Course Descriptions

Major Core Courses

The following courses are required for all communication majors.

For Freshmen and Sophomores:

COMM 110 INTRODUCTION TO HUMAN COMMUNICATION
This course provides an overview of the Strategic and Human Communication concentration. Topics include the history of the communication field, human communication theories, verbal and nonverbal communication, culture and communication, interpersonal and small group communication, and communication in organizations (3 credits).

COMM 120 INTRODUCTION TO MEDIA STUDIES
This course provides an overview of the Digital Arts and Media Studies concentration. It focuses on mass mediated communication fields including newspapers and magazines, sound recording, radio, broadcast television, cable television, movies, advertising, and online media (3 credits).

COMM 210 PUBLIC SPEAKING
This course is designed to develop effective and responsible public speaking skills. The course will focus on researching, organizing, writing, and presenting various types of speeches including informational and persuasive (3 credits).

COMM 220 VISUAL COMMUNICATION AND DESIGN
During this course, students learn to understand and apply type-image relationships, color, and form in digital design, including basic layouts. The course presents foundations and relevant concepts in visual literacy, symbolism, and aesthetics as applied to practical considerations, such as composition, motion and design (3 credits).

COMM 230 MEDIA WRITING (WE)*
This course is a study of the basic procedures and techniques of writing for media. Contemporary media writers must be versatile and able to write in a number of registers. The course will focus on writing for print and online news reporting, copywriting, writing on behalf of organizations, and planning transmedia information campaigns (3 credits).

COMM 375 INTERNSHIP I
During this course, Students participate in an off-campus training experience closely related to one of the areas of communication. Frequent meetings with an advisor plus a final project are required. Permission of Communication Department Internship Coordinator required. Junior or Senior Majors only (3 credits).

COMM 490 SEMINAR IN COMMUNICATION
During this course, students will select a topic in one of the areas of concentration and develop it into a major paper including an original research study. students will also present their findings in a formal oral presentation. Senior majors only (3 credits).

Concentrations

Digital Arts and Media Studies Concentration

COMM 300 TV STUDIO PRODUCTION
This course is an introduction to the elements of multi-camera television production techniques including camerawork, audio, instantaneous editing, graphics, on-camera appearance, scripts, and directing culminating in student produced talk shows (3 credits).

COMM 301 VIDEO FIELD PRODUCTION
This course introduces basic production techniques for non-studio nonfiction video production. The course will cover camerawork, audio recording, field lighting, shooting strategies, interviewing techniques, basic editing, nonfiction video aesthetics, preproduction planning (scripts and storyboards), and basic postproduction (editing, graphics, effects) (3 credits).

COMM 302 VIDEO POST PRODUCTION AND EDITING
This course is an in-depth study of assembling footage in preparation of a final cut through the study of nonlinear editing, compositing techniques, titling, color correction, and visual effects (VFX). This includes close analyses of dialog, documentary, action, thriller, music video, motion graphic, broadcast design, branded content, and short film scenes (3 credits).

COMM 303 SOUND DESIGN
Students experience the sound design workflow from sampling and midi music creation, through synthesis, audio effects, arranging, and channel mixing, to mastering final mixes. The course covers audio post-production, video and cinema scoring, acoustics, basic audio programming, synthesis fundamentals, a variety of computer software, compression and digital audio formatting, experimental sound and sound art (3 credits).

COMM 304 CINEMATICS AND MOTION GRAPHICS
This course centers around motion graphics, visual effects (VFX), and interactive information (informatics) are redefining the territory of cinema and video. This course allows students to draw on communication strategies to create type and image animations, special effects, and video footage for informational, promotional, entertainment, creative, and experimental purposes (3 credits).

COMM 309 PHOTO DESIGN WITH PHOTOSHOP
During this course, students explore conceptual and technical aspects of digital imaging, including image capture, color management, editing and correction, composition and layout, and several types of image composites. Master the basics of design with Photoshop, then construct seamless and complex images using masking and compositing techniques (3 credits).

COMM 310 FEATURE AND MAGAZINE WRITING (WE)*
This course centers around methods in design, typography, and editing in magazine production. Students also learn how to research, write, and market quality articles in magazine format (3 credits).

COMM 311 PRINT AND ONLINE NEWS WRITING (WE)*
During this course, students learn to write and report complex, intellectually demanding material involving real and pressing problems that exist in society (3 credits).

COMM 312 RADIO AND TV NEWS WRITING (WE)*
This course focuses on electronic journalism and news writing for radio and television. Both hard and soft news writing and broadcast news editing are emphasized as well as an overview of the role of the electronic news media in American society (3 credits).

COMM 313 SPORTS WRITING (WE)*
This course is an introduction to sports journalism. A study of basic procedures and techniques of sports reporting, writing and editing for both print and the electronic media are emphasized (3 credits).

COMM 316 TV NEWS
This course is designed for students who are interested in pursuing careers as on-camera, television news anchors and reporters. Students write, report, and telecast weekly television news programs. An analysis of the current state of television news is also covered (3 credits).

