Graduate Certificate in Arts Education and Community Engagement

at Centennial College - Story Arts Centre Campus Canada

The Product Design and Development program is the only one of its kind in Canada and provides you with the unique understanding to develop high-tech, ecological and socially responsible products from concept, to design, to production.

Combining the strengths of Centennial College's School of Communications, Media, Arts and Design and the School of Engineering Technology and Applied Science, this innovative product design and development program's courses bring together hands-on learning in product and industrial design, and product development with product lifecycle management (PLM). Through interdisciplinary, collaborative group projects, you develop creative design problem-solving abilities and innovative strategies by applying all stages of the visual design process.

You acquire a wide range of skills in this advanced diploma program, including idea generation, creative problem solving, drawing, model-making, the creative design process, 3D CAD advanced computer modelling, rapid prototyping, product development (CAE analysis, reverse engineering technology, materials selection, quality testing, product costing and optimization), product lifecycle management and cross-platform multimedia communications. You also develop a strong sense of the functional and aesthetic principles of design, as well as a solid understanding of the technical and business aspects of product development.

Centennial's Product Design and Development program meets the growing need for graduates with a strategic vision of interdisciplinary product design and an understanding of all stages of the product lifecycle, who are ready to work in a variety of exciting careers related to consumer product development, electronics, furniture, transportation and more.

Please note: This program requires you to have and use a mobile computing device that meets or exceeds the recommended hardware and software requirements. 

Program Highlights

• During your time in the program, you study and work in classrooms and labs that are equipped with the latest tools and industry-standard software.
• The program provides a practical, hands-on and entrepreneurial approach that prepares you for a sustainable career.
• Opportunities exist to collaborate with students in other programs at the Story Arts Centre. This is a unique opportunity to network, learn and work with industry professionals.
• Opportunity to work with ACCEL, Centennial’s in-house business incubator, to bring your ideas to market.
• Gain industry experience through STORYWORKS, a course that provides the opportunity to work with real-world clients of all kinds.

Centennial College's Dance – Performance program, the ultimate stepping stone to becoming a professional dancer, helps you dance your way to a fulfilling career.

Facilitated by the School of Communications, Media, Arts and Design, the dynamic Dance Performance program is on the cutting edge of what's new, innovative, current and popular in today's dance culture. This college diploma program focuses on helping you to develop a high standard of performance and technical dance skills in:

•  Commercial dance
•  Hip-hop
•  Ballet
•  Jazz
•  Contemporary
•  Cultural
•  World trends
•  Indigenous North American dance forms
•  Acrobatics
•  Singing
•  Choreography
•  Pas de deux

In addition to learning technical dance skills, you take courses that nurture and enrich the mind-body connection and enhance the ability for storytelling. Throughout the two years you spend in the Dance – Performance program, you also learn and develop the skills and tools needed to cope with issues such as self and body image, stress, rejection, nutrition and better understand anatomy and injury prevention.

With a learning environment that reflects today's industry, you graduate with a professional resume, photos and dance show-reel. You will also possess a strong entrepreneurial spirit, a professional attitude and instruction ability within the training and performance environment.

Please note: This program requires you to have and use a mobile computing device that meets or exceeds the recommended hardware and software requirements.

Program Highlights

• You acquire performance skills at professional, artistic and technical levels.
• A field placement in the final semester provides a valuable opportunity to work in the industry.
• Both the field placement and the Dance Performance program's industry connections allow you to network, learn and work with industry professionals who are in demand worldwide.
• At the Story Arts Centre, you collaborate with students in photography, film, television, music, art and theatre programs.
• The Dance Performance program's practical, hands-on and entrepreneurial approach prepares you for sustainable dance-related careers directly upon graduation.

The Advertising - Creative and Digital Strategy program addresses the high demand for creators in the digital field of advertising and marketing, which is growing faster than all other areas in the advertising industry.

This Advertising Graduate Certificate program takes place at the Story Arts Centre in Toronto and blends Centennial College's experience in digital media with our strengths in business and marketing. The program focuses on helping you create engaging digital experiences built on solid creative strategy. You become immersed in the digital field and learn how to develop breakthrough creative advertising campaigns.

Through your courses, you acquire the necessary skills in creative strategy, writing, developing creative concepts, art direction, collaboration, presentation and entrepreneurialism. During a field placement, which is part of the second semester, Creative and Digital Strategy students take part in team assignments, working in a collaborative environment in the real world.

You’ll also learn new technologies and platforms that keep you informed about recent innovations in the digital creative field.

The program focuses on five key areas:

• Creative strategy, to ensure advertising meets clients' business objectives.
• Digital storytelling, to build on the power of storytelling in developing impactful creative advertising.
• Brand engagement, to create strong connections with consumers.
• Entrepreneurship, to foster key business skills that encourage innovation and risk-taking.
• Emerging platforms, to ensure you are up-to-date on the latest in digital technology impacting the advertising industry.

