Semiotics is the science of communication and sign systems, in short, of the ways people understand phenomena and organize them mentally, and of the ways in which they devise means for transmitting that understanding and for sharing it with others. Although natural and artificial languages are therefore central to semiotics, its field covers all non-verbal signalling and extends to domains whose communicative dimension is perceived only unconsciously or subliminally. Knowledge, meaning, intention and action are thus fundamental concepts in the semiotic investigation of phenomena.
Research into sign systems began, like everything else, with the ancient Greeks, and in the course of Western history many writers and scholars have studied the various processes by means of which signification is produced. In the modern world the major areas which have been the object of semiotic study are literature, environmental and social structures, visual and plastic arts, ritual, myth, pedagogy, and gesture. Consequently, semiotics is very much an interdisciplinary science as germane to Anthropology as it is to English, to Philosophy as it is to Art History, to sport as it is to media studies.
Major and Specialists from the Program in Semiotics and Communication Theory may pursue graduate work in the field in various departments at the University of Toronto and at the Amsterdam School for Cultural Analysis, where the graduate program is designed to provide high-level training in semiotic theory and cultural analysis, leading to both MA and PhD degrees. For further information, see the Program Coordinator. For specific details and for admission forms, contact Dr Eloe Kingma, Amsterdam School for Cultural Analysis, Spuistraat 210, 1012 VT Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
The study of communication and sign systems has been an important part of Victoria’s intellectual and teaching life for almost twenty-five years. Many of the College’s members, fellows and associates are actively pursuing research and producing publications in these areas. Since 1973 Victoria has been home to the Toronto Semiotic Circle, an interdisciplinary group whose monthly meetings are open to all interested students. In June 1980 the International Summer Institute for Semiotic and Structural Studies was founded at Victoria. It has been convened at the College for a number of years.
The Program
The four courses in semiotics offered by Victoria College are intended to be the core of a program of study which will combine courses of both a theoretical and applied nature. Anthropology, Literary Studies, Philosophy and Psychology relate most obviously to the core courses; the specialist, major and minor programs that follow have been drawn up with that fact in mind.
Specialist Program
Twelve full courses or their equivalent, including at least one 400-series course.
1. VIC 120Y and 420Y.
2. Two full credits from: VIC 220Y, 221Y, 320Y, 321Y.
3. One full credit of a Literary Studies course from Group A.
4. Two full credits in Anthropology courses from Group B.
5. Two full credits in Linguistics courses from Group C.
6. Three full credits in Philosophy and/or Psychology courses from Groups D, E, F.
Major Program
Six full courses or their equivalent.
1. VIC 120Y.
2. Two courses from: VIC 220Y, 221Y, 320Y, 321Y, 420Y.
3. One full course equivalent from each of Groups A,
B/C, D/E/F.
Minor Program
Four full courses or their equivalent.
1. VIC 120Y.
2. One full credit from VIC 220Y, 221Y, 320Y, 321Y, 420Y.
3. Two full credits from Groups A, B, C, D, E or F.
Group A: Literary Studies: VIC 210Y, 211Y, 300 H/Y, 310Y, 410Y, 411Y.
Group B: Anthropology: ANT 204Y, 253H, 323H, 328Y, 329H, 334Y, 343Y, 351H, 356H, 366Y, 425Y, 427H, 450Y, 461H; JAL 328H, 355H, 356H.
Group C: Linguistics: LIN 200H, 229H, 231H, 232H, 315H, 341H, 372H, 415H, 417H, 480H; JAL 253H, 254H, 328Y, 355H, 356H; JLP 306H, 374H.
Group D: Philosophy: PHL 200Y, 201H, 220H, 235H, 236Y, 240H, 243H, 244H, 250H, 255H, 267H, 285H, 288H, 290H, 304H, 305H, 306H, 307H, 310H, 311H, 312H, 315H, 316H, 318H, 320H, 321H, 322H, 325H, 326H, 340H, 342H, 346H, 351H, 385H; JUP 250Y.
