S.90-21
SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY
MEMORANDUM
TO: Senate ?
FROM ?
R. Brown
Dean
Faculty of Arts
.
to
the Contemporary Arts"
SUBJECT: Change of Name -
?
DATE: ?
Jan. 17, 1990
Centre for the Arts
The Faculty of Arts Curriculum Committee recommends the following
motion:
MOTION: ?
"that Senate approve that the name for the
Centre for the Arts be changed to School for
SiMON FRASER UNIVERSITY
MEMORANDUM
To.....
......................... ............................. .
From
........
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11 ..Ge.
Dean of Arts
?
Associate Dean of Arts
Subject ....
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Centre for the Arts
Please find attached a proposal, and rationale, For the Centre for the
Arts to change its name to School for the Contemporary Arts.
?
This pro-
posal was vetted by the appropriate sub-committee of F.A.C.C. , and
has F.A.C.C. approval (13 in favour, 1 abstention).
EG/rd
M.5
ot
.
SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY
Office of the Dean, Faculty of Arts?
MEMORANDUM
To: Ross
Saunders ?
From: R. C. Brown
Chair, SCUS
?
Dean of Arts
Subject:
Change of Name ?
Date: 6 December 1989
This is to recommend that the name for the Centre for the
Arts be changed
to School for the Contemporary
Arts. The
proposed name change was recommended by the Centre and has
been approved by the Faculty of Arts Curriculum Committee. A
rationale is attached.
R. C. Brown
RCBIhj
?
Dean of Arts
Q
Enc:
CENTRE FOR THE ARTS
?
RATIONALE FOR AMENDING THE DEPARTMENTAL NAME
The faculty of the Centre for the Arts has deterrñined by vote that the name of the
department should be amended to School for the Contemporary Arts. This new name
accurately reflects the department's existing research activity, pedagogy and philosophy.
The faculty deemed the present name inappropriate and somewhat misleading. It was
generally felt that the name change would clarify the nature of the department for
students and position the department itself more precisely in the University and the
community at large. The change is in keeping with the plan enunciated in the "Proposal
for the Further Development of the Centre for the Arts, Simon Fraser University," which
received departmental approval in 1981. This proposal recommended that the Centre
become a School for the Contemporary Arts (p.10). It should be noted that the change of
name is undertaken to refine the public perception of the Centre and entails no new
budgetary requirements or increased expenditure, nor does it entail structural changes
within the department or the University.
It is worth pointing out that the original name of the department, Centre for the Arts, was
selected before the department developed its present program of courses, which now
includes professional studios in the various art forms along with an academic emphasis
on critical issues of art and art making. At its inception the Centre had an entirely
different complexion, offering non-credit participation in art activities to students and
faculty, and functioning as a service organization or "Centre" to the university at large; as
such its name was appropriate. However, as the department developed academic
prog-ams,
program, the
the
need
original
for a
name
change
lost
of
its
name
utility.
becomes
With the
acute.
advent of the new graduate
MFA
The inclusion of the phrase "contemporary arts" underscores the department's
fundamental commitment to current developments in the respective disciplines, as
opposed to more traditional research and critical activities connoted by the isolated term
"arts". For although the tradition has a crucial place in the curriculum, it is the focus on
issues of contemporary art making and performance that gives the program its distinctive
place in the Canadian university context. The new name clearly elucidates the thrust of
departmental activity for prospective students, the University and the public.
N
OFFICE OF THE DEAN
?
NOV 15Jg89
FACULTY OF ARTS
