Courses

Study of dance as cultural practice, exploring dance from a broad spectrum of cultures. Focus on theoretical and practical application of key concepts and dance forms as they relate to cultural identity, representation, and education. Includes critical analysis of dance in the studio, film, and written materials. Implications for curriculum and instruction are stressed.

Study of dance as cultural practice, exploring dance from a broad spectrum of cultures. Focus on theoretical and practical application of key concepts and dance forms as they relate to cultural identity, representation, and education. Includes critical analysis of dance in the studio, film, and written materials. Implications for curriculum and instruction are stressed.

Cultural perspectives on language learning, language use and education. Focus on sociolinguistic issues in education and pedagogical implications for linguistic and cultural minority students. Central topics include cross-cultural communication in the classroom, including the role of ethnicity, race, gender and social class; the relationships between home/community language use patterns and school achievement; cultural perspectives on school-community relations; cross-cultural perspectives on parenting and language socialization; standard and nonstandard language varieties in the classroom; and effective instructional approaches for linguistically and culturally diverse classrooms.

This course offers multidisciplinary perspectives on language learning and use in the context of globalization. Topics may include (1) cross-cultural communication in the classroom, including the role of ethnicity, race, gender, and social class; (2) the relationships among home/school/community language use and school achievement; (4) cross-cultural perspectives on language socialization; and (5) language varieties in the classroom and other settings. The course emphasizes developing intercultural competence as education professionals.

This course is an introduction to visual methodologies and critical theory as well as contemporary practices in art and culture. Students use media and materials of their own choosing to explore and respond to the issues raised through readings, presentations, class discussions, writing assignments, and group critiques.

Building on Interdisciplinary Art Practice I, this course is an introduction to visual methodologies and critical theory as well as contemporary practices in art and culture. Students use media and materials of their own choosing to explore and respond to the issues raised through readings, presentations, class discussions, writing assignments, and group critiques.

This course is designed to promote the development & application of interdisciplinary, collaborative approaches to evidence-based management of patients with complex needs. Through the use of case studies, student led discussions & learning exercises, students will work as a team to review & critique treatment & management practices. Discipline-specific standards of care, problem-solving approaches to ethical decision-making & case management, & skill sets central to competent health care will be emphasized. Understanding & valuing the contribution of each discipline is essential for effective interdisciplinary case management.

Course ​will provide a forum in which to explore & engage the relationship between photography, performance & contemporary art. Through class assignments & readings in contemporary theory we will develop a critical vocabulary for an understanding of the relationship between photography & performance & a forum in which to challenge & push our individual art practice to the next level.

This course focuses on the processes that inform “how one makes the object”, thereby helping students better understand their personal visual language and how to effectively employ it. The lens of history is used to stimulate dialogue, identify influences, and ultimately integrate the individual student’s point of view. Emphasis is on the examination of the larger continuum of historical & contemporary art. Studio meetings and individual critiques form a fundamental aspect of this course. Readings include Thomas Allen nelson, “Kubrick, Inside a Film Artist’s Maze”; Roberta Bernstein, “Jasper Johns, Paintings and Sculpture, 1945-1974, The Changing Focus of the Eye”; Kathy Halbreich, “Social Life”; Yves Alain Bois, “Painting as Model”.

This course explores art making using a variety of media and materials in relation to thematic and inquiry-driven methods.The conceptual focus for this interdisciplinary studio course is that all art is created in dialogue, referencing art history and process, and in response to specific societal, environmental or political issues. Students are involved in independent and collective artistic inquiry and participate in studio critique formats and discussions focused on relevant contemporary artists and select readings.

This course provides space and guidance for students to work
on self-driven, individual and group projects in art and media. Course
content consists of texts, site visits, presentations, workshops, and
critiques built around each student's individual practice. Faculty and
guest critics will hold regular studio visits, to help guide students
through their process. Students’ material and technical investigations and
theoretical inquiries will be addressed in group workshops and
demonstrations. This course will culminate in a public presentation of
students’ work.

Articulating Visual Arts is designed to help students express & sharpen their thinking & writing about visual art. Topics will include how to write an artist’s statement, exhibit reviews as well as catalog essays. Additionally students will explore how artists apply creativity, in thinking & writing, as part of their practice in visual arts & other media. Readings include texts by contemporary & past visual arts masters such as Frieda Kahlo, Richard Prince, Robert Smithson, Andy Warhol, Barbara Kruger, among others.

Picasso famously said: "Art is the lie that tells the truth." Students will read and discuss texts exploring such topics as personal myth/legend and fictionalized confession. Questions of authenticity and personal revelation will be discussed as they relate to contemporary art practice. Students will complete three studio projects that reflect these and related issues. Because this is an interdisciplinary studio course, any medium, e.g., painting, photo, performance, installation, video, sculpture, drawing, digital, is acceptable as a means to explore class content. Regular visits to galleries are not only encouraged, they are expected.

This course is constructed around the belief that artists are highly adaptable & flexible, & that their role in an arts community (& the community at large) is fundamental to their practice. To that end, this intensive MFA-only course will serve as a communal laboratory investigating the meaning of “contemporary practice.” The course will pose the question: how does a young artist find community in the art world? As a result, the course is cursory experiment in community building.

The artist's body measures the world. In this class student/artists use their own body as a starting point to make art through painting, digital photography, video, and/or performance as well as a mixture of these mediums. These media interchanges allow student/artists to incorporate painting and photography / video into their art at once. Art processes and their mixtures will be taught along with the contemporary history and conceptual ideas of interdisciplinary art to help frame juxtapositions.