This course introduces you to contemporary perspectives on art through the lens of race, power, and justice. How has art allowed marginalized people to protest oppression, express joy and defiance, and serve as a cultural space for healing? In what ways does the symbolic, open-ended language of art allow artists to imagine otherwise, conjure different futures, and connect to ancestral pasts that co-mingle with present lived experiences? Course readings center BIPOC voices and focus on issues of representation, cultural appropriation, and decolonization. We look at the emergence of ?fine art,? a cultural category steeped in race, power, and the politics of exclusion; the history of the Black art movement and its commitment to political purpose in art; the challenges that arise from the insistence that the political align with the aesthetic. The course explores Indigenous organizing and resurgence as well as the politics of opacity and refusal. We will study socially engaged art forms, Afro- and indigenous futurisms, creative practices that explode distinctions between ?traditional? and ?modern,? art and craft, and engage with art as a field of cultural expression deeply involved in imagining and demanding social justice.

This is an introductory studio course in drawing with an emphasis on representation from direct observation. Students are exposed to the ideas, methods, and materials of drawing. Fundamental elements such as line, value, texture, shape, and space are explored in works using media such as graphite, charcoal, and ink on a variety of surfaces. Found and other source materials are utilized in collage and mixed-media works. Students will create original work based on observation and imagination in hands-on exercises and projects. This rigorous course will also introduce techniques and methods to realize and evaluate visual ideas. Students will draw from a live model in order to further develop observational drawing skills. Technical demonstrations, lectures, and exhibition visits will provide starting points for further explorations. Individual and group critiques will help students address technical concerns and contextualize their work within the rich history of drawing. We will develop the verbal and analytical skills necessary to critically examine students' work. Studio work outside of class time is expected.

This course is aimed at students who are eager to creatively take risks, experiment, play, and work in an environment of collaboration and team learning experiences. This intro level course is the foundation for sculpture. Through hands-on demonstrations of basic sculptural processes (for example: carving, modeling, assembling, and casting) you will gain experience in developing art projects from idea to realization all the way to the final surprising artwork. Throughout the semester we will be looking at contemporary and historical works of art as examples of how a broad range of diverse artists have explored the concepts and materials they use in their work and how this applies to the work you create. Critiques will be used as a tool for developing critical thinking and project development. You can expect by the end of this course to discover your individual creative processes and feel comfortable and safe working independently in a sculpture studio. You will be prepared for advanced sculpture and foundry and metal casting courses.

Are you interested in working with a material and practice that dates back 20,000 plus years? The creative journey in this course includes learning about diverse global histories, people, and cultures and the dynamic realm of contemporary ceramics. This introductory ceramic course focuses on the various methods and processes of working with clay as an artistic medium. One half of the semester focuses on hand-building methods and techniques. The other half will focus on learning wheel-throwing methods and techniques. This hands-on experience with clay unifies hand, eye, and mind. You will learn foundational three-dimensional concepts, terminology, and vocabulary related to ceramics and explore the range of forms and processes to create functional and sculptural works with clay. In addition, the curriculum places importance on creating space to examine and discuss diverse historical and contemporary global perspectives related to ceramics. You will learn to make clay, load electric and gas kilns, fundamentals of glaze chemistry, and ceramic lab health and safety protocols. Your finished pieces will reflect essential skills, techniques, and knowledge of the complete ceramic production process. This course provides relevant, challenging, and rewarding projects developing creative and critical thinking skills to sustain long-term creative growth. You will be supported with meaningful direction from your instructor and constructive critique, discussion, and self-reflection with peers. At the end of this course, your knowledge and technical skills will prepare you for upper-level ceramic courses.

Students will be introduced to techniques of relief printing using oil based inks, screenprinting using water based inks, and digital printmaking. Relief projects (linoleum and woodcut) emphasize the exploration of mark making, printing techniques and color layering. Screen print and digital applications will explore layering, color and image making strategies. Students will learn digital strategies for creating images in screen printing, working from both photo and drawn sources. The course includes the historical context and recent innovations for each process in order to develop contemporary applications for these each method. Students will develop meaningful content in conjunction with the acquisition of technical skills. Individual and group critiques will help students to address technical concerns and contextualize their work within the rich history of printmaking. Studio work outside of scheduled class time is expected.

Do you want to engage with a medium of the everyday? From watching a film to making a video of a friend or family reunion, moving images are all around. This is an introductory, hands-on studio course in digital filmmaking. Through lectures, screenings, demonstrations, hands-on practice, readings, and discussions, this course will cover practical and theoretical elements of digital filmmaking. Students will be introduced to film language, aesthetics, and technical terminology, as well as camera, lighting, sound and editing. Throughout the semester we will view and discuss films and clips from a variety of genres, including narrative, documentary, experimental, and combinations thereof. Students create several short film projects. They also develop skills in critical evaluation through critique sessions that investigate the aesthetic, technical, and cultural interpretation of moving images. As filmmakers you are free to make films in any genre in this class. Students need to provide their own portable drive and 1 - 2 SD cards for each class, and may choose to purchase their own subscription to Adobe Creative Cloud if they wish to use their own computer. This course is the prerequisite for intermediate level Department of Art courses in Moving Images including Narrative Digital Filmmaking, Experimental Film and Video, Animation, Super 8 and 16mm Filmmaking.