COMM 328 TV SITCOM PRODUCTION
An advanced television studio multi-camera production course in which each student will direct scenes from existing scripted situation comedies to create a live-to-tape production of a complete sitcom episode. Students will develop skills in multi-camera directing, instantaneous editing, camera work, audio, blocking, storyboarding, and script marking (3 credits).

COMM 346 INFORMATION ARTS (C)*
The course facilitates the survey of information arts on the web (net art) and the ubiquity and exponential growth of new web-based data sources and information visualization, exploring the boundaries between art and techno-scientific expression. Patterns of technological innovation and artistic experimentation are reunited and fused as a new source of creativity (3 credits).

COMM 347 EXPERIMENTAL MEDIA
This course focuses on the abstract work of experimental media artists and focuses on the qualities of color, texture, and form employed through multiple techniques, including video morphing and time remapping, stop motion, computer animation, algorithmic manipulation, and visual effects in music video (“VJ”) applications. Emphasis is placed on distributed software applications through the open source initiative. We also screen and discuss the films and videos of Maya Deren, Stan Brakhage, Jordan Belson, Harry Smith, Michael Snow, Hollis Frampton, Peter Gidal, the Whitney brothers, and others (3 credits).

COMM 270 EVENTS AND MEDIA ARTS PRODUCTION
This studio survey course introduces students to the key areas of event production and design. Students will work closely with performance designers and technicians to design, setup, and run equipment in the diverse event and performance spaces, including the use of multicamera studios and basic media arts production. The course immerses students in the fast-paced field of live events and overviews performances, fundraisers, trade shows, and entertainment events (3 credits).

COMM 324 EXPERIMENTAL FILMMAKING
Students explore digital filmmaking in the context of historical avant garde cinema, experimental video, and contemporary new cinema genres. With a focus on original moving image production, this course will interweave artistic analysis, video projects, screenings, software demonstrations, readings, workshops, and group critiques. Students will investigate how history, access, culture, and technological shifts have influenced how artists work with film and video in non-commercial ways (3 credits).

COMM 357 COMMUNICATION FOR HEALTH PROFESSIONALS
This course is a theoretical and skills-based introduction to communication for professionals in healthcare contexts including doctors, managers, nurses, pharmacists, technicians, and therapists. Important communication areas in the healthcare context and specific strategies, such as: introductions, listening, questioning, and interviewing, confirmation and empathy, intercultural communication, conflict management, end-of-life communication, and team and organizational communication (3 credits).

COMM 360 USER EXPERIENCE DESIGN I
User Experience (UX) refers to all elements of a client’s interaction with a particular interactive application. This course will focus on UX design for intuitively useful technology products. Students will learn what drives product usability, the fundamentals of UX design, and how to build wireframes and prototypes (3 credits).

COMM 365 COMPUTER PROGRAMMING FOR EVERYONE This course overviews the basics of programming computers using Python, or how to construct and execute a program from a series of simple instructions. We will explore how we can use the Python built-in data structures such as lists, dictionaries, and tuples to perform data analysis (3 credits).

COMM 380 FILM AS ART (WE)*
This course is an introduction to the stylistic techniques used in important, critically acclaimed movies. Cinema as a cultural art form is explored through the basics of film analysis and with a focus on how meaning is constructed, conveyed, and interpreted in moving images (3 credits).

COMM 381 AMERICAN FILM (C)*
This is a survey of the development of American cinema from the silent period to the present exploring the interrelationship between film, the decade, the studio system, and reception theories (3 credits).

COMM 382 EXPERIMENTAL FILM
This course is an overview and study of experimental moving images produced by a variety of technologies, with an emphasis on the twentieth century avant-garde movement, the abstract cinema, the structuralist film and video of the 1960s and 1970s, and contemporary short video and animations (3 credits).

COMM 383 FILM CENSORSHIP AND THE FIRST AMENDMENT
This course is an overview of the changing ethical and legal issues including court cases dealing with banned films in America (3 credits).

COMM 384 FILM CRITICISM (C)*
This course is a close examination of several cinematic genres through methods of film analysis and critical writing. The course features the study of construction, formal and stylistic elements, cinematography, editing, mise-en-scene, sound, character development and effective plot devices (3 credits).

COMM 385 INTERNATIONAL CINEMA (C)*
This course focuses on a selected national, or regional cinema in comparative cultural context. It examines cinematographic and technical style, historical and contemporary resonance, critical and popular audience reception, and distribution networks. Examples include British art house, Italian neorealism, Chinese transnational epics, Latin American new wave, Planet Hong Kong, African and Indian postcolonialism, etc. (3 credits).

COMM 386 MAJOR FILMMAKERS (C)*
This course focuses on the contributions of critically acclaimed global directors are examined through their technical and narrative approaches to cinema. Screenings, close analyses and discussions also emphasize the development of genre specificity, artistic style, originality, innovation and social idiom (3 credits).

