Courses

• CFA AR 497: Junior Type: Motion + Interactivity
  CFA AR497 is the only typography course that solely addresses dynamic typography. Students will learn how to translate traditional typographic variable like form, weight, scale and space into dynamic environments, type-based narrative sequences, and type in an interactive format. Students will learn how pacing, rhythm, sequencing and interactivity impact hierarchy and communication. Focus on refinement, craft, typographic complexity, denotative and connotative typography is emphasized. Creative concepting, visual storytelling and hierarchy will be emphasized. Tutorials in After Effects and Flash are included. Open to undergraduate junior graphic design students. This is a required course for graphic design majors. 2 credits. Spring semester.
• CFA AR 500: Independent Study
  Discussion of a broad range of drawing issues, including drawing from memory, and from secondary sources. Introduction of subjects explored in non-representational drawing traditions. Regular critiques.
• CFA AR 512: Architect Draw
  
• CFA AR 515: Digital Photo
  Prereq: CFA AR 415 or equivalent. Digital Photo will acquaint student with the basics of RAW image capture using a digital camera, non-destructive image file management, input and output resolution management, establishment of a digital workflow, adjustment and editing in Adobe Photoshop, fundamentals of color correcting management, digital retouching and high-end archival inkjet printing.
• CFA AR 518: Silkscreen Print 4 Credits
  This course focuses on contemporary fine art silkscreen prints, the incorporation of fluid, solid and digital stenciling methods of silkscreen printing and the use of multiple approaches to the print. Drawing will be emphasized, and studio work will focus on formal visual issues and resolving visual ideas with an originality of approach. Through a coordinated sequence of projects, students will synthesize their conceptual and technical skills with this medium and study the application of hand printmaking.
• CFA AR 521: Site Specific Art
  This elective will be interdisciplinary and open to students in all majors, both in the Visual Arts program and all other schools in the university. The course aims to instruct students in the professional practice of making site-specific art commissions for public and private clients. The students will gain professional skills in the development of a site-specific work of art that will require the utilization of a variety of media, an interdisciplinary approach and team work. Students will also learn how to work and negotiate with prospective clients who wish to contract site-specific art for particular settings and architectural environments. 4.0 credits.
• CFA AR 526: Video Art
  CFA AR526 Video Art: Students will explore the practical and theoretical aspects of narrative and non-narrative film-making. They will produce both types of films, exploring narrative through historical and documentary forms and non-narrative through experimental works. Presentation of experimental work is not limited to the screen; installation and video art as a sensory experience will be explored. Emphasis will be on editing and how visual images, sounds, pacing, sequencing and camera perspective impact a film's meaning and content. 4 credits.
• CFA AR 527: Drawing into Animation
  This course provides a convergence of contemporary performance, dance music, new media and visual arts projects that draw artists from across many traditional disciplines. The course will equip students with an understanding of how time based thinking can provide a natural extended practice, translating ideas through story boarding and scripting. Drawing concepts will range from informal sketches to full narrative graphic novels. Stop motion will be taught for sculptural ideas and time-lapse photography for painting and mix media production. Extensive use of Wacom tablets, mobile app based cameras, and the Adobe Suite will be utilized. This course is meant to bring digital technologies and 4D projects into the traditional studio practice. 4 credits.
• CFA AR 547: Principles of Painting Techniques
  Lectures, studio demonstrations, and workshops concerning materials and techniques for oil painting: selection of tools and studio equipment; preparation of traditional and modern supports and grounds; principles of oil and alkyd painting; properties and interactions of pigments, binding mediums, solvents, and protective coatings; paint-making and tubing procedures, toxicity of materials, safety issues and precautions; introduction to a variety of direct and indirect techniques; presentation of completed artwork, including photographing, varnishing, and framing completed artwork. Open to undergraduates who have completed Painting II, CFA graduate students, and art history students. 2.0 credits
• CFA AR 548: Principles of Painting Techniques
  Lectures, studio demonstrations, and workshops concerning materials and techniques for non-oil painting: selection of tools and studio equipment; preparation of supports and grounds; principles of egg tempera, distemper, encaustic, watercolor, casein, gouache, buon fresco, acrylic polymer, PVA, and vinyl painting; properties and interactions of pigments, binders, solvents, and protective coatings; paint-making procedures; toxicity of materials, safety issues and precautions; introduction to a variety of direct and indirect painting techniques; introduction to oil and water gilding; presentation of completed artwork, including matting, photographing, and framing. Open to undergraduates who have completed Painting II, CFA graduate students, and art history students. 2.0 credits
• CFA AR 559: Contemporary Issues in Art Education (2 credits; fall semester)
  Conceptual frameworks, content, and pedagogical strategies derived from the art world, critical theory, and the fields of art education and education writ large form the basis, in this course, for theoretical and studio inquiry. A thematic approach is used to consider significant social issues such as personal identity, culture and the popular media, the environment, aging, race, gender, ethnicity and social justice narratives that surround these issues. Students research artists from the contemporary mainstream and the hiddenstream, and use their life stories and work as a basis for planning the delivery of pre-K/ 12 studio teaching.
