Courses
The listing of a course description here does not guarantee a course’s being offered in a particular term. Please refer to the published schedule of classes on the MyBU Student Portal for confirmation a class is actually being taught and for specific course meeting dates and times.
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CFA AR 856: PMP Critique 1
A formative critique focuses on purpose, technique, function, and expression. In this course students participate in weekly critique groups to develop rigor in their ability to see, describe, assess, understand, contextualize, and discuss their own work and the work of their peers. Students present work in progress and each student comes prepared to share all the research behind the work, material studies, experimentations and learned outcomes. The progression of critique courses establishes a pathway to the final thesis exhibition. -
CFA AR 857: PMP Critique 2
A formative critique focuses on purpose, technique, function, and expression. In this course students participate in weekly critique groups to develop rigor in their ability to see, describe, assess, understand, contextualize, and discuss their own work and the work of their peers. Students present work in progress and each student comes prepared to share all the research behind the work, material studies, experimentations and learned outcomes. The progression of critique courses establishes a pathway to the final thesis exhibition. -
CFA AR 858: PMP Critique 3
Prerequisites: CFA AR807. - 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 859: PMP Critique 4
Prerequisites: CFAAR858. - A formative critique focuses on purpose, technique, function, and expression. In this course students participate in weekly critique groups to develop rigor in their ability to see, describe, assess, understand, contextualize, and discuss their own work and the work of their peers. Students present work in progress and each student comes prepared to share all the research behind the work, material studies, experimentations and learned outcomes. The progression of critique courses establishes a pathway to the final thesis exhibition. -
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. -
CFA AR 884: Graduate Graphic Design 2
A continuation of CFA AR 883. Emphasizes 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. Offered each semester. 3.0 credits. -
CFA AR 890: Masters Research Project: Becoming a Practitioner-Researcher
The purpose of this course is to introduce students to teacher-led, classroom- based research as a means of addressing issues facing art teachers, artists and teaching artists in schools and other community-based settings and providing the tools to be a reflective practitioner. The course will introduce students to the conventions and practice of qualitative research in the context of art education and as a form of inquiry that is grounded in the theories, practices, and contexts used by art practitioners working in schools, museums, community agencies, etc. -
CFA AR 892: 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. -
CFA AR 961: Directed Study in Art Education
Prereq: matriculation in art education graduate program. Thesis preparation, research methods, and discussion of proposed graduate projects or theses. Individual session with thesis readers alternates with group sessions. Independent study may be undertaken or assigned. -
CFA AR 962: Directed Study in Art Education
Prereq: matriculation in art education graduate program. Thesis preparation, research methods, and discussion of proposed graduate projects or theses. Individual session with thesis readers alternates with group sessions. Independent study may be undertaken or assigned. -
CFA AR 982: Directed Study: Sculpture
DS SCULPTURE -
CFA AR 983: Directed Study: Graphic Design
Advanced individual graphic design problems in consultation with a selected member of the graphic design faculty. 1 or 2 cr, each semester. -
CFA AR 984: Directed Study: Graphic Design
Advanced individual graphic design problems in consultation with a selected member of the graphic design faculty. 1 or 2 units per semester. -
CFA DA 190: Dances Styles of the African Diaspora (Jazz, Tap, Hip Hop, Afro-Fusion)
This introductory course will explore the origins and the evolution of American Black Vernacular Dance as an expression of identity, culture, and community. In any given semester, the instructor will choose to focus on a specific number of ancient and contemporary styles or dances that have originated on the African continent and/or evolved in other geographic areas over time; students will encounter a different collection of material if they repeat the course. Dance styles that may be included are: West African, Afro-Caribbean, Jazz, Tap, and multiple Hip Hop styles. Beyond learning steps, students will experience the embodied practice of building community, connecting musicality to movement, interpreting cultural expression and storytelling, and the intersecting of identity and place. Students will gain a deeper respect for the influence of indigenous African dance on Western cultural dance forms and the trans-generational conversation that continues. Students will most successful if they¿ve had some prior experience in learning dance choreography or exploring movement, though no particular style is required. -
CFA DA 290: Dance and Somatic Inquiry: Contemporary and Improvisation
This intermediate level course will push students to become their own catalyst for change through guided exploratory practices, technical training, and choreography. The pursuit of personal autonomy will be the goal through the practice of improving self-awareness, control, imagination, and artistry. The class incorporates somatic practices from Bartenieff Fundamentals, Listening Strategies with Pauline Oliveros, and One Thousand Voice with Paula Josa-Jones, as well as, contemporary dance and Release technique, Dance Improvisation, martial arts, and dance conditioning. Students will be asked to grow and develop the full range of the dancer¿s artistry by exploring stability/mobility, exertion/recuperation, internal connectivity/external expressivity, strength and endurance, inversions, and floor work. They will be called on to learn and create choreography with a focus on risk-taking, musicality, timing, performance skills, and concepts of stage presence. In order for students to be successful in this class, they should have at least two semesters of training in contemporary, modern, improvisation, and/or other advanced beginning level dance techniques. -
CFA DA 390: Intermediate Technique Traditional Forms (Ballet & Historic Modern)
This course is designed for the student who has had an extensive ballet, modern, contemporary, and/or jazz background. The material covered is based on years of innovation and codification and has become foundational for various forms of dance. Students will continue to refine their alignment and placement and to increase their strength, endurance, flexibility, control, coordination, breath, and musicality. As the semester progresses, students will be challenged and their technical growth will be heightened. Movement patterns will focus on increasing movement range spatially and dynamically, and on breadth of expression. Students are encouraged to learn from individual and collective corrections and to continue to increase their growth both technically and artistically. -
CFA DA 400: Performance and Repertory
Students are part of the choreographic process as pieces are created or reworked under the supervision of the dance faculty. Weekly rehearsals and timed showings are required. Dances are performed in a Dance Theatre Group concert. Prereq: Previous dance training and the instructor's consent. -
CFA FA 100: Doing, Making & Knowing: The CFA Experience
Through collaborative projects, visiting artists and inspiring conversations, the course is an experiential and comprehensive introduction to the full scope of artistic endeavors housed within the College of Fine Arts. The following will be explored: When did I, the practitioner, embrace the experience of joy as an individual and as an artist' How do I, the practitioner, fit within the community of the arts' How do different disciplines of the arts think and respond' How do we collectively as artists observe, listen and physically respond' How do we collaborate and integrate our artistic voice. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub area: Philosophical Inquiry and Life's Meanings.
