Department of Communication Studies and Multimedia and Peace Studies program changing their names

Name changes are coming to the Faculty of Humanities.

The Department of Communication Studies and Multimedia will become the Department of Communication Studies and Media Arts – a change that reflects the renaming of the undergraduate Media Arts program (formerly, the Multimedia program). “Media Arts” is both more current and better reflects what the program teaches, says department chair Christina Baade.

“Media Arts is a production-oriented program where students engage with the artistic and theoretical aspects of digital media,” she explains. “The new name mirrors what many of our incoming students will have studied in high school, so they’ll already be familiar with the kinds of courses and opportunities we offer—including video, animation, photography, music, coding and games.”

The Peace Studies program will be broadening its name and curriculum to Global Peace and Social Justice, a change that director Chandrima Chakraborty says was developed in consultation with students, alumni and faculty.

“The term ‘peace studies’ on its own tends to make prospective students think only about nuclear disarmament and wars, and we wanted the new name of the program to reflect the program’s broader focus on societal disharmony, violence and oppression, locally, nationally and globally,” she says.

“It was important to keep ‘peace studies’ in the name, but incorporate ‘justice’ to reflect our commitment to understanding, transforming, and preventing conflict and social injustice around the world.”

The Global Peace and Social Justice program focuses on four main themes: health and environment; human rights; race, gender and sexuality; and social activism.

The name changes will become official on July 1, 2021.