Computing and the Creative Arts
This degree plan is intended for students with interests and abilities in both Computing and at least one of the creative-arts disciplines at Queen's: Art, Drama, Film and Media, and Music. The plan aims to allow you to use your creativity and scientific knowledge to make full use of state-of-the-art new-media software development/production technologies and to develop the technologies and computing applications of the future.
You start by applying at the Ontario Universities Application Centre using the program code QA (Queen's University, Arts) and getting admitted to the Bachelor of Arts (Honours) degree at Queen's.
In your first year, you will take introductory courses in the Arts disciplines in which you might be interested:
- Art in the West (ARTH-120/6.0): a survey of Western art from antiquity to modern art.
- Introduction to the Theatre (DRAM-100/6.0): aspects of theatrical production, theatre history, dramatic analysis and criticism.
- Film, Culture and Communication (FILM-110/6.0): analysis of film, television, advertising and related forms of contemporary culture.
- Music and Society (MUSC-103): a survey of music from around the world and skills in listening, research, and writing about music, and Theory and Analysis I (MUSC-191/6.0): technical aspects of musical forms, but if you have no background in music, you will have to take a course in Rudiments of Music (MUSC-P52).
Note that course codes with /6.0 denote two-term courses.
If you have no background in Computing, you should also take either Elementary Computer Animation (CISC-110) or Elements of Computing Science (CISC-101).
At the end of the first year, you select the Computing and the Creative Arts (COCA) Specialization as your Bachelor of Arts (Honours) degree plan, and you will also apply for one of the four Arts subjects as your Arts subplan.
In your second year, you will take the Introduction to Computing and the Creative Arts course (COCA-201) to get an overview of how Computing applications are currently impacting various arts-related fields, including new-media art, electronic music, applications in art preservation and analysis, computer animation, computer applications in theatre and dance, industrial and architectural design, and computer games. You'll also begin taking core courses in Computing and in your Arts option.
The core Computing subjects you'll study will include programming at various levels (CISC-121 / 124 / 220 / 223 / 260), Data Structures (CISC-235), Algorithms (CISC-365), Human-Computer Interaction (CISC-325), and Artificial Intelligence (CISC-352), and you'll also study necessary mathematics: Linear Algebra (MATH-111/6.0) or Calculus (MATH-126/6.0), Discrete Mathematics (CISC-203), and Mathematical Logic (CISC-204).
In the Art subplan, the core courses are
- two of the following three full courses: Architecture in the Classical Tradition (ARTH-123/6.0), Renaissance Art and Architecture (ARTH-213/6.0), and Modern and Contemporary Art (ARTH-227/6.0);
- two of the following six half-courses: Studio Practice (ARTF-260), Technical Art History (ARTH-210), Canadian Art I and II (ARTH-231/232), and Modern Architecture I and II (ARTH-291/292).
In the Drama subplan, the core courses are Theatre History (DRAM-210/6.0), Theatre Space (DRAM-240), and either Design and the Theatre (DRAM-241) or Theatre Production (DRAM-242).
In the Film and Media subplan, the core courses are Production (FILM-250/6.0), Media and Popular Culture (FILM-240), Research, Writing and Presentation Methods (FILM-206), Critical Inquiry (FILM-226), Historical Inquiry (FILM-216), and Media Studies (FILM-236).
In the Music subplan, choose at least one of three half-courses surveying different musical periods: Medieval and Renaissance Music (MUSC-205), Baroque and Classical Music (MUSC-204), and Romantic and 20th-Century Music (MUSC-203).
After satisfying the core-course requirements in Computing and in your Arts subplan, you will complete the core degree requirements by choosing from a variety of available advanced courses in those subjects. For example, in Computing, you can select from advanced courses in Fundamentals of Web Applications (CISC-P82), or any CISC courses at the 300 level or above, including at least 3.0 units at the 400 level.
For information on requirements and descriptions of advanced courses available in the four Arts subjects, consult the Arts and Science Calendar.
Finally, you will complete the degree requirements with 30.0 elective units; these may be courses in other Arts subjects, additional Computing courses, or any courses in Arts and Science for which you have the prerequisites. Here are some of the courses that you could choose to take as electives:
- Printmaking (ARTF-255)
- Engineered Art (ARTF-300)
- Modern Architecture (ARTH-292)
- Fundamentals of Web Applications (CISC-P82)
- Computer Architecture (CISC-221)
- Operating Systems (CISC-324)
- Digital Systems (CISC-340)
- Advanced User Interface Design (CISC-425)
- Real-Time Systems (CISC-426)
- Topics in Artificial Intelligence (CISC-453)
- Computer Graphics (CISC-454)
- Introduction to Cognitive Science (COGS-100)
- Creative Writing (CWRI-293, 294, 295, 296)
- Introduction to Technical Production (DRAM-245)
- Applied Technical Production (DRAM-345)
- Fundamentals of Production (FILM-250)
- Introduction to Anatomy and Physiology (IDIS-150)
- Semiotics and Communication (IDIS-200)
- Mathematics and Poetry (IDIS-303)
- Sound Production (IDIS-311)
- Electroacoustic Music Composition (MUSC-255)
- Science and Technology of Music (MUSC-258)
Follow the links for details on these courses or, if there is no link, check out the Arts and Science Calendar.