The MVS Proseminar offers Visual Studies graduate students in Curatorial Studies and Studio Art the opportunity to connect and exchange with leading international and local artists, curators, writers, theorists, and other scholarly practitioners and researchers. Publicly presented as a programmed series of talks. Alongside the public talks, the MVS Proseminar speakers engage in a series of exchanges with the graduate students in a variety of potential forms, from masterclasses, to individual studio-visits, talks, and Q&As.

Students will undertake and present self-directed research and artistic production that demonstrates well-developed ideas and practical expertise within the specific field chosen by the student. A single body of work is expected to be completed during the first year of study and this course ends with a faculty-wide critique of work-in-process at the end of the Fall term. Weekly student-led seminars are important sessions for individuals to learn to share their research processes and refine presentation strategies, while inversely participating and engaging in colleagues’ research seminars. The course manages the logistics of the studio program, fosters a community of research and production, and provides feedback on individual studio production over a sustained period of time. The course meets weekly and is run in tandem with VIS2001H to facilitate interaction across the first- and second-year cohorts.

Students continue the body of artistic research and production started in the Fall term, engaging in one-on-one meetings with faculty, visiting artists, and scholars. The course culminates in a group critique assessing a resolved body of work conducted over the entire year.

Master of Visual Studies students are required to participate in an internship over the summer term of their first year. Though compulsory, the internships are flexible in form. They are chosen by the student to ensure that they receive access to a resource, experience, or knowledge that will benefit their Thesis or subsequent work in an exchange with the internship host. The internships will necessarily be diverse in nature with opportunities based on the research and production areas of the students in both Studio and Curatorial Studies.

This course focuses on defining moments in the development of contemporary art after 1960, both in Canada and internationally. Examining critical events, turning points, practices, and artwork, the course includes topics such as the relationship between contemporary art and its markets, institutions, the development of media, and new post-colonial and global contexts for the visual arts. The course is offered as a series of seminars, with assigned readings, research papers, and presentations by students.

This course engages major developments in contemporary theory and criticism as pertinent to the history of contemporary art. The course attends closely to the relationship between art practice and its interpretation. The course has a particular focus on critical writing, close readings of artistic practices, and the development of pertinent frameworks and methodologies for the explanation and interpretation of contemporary art and artistic research. The course is offered as a series of seminars with assigned readings, research papers, and presentations by students.

This course traces the history of exhibitions and their historical contexts. Using various case studies, the course examines the assumptions, theoretical considerations, and critical undertakings that underwrite the making of exhibitions from the 18th century onward with particular focus on the contemporary period.

The course sets in motion the conceptualization of an exhibition and its review by a panel. The course focuses on research methodologies as set by the instructor, as well as development of subject matter pertinent to the students’ areas of interest. It is designed to lead students toward the conceptualization of a major project/exhibition in their second year of study.

The MVS Proseminar offers Visual Studies graduate students in Curatorial Studies and Studio Art the opportunity to connect and exchange with leading international and local artists, curators, writers, theorists, and other scholarly practitioners and researchers. Publicly presented as a programmed series of talks. Alongside the public talks, the MVS Proseminar speakers engage in a series of exchanges with the graduate students in a variety of potential forms, from masterclasses, to individual studio-visits, talks, and Q&As.

Students will undertake and present self-directed research and artistic production that demonstrates well-developed ideas and practical expertise within the specific field chosen by the student. A body of work is to be produced with development toward the final MVS studio project. Weekly student-led seminars are important sessions for individuals to learn to share their research processes and refine presentation strategies, while inversely participating and engaging in colleagues’ research seminars. The course manages the logistics of the studio program, fosters a community of research and production, and provides feedback on individual studio production over a sustained period of time. The course meets weekly and is run in tandem with VIS1001H to facilitate interaction across the first- and second-year cohorts.

A weekly seminar that focuses on research methodologies and writing strategies. In parallel with studio and curatorial production, the students complete the first draft of their MVS qualifying paper. The course is made up of directed and self-directed readings, writing exercises, and seminar discussions arising from contemporary art issues and from the studio and curatorial work produced by the students.

As the culminating course for the degree, students produce a project consisting of two components: a substantial resolved body of studio work and a written research text. The studio work will be exhibited near the end of the Winter term where an Advisory Panel will adjudicate the exhibition along with the written text and an oral defence. The written component, along with appropriate supporting visual documentation, will be archived in the Faculty library.

This course offers theoretical and practical training on how to collaborate with an institution. It is designed to lead the student through the Winter term towards all logistical phases of the final exhibition. The course is developed in tandem with and support of VIS2101Y.

This course allows students to independently explore a visual studies topic through in-depth reading in close consultation with a faculty member.

This course allows students to independently explore a curatorial studies topic through in-depth reading in close consultation with a faculty member.

Subject varies from year to year. Check the WGSI website for information about this offering.

Enrolment is restricted to students registered in the master's and PhD degree programs in Women and Gender Studies or Collaborative Specialization in Women and Gender Studies.

Under supervision, students can pursue an independent research/reading course on topics in Women and Gender Studies that are not currently part of the curriculum. Students must have a project that a WGSI faculty member is willing to supervise. To enrol in this course, please email: wgsi.programs@utoronto.ca.

Subject varies from year to year. Check the WGSI website for information about this offering.

Subject varies from year to year. Check the WGSI website for information about this offering.

Subject varies from year to year. Check the WGSI website for information about this offering.

Subject varies from year to year. Check the WGSI website for information about this offering.

Subject varies from year to year. Check the WGSI website for information about this offering.

Why do people move? What are the causes and consequences of migration and displacement in Africa? This course critically examines the multifaceted dimensions of migration, mobility, and displacement through (text, art, film, and narratives) with a specific focus on communities and populations displaced by war, environmental destruction and disaster, economic failings, and the quest for economic opportunities or individual freedom. We will: 1) explore canonical and emergent interdisciplinary scholarships and their epistemic claims and debates, key theories and concepts on migration, mobility, and displacement; 2) engage in current debates and public discourses on these intersecting themes, analytics, and phenomena; and 3) interrogate the morality of media representation and gaze, discursive practices on the 'migrant' and 'refugee' subject formation, the 'catastrophic' biopolitics and governmentality of migration, the instrumentality and contingencies of political (non) interventions/(in)action, humanitarianism, and the politics of rights, justice, ethics, and solidarity. You will have the opportunity to unpack your own positionality and trajectories to reflect on the differentiated categories and trajectories of migration and mobility and to formulate your own critique and alternative epistemology.

Subject varies from year to year. Check the WGSI website for information about this offering.

Subject varies from year to year. Check the WGSI website for information about this offering.

Subject varies from year to year. Check the WGSI website for information about this offering.