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.

• CFA AR 833: Grad Print/Photo Studio IV (6cr.)
  Four semesters of Grad Print/Photo Studio are required for graduate students in the Print Media & Photography MFA program. These courses consist of independent research and practice that will culminate in the thesis exhibition in the spring of the student's final semester. Each of the studio courses emphasizes materials, process, experimentation, and development of a personal voice within the disciplines of printmaking and photography. Students will also participate in group as well as individual critiques, where work-in-progress will be considered and questioned. Through practice and discussion, students will gain an understanding of their work within a larger, historical and contemporary context and will be encouraged to articulate their point-of-view within their chosen medium of practice.
• CFA AR 834: Print Media & Photo Special Topics Seminar I (2cr.)
  Semesters of Special Topics Seminar courses are required courses for graduate students in the Print Media & Photography MFA program. These courses will be taught on a rotating basis by graduate faculty in the School of Visual Arts. The topics will vary depending upon the faculty member's area of expertise, but will at all times be applicable to printmaking and photography history and practice. Relevant historical and contemporary readings, exhibitions, and artists will be discussed throughout all of the seminars and will be structured around a range of topics, including mechanical reproduction and perception. Students will be required to regularly participate in class discussions, oral/multimedia presentations, visits to area archives, museums, artists' studios and lectures.
• CFA AR 835: Print Media & Photo Special Topics Seminars II (2cr.)
  Semesters of Special Topics Seminar courses are required courses for graduate students in the Print Media & Photography MFA program. These courses will be taught on a rotating basis by graduate faculty in the School of Visual Arts. The topics will vary depending upon the faculty member's area of expertise, but will at all times be applicable to printmaking and photography history and practice. Relevant historical and contemporary readings, exhibitions, and artists will be discussed throughout all of the seminars and will be structured around a range of topics, including mechanical reproduction and perception. Students will be required to regularly participate in class discussions, oral/multimedia presentations, visits to area archives, museums, artists' studios and lectures.
• CFA AR 836: Print Media & Photo Special Topics Seminars III (2cr.)
  Semesters of Special Topics Seminar courses are required courses for graduate students in the Print Media & Photography MFA program. These courses will be taught on a rotating basis by graduate faculty in the School of Visual Arts. The topics will vary depending upon the faculty member's area of expertise, but will at all times be applicable to printmaking and photography history and practice. Relevant historical and contemporary readings, exhibitions, and artists will be discussed throughout all of the seminars and will be structured around a range of topics, including mechanical reproduction and perception. Students will be required to regularly participate in class discussions, oral/multimedia presentations, visits to area archives, museums, artists' studios and lectures.
• CFA AR 837: Print Media & Photo Thesis Seminar 2 credits
  The Thesis seminar is taken in the final Spring semester and builds on the work in the previous Special Topics seminars. In the Thesis Seminar, work is dedicated to thesis preparation and writing.
• CFA AR 838: Professional Practice in Print Media and Photography I (2cr.)
  Graduate level course that addresses the practical needs of the emerging artist as they prepare to enter the professional world. The course includes collaboration and partnering for projects that reach beyond SVA with institutions like the Photographic Resource Center, the Thurman Center and galleries, international professional study abroad, and other professional experiences. This course includes readings on art criticism and sustaining a creative life, as well as research into contemporary artists and art trends that will augment a graduate student's own studio practice. Topics will include: defining professional goals both within the studio and beyond, artist statements, resumes, biographies, documenting work, exhibitions, art world professionals (i.e. curators, directors, writers, etc.), and community building.
• CFA AR 839: Professional Practice in Print Media and Photography II (2cr.)
  Graduate level course that addresses the practical needs of the emerging artist as they prepare to enter the professional world. The course includes collaboration and partnering for projects that reach beyond SVA with institutions like the Photographic Resource Center, the Thurman Center and galleries, international professional study abroad, and other professional experiences. This course includes readings on art criticism and sustaining a creative life, as well as research into contemporary artists and art trends that will augment a graduate student's own studio practice. Topics will include: defining professional goals both within the studio and beyond, artist statements, resumes, biographies, documenting work, exhibitions, art world professionals (i.e. curators, directors, writers, etc.), and community building.
