Visual Arts Courses Open to Students in All Disciplines

These courses, offered by the School of Art+Design, are open to students in all disciplines (excluding visual arts majors, unless otherwise noted). Additional courses may be added each semester.

Design | Drawing and Painting | General Visual Arts
Photography | Printmaking | Sculpture

Design:

Design I
SOA 1140 Refer to VDE 1150 in Design Courses for description. (Also offered as NME 1140 for new media majors.)

Artist/Writer Workshop
SOA 4240 Refer to VDE 4790 in Design Courses for description.

Drawing and Painting:

Introduction to Drawing
SOA 1010 / 2 credits / Special topic (offered irregularly)
A basic introduction to drawing for students from other disciplines. Focus is placed on becoming familiar with the elements of 2-D design and on strengthening observational skills. A variety of drawing techniques and materials are used to explore both representational and nonrepresentational image making.

Introduction to Painting
SOA 1030 / 2 credits / Special topic (offered irregularly)
A basic introduction to painting for students from other disciplines. Focus is placed on becoming familiar with the materials and methods of painting. A variety of techniques and materials are used to explore both representational and nonrepresentational image making.
Prerequisite: SOA 1010

Added Summer 2012 (10/11/11):
Tibetan Thangka Painting
SOA 2155 / 2 credits / Summer (in India)
Students start with foundational drawing techniques and learn some of the figures, images, and symbols of the Tibetan iconographic tradition. Topics include preparing canvas and preparing natural vegetable and mineral sources of pigments for painting. Students work under the close supervision of a master Thangka painter and his assistants.

General Visual Arts:

Introduction to Visual Communication
SOA 1020 / 2 credits / Special topic (offered irregularly)
An introduction to digital visual communications and basic creative software applications used by professionals outside of the visual arts. The course focuses on building a digital and visual vocabulary and developing skills within the Mac iLife suite and Photoshop. Concepts include basic design principles, resolution, printing, scanning, optical media, and multimedia presentations. Digital literacy is promoted through observation, discussion, workshops, tutorials, exercises, collaborative work, reading, writing, and small projects. Coursework is designed to integrate the student’s field of study with digital visual communications.

Color Seminar
SOA 2010 Refer to VIS 2110 in the General (VIS) section for description.

Collage
SOA 2020 Refer to VIS 2200 in the General (VIS) section for description.

Added Summer 2012 (1/05/12):
The Photographic Artist’s Book
SOA 2025 Refer to VIS 2025 in the General (VIS) section for description.

Theme and Variations
SOA 2030 / 2 credits / Special topic (offered irregularly)
A personally chosen theme is developed through a variation of traditional and alternative image-making methods. Investigations of photography, printmaking, and the readymade are used to create a finished work. The artist’s process of making is emphasized while challenging individual concepts of “expression.”
Prerequisite: One visual arts studio course or permission of instructor

Crossover I and II
SOA 2040 and 3040 Refer to VIS 2120 and 3120 in the General (VIS) section for description.
Prerequisite: Permission of instructor

Wordless Books: The Original Graphic Novel
SOA 2050 Refer to VIS 2050 in the General (VIS) section for description.

Art in the Age of Electronic Media
SOA 3001 Refer to VIS 3000 in the General (VIS) section for description.

Special Topic Colloquium
SOA 3170 Refer to VIS 3470 in the General (VIS) section for description.

Contemporary Art Theory
SOA 3200 Refer to VIS 3400 in the General (VIS) section for description.

The Arts for Social Change
SOA 3237 Refer to VIS 3500 in the General (VIS) section for description.
Prerequisite: Junior or senior standing

Performance Art I
SOA 4010 Refer to VIS 4440 in the General (VIS) section for description.

Photography:

Introduction to Photography
SOA 1100 / 2 credits / Special topic (offered irregularly)
An introduction to the basic concepts and techniques of black and white photography. Exposure, development, printing, enlarging, spotting, and mounting are among the techniques covered. Assignments include both technical and aesthetic concerns. Students need a camera and light meter.
Prerequisite: Some photographic experience

Photography I
SOA 1110 Refer to VPH 1010 in Photography Courses for description.

Photography II
SOA 2110 Refer to VPH 2030 in Photography Courses for description.

Introduction to Color Photography
SOA 2100 / 2 credits / Special topic (offered irregularly)
An introduction to the basic techniques of developing and printing color negatives. Students explore the issues that arise when translating black and white photographic techniques to color processing.

Exchange and Pictorial Language
SOA 2120 / 4 credits
Special topic (offered irregularly, Summer, in Spain)
This digital photography course explores the student’s relationship to light and color and how these subtle nuances can be used to create visually exciting images that relate directly to a specific region. The final result will be a combination of photography, found imagery, and cultural collage presented in class for discussion and critique. Students must bring their own digital camera (with at least six-megapixel resolution).

Looking at Photographs
SOA 2130 Refer to VPH 2320 in Photography Courses for description.

Printmaking:

Introduction to Printmaking
SOA 1150 / 2 credits / Special topic (offered irregularly)
An introductory course in printmaking for students from other disciplines. Focus is placed on becoming familiar with basic processes like intaglio, lithography, silkscreen, and woodcut.

Added Summer 2012 (10/11/11):
Tibetan Carving/Block Printing
SOA 2150 / 2 credits / Summer (in India)
Students learn to draw iconographic symbols and how to make and maintain their set of tools. Carved objects may include a plain altar, small folding tables, photo frames, small plain boxes, and blocks for printing.

Sculpture:

Introduction to Wood
SOA 1200 Refer to VSC 1020 in Sculpture Courses for description.

Introduction to Sculpture
SOA 1210 / 2 credits / Special topic (offered irregularly)
An introductory course in sculpture for students from other disciplines. Focus is placed on the development of 3-D design (form, space, object, composition) and on strengthening observational skills. A variety of materials and form-making processes are explored.

SOA crosslistings added Spring 2012 (12/12/11):
Collage/Assemblage I and II
SOA 2160 and 3160 Refer to VSC 2160 and 3160 in Sculpture Courses for description.

Aural Electronics
SOA 2220 / 2 credits / Special topic (offered irregularly)
Blending electronics, sound, and sculpture, this course focuses on the creation of simple analog audio circuits for artistic expression. Starting with basic concepts, the creation and modulation of sound are studied with an emphasis on craft and experimentation.

Woodturning
SOA 2230 Refer to VSC 2230 in Sculpture Courses for description.

Introduction to Video Art
SOA 3000 / 2 credits / Special topic (offered irregularly)
In this introduction to the discipline of video art, students expand their knowledge of nonlinear editing as it pertains to the exhibition of video. Conceptual approaches may include non-narrative structures, installation art, and performance art as they relate to the moving image.
Note: Students must have access to and be able to use a DV camcorder, Webcam, camera phone, or other video-recording device that can capture moving images of decent quality and upload them to a computer for editing.
Prerequisite: Experience in shooting and editing digital video

SOA crosslisting added Fall 2011 (8/25/11):
Public Art: Making a Proposal
SOA 3150 Refer to VSC 3350 in Sculpture Courses for description.
Prerequisite: Permission of instructor

Sound/Interactive Media I
SOA 3210 Refer to VSC 3630 in Sculpture Courses for description.

Sound/Interactive Media II
SOA 3220 Refer to VSC 3640 in Sculpture Courses for description.
Prerequisite: SOA 3210

Updated Jan. 5, 2012

Updates
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