COMM 387 SCRIPTWRITING (WE)*
This course focuses on planning and writing concepts for a variety of formats including feature films and videos. The course will introduce students to the screenplay format, the terminology, the classical narrative structure, and tools and exercises for preparing to write a screenplay (3 credits).

COMM 388 SURVEY OF EXPERIMENTAL MEDIA AND DIGITAL ARTS
This course is an examination of shifts implicit in the inception and expansion of digital and electronic art since the 1960s, including dynamic data and visualization, interactivity, architectures of time, generative and evolutionary algorithms, digital video art, sound art and immersive virtual reality (VR) (3 credits).

COMM 401 ADVANCED TV STUDIO PRODUCTION
This course is a practical discussion of techniques in television production. Practical experience is offered to improve lighting, use of special effects, and advanced graphics. Creativity is encouraged, utilizing the abilities acquired in Television Production (3 credits).

^{Prerequisite: COMM 300}

COMM 402 ANIMATION
This course is a basic course in animation, modeling, rendering, storyboarding, and compositing. Students will explore creating 3D models and environments, 3D animating and realistic character development, animation for motion graphics, synthetic lighting, camera movement, material and texture mapping, and rendering associated with a finished animation (3 credits).

COMM 403 INTERACTION DESIGN*
This course offers an in depth study of programming, design patterns and experimentation in interactive environments, including IOS app development, web development, and game engines (3 credits).

COMM 405 WEB PROGRAMMING AND DEVELOPMENT*
This course introduces students to creating Web applications with the JavaScript and Ruby programming languages. In the process participants learn about markup languages, scripting languages, event-driven programming, and small databases in the delivery of exciting applications. The course emphasizes both fundamentals of efficient, readable and executable code and practical applications in building a portfolio of workable web applications (3 credits).

COMM 406 iOS APPLICATION DEVELOPMENT*
This course allows students to learn the concepts, skills and tools associated with iOS application development for all Apple device platforms, but particularly for iPhones. By the end of this course, students will be able to demonstrate a basic application of programming in Swift, the powerful, flexible open source programming language for iOS (3 credits).

COMM 440 DIGITAL MATTE PAINTING
This course focuses on techniques required to create high quality digital illustrations or matte paintings, including the use of elements of photographs, textured 3D geometry, and freehand painting techniques for art, animation, cinema and video games. Students are encouraged to employ traditional painting tools and concepts and apply them in the digital world (3 credits).

Strategic and Human Communication Concentration

COMM 240/THTR 100 ACTING I
This course is a study of the basic principles and techniques of acting: concentration, relaxation, basic stage acting, improvisation, principles of characterization, and script analysis (3 credits).

COMM 309 IMAGE DESIGN WITH PHOTOSHOP*
During this course, students explore conceptual and technical aspects of digital imaging, including image capture, color management, editing and correction, composition and layout, and several types of image composites. Master the basics of design with Photoshop, then construct seamless and complex images using masking and compositing techniques (3 credits).

COMM 330 COMMUNICATION AND THE LAW
This course covers legal issues and topics in media law including First Amendment, defamation, privacy, intellectual property, censorship, commercial speech, obscenity, broadcast and cable regulation, media ownership and evolving internet regulation (3 credits).

COMM 333 NEW MEDIA AND SOCIETY (C)*
This course concerns the social, cultural, political, legal, and economic impacts of new media, including the development of digital media and the internet, theories of social change and technology, and the effects of digital media on journalism, entertainment, and social life (3 credits).

COMM 334 POLITICAL COMMUNICATION
This course examines, from a theoretical and practical standpoint, the planning, execution, and evaluation of communication strategies for political influence campaigns. The course will examine both traditional electoral campaigns and online influence campaigns that attempt to change political discourse (3 credits).

COMM 341/THTR 200 ACTING II/DIRECTING
This course is a continuation of Acting I as it involves the further exploration and development of the actor’s craft. Additionally, the course focuses attention on self-direction through workshops in audition monologues. Using the director’s lens, the course also explores script analysis and research processes in the investigation of a play, or scenes (3 credits).

COMM 342 SPEECH FOR RADIO AND TELEVISION
This course centers around practical training for media students in interviewing, reporting, and creative radio and television work. This course involves the use of radio and television studios (3 credits).

COMM 343 INTRODUCTION TO ADVERTISING
This course is designed to introduce students to the history of advertising in the U.S. and the development of brands. Students will learn fundamental strategies that advertisers use to capture consumer attention, create sales pitches, compete in the marketplace and adapt to the introduction of new technologies. Additional emphasis is given to ethical considerations as they relate to advertising and promotions (3 credits).

COMM 344 INTRODUCTION TO PUBLIC RELATIONS
This course is designed to introduce students to principles of public relations and the field. Students will learn about the development and maintenance of relationships between a variety of different kinds of organizations/clients and their publics. Class assignments are structured to encourage students to become better writers, speakers, designers, and strategic thinkers (3 credits).

