I have just finished reading this thread with great interest. I once signed up for a photography course at the University of Toronto and it was all about visual expression and the art of seeing through taking, viewing and critiquing slide film. I never did get to enter the course because I had to move. I wish I had.
I would venture to guess the course you mention is really emphasizing the art of seeing and visual expression and deemphasizing digital processing, and not excluding it. I see nothing wrong with that. You will be learning the art of seeing and visual expression first and foremost! When I first encountered and tried digital photography, I was rather dismayed at the amount of attention being paid to photoshop and processing programs, and worse, the attitude that virtually anything can and should be fixed, as if we should all endeavour to become masters of photoshop, and the work- the images, the content- matters less. This is the impression I had a few years ago and I still hold today. Given the thousands of images most of us avid photographers take every year using digital cameras, and that most are mundane , I am all for the emphasis being on the art of seeing and visual expression. If you learn to take good images, no matter how or what processing is used, or at what level the processing is done at, people will recognize the work as good. Photoshop and processing, though a part of digital photography, represent different skill sets and are for an altogether different course, as is printmaking, which many on this site lean toward. I would suggest you contact the school and find out about the course content. Only your priorities can determine what is best for you. Some courses are comprehensive and include all the facets of photography, including processing.
JMR