Group E: Psychology: PSI 210H, 220H, 260H, 270H, 280H, 300H, 301H, 311H, 312H, 316H, 320H, 323H, 325H, 334H, 362H, 370H, 371H, 372H; JLP 315H.
Group F: Other Related Courses: CLA 202H, 204H, 219H, 305H; DRM 200Y, 230Y, 260H, 262H, 264H, 266H; FAH 212H, 214H, 261H, 287H, 288H, 367H, 378H, 385H, 406H; VIS 201H, 202H, 203H, 204H, 205H, 206H, 207H, 208H, 209H, 212H, 213H, 307H, 312H, 313H, 315H, 316H; HIS 316H, 367H, 374H, 375H, 419H, 440H; HPS 201H, 202H, 250H, 323H, 324H; INI 212Y, 214Y, 225Y, 322H, 323Y, 327Y, 329Y, 330Y, 423H, 426H, 428H; MUS 200H, 211H, 303H; NEW 261Y, 302Y, 303H, 360Y, 368H, 371H, 372H; RLG 200Y, 211Y, 230Y, 232H, 233H, 237Y, 301H, 302H, 304H,315H, 380H; SMC 210Y, 402H; SOC 365Y, 367H, 380Y, 381Y, 388H; UNI 250Y, 255H, 355H; JUM 200Y.
NOTE: Other courses that have a disciplinary connection to semiotics MAY be substituted with the PRIOR approval of the Program Coordinator. The proper form must be filed with the Program Office, NF 319.
For further information about Semiotics and Communication Theory, consult the Program Coordinator, Professor Marcel Danesi, or the Office of the Registrar, Victoria College NF 106, 585-4508.
COURSE DESCRIPTIONS 2001/02
VIC 120Y
Semiotics I: Introduction to Semiotics and Communication
Lectures/Seminars: two one-hour lectures, one tutorial per week
Timetable: MW 10, EM 001; F 10, NF 006/ F 11, NF 332/ F 12, NF 004
Instructor: Professor Marcel Danesi, BC 26, 585-4412
Course Description
This course will provide a basic introduction to Semiotics by tracing its development from Saussurian linguistics and by examining various theories of such semioticians as Roland Barthes, C.S. Peirce, Umberto Eco, A.J. Greimas and others. Systems of verbal and non-verbal communication in areas such as advertising, cinema, gesture, language, art, literature and the media will be studied.
Primary Texts
M. Danesi, Sign, Thought and Culture; Roland Barthes, Mythologies; M. Danesi and D. Santeramo, An Introductory Reader in Semiotic Theory.
Photocopied texts from various authors will be distributed at relevant points during the course. An introductory semiotics text, Arthur Berger's Signs in Contemporary Culture, will be on reserve in the Pratt Library for consultation.
Course Assignments and Evaluation
One essay each term; in-class test at end of the first term; final examination.
VIC 220Y
Semiotics II: Post-Structuralism and Postmodernism
Lectures/Seminars: two one-hour lectures, one tutorial per week
Timetable: MWF 11, VC 206
Instructor: Dr Anne Urbancic, NF 331, 585-4448
Course Description
This course will examine some of the more recent developments in semiotic theory, with an emphasis on the writing of the post-structuralists. Particular attention will be paid to the contrasting and even conflicting views of language and the sign within the semiotic tradition. The course will also look at recent communication theory as it applies to media, literature and social and cultural issues.
Reading List (in order of study)
Lodge, D. Small World, London: Penguin Books; Barnes, J. The History of the World in 10 1/2 Chapters; plus one more novel, t.b.a.; Hutcheon, L. The Politics of Postmodernism (London: Routledge, 1990).
Course Assignments and Evaluation
There will be no final written examination. Theory Test (Nov)(15%), Tutorial Report (5%), Major Paper (10-12pgs. Based on novels)(20%), Seminar on Postmodernism (2nd Term)(15%), End of year test (on 2nd term material)(15%), Peer marking exercise (10%), Postmodernism Report (20%).
Prerequisite
VIC 120Y, permission of instructor.