COMM 345 STRATEGIC/PROMOTIONAL WRITING
This course is designed to complement other courses in public relations and strategic communication by providing opportunities for students to practice and be critiqued on their copy and design work for multiple kinds of PR, and professional business writing (e.g., news releases, business reports, business correspondence, project proposals, advertising copy) (3 credits).

COMM 346 INFORMATION ARTS (C)*
The course facilitates the survey of information arts on the web (net art) and the ubiquity and exponential growth of new web-based data sources and information visualization, exploring the boundaries between art and technoscientific expression. Patterns of technological innovation and artistic experimentation are reunited and fused as a new source of creativity (3 credits).

COMM 351 INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION (C)*
Globalization has stimulated transnational cultural flows of people, practices and products and local cultural complexities that were inconceivable even a generation ago. We increasingly recognize our own cultural complexity and the need to function effectively in culturally diverse contexts. This course is a study of the basic principles of intercultural communication and the impact of culture on one’s perceptions, beliefs and meanings. We study communication concepts and processes associated with issues in cross-cultural interaction (3 credits).

COMM 353 INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION (C)*
This course examines major components in the field of interpersonal communication including communication competence, verbal and nonverbal communication, identity, relationships, and conflict management (3 credits).

COMM 356 SMALL GROUP COMMUNICATION(C)*
This course emphasizes the dynamics and interaction of communication processes in small groups. It also explores learning situations, group development, problem solving, participant roles and diversity in small group settings (3 credits).

COMM 412/THTR 350 ACTING III/PERFORMANCE LAB
This course is a continuation of Acting I (COMM 240) and Acting II/Directing (COMM 341). The course is designed to introduce students to multiple-person scenes and the development of a variety of characters from Shakespeare, theatre of the absurd, tragedy, high comedy, and melodrama. There will be an end of the semester showcase of selected work (3 credits).

^{Prerequisite: Permission of Instructor}

COMM 413 PUBLIC RELATIONS PROJECT MANAGEMENT
This course examines public relations through the integration of theory and practice in the planning, implementation and evaluation of an actual PR campaign and/or event. Emphasis is placed on the effective design of messages and their distribution among key publics/stakeholders. Course participants will interview for and be selected into a variety of management and team roles in a PR organization made-up of students in the class (3 credits).

^{Prerequisite: COMM 344}

COMM 418 CREATIVE ADVERTISING STRATEGIES
This course uses a team-based approach in the development of an integrated marketing communications (IMC) campaign for a real world client. Course participants will work in teams and design integrated strategies to solve an advertising problem as agreed upon with their client. Toward the end of the semester, teams will pitch their ideas to the client for industry critique (3 credits).

^{Prerequisite: COMM 343}

General Courses

FSEM 118 ADVERTISING, POPULAR CULTURE, AND CELEBRITY
Advertising and popular culture have always gone hand in hand. How many pop stars have you seen in commercials? How many brands are endorsed by your favorite athletes? This is not a coincidence. Today advertisers are trying even harder to get our attention by using celebrities and social media. In this seminar we will analyze the advertising strategies of the past and present so that we can better understand the complex interplay of advertising, media, celebrity, and popular culture.

COMM 360, 460 INDEPENDENT STUDY
This course is an independent research is designed for the student majoring in Communication with demonstrated proficiency to work independently on a project related to a specific area and approved in advance by the chairperson and project advisor. Frequent meetings with an advisor and either a research paper or a production project are required. COMM 360 for Independent Study I; COMM 460 for Independent Study II (1, 2, or 3 credits).

^{Prerequisite: A minimum cumulative index of 3.00 or permission of the chair.}

COMM 370,470 TOPICS IN COMMUNICATION I, II, III, IV,V, VI
These courses are designed around specific topics in communication. Each topic is selected by the department and is in a specialized area of communication. The course is offered as demand warrants. See the chairperson for the topic prerequisites and other details. This course can be repeated under different topics (3 credits).

COMM 475 INTERNSHIP II
Students participate in an off-campus training experience closely related to one of the areas of communication. Frequent meetings with an advisor plus a final project are required. Permission of Communication Department Internship Coordinator required (3 credits).

Visual Arts and Experimental Media

The following Communication courses are available for students working toward an interdisciplinary BA in Visual Arts and Experimental Media.

ART 319 MIXED MEDIA PHOTOGRAPHY
Beginning with a foundation of technical photographic processes and compositional aesthetics, students will capture their own images to work with as they explore a wide range of mixed-media techniques. Such techniques will include fine art mediums such as: printmaking, drawing and painting, as well as digital techniques including: digital collage, augmented reality, and stop-motion animation. Through artistic analysis of a diverse survey of contemporary artists’ works, students will learn to contextualize their artwork historically and stylistically.

ART 322 DESIGN IDEATION
Students practice research-based and concept-driven design, as well as explore self-expressive ways to solve problems through visual communication. The class is built on a wide range of assignments spanning from one-week drills to multi-week development that explores the complex nature of the design process: from contextual research, brainstorming, word-mapping, mood boarding, sketching, modeling, and prototyping, to user-centered application and storytelling. Both traditional and digital approaches to design will be incorporated, with an emphasis on graphic design, product design, and “print-on-demand” online digital fabrication technologies.

