Visual Arts

This course approaches drawing as a way of thinking and seeing. Students will be introduced to a range of drawing issues, as well as a variety of media, including charcoal, graphite, ink, and oil stick. Subject matter includes still life, the figure, landscape, and architecture. Representation, abstraction, and working from imagination will be explored. A structured independent project will be completed at the end of the term. Two studio classes, five hours total per week.

This course approaches drawing as a way of thinking and seeing. Students will be introduced to a range of drawing issues, as well as a variety of media, including charcoal, graphite, ink, and oil stick. Subject matter includes still life, the figure, landscape, and architecture. Representation, abstraction, and working from imagination will be explored. A structured independent project will be completed at the end of the term. Two studio classes, five hours total per week.

An introduction to the materials and methods of painting. The areas to be covered are color and its interaction, the use of form and scale, painting from a model, painting objects with a concern for their mass, and interaction with light. Two three-hour studio classes, five hours a week.

An introduction to the materials and methods of painting. The areas to be covered are color and its interaction, the use of form and scale, painting from a model, painting objects with a concern for their mass, and interaction with light. Two studio classes, five hours total per week.

An introduction to the processes of photography through a series of problems directed toward personal expression and darkroom techniques. Weekly laboratory sessions will explore the critical issues of the medium in relation to both student work and examples of photographs curated from the history of the medium. One three-hour and fifty-minute class and two hours of independent laboratory.

An introduction to the processes of photography through a series of problems directed toward personal expression and darkroom techniques. Weekly laboratory sessions will explore the critical issues of the medium in relation to both student work and examples of photographs curated from the history of the medium. One three-hour and fifty-minute class and two hours of independent laboratory

A seminar and lab that explores the aesthetic and theoretical implications of digital technology in relation to photography. The emphasis is on making the photographic print in the digital work space. Class will consist of both independent and collaborative projects. One two-hour class, one three-hour laboratory. Prerequisites: 211 or 212, or instructor's permission.

A studio introduction to sculpture, particularly the study of form, space, and the influence of a wide variety of materials and processes on the visual properties of sculpture. Students will develop an understanding of contemporary sculpture and a basic technical facility in a variety of materials and processes. Two studio classes, five hours per week.

A studio introduction to sculpture, particularly the study of form, space, and the influence of a wide variety of materials and processes on the visual properties of sculpture. Students will develop an understanding of contemporary sculpture and a basic technical facility in a variety of materials and processes. Two studio classes, five hours per week.

Global Blackness is a cross-disciplinary transnational multi-lingual survey course that will introduce students to a range of texts, including film, literature and popular culture produced by and about Black people outside of the United States. Students will learn about the legacy of European expansion in Africa and the Americas, the impact of the transatlantic slave trade beyond the United States, and the ongoing humanitarian crisis in places like Haiti and Eritrea, as well as engage with a diversity of Black cultural art, identities, politics, social movements, and expressions that come from these knowledges and beyond.

A historical examination of a film genre--e.g., comedy, documentary, detective film (also called film noir). The object of the course will be the understanding of the uniquely cinematic aspects of each genre, studied against the backdrop of parallel literary genres (e.g., comedy from Aristophanes to Beckett; documentary fiction and essays; 19th- and 20th-century detective fiction). One genre will be the topic of the course each year. Two 90-minute classes, one film screening.

A film/video course introducing the techniques of shooting and editing digital video. Works of film/video art are analyzed in order to explore the development of, and innovations in, cinematic language. Production is oriented toward film/video as a visual art, including narrative, documentary, and experimental genres. Several short video projects produced during the semester. Two studio classes, five hours per week. Prerequisite: instructor's permission.

A film/video course introducing the techniques of shooting and editing digital video. Works of film/video art are analyzed in order to explore the development of, and innovations in, cinematic language. Production is oriented toward film/video as a visual art, including narrative, documentary, and experimental genres. Several short video projects produced during the semester. Two studio classes, five hours per week. Prerequisite: instructor's permission.

This course is designed to allow students to explore more deeply the process and meaning of painting. Students will complete a set of structured assignments and are encouraged to develop an independent direction. Contemporary critical theory is integrated into the course. Two studio classes, five hours per week. Prerequisite: 203, 204 and instructor's permission.

This course is designed to allow students to explore more deeply the process and meaning of painting. Students will complete a set of structured assignments and are encouraged to develop an independent direction. Contemporary critical theory is integrated into the course. One studio class, four hours per week. Prerequisite: 203, 204 and instructor's permission.

A study of major German philosophers and religious and social thinkers from the Reformation to the present. Selected works of Hegel, Marx, Nietzsche, Freud, Heidegger, or German-Jewish thinkers will be read together with contemporary interpretations. Two 90-minute seminars.

An introduction to fundamental techniques of copper plate etching, and relief printing. Assignments focus on applications of various printmaking techniques, while encouraging independent development of subject matter. Critiques will occur throughout the term. Students are encouraged to draw regularly outside of class to cultivate themes and content applicable to their prints. Field trips to the University's museum and the library's graphics collection will complement class work. Two studio classes, five hours per week.