• CFA AR 841: Graduate Painting 1
  Intensified professional study; emphasis on an original contemporary statement; picture structure and interpretation of concepts, forms, and symbols in today's art.
• CFA AR 842: Graduate Painting 1
  A continuation of CFA AR841. Intensified professional study; emphasis on an original contemporary statement; picture structure and interpretation of concepts, forms, and symbols in today's art.
• CFA AR 843: Seminar and Discussion 1
  Planning, execution, and discussion of comprehensive original projects in various media and techniques; contemporary trends in art and their relation to the art of the past; problems of teaching painting. Students submit original work on completion of course.
• CFA AR 844: Seminar and Discussion 1
  Planning, execution, and discussion of comprehensive original projects in various media and techniques; contemporary trends in art and their relation to the art of the past; problems of teaching painting. Students submit original work on completion of course. 2 cr, each semester.
• CFA AR 845: Painting Seminar and Discussion 2
  Prereq: CFA AR 843, 844. Discussion and execution of original projects; various aesthetic problems concerning the contemporary artist. 2 cr, each semester.
• CFA AR 846: Painting Seminar and Discussion 2
  Discussion and execution of original projects; various aesthetic problems concerning the contemporary artist. 2 cr, each semester.
• CFA AR 847: Graduate Painting 2
  Continuation of Graduate Painting 1; emphasizes the work to be presented as the student's exhibit thesis. This group of paintings is developed in individual consultation with the graduate faculty and is presented in a major exhibit at the end of the second year of graduate study.
• CFA AR 848: Graduate Painting 2
  Continuation of Graduate Painting 1; emphasizes the work to be presented as the student's exhibit thesis. This group of paintings is developed in individual consultation with the graduate faculty and is presented in a major exhibit at the end of the second year of graduate study. 3 cr, each semester.
• CFA AR 855: Masters Research Project: Arts-Based Research and Practices
  The course introduces students to modes of inquiry focused on arts-based research methods that use the artistic process as the primary way of understanding and examining experience and the creation of knowledge. Students will be guided through the exploration of various approaches to arts-based research, allowing them to investigate the making of artistic expressions as an alternative way to engage in inquiry and scholarship. Students will pursue their own artistic investigation as research or engage in an art-based educational methodology that examines others artwork and practices, the project will invite the creation of a definite method that will start with a question or goal, be explored contextually to then be implemented in such a way as to be relevant to other researchers. This course is taught over 14 weeks ( 8 credits).
• CFA AR 871: Refresh and Invigorate Your Studio Practice
  Will be a week-long residency during which morning and afternoon studio sessions will be attended in addition to open studio time in the evenings. Students will be taught advanced techniques by BU faculty in the areas of advanced printmaking and advanced book arts. Alumni of the MA in Art Education program and non-matriculated Art Teachers attend Summer Studios REDUX for additional studio-based instruction to further develop their artist-teacher profiles.
• CFA AR 881: Graduate Graphic Design 1
  Comprehensive exercises in graphic design leading to the solution of advanced visual problems through a structured curriculum of both theoretical and practical studies. In addition to computer-aided graphic design, traditional methods, such as letterpress and photography are emphasized. The program is conceived to enable graduates to function in a constantly changing and expanding field.
• CFA AR 882: Graduate Graphic Design 1
  A continuation of CFA AR 881. Comprehensive exercises in graphic design leading to the solution of advanced visual problems through a structured curriculum of both theoretical and practical studies. In addition to computer-aided graphic design, traditional methods, such as letterpress and photography are emphasized. The program is conceived to enable graduates to function in a constantly changing and expanding field. 3 cr, each semester.
• CFA AR 883: Graduate Graphic Design 2
  A continuation of Graduate Graphic Design 1, emphasizing the thesis-an advanced and extensive individual project proposed by the student in consultation with the graphic design faculty. The thesis project is explored in depth and presented in a major exhibit at the end of the second year. Independent contact with faculty members is stressed.

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