Rosanne Lester

Library and Information Science

GLIS 601: Information and Society

Introduction to our world of information, documents and information agencies with historical and social approach. A look at how information is generated and at the role played by libraries and of all kinds and other relevant agencies. This course should provide a broad framework within which other required or elective courses could be understood.

GLIS: 607 Organization of Information

Theory and techniques of bibliographic control for information. Basic cataloguing and indexing principles and practices incorporating the concepts of main entry, subject analysis, and classification according to standard codes. Introduction to ISBD and MARC formats for description and automated support applications. Practical assignments in the organization of materials laboratory.

GLIS 611: Research Principles and Analysis

Fundamental aspects of reflective thinking and the methods and techniques of research appropriate to the investigation of library/information problems. Criteria helpful in evaluating published research in library/information studies by analyzing the various steps of the research process, thereby providing guidelines for planning, conducting, and reporting research.

GLIS 615: Bibliographic and Factual Sources

Introduces students to the theory, principles, and practice of bibliographical control as a foundation for reference service and information retrieval. Paper-based, microform, and electronic bibliographies are introduced. The creation and use of bibliographies, within various contexts, are discussed.

GLIS 617: Information System Design

Fundamental concepts of information storage and retrieval. Includes user requirement analysis, information structure analysis, database organizations and characteristics, bibliographic database construction, search techniques and strategies, OPACs, and hardware and software choices.

GLIS 618: Collection Development

Theoretical and practical introduction to the principles of library and information centre collection building, management, fund accounting, and assessment, with examination of the role of both traditional and newer media in collections.

GLIS 619: Information Services and Users

Information users and use; information needs and use environments. Principles and practices of information transfer; development of information services and collections to meet needs. Evaluation of information services.

GLIS 620: Information Agency Management

Introduction to management theory and decision making in the context of information agencies and services. Emphasis is placed on strategic planning, organizing, quality management, organizational behaviour, human resource management, leadership and communication, management of change, legal issues in information agencies, and information use in decision making.

GLIS 612: History of Books and Printing

Surveyed are the development of writing, alphabets, and books from their inception, and of printing from its invention in the fifteenth century. Historical bibliography dealing with the various physical elements in book production, including design.

GLIS 614: Public Libraries

A review of the Public Library Movement in English and French Canada. The development of public libraries in North America over the last twenty years with an emphasis on the library's role and responsibilities for the future. The impact of information technologies on the definition and delivery of services.

GLIS 616: Information Retrieval

Theoretical and applied explanation of information retrieval in a variety of digital environments and in relation to both textual and multimedia data: Information retrieval capabilities, information-seeking models, interface design issues, information visualization and information system evaluation criteria.

GLIS 633: Multimedia Systems

Theoretical and applied principles of multimedia systems design. Includes knowledge representation; interfaces; storage and retrieval of text, sound, still images, animation and video sequences; authoring software; hardware options; CD-ROM/DVD and web based systems; virtual reality; testing and evaluation. Students design and develop a small-scale system.

GLIS 634: Web System Design and Management

Principles and practices of designing websites in the context of libraries and information centres. The course focuses on a conceptual approach to organizing information for the world wide web including design, implementation and management issues. Topics include web development tools, markup languages, internet security and web server administration.

GLIS 637: Science and Technical Information

Examination of the process of communication and information requirements of/in the scientific community; study of primary, secondary, and tertiary sources of information in the physical, biological, and applied sciences. Study and application of new information technologies, and in particular the world wide web, as used in scientific and technical communication.

GLIS 657: Database Design and Development

Theoretical and applied principles of relational database design. Includes relational theory, conceptual design, database normalization, relational database management systems, SQL queries and database management.

GLIS 671: Health Sciences Information

A survey of information services and sources (both electronic and print) for health care professionals and the general public. An exploration of the information needs of health professionals and scientists; the role of health libraries and librarians; principles of health and biomedical library practice, functions, and management.

Anthropology

Anthropology 101: Introductory Anthropology

A general introduction to Anthropology through the study of central concepts and key issues, including culture, human cultural development, biological evolution, social organization, Cultural theory, symbolic systems and culture change.

