COURSES

No prerequisites.

This required course focuses on drawing as a means of visual inquiry and builds skills for articulating both perceptual and conceptual visualizations. A variety of drawing media and processes heighten awareness of what we see and how we see it, and achieve confident and intelligently articulated visual responses. Students work primarily from observation, supplemented by rigorous critique and systematic exposure to historical and contemporary precedents for their practice.

No prerequisites. Wireless laptop and appropriate software required.

Topics for this required course comprise an introduction to fundamental computing processes that are integral to contemporary studio practice. The three primary areas of focus are basic computing skills and programming, 2-D image generation and manipulation, and 3-D object generation and surfacing. By giving students hands-on experience with a variety of digital tools, the course aims to engender an appreciation for the computer’s potential as a creative tool/medium and provide a foundation of skills that will be developed further in more advanced courses.

No prerequisites.

This is one of a series of three required courses, which provide introductory exposures to a wide spectrum of the physical materials, tools, and processes germane to contemporary art and design practices. These introductions establish a practical base for future creative work. TMP I: Construction has three-dimensional focus.

ARTDES 120 is prerequisite.

This is one of a series of three required courses, which provide introductory exposures to a wide spectrum of the physical materials, tools, and processes germane to contemporary art and design practices. These introductions establish a practical base for future creative work. TMP II: Messages has a two-dimensional focus.

No prerequisites.

One of a series of three required freshman/sophomore studio courses that focuses on problem identification, problem investigation and referencing, and subsequent development of creative responses. Each exercise and project incorporates reading, research and writing components. By integration of critical thinking and language skills, the students are challenged to develop personal expressions through both analytical and intuitive approaches. The courses focus on structured projects that encourage the development of transferable perceptive and formal skills in a world-view conceptual response.

ARTDES 120 and 121 are prerequisite.

This is one of a series of three required courses, which provide introductory exposures to a wide spectrum of the physical materials, tools, and processes germane to contemporary art and design practices. These introductions establish a practical base for future creative work. TMP III: Time has a four-dimensional focus.

ARTDES 130 is prerequisite.

One of a series of three required freshman/sophomore studio courses that focuses on problem identification, problem investigation and referencing, and subsequent development of creative responses. Each exercise and project incorporates reading, research and writing components. By integration of critical thinking and language skills, the students are challenged to develop personal expressions through both analytical and intuitive approaches. The courses focus on structured projects that encourage the development of transferable perceptive and formal skills in a world-view conceptual response.

ARTDES 130 and 230 are prerequisite.

One of a series of three required freshman/sophomore studio courses that focuses on problem identification, problem investigation and referencing, and subsequent development of creative responses. Each exercise and project incorporates reading, research and writing components. By integration of critical thinking and language skills, the students are challenged to develop personal expressions through both analytical and intuitive approaches. The courses focus on structured projects that encourage the development of transferable perceptive and formal skills in a world-view conceptual response.

No prerequisites.

One of a series of three required academic courses that casts a broad net to explore a variety of creative expressions from those collected by museums to those uncollected and taken for granted as objects of everyday life. This first course uses a case study approach to focusing on the concept of creators and creative work through time and across world cultures.

No prerequisites.

One of a series of three required academic courses that casts a broad net to explore a variety of creative expressions from those collected by museums to those uncollected and taken for granted as objects of everyday life. This second course uses a case study approach to focusing on societies and the influence of societies on creators and creative work through time and across world cultures.

ARTDES 150 and 151 are prerequisite.

One of a series of three required academic courses that casts a broad net to explore a variety of creative expressions from those collected by museums to those uncollected and taken for granted as objects of everyday life. This third course uses a case study approach to explore the relevance of technology and the environment to creators and creative work through time and across world cultures.

No prerequisites. Students of all backgrounds are welcome.

This undergraduate seminar examines contemporary and comparative cyberfeminist theories and creative practices of technology. While trying to move beyond technophilia (pro-technology) or technophobia (against technology) discourses within feminism and Western tradition in general, this course focuses on case studies in thought, creative practices, and activism that address recent communication and bio-technologies in their materiality and temporality, as well as their connections to questions of ownership and power. Examples of case studies include, but are not limited to, Japanese anime and gaming, artificial womb and assisted reproductive technologies, interactive on-line environments, tactical and activist media art, and mobile devices, as well as connection between masculinity, race and technological design. At the end of this class students will have a grounded knowledge of various cyberfeminist approaches. The class is conducted in a seminar style with two group projects and short individual writing assignments.

No prerequisites.

Students attend the weekly Penny W. Stamps Distinguished Visitors Series each week, through which a variety of artists, designers, performers, critics and theorists give insight into their biographies, career paths, and ideas about contemporary practice.  Students register for 160 for each Fall term.

No prerequisites.

Students attend the weekly Penny W. Stamps Distinguished Visitors Series each week, through which a variety of artists, designers, performers, critics and theorists give insight into their biographies, career paths, and ideas about contemporary practice. Students register for 161 each Winter term.

