Courses

Visual Culture and the Manufacture of Meaning

Course No. ACD305.1  Credits: 3
Faculty David Hart | Gary D Sampson | Rita Goodman

This course will introduce students to critical theories and methods of analysis for interpreting contemporary visual art and culture. Topics include: formalism and stylistic analysis; semiotics and structuralism; Marxist theory; biography; psychoanalytic theory; feminist analysis and gender studies; postcolonial theory; post structuralism and postmodernity; and media arts studies (electronic/digital technologies). Select interpretive frameworks employed in the "manufacture of meaning" will be situated historically and discussed fully and critically, using seminal writings. Required for Visual Culture Emphasis. Offered each fall. 3 credits.

Visual Organization & Media

Course No. IME200.1  Credits: 3
Faculty Larry O'Neal | Mary Jo Toles | Robert Kelemen

In this course students will develop better organization and composition, knowledge and appreciation for type, integration of type and grid, understanding hierarchy, and type as creative form. Students within IME take this course to help them consider sound design and layout principles in their own work, and organize information in combination with images created in their specific majors. This course is required for all students in Animation, Biomedical Art, Game Design, Illustration, Photography, T.I.M.E.-Digital Arts and Video majors and is open as an elective to students in any other major. Offered fall and spring. 3 credits.

Visual Thinking in Contemporary Photography

Course No. FVPA330.1  Credits: 3
Faculty Barry Underwood | Michael Wallace

In this course, photographic theories, modes and structures will be examined through the issues of narrative and aesthetics. Students will examine contemporary practices, which have emerged with respect toward photography, and hybrid digital media that transmute photographic theories, concepts, forms, and processes. The course will investigate the ways in which photography continues to affect (visual) culture and the way one perceives and understands. The work of selected photographers will provide a framework for comparing photographic philosophies. Required of Photo Majors and Open Elective. 3 credits.

Water+: An Exploration of Water-Based Media

Course No. PTG240.1  Credits: 3

This course explores the different materials and processes used in various water-based media such as acrylic, gouache, watercolor, ink, and other natural substances that can be used to make colors/washes. Various historical models will be examined such as Chinese scroll painting and watercolor from the Song dynasty to Renaissance architecture and figure studies to post-impressionist use of color and mark which will put contemporary use of water-based media into focus. The work of artists as varied as William Blake, Vincent Van Gogh, Charles Burchfield, and Paul Klee to more recent artists such as Francesco Clemente, Marlene Dumas, Amy Cutler, Shazia Sikander, and Franz Ackermann, will be examined within the context of the studentÕs personal practice. This course is open to all students.

Water+: An Exploration of Water-Based Media

Course No. PTG340.1  Credits: 3

This course explores the different materials and processes used in various water-based media such as acrylic, gouache, watercolor, ink, and other natural substances that can be used to make colors/washes. Various historical models will be examined such as Chinese scroll painting and watercolor from the Song dynasty to Renaissance architecture and figure studies to post-impressionist use of color and mark which will put contemporary use of water-based media into focus. The work of artists as varied as William Blake, Vincent Van Gogh, Charles Burchfield, and Paul Klee to more recent artists such as Francesco Clemente, Marlene Dumas, Amy Cutler, Shazia Sikander, and Franz Ackermann, will be examined within the context of the studentÕs personal practice. This course is open to all students.

Water+: An Exploration of Water-Based Media

Course No. PTG440.1  Credits: 3

This course explores the different materials and processes used in various water-based media such as acrylic, gouache, watercolor, ink, and other natural substances that can be used to make colors/washes. Various historical models will be examined such as Chinese scroll painting and watercolor from the Song dynasty to Renaissance architecture and figure studies to post-impressionist use of color and mark which will put contemporary use of water-based media into focus. The work of artists as varied as William Blake, Vincent Van Gogh, Charles Burchfield, and Paul Klee to more recent artists such as Francesco Clemente, Marlene Dumas, Amy Cutler, Shazia Sikander, and Franz Ackermann, will be examined within the context of the studentÕs personal practice. This course is open to all students.

Ways of Thought: Confucianism, Taoism, & Zen

Course No. HCS367.1  Credits: 3
Faculty Allen Zimmerman

This course is an introduction to systems of belief and action in China and Japan. It begins with a critical cross-cultural comparison of Confucianism, Taoism and Ch'an Buddhism in China and Zen Buddhism in Japan, concluding with a comparison between two representative systems, one Eastern and one Western. The aim of this course is twofold: to explore traditional philosophical, religious and psychological perceptions that have influenced life (ideal and otherwise) in China and Japan, and to provide a basis for understanding selected Asian cultures and, through perspectives gained, to reflect upon our own. 3 credits.

Ways of Thought: Hinduism & Buddhism

Course No. HCS366.1  Credits: 3
Faculty Allen Zimmerman

This two-semester course begins with an introduction to similarities and differences between Eastern and Western systems of belief and action. It proceeds with a critical cross-cultural comparison of Hinduism, Indian and Chinese schools of Buddhism, Taoism in China, and Zen Buddhism in Japan. It concludes with a comparison between two representative systems, one Eastern and one Western. The aim of this course is twofold: to explore traditional philosophical, religious, and psychological perceptions that have influenced life (ideal and otherwise) in India, China and Japan, and to provide a basis for understanding selected Asian cultures and, through perspectives gained, to reflect upon our own. 3 credits.