Anthropology 206: Introduction to Archaeology

An introduction to the methods and theoretical approaches used by prehistoric archaeologists, using both lectures and labs. Topics discussed include the goals and objectives of archaeology, the methods used in data collection and analysis, and procedures used to interpret those data. This course will emphasize the themes of reconstructing prehistoric lifeways and explaining cultural development. This course is not a survey of human prehistory, but deals with the methods and techniques archaeologists use to investigate and understand prehistoric cultures

Anthropology 207: Introduction to Social and Cultural Anthropology

This course provides an overview of the aims, concepts, methods and theoretical approaches of social/cultural anthropology. Attention will be given to the main topical concerns of the discipline (including but not restricted to kinship and marriage, political and economic organization, religion and cosmology), and throughout the course the focus will be on the nature of, and explanations for, social and cultural variation around the world and over time.

Anthropology 208: Introduction to Linguistic Anthropology

This course provides a general introduction to the anthropological methods and techniques of describing and analyzing language, and the sociocultural aspects of language use. A general background in anthropology (e.g., Anthropology 101) is a prerequisite to this course, but no specialized knowledge of linguistics is required. We will begin with an overview of the field, and an examination of cross-fostered primate communication experiments and their relationship to child language acquisition studies. A basic introduction to phonology, morphology, syntax, and semantics will follow.

Anthropology 209: Introduction to Physical Anthropology

This course provides an introduction to physical anthropology, through an overview of human evolution, adaptation, and variation. Human evolution will be approached through the current evidence from the fossil record. Human adaptation material will stress the biological and behavioural responses to environmental stresses, in living and past populations. Our look at human variation will consider modern human physical variation in the light of adaptation, population genetics and culture. Other topics discussed will include the history and principles of evolutionary theory and the methods used to reconstruct our earliest ancestors from fossil remains. The laboratory component of the course includes a detailed look at human skeletal anatomy, as well as a hands-on survey (using casts) of the fossil evidence for our evolutionary past.

Anthropology 390: Human Osteology

This is a comprehensive and intensive course on human skeletal material in archaeological context. Lectures and labs will cover techniques for identifying complete and fragmentary skeletal and dental elements, for recognizing the form and function of soft tissue attachments on bones, and for determining individualizing characteristics such as age at death and sex. Additional topics include skeletal growth and development, the identification of the normal range of variation in human skeletal anatomy, and distinguishing human from animal bones. This course should be considered essential for students planning future work in the interpretation of modern and archaeological human remains or the hominid fossil record.

Anthropology 391: Hominid Evolution

This course is an examination of the operating world of the palaeoanthropologist in the 21st century. More and more genera and species of bipedal humans are being recognized, and researchers emphasize the anatomical diversity present over the last 5 to 6 million years. Living humans, Homo sapiens, are only a small remnant of a history of experiments in adaptation, most of which led to extinction. After a brief general review, the first part of the course will deal with `human origins' taken literally. What evidence is there for the initial appearance of members of the Family Hominidae, in what contexts, and what conclusions have and can be drawn from it? How do palaeoanthropologists explain the origins of humans? This will include a detailed examination of the Miocene hominoid record, the origins of bipedalism, the first hominids, and then the australopithecines and early members of the genus Homo. Then the problem of the tempo and mode of evolution of the genus Homo will be examined, using Homo erectus as a focus. The last part of the course will deal with the current debate over the origins of anatomically modern humans (Homo sapiens). Fossil evidence, molecular data and other relevant sources of information will be examined for each period, along with models for causation and their behavioural implications.

Anthropology 400: Fourth Year Honors Seminar

The purpose of this course is to provide a foundation for the design, carrying out, and reporting of an advanced research project (that is, the Honours paper). This process will involve all of the stages required for the preparation and writing of a MA thesis, but is somewhat artificially constrained by the need to be completed in two terms. The topics for the seminar discussion include:
-the concept of the honours thesis
-developing valid research questions
-skillful research design
-research requirements involving human subjects (ethics)
-thesis styles
-writing, figures, graphics
-the thesis evaluation process
-revising and final stages
-intellectual property
-writing a paper for publication from your thesis
-preparing conference presentations based on your thesis

Anthropology 407: Palaeolpathology

This course will instruct students in the differential diagnosis and interpretation of pathological conditions (such as traumatic injury, infection, arthritis, and dental disease) in the human skeleton. Historical trends in palaeopathology, special diagnostic problems, and the evidence for illness and injury in evolutionary and prehistoric contexts also will be discussed.

Anthropology 441: Archaeometry

This course will include the following topics:
-Materials in the archaeological record
-Structure of materials at the macroscopic, microscopic, and atomic levels, including metallic, ceramic, and organic materials
-Dating by radio carbon and other techniques
-Stable Isotopes and their applications in archaeology
-Sourcing by chemical analysis and by isotope ratios
-Geophysics in archaeology
-Ancient DNA analysis

Anthropology 450: Fourth Year Honors Paper

Preparation of the BA Honors thesis under the supervision of an individual faculty member.

