New Certificate in Sound offers interdisciplinary perspectives

From music composition, to sound design for video games, to the soundscapes of our built and natural environments, the study of sound can be approached from many perspectives. The Faculty of Communication, Art and Technology (FCAT) offers courses in sound in each of its three schools, and the new Certificate in Sound offers students the opportunity to gain recognition for a broad study of sound across a variety of disciplines.

“FCAT's new Certificate in Sound is an exciting opportunity for scholars and artists interested in sound to explore the field across the different schools,” says contemporary arts professor and associate dean Arne Eigenfeldt. “Each of FCAT's units has a long and rich history in sound research, dating back to the 1970s and the Sonic Research Studio in Communication, the electroacoustic music pioneers in the 1980s in the Centre for the Arts, and later the study of sound design in new media within Interactive Arts and Technology and podcasting within Publishing. This is a chance for students within FCAT to examine how sound is considered in other areas and for students outside FCAT to gain a broad understanding of sound.”

The School of Communication, home of the pioneering World Soundscape Project and SFU’s Sonic Research Studio, boasts a rich history of soundscape studies and acoustic ecology along with cutting-edge research in soundscape composition, sonification for social change, documentary sound production (including audio documentaries, interviews, and podcasts), and cultural studies of sound and music.

Communication courses in sound include CMNS 258 – History of Sound in Media in which students analyze sound in media and create audio-based applied projects. Students learn techniques of field recording, interviewing, editing, sound processing, and multi-tracking using the school's studio facilities. In

The music and sound program in the School for the Contemporary Arts offers students a unique, interdisciplinary experience and the opportunity to collaborate on film, dance, theatre, and visual art projects. The program is renowned for its innovative and experimental approach to music through its focus on composition.

Courses such as CA 142 – Music Appreciation in the 21^st Century are part of the new Certificate in Sound. In this course students develop a critical ear and advanced listening skills using a post-modern approach to music appreciation that will present a diversity of music from many cultures, styles, and periods in an effort to discover similarities, differences, and defining characteristics. In CA 386 – Film Music: An Overview of the Relationship between Music and Moving Pictures, students examine the role of music in the viewer's experience of moving pictures. Beginning with the early 1900s, the course will introduce important composers, directors, films, genres and historical periods.

The School of Interactive Arts and Technology (SIAT) offers courses about sound design and audio engineering as it relates to film and multimedia projects, user experience design, and video games. Researchers in SIAT also engage in sound-based research practices including generative music created by AI.

SIAT courses that are part of the Certificate in Sound include IAT 340 – Sound Design, which introduces students to the theory and practice of sound design and explores sound's relationship to moving images, installation, performance, video games, user interfaces, and Web sites.

“Sound, whether through sound design or music, is often undervalued, yet it provides a powerful and direct pathway to our deepest emotions,” says interactive arts and technology professor Philippe Pasquier. “The new Certificate in Sound will empower our students to delve into the multifaceted world of sound, blending theory with practice, and opening doors to a myriad of opportunities in the creative industries.”

Students who complete four lower division and two upper division courses from the list of Certificate in Sound courses will gain a unique credential that will enable them to engage in interdisciplinary discovery while developing competencies in creative technologies that will prepare them for post-university life.