• CFA AR 563: Art Education Elementary Practicum Seminar (2 credits; fall for graduates and spring for four-year art education majors)
  This course is taken in conjunction with CFA AR 365 or CFA AR 765. It is a seminar related to the implementation of educational philosophy, goals, and strategies in the elementary level studio classroom. Practical solutions related to student teaching experiences are discussed and recorded in a sketchbook/journal.
• CFA AR 564: Art Education Secondary Practicum Seminar (2 credits; fall for graduates and spring for four-year art education majors)
  This course is taken in conjunction with CFA AR 366 or CFA AR 766. It is a seminar related to the implementation of educational philosophy, goals, and strategies in the secondary level studio classroom. Practical solutions related to student teaching experiences are discussed and recorded in a sketchbook/journal.
• CFA AR 566: Processes and Structures (4 credits; spring semester)
  This course is designed to cause students to be more acutely aware of the visual-expressive resources at their command. Emphasis is placed on personal inquiry and analytical reflection that enables students to translate artistic knowledge into studio lessons for children. Students consider the structures that can emerge from working with various studio processes using both two- and three-dimensional materials. Visual ideas are developed and resolved through coordinated sequences of action and identifying the sources and terms of personal expression. Portfolio Preparation for High School Juniors is a five-week pre-practicum for students in this course who design and teach lessons on Saturday mornings aimed at helping students prepare artwork conventionally required of potential studio majors for application to college. It is a focused short-term course that is offered to high school juniors attending Boston metropolitan area schools. This pre-practicum fulfills the 25 pre-student teaching practicum hours required of studio teaching students who intend to apply for teaching certification.
• CFA AR 567: Teaching Art to Special Populations (2 credits; spring semester)
  This course is designed to inform the art specialist of some beneficial ways for integrating students with special needs into heterogeneous classroom settings. Students investigate ways in which the artistic process can be made accessible to all students regardless of their emotional, intellectual, or physical capacities as required by State and national laws.
• CFA AR 572: Internship
  This course is for juniors and seniors pursuing an internship for college credit. Internship hours range from 80-150 hours during the course of 6-14 weeks. Students meet in consultation with an Internship and Faculty advisor for critiques of internship work. A final presentation of work is required at the end of the semester. 2.0 credits.
• CFA AR 573: 3D Design & Animat
  This course is a project-based introduction to 3D design and animation using state-of-the-art Alias Maya software. Students are introduced to the basic concepts and techniques of 3D modeling and animation. Short creative-problem-solving exercises step students through basic design concepts while introducing the technology. Subsequent projects explore application areas and media and give the students an opportunity to develop their 3D "voices." 2 cr.
• CFA AR 576: Motion Graphics
  Introduction to methods and processes of creating motion graphics for broadcast and cinema. The focus is on story-telling in a time-based context through ambient and linear narratives. Students will consider how design elements--such as type, image, framing, pacing, rhythm, sequencing and sound--influence time-based narratives. Students will broaden their individual aesthetic by exploring a variety of mediums from analog to digital formats and animate with Flash and After Effects.
• CFA AR 577: Editorial Publication
  This is a hands-on, project-based introduction to editorial and publication design. Both form and content, with emphasis on use of the grid as an organizing creative principle will be utilized. Typography and image will be discussed as students design, print, and bind their own books. Students may select a topic of personal interest and explore various materials and methodologies.
• CFA AR 578: Graduate Thesis Prep
  This class is an overview of advanced research techniques and methods and their application to design problems. Topics relevant to graphic design will be explored with an emphasis on structuring research in preparation for the graduate thesis. Students will integrate the research and document the design process in a written and visual form. 2 cr.