ART 323 LIGHTING DESIGN & ART
We explore the medium of light in art and design practices—as both a tool for creative expression as well as a subject itself—and its influence on space, time, and culture. Weekly design projects, lectures, demonstrations, group discussions, and critiques will foster an atmosphere of experimentation and exploration that challenges students to reconsider the role that light plays in the world and in their own art practice. The lighting principles learned in this class can be applied to any field of visual art, from painting and illustrating to 3D design, photography, video, performing arts, interior design, and architecture.

ART 324 EXPERIMENTAL FILMMAKING
Students explore digital filmmaking in the context of historical avant-garde cinema, experimental video, and contemporary new cinema genres. With a focus on original moving image production, this course will interweave artistic analysis, video projects, screenings, software demonstrations, readings, workshops, and group critiques. Students will investigate how history, access, culture, and technological shifts have influenced how artists work with film and video in non-commercial ways.

ART 325 4D DESIGN
The student will gain experience working with complex conceptual challenges and a variety of contemporary themes related to 21st century time-based art practices and design (kinetic-art, performance, animation, film, sound, light, interactive-media, etc.), with an emphasis on conceptualization, innovation, experimentation, and problem-solving. Weekly art projects, demonstrations, and critiques will foster an atmosphere of experimentation and exploration that challenges students to reconsider the role that hybrid art and time-based media plays in their own art practices. The 4D principles learned in this class (motion, duration, transition, narrative, participation, location, and context) can be applied to any field of visual art.

COMM/ART 480 SENIOR INTERDISCIPLINARY ART STUDIO
The senior year capstone pulls together the accumulated knowledge and experiences acquired over three years in the major, and asks students to identify, organize, and combine major ideas, trends, skills, and themes, incorporating them into hybrid, intermedial projects and presentations of original work. Students build upon basic skill sets in materials, techniques, and technologies with the goal of moving beyond those and creating experimental interdisciplinary works of art (3 credits).

_{(C)* May be taken to meet Core Requirements}_{(WE)* Writing Emphasis}
_{*Courses offered in both concentrations}

Fine Arts & Visual Arts and Experimental Media

ART 104 CHORUS
The chorus meets for one hour per week. Students participating in the chorus are expected to attend all regularly scheduled chorus meetings and to perform in concert with the chorus. These meetings will consist primarily of vocal exercises and training, and include extensive preparation and rehearsal of the current assigned repertoire for public performance. The course may be repeated up to a maximum of three credits (1 credit).

ART 109 JAZZ DANCE I
The course emphasis is on warm-ups, isolation of body movement combinations to jazz and contemporary music, and development of the individual’s own movement style. One two-hour laboratory (1 credit).

ART 111 DANCE AND MOVEMENT: A CROSS-CULTURAL BLEND
During this course, through theory and practice, students will explore a variety of movement styles ranging from ballet, modern dance, jazz, to folk and ethnic dance forms. The origins of the various dance styles will be put into historical and cultural context (1 credit).

ART 112 HISTORY OF ART 1: PREHISTORY TO 1400
This course is a survey of major artistic and stylistic movements in Western Art from Prehistory to Late Gothic along with the highlights of world art from the same time period. We will be considering the different roles art has played in cultures of the past. The course aims to provide students with a chronological account of the history of art, as well as to help students develop visual literacy and to practice critical thinking and writing about images (3 credits).

ART 113 HISTORY OF ART 2: 1400 TO 1900
This course will give you an overview of visual art created over a period of roughly five hundred years: 1400-1900. In the early modern period (1400-1800), a wave of socio-cultural change swept across the world leaving discontinuity and imbalance challenging individuals on every continent. Artists, patrons, and viewers of works of art used visual media to grapple with this dynamic historical moment (3 credits).

ART 114 HISTORY OF ART 3: 1920 TO 2000 (VAEM)**
This course focuses on the history of the modernist art and the avant-garde from early 20th century to the present, focusing on a comparative analysis of styles and movements based on individual works of art, and placing stylistic expressions in the context of those sociopolitical and broad cultural developments. Through the study of such popular movements such as Abstract Expressionism, Pop Art and Minimalism, recurring themes and topics will be examined in conjunction with issues and events (3 credits).

ART 115 DRAWING I (C)* (VAEM)**
This is a beginning class in drawing designed to introduce students to a wide variety of skills and experiences ranging from still life, portraiture, perspective and shading to the dynamic use of the figure (3 credits).

ART 116 DRAWING II
This course deepens drawing skills while probing the boundaries of contemporary drawing directions. It builds on traditional skill sets such as drawing from observation, while introducing experimentation modalities such as drawing the acoustic environment, and drawing as installation art (3 credits).

