Courses
The listing of a course description here does not guarantee a course’s being offered in a particular semester. Please refer to the published schedule of classes on the Student Link for confirmation a class is actually being taught and for specific course meeting dates and times.
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CFA AR 515: Digital Photo
Throughout this course you will gain a basic technical and conceptual understanding of the medium of photography. Students will learn the basics of RAW image capture using a 35mm DSLR camera, non-destructive image file management, input and output resolution management, establishment of a digital workflow, adjustment and editing in Adobe Photoshop and high-end archival inkjet printing. Lectures will also introduce historical and contemporary photographic practices. Students will have weekly photographing and printing assignments, and you should be prepared to develop your own ideas. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Digital/Multimedia Expression, Critical Thinking. -
CFA AR 517: Digital Printmaking: Ink & Pixel 4 credits Spring term
Digital media as a communicative tool in printmaking - digital imaging, mixed media processes, multimedia documentation, transformations with traditional print media. Course explores digital design/color, conceptual/technical skills, critique, and process-oriented project development through demonstrations, studio assignments, presentations, and critiques. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub area: Digital/Multimedia Expression. -
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 524: Business Information Design
This course is a hybrid lecture and studio course that explores presenting information visually. Students will learn to process, organize, symbolize and structure complex quantitative information. The coordinated business aspect of the course addresses how data visualization drives effective business decisions. The course will be taught by a graphic designer and business executive to ensure that information graphics are designed and evaluated from a visual and strategic point of view. This course is relevant to a wide range of students: graphic designers, managers, economists, scientists. This course meets curriculum needs as an advanced studio/liberal arts elective. The coursework benefits a range of audiences because 1) the amount of available data is increasing, 2) our ability to communicate is expanding and 3) well-designed information graphics enable clear and efficient communication, an increasingly critical skill for any student or professional. This course meets 2x/week during summer session 4cr -
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 528: Arch Site DES2
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CFA AR 530: Des Ignts Chg
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CFA AR 535: SP Tps: Vis Art
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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 550: SP Tps: Vis Art
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CFA AR 559: Contemporary Issues in Art Education (2 credits; fall semester)
This course prepares reflective and informed future educators who can create rich, thoughtful, effective, and relevant lessons that resonate with diverse learners and reflect their lives while preparing them to interact in a diverse world. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub area: Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy. -
CFA AR 563: Practicum Seminar Pre-K-8
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: Practicum Seminar 5-12
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. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub area: Ethical Reasoning. -
CFA AR 569: Art, Community, and Social Engagement
What is community art? How is it different from socially engaged art, street art, and participatory art? What are the goals of these forms of engagement? For whom are they created? What and whose values, and ethical principles must I consider, and what do I need to know before designing a community project? A fundamental aspiration of the course is grounded in the belief that art can facilitate positive social change and enhance community well being. Whether you are curious about or already convinced of this claim, the course will provide you with the tools to clarify assumptions about community art and social engagement practices, and recognize the various historical contexts at the root of artistic and engagement practices in the US and abroad since the 1960s. Through discussions, guest lectures, written reflections, and fieldwork, you will have the opportunity to develop the cultural competency necessary to examine and clarify your own worldviews and beliefs, as you take part in diverse community activities in the city and region. As final project, you will be able to demonstrate the refinement of your newly developed concepts and experience by conducting the necessary research to complete the presentation of an execution-ready community-based project proposal designed in collaboration with members of a community and peers. 2 cr -
CFA AR 571: Exhibition Design
Projects, lectures and field trips are ways in which students will investigate the topic of exhibit design. Projects include the experience of designing an exhibit. A curatorial point of view is the concept driving the design. Students will explore the design holistically, from a prototype of the physical space, to a form for presenting objects, media and information, exhibit signage, wayfinding and promotion. Critiques will emphasize how fluidly the graphic and material form relates to the curatorial concept. Lectures focus on defining contemporary exhibit design in the context of a more expectant and informed public. The changing role museums, galleries and project spaces play in the dissemination of curated objects/ideas/media will be a common theme. Field trips will be used as a tool to teach students about the exhibit experience, from the standpoint of a designer and visitor. 2 cr. -
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.