Anthropology 490: Human Osteoarchaeology

This course presents and in-depth study of human osteoarchaeology: the excavation, curation, and analysis of human skeletal and dental remains from archaeological sites. The course will emphasize the methods used by physical anthropologists and the type of information that can be gleaned from human skeletal remains. Roughly, the first half will cover excavation techniques, burial ritual, curation, and care of human remains. The second half will focus on the collection and analysis of data from the skeleton (ie. Age, sex, metrics, disease, etc) and how this information can be used to reconstruct individual and population characteristics.

Anthropology 498: History of Physical Anthropology

In this course, we will examine the history of physical anthropology. Physical anthropology has a fascinating intellectual history. Its roots lie in early thought and research on human variation, human growth and anatomy, and humanity's place in the natural world. From these beginnings, it has grown into an international field of study addressing topics ranging from early primate evolution to the complex relationships of culture, diet, and health.
The course will begin with an international survey of the history of the field, beginning with its early roots in medicine, anatomy, natural history, and ethnology, and ending with its current scope as practiced in North America, Europe and Asia. We will then turn to the development of method and theory in some key subfields, including bioarchaeology, forensic osteology and palaeoanthropology. Throughout the course the emphasis will be placed on the social history of the field. Why do physical anthropologists study what we do? How have our chosen research topics and theoretical perspectives changed over the years? How do these reflect the attitudes and assumptions of our own societies? How does our research, in turn, influence our communities? As we examine these questions, we will also discuss some ethical issues facing physical anthropology today, and the role of our field in the modern world.

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Art History Courses

Art History 101 Introduction to Art History before the Renaissance

This course surveyw the painting, sculpture and architecture of the western world from prehistoric times to the beginning of the fifteenth century.

Art History 102: Introduction to Art History from the Renaissance

This course surveys the painting, sculpture and architecture of the western world from prehistoric times to the beginning of the fifteenth century.

Art History 206: First Half of the 20th Century

This course focuses on the history of modern art in the early twentieth century, from the late symbolist art of the Vienna Secession to the onset of the Second World War -a time when artistic production was disrupted in Europe, and when many artists emigrated to the United States of Mexico. The development of modern art is discussed in its historical context, which includes major historical and political events as well as the development of market and non-market economies. Students will learn to look critically and contextually at the theory and practice of early twentieth-century art, and to understand how individual works of art can be understood both formally and historically. Two issues that will be investigated in this course are:
1) how and why modernist artists problematized representation, by foregrounding the means and materials used in making art
2) how various artistic movements, including constructivism and surrealism, tried to reconnect art and everyday life (understood to have become separated in modern art, due to its difficulty). Related to this second area of investigation are the different challenges to modernism represented by dada, surrealism, constructivisim, socialist realism, and the Mexican mural movement, as various groups and individuals became dissatisfied with what they felt to be the limitations of modernist art.

Art History 207: Early Canadian Art

This course focuses on cultural production in Canada from early First Nations art practices until the First World War. Through thematic explorations we will consider some of the histories of Canadian Art during this time period. This course is intended to give students a foundation in applying social and contextual analysis to the study of Early Canadian Art. This semester our course will be framed as an exploration of the Canadian Art collection of the National Gallery of Canada. We will be taking a "virtual tour" of the gallery throughout the semester, and along the way will be discussing various artists and art styles as well as some of the politics and theory of museum collection and display practices.

Art History 210: History of Photography

This course provides an introduction to the history of photography from pre-photographic technologies to the current use of photography in such contexts as advertising, photojournalism, and scientific investigation.

Art History 251: Romanesque and Gothic Art

This course is designed to familiarise students with the visual arts and architecture created from the 11th to the 14th century in Western Europe. We will explore various media and emerging styles set against the backdrop of the socio-political climate of the Romanesque and Gothic eras.

Art History 252: Italian Renaissance Art

This course is designed to familiarise students with art created from the Late Middle Ages to the High Renaissance in Italy. It deals with various styles, media, issues, and artists that comprise a significant portion of the art historical canon of the Italian Renaissance.

Art History 253: Southern Baroque Art

This course will survey the history of art, architecture, and visual culture of Southern-Europe in the 17th century, a period often referred to as the "Age of the Baroque". The focus will be on Italy, particularly Rome and papal patronage, but will also include Spain and France, and the relationship between art, its producers and absolutism. We shall examine the artistic production of the period in the contest of social, political, religious, and cultural developments.