ART 117 FOUNDATIONS OF DESIGN I: FORM & ABSTRACTION (C)* (VAEM)**
Design is the discipline underlying all forms of visual expression. This course, in combination with Foundations of Design II, examines design as a deliberate process starting with identifying formal elements of design (line, shape, plane, form, pattern, value, and texture) and how to effectively utilize design principles to organize them. Material exploration will include graphite, charcoal, ink, acrylic paint, and collage. Skills acquired in this course have direct applications to anyone working in art, design, media, or advertising (3 credits).

ART 118 FOUNDATIONS OF DESIGN II: COLOR & COMPOSITION (VAEM)**
This course is a continuation of themes explored in ART 117 FOUNDATIONS OF DESIGN. It focuses on the development of the students’ unique design style, as well as the role of design in performance art, interior design, and object design. Experimental modalities such as relationship between sound and visual art are a key component of the course. No prerequisites (3 credits).

ART 127 WATERCOLOR PAINTING
During this course, work is done in traditional and more recent graphic and aqueous media, and may be representational and/or more abstract as to treatments of design and subject matter. It may include explorations in computer applications. This courses focuses some attention to historical/cultural precedents, including Chinese, Japanese, and 17th-21th century Western approaches. Field trips possible (3 credits).

ART 203 PHOTOGRAPHY: AMBIENT DAYLIGHT (VAEM)**
This course focuses on digital photography in varieties of daylight: bright overcast, assisted, etc., and technical artistic issues. The course involves the use of cameras and accessories, editing on Mac computers, printing. Thematic projects, photo essays, field trips. Some cameras available, or provide own (3 credits).

ART 205 PHOTOGRAPHY (VAEM)**
An introductory and comprehensive studio study in digital photography, with a focus on shooting in artificial lighting conditions. Using DSLR cameras, students learn to master the camera technically, shooting in priority and manual settings, and to edit photos using post production software. While engaging in a variety of photographic styles and subjects, this course has a focus on artificial light specific projects. Students will gain a keen understanding of fine art image composition, within a personal, inquiry-driven conceptual framework (3 credits).

ART 211 FINE ARTS: MUSIC (C)*
This course centers on foundations of musical expression. The course explores themes in the history of music from ancient times to the present. Emphasis is on the relationship between musical styles and historical context – demonstrated through lectures and discussions, keyboard demonstrations, and listening activities (3 credits).

ART 215 FIELD WORK ABROAD
During this course, locales will be visited that are significant for visual arts, dance, and music. Course approaches and contents will be determined by (1) resources at these sites, (2) backgrounds and interests of students and faculty, (3) and time available. Requires travel to foreign locales: either one or multiple sites. May be repeated for credit as a different section of the course, with a different locale(s) and/or changed contents (subject matter).

ART 222 GRAPHIC ARTS
This course explores elements of graphic design, including layout, color, typography, photo editing, and style with Adobe CC software (3 credits).

ART 230 THE ART OF ART HISTORY
This course introduces the ways art history has developed as a discipline and highlights methods of art historical analysis. Throughout the semester, discussions focus on several topics related to art history in order to define and deploy a variety of theoretical methodologies pertinent to the analysis of artworks (3 credits).

ART 243 LIFE DRAWING I
Work with the human figure in a variety of media, such as chalk, charcoal, pencil, and watercolor to explore both traditional representation and issues of design with the figure. Coursework may include drawing from models, anatomy for artists, and portraiture (3 credits).

ART 250 (THEATRE 371): DANCE FORMS (C)*
During this course, through theory and practice, students will explore a variety of movement styles ranging from ballet, modern dance jazz, to folk and ethic dance forms. The origins of various dance styles will be put into historical and cultural context (3 credits).

ART 253 AMERICAN MUSICAL THEATRE (C)*
This course explores the development of the Broadway musical as an American art form which incorporates theatre, music, dance, and design. In addition to lectures and discussions which emphasize the relationship between musical styles and historic events, there will be performance and design opportunities. The course will include attending a performance of a Broadway show (3 credits).

ART 260 POP DANCE
This course teaches dance vocabulary, patterns and shapes found in current day popular cultures and music. This course will explore dance elements seen in today’s music videos, films, and performances. This course will also touch upon the historic development of a variety of dances that gained popularity in the US since the beginning of the 20th century (3 credits).

ART 265 CONTEMPORARY MODERN DANCE I
This course teaches vocabulary, patterns, and shapes found within modern and postmodern dance as a base for contemporary styles of movement. This course also draws from other dance techniques (i.e., jazz and ballet) and incorporates somatic principles so students can learn how to move freely, efficiently, and organically. Emphasis is given to proper alignment, core integration, body awareness, biomechanics, and performance (3 credits).

ART 266 CONTEMPORARY MODERN DANCE II
This course expands the technical and artistic skills gained in Contemporary Dance I through more complex vocabulary, combinations, style and presentation (1 credit).

^{Prerequisite: ART 265 or permission of instructor}

ART 267/THTR 267 DANCE PERFORMANCE/PRODUCTION
This course exposes students to the concert performance and production process. The course provides students a real-life theater experience and teaches them about the different aspects of dance production including stage management, direction, costuming, lighting, sound, sets, box office, administration and marketing (3 credits).