This seminar will address two essential questions: How can the art of film advance the causes of science? How do communities use media to support their environmental activism? Based in Kenya, students will be trained in digital video production, screenwriting, and editing, and will produce a series of short and long documentaries. Filming will entail numerous trips into the field, interviewing, and recording. The seminar will help students begin to understand crucial international development issues, e.g., water, wildlife, and land use, and how to communicate memorably about them through video.

A continuation of VIS 211, 212, or 213 this course focuses on hybridizing analog and digital technologies using the the view camera and making a cogent body of work. The connections between traditions of art, philosophy, science, and photography will continue to be important. One three-hour class and three hours of independent laboratory. Prerequisites: VIS 211, 212, or equivalent experience and instructor's permission.

What is film? Is it a language? Can one speak of cinematic literacy? Does film transform perception? Is there filmic thinking? This seminar on the theory and poetics of cinema will examine the varieties of ways -- semiotic, psychoanalytic, narratological - that filmmakers, philosophers and critics have analyzed film form, the cinematic experience, the construction of cinematic subjectivity, questions of aesthetic politics and notions of medium specificity.

An introduction to the art and craft of lighting design for live performance and an exploration of light as a medium for expression. Students will develop an ability to observe lighting in the world and on the stage; to learn to make lighting choices based on text, space, research, and their own responses; to practice being creative, responsive and communicative under pressure and in company; to prepare well to create under pressure using the designer's visual toolbox; and to play well with others-working creatively and communicating with directors, writers, performers, fellow designers, the crew and others.

Offers students the opportunity to gain a working knowledge of the ways in which dance, dance/theater, and body-based art are created and performed today. Primarily a studio course that stresses learning through doing. Students will have the opportunity to work with leading experimental creators. Topics, prerequisites, and formats will vary from year to year.

This course is designed for students who are interested in learning the fundamentals of working with clay. A wide variety of hand-building techniques will be taught, enabling students to make utilitarian vessels as well as sculptural forms. Students will learn about glazing and colored engobe application methods and how to operate electric and gas kilns. Studio work will be complemented by readings, field trips, and slide presentations.Two studio classes, five hours per week.

This course is designed for students who are interested in learning the fundamentals of working with clay. A wide variety of hand-building techniques will be taught, enabling students to make utilitarian vessels as well as sculptural forms. Students will learn about glazing and colored engobe application methods and how to operate electric and gas kilns. Studio work will be complemented by readings, field trips, and slide presentations. Two studio classes, five hours per week.

An exploration of the relationships between the idea of "woman'' and the art of film. Issues addressed will include the role of woman as performer and director, questions of film genre, the identification of the female image as constitutive of the cinematic image, the historical and social dimensions of the female image projected in films of different times and different cultures. Film screenings, one three-hour seminar.

The history of sound and color film produced since World War II. Emphasis on Italian neorealism, French New Wave, American avant-garde, and the accomplishments of such major filmmakers as Bergman, Hitchcock, Bresson, and Antonioni. Modernism in film will be a central consideration. One three-hour class, weekly film screenings.

This seminar will treat in depth the work of two or three filmmakers of major importance. Specific subjects will vary.

This seminar will deal in some detail with an aspect of film history, focusing on an important movement or exploring a significant issue. Specific topics and prerequisites will vary.

Major movements and directors in French and French-language cinema. Topics may include: early history of the cinematographe; the Golden Age of French film; Renoir, Bresson, Tati; the "New-Wave"; French women directors of the 1980s; adaptation of literary works.

Exploration of the quest for moral values in Soviet and post-Soviet Russian cinema of the 1960s to the present. Topics include, among others, the effects of Stalinism; the struggle for freedom of individual conscience under totalitarianism; the artist's moral dilemmas in Soviet and post-Soviet society; materialism versus spirituality. Films of Andrei Tarkovsky, Nikita Mikhalkov, and others. One three-hour seminar. Knowledge of Russian not required.

A second-level film/video workshop focusing on digital media production. Short works of film/video art will be analyzed in class as a guide to the issues of aesthetic choice, editing structure, and challenging one's audience. Students complete two short videos and a longer final project, and view one film each week outside of class time. Prerequisites: 261 or 262 and instructor's permission. One three-hour seminar.

A second-level film/video workshop focusing on digital media production. Short works of film/video art will be analyzed in class as a guide to the issues of aesthetic choice, editing structure, and challenging one's audience. Students complete two short videos and a longer final project, and view one film each week outside of class time. Prerequisites: 261 or 262 and instructor's permission. One three-hour seminar.

An exploration of the various aspects of costume design. Emphasis will depend to some degree on instructor's area of interest and/or student interest. Studio projects will be designed to coincide with other theater and dance courses and currently scheduled productions. Critical discussion will explore the relationship between dramatic texts and design ideas. Two three-hour seminars or studio sessions.

