This course presents Greek and Latin roots out of which is built the vocabulary of contemporary medicine and reveals the predictable patterns by which these roots combine. Students will learn to define new compounds and phrases by analysis of their parts.

By means of both hands-on creation and critical analysis of case studies in performance, theatre, film and visual art, students develop skills in formal analysis and investigate issues of technology and the environment in the arts within the context of industrial capitalism and the climate crisis.

Developed and taught by Dr. Derek Woods, this 3-unit course introduces students to communication about the environment. Topics include environmentalist writing and public messaging, climate change as represented across genres and media technologies, ecological art, environmental justice and Indigenous knowledge, animal communication, and the role of ideology in our environmental crises.

This interdisciplinary course will explore selected topics from Black, African, and African Diaspora Studies, as determined by the instructor. Topics will focus on historical and contemporary issues that connect Black and African communities around the world. This course will interrogate the intersections of race with other concepts and experiences including gender, class, sexuality, culture, power, politics, violence, and globalization.

An introduction to the theory, practice, and ethics of curating in galleries, museums, artist run centres and community arts organizations. Emphasis will be on anti-racist, decoloniality, and anti-oppressive practices, ethics, and contexts. Students will learn specialized knowledge, Resources, and methodologies and examine professional and academic responsibilities within curatorial work. Some foundational scholarship on the history of modern museums will be introduced to ground the critical analysis and applications.

Utilize your education and skills toward career success. Learn how to analyze job postings and create effective applications. Identify strategies to ace interviews and create an online profile for networking and success in the workplace.

This course examines the representations and constructions of the racialized, gendered, ethnic, or othered human body in and through contemporary cultural texts.

Developed and taught by Dr. Selina Mudavanhu, this 3-unit course conceptualizes digital storytelling as a tool for activism. Concepts covered include hegemony, counter hegemony, and social change. Using open-source software, students will receive hands-on instruction on the production of three-minute digital stories.

This course will explore the history and culture of disabled, Mad and Deaf theatre and performance. Delving in Canada’s rich 45 year history of disabled, Deaf and Mad theatre, the course will consider intersectionality, access and interdependence as core tenets of this milieu. This course is rooted in understandings of disability justice and will touch on the intermingling of disabled activism with performance and the current push for changes in the Canadian theatre landscape for Deaf, Mad and disabled creators.

Students will explore and develop an understanding of social practice and community-engaged art working with diverse publics including: large public performances, pedagogical work with K-12 students in schools, walking and place-based projects, and activist oriented long-term engagements. Social practice refers to artwork created through social interaction and aims to create social and/or political change through collaboration with communities. In this interdisciplinary class students will be engaged in concept discussions, and hands on activities and writing exercises while considering the ethical and political dimensions of working with diverse communities from feminist, queer, anti-racist and anti-colonial frameworks. Guest lectures and presentations will examine the depth and breadth of social practice. The course will culminate in a group project(s) for the McMaster community.

History has a valued place in pop culture that impacts the public understanding of the past. This course interrogates these representations, from films to fashion to video games, as cultural artifacts that shape understandings of the past.