Art History 255: Second Half of the 19th Century

This course surveys the major European art movements of the second half of the 19th century in Europe.

Art History 257: 20th Century Canadian Art

This survey is intended to introduce students to the visual cultural production of Canada during the 20th century. The organization of the course is largely chronological, however there are several themes and issues that will emerge. Among the themes that will be examined are issues concerning the formation of a "national" style, questions concerning the roles of abstraction, landscape, and gender, as well as the place of first nations cultural production within the Euro-Canadian context.

Art History 400: Historiography, Method, and Theory of Art History

This course aims to provide students with an introduction to theories and methodologies in the study of art history and visual culture. We will look at both formal and contextual approaches to art and cultural history, as well as at more recent uses of theoretical paradigms from outside the discipline. The readings will demonstrate that art history has had an exchange of ideas and approaches with other fields throughout its own history.
If this course aims to inform students about past and current approaches to the history of art and visual culture, it is also designed to help students learn how to do art history themselves. It is not focused on a single theoretical or methodological paradigm, but introduces students to a variety of approaches, some of which contradict one another. Students are expected to improve their reading and conceptual skills by engaging critically with these texts, and also to improve their ability to look at and think about visual imagery by considering the analyses made by others.
We will make very few assumptions in this course, but one assumption that we will make from the beginning is that images are never simply "given", but are always complex cultural artifacts, whose significance can never be taken for granted. Looking at images is always a mediated experience, and understanding is always a work of interpretation, whether that interpretation is simple or complex, open or closed. Understanding is itself always culturally mediated, whether consciously or unconsciously; in this course, we will look at some very highly-conscious attempts to understand and interpret artworks and images, which provide methods and procedures towards that understanding.

Art History 411: Special Topics, Museum Contexts

The primary goal of this course is to introduce students to current issues in the analysis of the museum. The "birth" of the public museum is traditionally dated to the French Revolution when the King's palace was taken over by the newly enfranchised bourgeoisie and turned into a public museum: the Louvre. Since then, museums have been the site of debates around art, the nation, race, gender, and power. In this seminar we will cover some of the most important literature on museums written since the 1980's, addressing such topics as the establishment of museum collections, corporate sponsorship, the critique of the museum by artists, the changing nature of display paradigms throughout the last century, and the role of the museum in the establishment of artistic value.

Art History 411: Special Topics, Picturing the Canadian Nation

In this seminar we will consider how ideas of nation are intertwined with cultural production by exploring some of the ways which dominant images of Canada have been produced and consumed in such diverse arenas as art galleries, airport souvenir shops and beer advertisements. As Stephen Daniels and Denis Cosgrove have argued "every culture weaves its world out of image and symbol". What, then, are the images and symbols that have come to represent Canadian culture? How have they attained the status of 'national icon'? What is it that makes some forms of cultural production seem more 'authentically Canadian' than others? What are some of the social and cultural implications associated with these images?

Art History 455: Topics in the Second Half of the 19th Century

In this seminar we will examine notions of genius and the image of the artist in the late nineteenth century. We will consider the role and position of the artist, especially in Holland, Belgium and France, as it was reflected in and constructed by theoretical and critical writings on art, artists' visual imagery and writings, literary representations of the artist and art marketing strategies.

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Other Courses

Anatomy 200: Introduction to Human Morphology

Overview of human structure. Emphasis on the systems of the body and their cooperative role in normal function.

Biology 107: Introduction to Cell Biology

An introduction to cell structure and function. Major topics include the molecules and structures that comprise prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells, the mechanisms by which energy is harvested and used by cells, how cells reproduce, and how information is stored and used within a cell via the processes of DNA replication, transcription, and translation.

Biology 108: Introduction to Biological Diversity

Examines the major lineages of life on Earth. Overview of evolutionary principles and classification, the history of life, and the key adaptations of prokaryotes, protists, fungi, plants, and animals. Laboratories survey the diversity of biological form and function, and introduce students to data collection and scientific writing.

Chemistry 101: Introductory University Chemistry 1

Atoms and molecules, states of matter, chemistry of the elements.

Chemistry 161: Organic Chemistry

The study of basic molecular structure and reactivity of organic compounds based on their functional groups. Introduction to nomenclature, three dimensional structure, physical properties, and reactivity of compounds of carbon. Functional groups covered will emphasize alkanes, alkenes, alkynes, alkyl halides, alcohols, and some aromatics. Examples will include hydrocarbons (petroleum products), halogenated organic compounds (e.g. pesticides), and polymers of industrial importance which may be found in everyday life.

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