Want to take photography to the next level beyond the phone in your pocket? Photography is a way to understand and explore the world and your own inner life. This class incorporates both digital and analog (black and white darkroom) technologies. It will emphasize a balance of technical skills, exploration of personal vision, and development of critical thinking and vocabulary relating to photography. Your own image making will be considered in the context of photographic history, visual literacy, and the universe of imagery in which we live. Half of the semester will be devoted to B&W film and darkroom, and half to digital cameras and processes. Students will learn the fundamentals of digital and film camera operation and will be introduced to digital imaging software and printing. We will cover refined digital capture, image adjustment/manipulation and inkjet printing methods. Class activities will consist of lectures and demonstrations, individual and group exercises, project assignments, lab time, field trips and student presentations. Students? work will be constructively discussed in class and small group critique sessions. 35mm film cameras will be provided. The class requires students to have their own digital camera (a limited number of cameras are available for students unable to provide their own). Students who have no prior experience with serious photography, as well as those who are already avid photographers, are both welcome. The class serves as a prerequisite for all 3000 level photography classes.

Field work at local, regional, national, or international arts organization or with professional artist provides experience in activities/administration of art/art-based organizations. prereq: BFA Art major, instr consent

Various ideologies, cultural strategies that influence practice/interpretation of art. Emphasizes diversity of viewpoints. Application of issues in developing final BFA exhibition.

Development of photography, from 19th century to present. Photography as legitimate art form. Portraits/photo albums in culture. Birth of criminal justice system. Technological/market aspects. Politics of aesthetics. Women in photography. Ways in which idea of America has been shaped by photographs.

Culture is a site of struggle, over meanings, values, history, and reality. This course introduces students to cultural studies as a conceptual, interpretive, and interdisciplinary approach to the role that culture plays in defining reality and to the possibilities for contesting those definitions. Through exploring the rituals and practices of culture that shape our perceptions of the world, often in ways we take for granted, the course seeks to develop a critical understanding of the relationships between individual and society, representation and reality, as well as theory and practice.

Introduction to the critical study of the visual in modernity, presented through sustained analysis of the cinema and cinematic codes. Emphases on formal film analysis and major film movements and conventions in the international history of cinema. Students develop a vocabulary for formal visual analysis and explore major theories of the cinema. *Students will not receive credit for CSCL 1201W if they have already taken SCMC 1201W, CSCL 1201V, SCMC 1201V, ARTH 1921W, CSCL 1921W, CSCL 1201 or SCMC 1201

Culture and cultural conflict. Reading cultural theory/texts such as film, literature, music, fashion, commercial art, and built environment.

The cinema as a social institution with emphasis on the complex relations it maintains with the ideological practices that define both the form and the content of its products. Specific films used to study how mass culture contributes to the process of shaping beliefs and identities of citizens.

This course introduces students to influential thinkers in the field of critical theory, broadly conceived. Critical theory is similar to philosophy because it asks big questions that stretch the boundaries of human knowledge. But it is distinct in its focus on practical change?critical theory advocates for a more just and emancipated human world. Its key techniques are the diagnosis and critique of histories, systems, and ideologies of social power. Critical theory emerged from a group of Marxist intellectuals in the 1920s and 30s who were concerned about the rise of fascism, the staggering inequalities produced by industrial capitalism, the trauma of mass violence, and the numbing standardization of modern life. Since then, the field has expanded to encompass concerns about structural racism, gender inequality, the rise of neoliberalism, the expansion of modern carceral and mental health systems, and the ongoing inequities wrought by histories of slavery, colonization, and imperial conquest. Featured authors may include Sigmund Freud, W. E. B. Du Bois, Georg Simmel, Walter Benjamin, Max Horkheimer, Theodor Adorno, Frantz Fanon, Herbert Marcuse, Patricia Hill Collins, Malcom X, Jackie Wang, Angela Y. Davis, Sheldon George, Alfredo Carrasquillo, Joshua Javier Guzman, Willy Apollon, Jean Rouch, Michel-Rolph Trouillot, Saidiya Hartman, bell hooks, Édouard Glissant, Aurora Levins Morales, Michael Rothberg, Nelson Maldonado-Torres, Christopher Pexa, Yuichiro Onishi, Kwame Anthony Appiah, Lewis Gordon, and Barbara Christian.

Historical/critical study of forms of modern sexuality (heterosexuality, homosexuality, romance, erotic domination, lynching). How discourses constitute/regulate sexuality. Scientific/scholarly literature, religious documents, fiction, personal narratives, films, advertisements.

Western representation of the human body, 1500 to present. Body's appearance as a site and sight for production of social and cultural difference (race, ethnicity, class, gender). Visual arts, literature, music, medical treatises, courtesy literature, erotica. (previously 3458W)

This critique-based seminar will provide a structured critical forum for the discussion of your work, help you to verbally articulate and defend your work and prepare you in the presentation of your work. This is a self-motivated and self-directed class. It is expected that you will produce a substantial amount of work to show in this course. Your work is self-directed Artwork created from assignments (in other classes) will not be critiqued. Each artist will have two one-hour critiques of their work over the course of the semester. Critiques may include members from the arts community such as local artists, MIA, Midway Contemporary Art, Walker Art Center, The Soap Factory and Franklin Artworks. Grades are based on critique participation, attendance and your artist presentation. This class culminates in the BFA Exhibition in the Nash Gallery. Throughout the semester, we will meet with Nash Gallery staff to develop this final show.