Visual Culture and Communication is an interdisciplinary undergraduate curriculum that provides students with a foundation in both visual cultural and communication studies (history, theory and criticism) and digital communication practices (with courses taught at Sheridan College). The Specialist Program offers grounding in both the analysis of visual culture, and the practices of visual communication. Increasingly, global cultures are dominated by visual communication, from art to advertising, propaganda to documentary photography, and film to websites. People of all generations are becoming active producers and consumers of visual culture. As digital technology expands, expertise in visual communication and design becomes essential for meeting the challenges of the global culture. VCC will prepare students to take an active and informed role in shaping 21st-century visual culture by bringing historical and theoretical study from multidisciplinary perspectives to bear on contemporary practice and debate. Students apply during the spring term to the CCIT program for admission to this competitive specialist program.

The degree requirements for the VCC specialist program are summarized below. For further information about the courses, see the “courses” link on this website, or click here to consult the UTM course calendar at
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Limited Enrolment – enrolment in the VCC program is competitive and will be limited as follows (meeting the minimum requirements does not guarantee admission):

1. minimum of 4.0 full credits to include CCT 100H (History of Communication Technologies); CCT 101H (Contemporary Communication Technologies) and FAH 105H (Introduction to Art History);
2. minimum Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) determined annually. It is generally between 2.7 and 3.0 and never lower than 2.2;
3. minimum 65% between CCT 100H and CCT 101H and not less than 60% average in either course

Tuition fees for students enrolling in any CCIT Specialist/Major programs will be higher than for other Arts and Science programs.

Recommended course enrollment sequence:

First year:

CCT 100H (History of Communication Technologies);
CCT 101H (Contemporary Communication Technologies); and FAH 105H (Introduction to Art History).
These courses are ‘gateway’ courses and are pre-requisites for upper-level courses.

Second year:

VCC 201H (Introduction to Visual Culture) is a pre-requisite for most upper-level courses in the VCC curriculum, and we recommend you take the course as soon as you can in your program.

Other UTM courses that count towards the Specialist program, but are not necessarily required, include:
CCT 206H (Intellectual Property and Copyright),
CCT 210H (Signs, Referents, and Meaning);
WRI 203H (Expressive Writing); ERI 201H5 (Introduction to Film Studies).

At Sheridan, additional courses include:
CCT 200H (Intercultural Communication);
CCT 204H (Design Thinking);
CCT 205H (Digital Innovation and Cultural Transformation):
CCT 260H (Web Culture and Design)

Third and Fourth Years:

At the 3rd and 4th years, students are required to take 3.5 credits of coursework at UTM, and 3.5 credits of coursework at Sheridan.

At UTM, choices include:
CCT 310H5 (Mass Communication and Popular Culture);
FAH 388H5 (Theory in Art History);
FAH 391H5 (History of Photography);
GER 351H5 (German Cinema I);
GER 352H5 (German Cinema II);
VCC 302H5 (Visual Culture through the Post-Colonial Lens);
VCC 304H5 (Visual Culture and the Construction of Identity);
VCC 306H5 (Gender and Visual Representation);
VCC 336H (Modern North American Consumer Culture);
VCC 390H (Special Topics).

At the fourth year level, courses include:
VCC 400H5 (Advanced Project);
VCC 403H5 (Contemporary Asian Visual Culture);
VCC 405H5 (Individual Project);
VCC 411H5 (Real Space to Cyberspace);
VCC 412 (The Corporate Eye);
VCC 415H5 (Theory and Criticism of Photography and New Media);
VCC 425 (Art and Media Culture);
VCC 490 (Special Topics);
any other 0.5 credit in FAH or VCC at the 300/400 level offered at UTM (or St. George, with permission)

At Sheridan, choices include:
CCT 300H (Critical Analysis of Media);
CCT 305H (Design and Implementation of Multi-Media Documents);
CCT 351H (Theory and Practice of Animation);
CCT 352H (History and Practice of Design);
CCT 353H (Digital Media: Movement and Sound);
CCT 357H (Digital Media: The Still Image),
CCT 370H (Introduction to Computer Visualization),
CCT 410H (Communication Internship);
by permission up to 1.0 credits from the following FAS course offerings at the 200, 300 or 400 level in Photography or Design offered in Sheridan Studio Art (FAS) courses:
FAS246Y, FAS332Y (Experimentation in Digital Imaging and Dynamic Media);
FAS346Y (Design III);
FAS347Y (Photography III) (Note: there are Y-course prerequisites at the 100-level for all 200 level courses in FAS).

Within an Honours degree, 12.5 credits are required, including at least 1.0 credit at the 400 level.

If you have further questions about the courses or the program, contact the CCIT undergraduate student counselor, Laura Perrin, at laura.perrin@utoronto.ca or stop by her office in the CCIT building on the UTM campus.