ART 305 PAINTING I (VAEM)**
Painting I introduces the beginning artist to the techniques and conceptual thinking necessary to explore, learn, practice, and master the painting medium. Through the use of acrylics, this course guides students through learning about introductory painting tools, materials, and techniques, to navigating relationships between color, composition, and the 2D elements of design as a first step to understanding the painting process. The course introduces themes, concepts and subject matter that complement but are distinct from Painting II (3 credits).

ART 306 PAINTING II (VAEM)**
This is a beginning class in painting that overviews the basics of materials, paint techniques, color, and composition in the acrylic medium and in both figuration and abstraction. The course introduces themes, concepts and subject matter that complement but are distinct from Painting I. No prerequisites (3 credits).

ART 307 INTRODUCTION TO ART CRITICISM (VAEM)**
This course provides a foundation for further study by equipping students with the skills required to interpret and analyze various media forms, especially painting, computer art, photographic, cinematic, and sonic forms, and also considers the cultural implications that artistic and sonic practices have for contemporary society (3 credits).

ART 310 DRAWING II: ADVANCED TECHNIQUES
This course builds oﬀ of the fundamentals of Drawing I by introducing the intermediate painter to conceptual prompts that develop their ideas sequentially. Experimentation with the drawing format, color, surface, and both traditional and non-traditional materials is encouraged with the goal of realizing their own personal language and direction. Assignments focus on abstract thinking and developing drawings based on subject-matter chosen by each student. Most importantly, this course sets the groundwork for developing a drawing series, sustaining an individual practice, and working independently as a studio artist (3 credits).

ART 311 CERAMICS I (VAEM)**
This course is an exploration of possibilities of creating in clay. Studio projects involving hand building techniques, reflecting functional and nonfunctional design issues. The aesthetic relationship between form and function is the overriding principal of the class (3 credits).

ART 312 3D DESIGN (VAEM)**
This is a multimedia course utilizing forms, shapes, textures, and composition, in relation to the expression of ideas, in positive/negative space. The courses emphasizes the student’s inventive use of materials and techniques in response to three dimensional design studio assignments (3 credits).

ART 313 NINETEENTH CENTURY ART
This course focuses on important movements in painting and sculpture. Emphasis is on such major art trends as Impressionism, Post-Impressionism, and Expressionism. Gallery and museum visits. The course includes lectures, seminars, and workshops (3 credits).

ART 314 MODERN ART (VAEM)**
This course overviews the Important trends and movements in painting, sculpture, printmaking, film and other relevant art forms from the early 20th century to 1970. Gallery and museum visits (3 credits).

ART 316 CERAMICS II
This course builds upon the skills developed in “Introductory Ceramics I.” The course involves learning and practicing the fundamental hand-building skills, as well as wheel throwing, large-scale work, digital imaging, glazing techniques, and experimental firing (3 credits).

ART 317 ADVERTISING DESIGN
This course is designed to introduce students to the history of advertising and the development of brands. Students will learn fundamental strategies that advertisers use to capture consumer attention, create sales pitches, compete in the marketplace and adapt to the introduction of new technologies. The course also explains color and font management for print and Web, and creating brand identity (3 credits).

ART 323 LIGHTING DESIGN AND ART
We explore the medium of light in art and design practices—as both a tool for creative expression as well as a subject itself—and its influence on space, time, and culture. Weekly design projects, lectures, demonstrations, group discussions, and critiques will foster an atmosphere of experimentation and exploration that challenges students to reconsider the role that light plays in the world and in their own art practice. The lighting principles learned in this class can be applied to any field of visual art, from painting and illustrating to 3D design, photography, video, performing arts, interior design, and architecture (3 credits).

ART 326 MAKING PUBLIC ART (VAEM)**
Referencing trends in contemporary art, this course explores public mural art from Diego Garcia to the present, the placement of murals, sculpture, and other art installations in architectural spaces, and the use of recycled, found, and other non-traditional materials (3 credits).

ART 327 DIRECTED OPEN STUDIO (VAEM)**
This course explores mixed media, hybrid art making processes, such as photography, collage, painting and drawing, illustration, and computer animation. We emphasize innovation, experimentation, and problem-solving in intermedia (3 credits).

ART 340 SHADOWS AND LIGHT: A HISTORY OF PHOTOGRAPHY
This course overviews the history of photography from 1839 to the present, including key technical innovations, the practical and artistic explorations of the medium, the evolution of various formal movements (e.g., pictorial, indexical, modern, abstract, conceptual), and critical issues. Students learn basic visual literacy as applied to photography (3 credits).

ART 345 SCULPTURE (VAEM)**
This course is an introduction to concepts and modes of three-dimensional design and to materials and techniques. Projects are developed in both representational and abstract visual language. Materials include clay, plaster and wood (3 credits).

