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Range of Course Offerings. Art and Design 101, 102, and 103 serve as introductory courses to the elements of visual communication and the critical investigation of art. Art and Design 101 and 102 introduce elementary visual communication through the manipulation of various materials in the studio. As in other studio courses, these are intended to serve as the laboratory for examining principles of visual design, stressing comprehension, not craft. Art and Design 103 is a theoretical course centering on definitions of art and creation. Although they are considered intermediate-level studio courses, Art and Design 200-249 are also conceptual and do not presuppose technical skills. In this group of courses, single aspects of visual vocabulary (e.g., drawing, color, and composition) and particular media (e.g., graphics, photography, and film) are explored for their potential in visual communication. Art and Design 250-269 are nonstudio courses in the theory and criticism of art. Art and Design 270-298 are more advanced studio courses which require a certain level of technical proficiency.
The Bachelor of Arts program in the Committee on Art and Design is intended for students interested in an interdisciplinary approach to the study of the visual arts. The committee's faculty consists of a core of humanists and practicing artists interested in the philosophy, history, and criticism of art. All concentrators in art and design take an individually arranged program of studio, lecture, and seminar courses that may include some courses outside the Humanities Collegiate Division. The program seeks to foster understanding of art from several perspectives: the context and intention of the creator, the visual conventions employed, and the perception and critical response of the audience. To understand the creator's context and intention might require a grasp of art history and intellectual history; to understand the visual conventions might require explorations in a studio context; to investigate particular critical responses might involve the study of psychology, criticism, aesthetics, and the history of taste.
Because of the diversity of student interests and the CAD's interdisciplinary orientation, requirements for the concentration are extremely flexible. All students must take a core of Art and Design 101, 102, and 103 as early in their careers as possible. After taking the core courses, but no later than the end of the third year, concentrators meet with the director of undergraduate studies to plan the rest of their program. This program must be presented in written form for the approval of the CAD. At least two of the courses beyond the core must be drawn from the second level of predominantly studio-oriented offerings (200-249). The remaining five courses may be any programmatically consistent combination of art and design critical and theoretical courses (250-269), art and design studio courses, and any other relevant offerings in the College. (See Sample Programs below.) As preparation for the senior project, students must take Art and Design 295. This studio seminar examines research methodologies for independent studio projects. The culminating experience of the CAD concentration is a senior project consisting of an extended paper and/or studio project in which students are expected to tie together the diverse threads of their interdisciplinary experience in the committee. This project, for which students may receive credit in Art and Design 298, is done under the supervision of a primary adviser and must also be approved by the director of undergraduate studies.
Summary of Requirements
Concentration 2 ArtDes 101-102
1 ArtDes 103
1 ArtDes 295
1 ArtDes 298
2 from ArtDes 200-249
5 electives
12 (total)
Sample Programs. The CAD encourages its students to construct interdisciplinary concentration programs that focus on a particular theme. The examples given below should be taken as suggestions only:
1. An architecture and city planning program combining drawing courses with art history, geography, sociology, and history courses.
2. A program exploring visual aspects of the performing arts combining studio courses with courses in drama and music.
3. A program focusing upon the human figure combining studio courses with courses in art history and human physiology.
4. A film program combining practical filmmaking, photography, and video courses with critical courses from a variety of disciplines.
Grading. CAD students must receive letter grades for the twelve courses that constitute the concentration, but may receive P/N grades for free electives. Students taking CAD courses in fulfillment of the required series in the humanities must also receive letter grades. Students concentrating in other departments may take art and design courses for P/N grades with the consent of their adviser and instructor.
Honors. CAD students who have a 3.0 overall grade point average for all undergraduate work and a 3.5 average for all CAD course work may be nominated for honors. The work submitted for honors must be recommended to the divisional master by two members of the CAD faculty. The master will then review both the project and the faculty recommendations and elect on the basis of this information whether or not to recommend the student to the registrar for graduation with honors.
TED COHEN, Professor, Department of Philosophy, Committees on Art & Design and General Studies in the Humanities, and the College
HERBERT GEORGE, Associate Professor, Committee on Art & Design
REINHOLD HELLER, Professor, Departments of Art and Germanic Studies, Committee on Art & Design, and the College
LAURA LETINSKY, Assistant Professor, Committee on Art & Design
THOMAS MAPP, Associate Professor, Committee on Art & Design and the College; Director, Midway Studios
W. J. T. MITCHELL, Gaylord Donnelley Distinguished Service Professor, Departments of English Language & Literature and Art, Committees on Art & Design and General Studies in the Humanities, and the College
JANEL M. MUELLER, William Rainey Harper Professor in the Humanities; Professor, Department of English Language & Literature and the College
NANCY D. MUNN, Professor, Department of Anthropology and the College
ROBERT C. PETERS, Associate Professor, Committee on Art & Design
JOEL M. SNYDER, Professor, Department of Art, Committees on Art & Design and General Studies in the Humanities, and the College
MARTHA WARD, Associate Professor, Department of Art and the College