In this program, you:

• Gain an understanding of the digital creation process from a creative director's point of view.
• Learn how to craft a creative digital strategy that delivers results.
• Develop a strong portfolio and case studies for prospective employers.
• Enhance presentation skills to help sell ideas.
• Understand the impact of technology on creative development.
• Foster digital storytelling skills to bring brands to life online.
• Analyze and solve business and marketing challenges for clients by applying innovative creative and digital techniques.
• Complement in-class education with a field placement that will provide the opportunity to work in the industry and hone your skills.

Please note:- This program requires you to have and use a mobile computing device (i.e. laptop, tablet) that meets or exceeds the recommended hardware requirements. 

Program Highlights

• This Creative and Digital Strategy program gives you the opportunity to turn a degree or diploma into an exciting career in a growing field in the advertising industry.
• You learn how to create digitally-centric creative portfolio pieces using current industry design and writing standards.
• Faculty members have extensive industry experience and can help you connect to the industry by tapping into their personal networks.
• The program is offered at the Story Arts Centre, which is about 15 minutes from most advertising and digital marketing agencies in Toronto.
• At the Story Arts Centre, there are numerous opportunities to collaborate with students in a range of other marketing and communications-focused programs to enhance the learning experience.

The Public Relations – Corporate Communications program takes just two semesters to complete and is one of the most highly regarded Public Relations (PR) programs in Toronto.
The courses in this Public Relations Graduate Certificate program, which is based at the Story Arts Centre campus, reflect the thinking that no two days in PR are alike. The industry experts who teach the courses ensure you:

• Learn to research, write, plan, edit, design and implement everything from strategic communications plans and employee newsletters to gala dinners for hundreds of people.
• Gain an understanding of how communications strategies influence employee attitudes, shift stakeholders' opinions and tell an organization's story to the media.
• Connect with the PR industry.

You may want to consider this School of Communications, Media, Arts and Design program if you have previously completed post-secondary education, possess strong writing skills and have the ability to manage various projects at the same time.

Please note: This program requires you to have and use a mobile computing device (i.e. laptop, tablet) that meets or exceeds the recommended hardware requirements.

Program Highlights:-

• This Public Relations program's curriculum highlights learning by doing while emphasizing employability skills and landing a job.
• The offering leads the way in social media and PR content.
• Because the program is facilitated from Centennial College's Story Arts Centre in Toronto, you are close to the heart of Toronto's PR industry.
• You complete a full-time, eight-week field placement in the industry.
• Student membership in one of the following associations is included in your tuition and fees: The Canadian Public Relations Society (CPRS) or the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC).

In the Broadcasting - Radio, Television, Film & Digital Media program, you are trained in both the traditional skills of storytelling for the motion picture, television and radio industries as well as multi-platform digital production.

This college media program offered through our School of Communications, Media, Arts and Design in Toronto, prepares you with the creative and technical skills required for success in the time-based media industry. You will learn how to develop and create original story content, as well as how to prepare, manage and carry out the production process to realize a creative vision.

In this advanced diploma program, you:

• Develop a balance between the artistic and commercial aspects of the industry, and become exposed to a variety of industry practices and players.
• Study and practice techniques for effective storytelling in both the fiction and non-fiction genres, as well as client-based and live-to-air productions.
• Gain technical experience with HD broadcasting studios, digital film, television and multi-platform production.
• Participate in, create and contribute to a wide range of student films, digital video productions and weekly television and multi-platform productions.
• Complete an advanced body of produced work for a professional portfolio.
• Spend 14 weeks in a full-time industry field placement.
• Please note: This program requires you to have and use a mobile computing device (i.e. laptop, tablet) that meets or exceeds the recommended hardware requirements. 

Program Highlights

• For more than 30 years, the Broadcasting - Radio, Television, Film and Digital Media program has been training some of Canada's best writers, directors, producers, production crew members and studio executives for the broadcasting and film industry in Toronto and abroad.
• You gain access to digital HD broadcast studios, equipment and systems at the Story Arts Centre campus, home to Centennial College's School of Communications, Media, Arts and Design.
• The hands-on experience that you gain complements your education and is one of the keys to post-graduate success.
• The advanced diploma that you earn at the conclusion of this Broadcasting program reflects high standards of learning.

Film and Television – Business is a unique program offered by the School of Communication, Media, Arts and Design that will prepare you to take on the business aspects of the television and film production industry. Today's film and television producers need more than just good ideas and a crew to get their projects off the ground. They need people with the skills to handle the financing, management, legal, distribution and business affairs. That's where you'll come in.

