressionist art
Pre-Raphaelite art
Victorian art
Art nouveau
Art movements ca. 1860-1935 (Incl. Art Deco, Arts & Crafts)
Futurist art
Expressionist art
Fauvist art
Constructivist art
Cubist art
Bauhaus
Abstract art
Dadaist art
Surrealist art
Other special modern art
CONTEMPORARY ART
Contemporary art - general works
Action painting
Junk sculpture
Happenings as art
Performance art
Pop art
New realism art
Minimal art
Op art
Color-field painting
Shaped canvas art
Psychedelic art
Light art
Conceptual art
Formal art (includes computer-generated art)
Video art
Other contemporary art
FINE ARTS BY PLACE
RUSSIAN ART
Russian art - general
Pre-Christian Russian art
Byzantine Russian art
Medieval Russian art
Moscow period Russian art
Socialist-realism art
EASTERN ART TRADITION - general
INDIAN ART
Indian art - general
Modern Indian art
Pakistani art - general
CHINESE ART
Chinese art - general
Prehistoric Chinese art
Sang-Yin art
Chou Dynasty art
Ch'in Dynasty art
Han Dynasty art
Six Dynasties art
Sui Dynasty art
T'ang Dynasty art
Five Dynasties art
Sung Dynasty art
Yuan Dynasty art
Ming Dynasty art
Ch'ing Dynasty art
Modern Chinese art
Chinese Republic art
People's Republic art
Chinese writing
Other Chinese art
Korean art - general
Southeast Asian art - general
JAPANESE ART
Japanese art - general
Early Jomon art
Middle Jomon art
Late Jomon art
Yayoi art
Great Tombs art
Asuka art
Nara art
Heian art
Kamakura art
Ashikaga art
Azuchi art
Tokugawa art
Meija art
Ukiyo-e
Modern Japanese art
Japanese writing
Other Japanese art
ART BY TYPE OR SUBJECT
Landscape art
Botanical art
Seascapes
Portraiture (not photography)
Ornament & design
Still life
Cityscapes
LIFE ART
Life art - general
Human figure in art
Animal figure in art
Erotic art
RELIGIOUS ART
(SA: Islamic art; Western art tradition)
Iconography (Use also for non-religious works)
Jewish art
Buddhist art
Other religious art
(For art of a particular region see terms above)
Folk art (SA: Primitive art; Modern art - Primitivism)
CARTOONS & COMIC STRIPS - general
Caricature
Murals
Tapestries
Miniatures
Illuminated manuscripts (See: Book decoration)
Other art by type
ART MEDIA
Art media - general
Mixed media (Art)
PAINTING
Painting (Art form) - general
Oil painting
Water color painting
Acrylic painting
Tempera painting
Goache
Fresco
Other forms of painting
DRAWING
Drawing - general
Ink drawing
Pencil drawing
Charcoal drawing
Crayon drawing
Pastel drawing
Other forms of drawing
PRINTMAKING
Printmaking - general
Woodcut
Etching
Engraving
Lithograph
Blockprinting
Collography
Stencil art
Poster art
Other forms of printmaking
SCULPTURE
Sculpture - general
Sculpture by material used
Stone sculpture
Clay sculpture
Plaster sculpture
Bone sculpture
Ivory sculpture
Terra cotta sculpture
Wood sculpture
Metal sculpture
Wire sculpture
Cast metal sculpture
Welded metal sculpture
Concrete sculpture
Other sculpture by material
Sculpture by form
Relief sculpture
Mobiles & stabiles
Assemblage
Statues
Sculptured monuments
Other forms of sculpture
ARTS & CRAFTS
Arts & crafts - general
Mosaics
Inlaying
Collage
Enameling
Lacquering
Tole painting
Art metalwork
Jewelry & jewelry making
Furniture design
Carving
Carpets & tapestries
Weaving (Art form)
Textiles (Art)
Other arts & crafts
Crafts for children
APPLIED ARTS
Book design
Typography
Created by CG. Last updated by TM 09/18/00.