ART 349 RELIEF PRINTMAKING (VAEM)**
This course is an introduction to forms and techniques of printmaking; and to the procedures of drawing and design, including in-color, in these arts. Forms of printmaking may include woodcut, linoleum cut, work with found objects, building printing surfaces in 3-dimensional relief, and others. Uses of print surfaces—papers and others—and various inks and paints—will be explored. Photography, digital arts, and other image sources may be incorporated (3 credits).

ART 350 MONOTYPE PRINTMAKING (VAEM)**
From Mary Cassatt to Robert Rauschenberg, artists from across centuries and cultures have used printmaking as a powerful medium of expression in visual arts. This course focuses on the art form of monotypes—unique images produced from a singular printmaking process. Monotypes can be created on plexiglass, metal, glass, or other rigid surface, and collagraphic methods of subtractive and additive printing (3 credits).

ART 427 TOPICS IN STUDIO ART (VAEM)**
This applied course explores the historical and conceptual techniques used in studio art and experimental media. Painting, digital photography, drawing, design, sculpture, experimental video, computer media, and performing arts may be approached independently, or as intermedia (3 credits).

ART 428 INDEPENDENT FINE ARTS STUDY (VAEM)**
This course is an individual study with a member of the department. Open only to students who have secured the approval of the Chair of the Department and the consent of the individual instructor. A student may elect this course only once for credit towards the Minor in Fine Arts (3 credits).

ART 430 ART AS SOCIAL INTERVENTION (C)*
This course expands the definition of what constitutes a work of art, and the roles of art as political commentary and social intervention. It investigates in a ‘hands on’ and conceptual way different strategies of creating sociopolitical art that have practical applications for different audiences (3 credits).

ART 431 ART OF NATIVE CULTURES (VAEM)**
This course is a study of the role of art and art-making in indigenous cultures throughout the Americas. The course may overview trends and historical milestones, or may focus on one or two indigenous art communities (3 credits).

ART 435 CURRENT TRENDS IN CONTEMPORARY PRACTICE
This course provides a snapshot into the current New York art scene in the context of contemporary art movements. It emphasizes interesting transitions, interconnections, and new precedents among established and emerging artists in New York City. Selected visits to galleries, studios, museums, and performance places may be included (3 credits).

ART 436 TOPICS IN ART (VAEM)**
This course focuses on contemporary and historical issues related to cultural expression are explored in the visual and performing arts. The course involves the history of the arts and architecture, as well as hands-on exploration of the creative process are central themes of this course. This class is also offered as study abroad course (3 credits).

ART 440 DIGITAL MATTE PAINTING (VAEM)**
The course focuses on techniques required to create high quality digital illustrations or matte paintings, including the use of elements of photographs, textured 3D geometry, and freehand painting techniques for art, animation, cinema and video games. Students are encouraged to employ traditional painting tools and concepts and apply them in the digital world (3 credits).

ART 460 INDEPENDENT STUDY (VAEM)**
This course is an individual study with a member of the department. Open only to students who have secured the approval of the Chair of the Department and the consent of the individual instructor. The course is reserved for students who excel in art and wish to explore a more independent in depth study of a particular area of Art. A student may elect this course only once for credit towards the Minor in Fine Arts (3 credits).

ART 475 INTERNSHIP
During this course, student participate in an off-campus training experience closely related to their area of study. Frequent meetings with their advisor plus a paper are required. Permission of the Chair of the Department and the University’s internship coordinator is required (3 credits).

ART/COMM 480 SENIOR INTERDISCIPLINARY ART STUDIO (VAEM)**
This senior year capstone pulls together the accumulated knowledge and experiences acquired over three years in the major, and asks students to identify, organize, and combine major ideas, trends, skills, and themes, incorporating them into hybrid, intermedial projects and presentations of original work. Students build upon basic skill sets in materials, techniques, and technologies with the goal of moving beyond those and creating experimental interdisciplinary works of art (3 credits).

ART 485 STUDIO ART SENIOR CAPSTONE SEMINAR
This capstone seminar synthesizes the accumulated knowledge and experiences acquired over three years in the Art major for students in the Studio Art track. Weekly meetings and assignments require students to identify, organize, and combine major ideas, trends, skills, and themes related to their original work (3 credits).

ART 490 ART HISTORY SENIOR CAPSTONE SEMINAR
This capstone seminar synthesizes the accumulated knowledge and experiences acquired over three years in the Art major for students in the Art History track. Weekly meetings and assignments require students to identify, organize, and combine major ideas, trends, skills, and themes related to their original work (3 credits).

^{(C)* May be taken to meet Core requirements

(VAEM)** May be taken to meet BA in Visual Arts and Experimental Media requirements}

Course Descriptions

Major Core Courses

Concentrations

Digital Arts and Media Studies Concentration

Strategic and Human Communication Concentration

General Courses

Visual Arts and Experimental Media

Fine Arts & Visual Arts and Experimental Media

Apply to CMSV

Undergraduate College

Graduate Students

Accelerated Nursing