VIC 221Y
Semiotics in the Professional World
Seminars: two one-hour seminars; one tutorial
Timetable: MWF 2; VC 206
Instructor: Dr Anne Urbancic, NF 331, 585-4448
Description
In this course we shall attempt to show that the analysis of modern culture, through the template of semiotic analysis, allows us to arrive at a better understanding of cultural trends. By examining various poststructural philosophers we shall explore how their ideas have had an impact on the contemporary world. We shall consider how attitudes and language have been examined and revised because of the ways in which the media have interpreted and promulgated genealogical histories, deconstruction and fuzzy boundaries. We shall study a series of cases that provide evidence for these changes. Among them will be: changes to the university, secondary and elementary school systems; gender and race considerations in legal discourse; languge changes in bureaucracy; cultural considerations in medicine, etc.
Evaluation
2 term tests (30%); Major project (class participation - 20%)(paper - 20%); Reports on 2 readings (20%); Participation (10%).
Reading List
Readings provided by Instructor.
VIC 320Y
Seminar in Semiotics: The Semiotics of Visual Art
Lecture/Seminar: one two-hour seminar, one tutorial, occasional film/video screenings
Timetable: T 12-2, W 12; NF 332
Instructor: Professor Bart Testa, Innis College, 978-8574
Course Description
Semiotic theories and methods of analysis applied to visual media, specifically, photography, film, painting and video/television. Focus will fall on photography and film in the first term, on painting, and video in the second term. Texts by Barthes, Berger and Krauss treating advertising, documentary, and art photography. Studies of films through Bazin, Metz, Colin, and Bellour. Films to be screened include works by Snow, Herbert, Hawks, Hitchcock, Antonioni, Godard, Greenaway, and Cronenberg. In the second term, texts by Jameson, Lyotard, Bryson, Marin, Panofsky, Shapiro, Foucault and Baudrillard will be studied in connection with classical, and modern, and video-television.
Required Readings
Roland Barthes, Camera Lucida (Hill and Wang, 1980); Christian Metz, Film Language (Oxford, 1974); Michael Foucault, The Order of Things (Vintage, 1970); Jean Baudrillard, Simulations (Semiotexts, 1983). Additional course readings will be in two course readers, one for each term. Books available from Book Miller Bookroom; readers from Copywell.
Evaluation
First Term: photo-analysis (10%); film segmentation/sequence analysis (10%). Second Term: analytical essay (painting)(10%); course research essay (15%) preceded by bibliography and outline (5%). Term Tests (in class): 10% (first term) and 15% (second term). Seminar presentation (10%); Class participation (15%). Late work: 5% per day; attendance will be taken at classes.
VIC 420Y
Theories of the Sign
Lecture/Seminar: one two-hour seminar
Timetable: M4-6; VC 206
Instructor: Professor Marcel Danesi, BC 26, 585-4412
Course Description
This course will deal with the major theories of semiosis, representation, and interpretation in a critical-historical way. The main objective is to look at the definition of the sign from the ancient world up to and including the 20th Century. It will focus especially on the ideas of Saussure, Peirce, Morris, Greimas, Eco, Hjelmslev, Jakobson, Sebeok, and Barthes. The course will also look at theories of the origin of semiosis and of communication systems, using a model of analysis derived from G.B. Vico, Ernst Cassirer, and Susanne Langer.
Primary Texts
John Lechte, Fifty Contemporary Thinkers: From Structuralism to Postmodernity, London: Routledge, 1994; Floyd Merrell, Peirce's Semiotics Now: A Primer; Toronto: Canadian Scholars' Press, 1995; M. Danesi and F. Nuessel (eds.), The Imaginative Basis of Culture and Thought, Toronto: Canadian Scholars' Press, 1995.
Course Assignments and Evaluation
One essay (40%), one in-class test at end of each term (2 x 20%), participation at class discussions (20%).
Prerequisite
VIC 120Y, 220Y, 320Y.
The Staff in Semiotics:
Professor Marcel Danesi, Spanish & Portuguese, BC 26, 585-4412
Mr Bart Testa, Innis / Victoria Colleges, 978-8574
Dr Anne Urbancic, Italian Studies, NF 331, 585-4448