A required seminar for art and archaeology Program 2 majors and visual arts certificate students emphasizing contemporary art practices and ideas. The course addresses current issues in painting, drawing, sculpture, film, video, and photography, with an emphasis on developing a studio practice. Critiques of students' work, and excursions to artists' studio round out the course. One three-hour seminar.

This course is designed to endow students with the conceptual and practical skills to design productions in the theater program, or to direct a production with design elements, and to support students in making technical decisions, as well as in collaborating with the rest of the creative team and the technical staff. The course will combine an exploration of visual storytelling and creative collaboration with a grounding in the practical and communicative skills necessary to create the physical world of a production. This course is also appropriate for directors and writers interested in working with design on a departmental production.

A studio course focused on advanced problems in painting practice, including pictorial structure in abstraction and representation, color in relationship to space and light, working process, and materials. This course, although structured, encourages development of independent work. Group critiques will be conducted. Students gain awareness of historical models as well as contemporary art, as they build and analyze the relationship between student work and contemporary painting culture. Two studio sessions-five hours a week. Prerequisites: 303 or 304 and instructor's permission.

A studio course focused on advanced problems in painting practice, including pictorial structure in abstraction and representation, color in relationship to space and light, working process, and materials. This course, although structured, encourages development of independent work. Group critiques will be conducted. Students gain awareness of historical models as well as contemporary art, as they build and analyze the relationship between student work and contemporary painting culture. One four-hour studio class. Prerequisites: 303 or 304 and instructor's permission.

This class will familiarize students with the complex use of metaphorical, emotional, and visual threads in long form screenplay writing. Analyzing examples of international, independent, and classical structures, students will be exposed to the rhythms and demands of the process of conceiving and writing a long form narrative film. Prerequisite: Introduction to Screenwriting and by application.

Student-initiated problems in photography will be explored in close working relationship with the instructor. Emphasis will be on integrating practice and critical thought. One three-hour class, three hours of independent laboratory. Prerequisites: VIS 211 or VIS 212; and VIS 313 or VIS 315; or permission of instructor.

This class will explore the art of storytelling through the aesthetics of film editing. By focusing on the editing process, students will not only learn how to edit their work but also how to better plan the writing, casting, sound design, and shooting of a film to better serve the editing process. Through screenings of award-winning films, informal class discussions with their directors, and exclusive access to raw scenes and footage, students will learn how to conceptualize the entire film production process as well as be introduced to accomplished professionals in the field.

A studio course in which formal problems are raised and explored through a range of materials. The central focus is on analysis and exploration of the nature of sculptural space. One four-hour studio class. Prerequisites: 221 or 222 and instructor's permission.

An examination of the central texts and abiding issues of the theory of cinema. Properties of the shot as a unit of film construction and its relationship to the space of reality are analyzed. Different kinds of film structures and their theoretical underpinnings are studied.

An introduction to Italian cinema from 1945 to the present. Through an interdisciplinary approach, the course will focus on sociopolitical and cultural issues as well as on basic concepts of film style and technique. Specific topics will change from year to year, and prerequisites will vary. No knowledge of Italian is required to enroll. One 90-minute lecture, one 90-minute precept, and one film showing.

A seminar examining the ways in which filmmakers have used one of the other arts as part of the self-definition of cinema as an autonomous art. One or two such interactions will be the focus of the course, and will vary by term (e.g., painting, architecture, poetry, narrative fiction).

This course, conducted in English, is a study of Fascism through selected films from World War II to the present. Topics include: the concept of Fascist normality; Racial Laws; the role of women and homosexuals; colonialism; and the opposition of the intellectual left. Films include: Bertolucci's The Conformist, Fellini's Amarcord, Rossellini's Rome Open City, and Wertmüller's Seven Beauties. The approach is interdisciplinary and combines the analysis of historical themes with an in-depth cinematic reading of the films.

A study of the influence of Marxist ideology on major Italian directors from the Cold War to the present. Representative films include: Bertolucci's The Last Emperor, Visconti's The Leopard, Pasolini's Teorema, Wertmuller's Seven Beauties, Pontecorvo's The Battle of Algiers. The approach will be interdisciplinary and will combine the analysis of historical and political themes with a cinematic reading of the films. One lecture, one two-hour preceptorial, one film screening.

A third-level film/video course to further develop video production skills. Students have the option of spending the term either creating a single long work or a series of short pieces. Short weekly shooting exercises. Students view one film each week outside of class time. Two studio classes, five hours per week. Prerequisite: 361 or 362 and instructor's permission.

Advanced work in special areas of the various visual media or in areas where the traditional media intersect (for example, typography, video, photo printmaking). Specific topics will change from year to year, and prerequisites will vary.

Advanced work in special areas of the various visual media or in areas where the traditional media intersect (for example, typography, video, photo printmaking). Specific topics will change from year to year, and prerequisites will vary.