The two-semester – Television and Film - Business graduate certificate program will emphasize the importance of an entrepreneurial spirit and a global outlook. You'll explore the industry's legal, financial and regulatory frameworks and develop skills necessary for producing in the current Canadian and international market. To round out your training, you'll complete a field placement that will allow you to gain experience in the industry prior to graduation.

This program is unique in Canada, and it will:

• Combine knowledge of the film and television industry with the principles and practices of accounting and business;
• Focus on developing strategies and plans for various business aspects of the film and television industry (e.g., project financing, program sales and marketing plans, and business plans for launching and operating an independent production company);
• Integrate knowledge of the global marketplace, distribution models and additional revenue sources;
• Provide opportunities to learn production techniques — in both crew and leadership positions — through the various stages of pre-production, production and post-production.

The Animation - 3D program at Centennial College runs for 16 consecutive months and, in that time, prepares you to successfully launch a career in digital animation.

Created in 1996, this animation program takes place at the School of Communications, Media, Arts and Design. Its intensive approach has become internationally recognized, on top of kick-starting the careers of hundreds of talented digital artists.

The 3D Animation program focuses on production-style training and offers a unique project-based learning experience that is applauded within the animation, visual effects and game industries. You'll develop skills for careers in animation, film, television, broadcast design and games.

Program Highlights

• The Animation - 3D program gives you 24-hour access to computer labs and workstations.
• Subjects covered also include life drawing, acting for animation and storyboard training.
• Class sizes are small, at a maximum of 21 students per class, giving you the opportunity to work closely alongside industry professionals who collectively have amassed more than 1,000 hours of instruction.
• Training is enhanced by industry-leading guest speakers, participatory workshops and company studio tours.
• You are assisted in producing demo reels that showcase your abilities to potential employers.
• This School of Communication, Media, Arts and Design program boasts an industry field placement. While this opportunity is unpaid, it lasts eight weeks and offers valuable on-the-job training and industry contacts. You will be provided with a list of Toronto studios accepting interns. When seeking industry field placement opportunities, you will be required to make direct contact with animation studios.
• An active alumni network allows you to build your own list of industry contacts.

The Lifestyle Media program is a one-of-a-kind graduate certificate offering designed to train specialized media professionals who are at the hub of lifestyle media.
In this media program's courses, you'll effectively collaborate with real-world industry partners, clients and audiences to produce quality content for web, social media and traditional media platforms. You'll also gain the skills necessary to work entrepreneurially using contemporary digital media platforms and technologies to market yourself as an independent brand.
Lifestyle communicators are subject-matter experts who are able to take their passion and depth of knowledge to reach behind-the-scenes and share these worlds with audiences that want to both learn and be entertained. Successful lifestyle communicators influence trends and tastes and can become trusted sources of reliable information.

Program Highlights

• The interdisciplinary Lifestyle Media curriculum will include writing, visual communications, social media and entrepreneurship.
• You'll gain the ability to develop sector-specific expertise in areas such as fashion, beauty, food and health.
• There will be a strong focus on social media and web production, including analytics and measurement.
• You'll participate in an industry field placement in an area of your interest.

The Bachelor of Public Relations Management, Honours program at Centennial College's Story Arts Centre is a unique, first-of-its-kind offering in Canada that combines public relations and business studies. In four years, this program will prepare you for an exciting career in public relations (PR), social media and corporate communications.

The Bachelor of Public Relations Management, Honours program, offered by the School of Communications, Media, Arts and Design in collaboration with the School of Business, will balance the theory, principles and application of PR with a solid foundation in business principles through ten core business courses.

During your time in the program, you'll complete real-world projects that will allow you to apply your newly-acquired knowledge. From writing media releases to planning events, you'll engage in practical scenarios that will ground the core classroom concepts of this four-year degree.

To prepare you for a variety of careers, the Bachelor of Public Relations Management courses will include a strong focus on:

• Writing
• Social and digital media
• Research and communications planning
• Strategic communications
• Corporate communications

The Advertising Account Management program will prepare you for a successful career in the client service area of the advertising, marketing and communications industry.
If you like creating, planning, managing and working in collaborative teams, this communications and media program is for you. Because the advertising industry needs specialized account managers who understand the full scope of the industry, courses will cover areas such as:

• Advertising
• Digital, mobile and social media platforms
• Event marketing
• Direct marketing
• Management of integrated communications plans from inception to final production

Not only will a team of seasoned advertising professionals teach and mentor you as you acquire new skills and confidence for the industry, but you'll also have the opportunity to apply your knowledge to the real world. The Advertising Account Management program at Centennial College is the only post-graduate offering of its kind in Canada that includes a full 14-week field placement in the advertising and marketing communications industry.

During your field placement, you'll obtain knowledge of the day-to-day operations of account management and gain hands-on experience to highlight in your portfolio and on your resume. Many students have been offered full-time or contract positions during their field placement.