Courses

This interdisciplinary studio course focuses on a wide variety of creative producers and practices which dissolve the boundaries between art and design. Design is explored as inherently impactful on our experience of the material world and our experience of reality. Focusing on broad areas of culture including fashion, the museum, the store, the government, and the home, we will look at how creative producers employ design tactics to change the way we experience life and living. Each week will be geared towards a specific topic within culture, presented through slide lectures, film screenings, field trips, and guest artists. There will be presentations and critiques of student work created in response to related assignments.

Contemporary environmentalism is an issue dominated by scientific, technical and policy discourse. The terms of this political environmental discussion begs the questions; what role does and can art practice play in the contemporary environmental movement? What have artists contributed to contemporary urban environmentalism? To explore these questions we will use the local urban street as our site of ecological analysis, intervention and exhibition. Building on a history of ephemeral political actions of the “Reclaim the Streets” and other political movements the focus will be on durable or sustainable interventions in urban ecosystems involving both human institutions and infrastructure, and the work of other non human organisms. Students will work on projects that re-imagine our relationship to natural systems.

Course explores Participatory Art and Creative Placemaking.Students will develop site-specific artworks in collaboration with The Prattsville Art Center in Prattsville, NY a small rural Catskill community still recovering from the devastating floods associated with Hurricane Irene. Socially engaged artwork as well as critical ideas institutions, and funders that have been central to these art movements will be discussed within this process. Through this course and collaboration students will explore art in relationship to town planning, social activism, entrepreneurship, and community revitalization.

Using Josef Albers' landmark text "Interaction of Color", this course aims to describe a process of working with color that is applicable to students working in any medium, using drawing as a bridge. Color as a phenomenon is one of the most powerful tools in the artist’s repertoire. It’s relation to perception lies at the heart of our notions of the objective and the subjective. Color will be explored in depth through a series of open-ended projects and a series of short experiment/assignments.

This course is designed to meet the data analytic needs of the doctoral students whose dissertation relies on the analysis of quantitative data. Procedures important to the data analyst are covered including data entry and definition, treating missing data, detecting outliers, and transforming distributions. First term topics include multiple regression, analysis of covariance, repeated measures analysis of variance, and multivariate analysis of variance and covariance. Second term topics emphasize categorical data analysis, odds, rations, standardization, log linear models, logistic regression. Other topics include multinominal logistic models, survival analysis, principle components, and factor analysis. The approach is conceptual with heavy reliance on computer software packages. Appropriate for doctoral students desiring specialized knowledge beyond the introductory sequence.

Focuses on the connection between international development and education scholarship and on-the-ground practice. Topics include the role of education in international development- translation from theory to practice- challenges and opportunities for education in developing contexts- best practices- and lived experiences. Course emphasizes Ghanian education- as approached by local- national- and international development actors- and site visits and interactions with schools- state agencies- and non-governmental organizations.

How do educators & activists spread messages about human rights? What might make them more likely to succeed? What are the ethical & political implications of using education as a tool for moral persuasion? Students will engage with these questions, as well as be introduced to the role of the United Nations, NGOs, & state governments in facilitating human rights education. Students will also engage critically with debates over whether the human rights system is an appropriate way to achieve justice in diverse contexts. Throughout the course, students will apply theory on human rights education & activism to real-life examples, as well as create their own advocacy campaign & lesson plan.

Students will examine the main factors affecting food, nutrition, and health
practices in Cuba. Students will learn about traditional nutrition and health practices, nutrition programs and the Cuban nutrition and health care systems through a combination of lectures, seminars, field trips, fieldwork, and research.

An in-depth study of education reform in an international context. The goal is to understand education policy reform, with attention to the contexts and variables contributing to reform initiatives, With emphasis on original research and the exchange of ideas, students will explore educational reform's contextual variables and the push and pull factors such as globalization and key international institutions involved in reform. Different theoretical frameworks used to understand educational reform will be examined.

Examination of international human rights standards and principals, using case studies to analyze violations of basic human rights programs. Emphasis is on the role of international and local NGOs (non-governmental organizations) in the human rights movement, and the role of education in promoting human rights. Considers different approaches to teaching human rights in both formal and non-formal educational settings.

This course uses Italy and the Mediterranean diet as a case study to examine and write about food and nutrition from historical, journalistic, political, health, agricultural, cultural, and culinary perspectives. Participate in interactive cooking classes, take virtual tours, and learn from expert guest speakers in Italy and the US, including archeologists, food writers and historians, restaurant reviewers, olive oil experts, sommeliers, and others.

This course focuses on the history, design, variety, impact & challenges of contemporary study abroad programs. The links between internationalization & globalization in the development of study abroad programs in the United States will be analyzed. Discussion will include the origins of study abroad; the many varieties of academic formats, sponsorships & venues; the demographics of student participants; the academic, cultural & personal learning of students; & the academic & administrative challenges faced by sponsoring colleges & universities.

The Internet is at the heart of major digital transformations in industry, society and culture. This course introduces key skills in analysis and critique of the technologies involved in networked change, exploring internet imaginaries, histories and emerging phenomena.

This course prepares students to engage in the process of clinical internship. In this lecture course students will receive an overview of issues relevant to clinical internship practice including but not limited to: OSHA, HIPAA, and NY State Child Abuse and Mandated Reporting materials; Ethics; Professional Identity; Interventions and Procedures for Suicidal and Homicidal behaviors, Alcohol and Other Substance Abuse and Dependency; Overview of theoretical and drama therapeutic interventions relating to child and adolescent development, mental illness, dementia and aging. Strategies for Termination.

In this culminating experience students engage in fieldwork in a community-based or advocacy organization & participate in a university seminar to discuss their field-based experiences. Students develop a professional platform, keep reflective journals, & intern under the mentorship of field-based supervisors. Seminar discussions focus on issues of educational leadership, politics & advocacy in field-based organizations.

Fieldwork consists of a minimum of 12 points (or 1,000 hours) including 110 hours of supervision by an experienced art therapist. Fieldwork experience provides the student with practical involvement in acquiring the basic skills of an art therapist in a variety of medical and non medical settings, including mental hospitals, psychiatric wards, outpatient clinics, and mental health centers.

For those considering college teaching or desiring to improve their competencies as instructors. Students intern with master teachers, teach classes under critical supervision, develop, administer, & grade examinations, & analyze results. Several meetings are held with an instructor in the department to discuss problems in college teaching.

Internships can take place in a variety of settings including museums, galleries, publishers, foundations, fashion houses, libraries, archives and other institutions. Students work closely with the internship coordinator to assess their progress and define goals. Internships should be arranged during the term before interning.

Depending on type of program delivery, this first internship course requires a minimum of 200 or minimum of 300 hours of supervised counseling experience in an approved mental health setting & participation in a weekly university seminar. Student internship sites include community mental health agencies, chemical dependency treatment programs, college counseling centers, hospital settings, hospice programs, special programs for abused women & victims of violence, among others. Seminar sessions provide opportunities to discuss the range of their professional experiences as counselors-in-training. Topic areas include: individual & group counseling, psychoeducational interventions, case conceptualization and treatment planning, intakes/assessments and diagnostic interviewing, crisis intervention, multicultural, & ethical issues. Students are expected to adhere to ACA ethical guidelines.