Instructor(s): Michael Rodemer

Prerequisite: A&D major and TMP I: Construction or permission of instructor.

This studio elective course explores how you can use sensors and motors to make artworks that behave and interact with the viewer/environment. We’ll cover the basics of using electricity safely, along with the fundamentals of control. The Arduino microcontroller board, which you will receive along with a box of sensors, motors, and more, will be our chief tool; combining it with traditional media and your ideas will constitute our main activities in the class.

Instructor(s): Anne Mondro

Prerequisite: A&D major or permission of instructor.

In this course, students will explore traditional and alternative coloring techniques for jewelry and small-scale sculpture. Through a series of demonstrations, students will learn a variety of historical processes such as enameling, stone setting, patinas and inlays.  Paints, colored pencils, resin and other alternative methods will also be introduced.  At the beginning of the semester students will play with the possibilities of color through a series of test samples.  Students will then create a collection of works based on their own interests that utilize coloring techniques.  Basic and advanced metalsmithing skills will be introduced to aid students in the development of their work.  In addition to studio work, students will research historical artifacts to gain a better understanding of techniques demonstrated as well as research contemporary artists who use color in innovative ways.

Instructor(s): Panos Papalambros

A&D Seniors only; Permission of instructor required.

This Mechanical Engineering course, of interest to students who would like to approach product design from an engineering perspective, is available to A&D seniors by permission of the instructor only.  Please contact Panos Papalambros at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

Instructor(s): Thylias Moss

Prerequisites: TMP II: Messages and A&D major or permission of instructor.

This course explores ways of visualizing text-based material for display online and in galleries, especially getting work off walls whenever possible. The scale of projects can range from microscopic to huge. The concept of Limited forking will be explained / discussed, including answers to such questions as: why limited? why a fork? (A nature of forking is that both questions and answers change, so nothing tends to be permanent for long - certainly not forever.) May seem a bit counter to still commonly held ideas of the gallery and the museum -- something to talk about in class, blogs, on class websites, etc.  Students may use writing as a basis of their work, but this writing should be illustrated. Argument can be made that poetry, for instance, as visual as it has always been, is already illustrated in some way; drawings or movies, for instance. How projects might be approached will be discussed in class. Performances, of course, may be part of this course. Work may be executed on objects, paper, and/or paper substitutes, such as what is available for online display.  Works may be generated from text forms.  Occasional visits to the UM Museum of Art will be forums for exploration and discussion. 

Instructor(s): Jan-Henrik Andersen

No prerequisites.

This course is focused on creating visual representation of ideas and thought processes in order to facilitate understanding  and communication of new ideas. Visual thinking involves organization and prioritizing of cognitive content, design principles, use of visual analogies and metaphors, and development of multi-dimensional models of representation appropriate to the creative intent of thinking. Students will be exposed to, and exercise, basic drawing and modeling techniques. Although based in the School of Art & Design, the coursework is suited for students in all fields who are dealing with development of conceptual thinking and new ideas. The course does not require previous visual experience. Students are welcome to work on representing ideation from other academic and creative pursuits such as thesis work.

Instructor(s): Elona Van Gent

Prerequisites: One or more of the following: Digital Studio, Digital 3-D, Introduction to 3-D Modeling and Animation or permission of the instructor.

This course brings together students, faculty, and staff from a variety of backgrounds to engage collaboratively in the production of a 3-D animated short film. Focusing on the first half of the 3-D production pipeline, students will finalize storyboards, design and model characters and props, texture and rig the models, light and layout environments, and begin animating scenes to tell a humorous story about time travel. Additional animation and post-production will occur during the winter semester with the aim of submitting the finished short to film festivals during the summer of 2013. A blended learning and production environment will be maintained to encourage playful exploration, rigorous work, and a supportive community. While some digital 3-D modeling and/or animation experience is helpful, students with varying types and levels of expertise are needed and encouraged to join the effort. The film will be produced in stereoscopic 3-D and with the expert assistance of the UM 3-D Lab staff artists.

Instructor(s): Susan Crowell

No prerequisites.

This course introduces students to the essentials of ceramics practice, and covers a variety of forming and finishing techniques and aesthetic approaches to the use of ceramic materials.  Students are responsible for approximately 10 clay projects, as well as for the readings, which coordinate with lectures, films and discussions.  The course also includes critiques of student work and a final evaluative critique, as well as a written exam, participation in ongoing studio maintenance, clay preparation and kiln operation.

Instructor(s): Susan Crowell

No prerequisites.

This course introduces students to the essentials of ceramics practice, and covers a variety of forming and finishing techniques and aesthetic approaches to the use of ceramic materials.  Students are responsible for approximately 10 clay projects, as well as for the readings, which coordinate with lectures, films and discussions.  The course also includes critiques of student work and a final evaluative critique, as well as a written exam, participation in ongoing studio maintenance, clay preparation and kiln operation.

Instructor(s): David Turnley

Prerequisites: A&D major. No previous photographic experience is necessary. Students must have a digital camera of some kind, including an iPhone.

This course will investigate the role of the photographer in exposing the realities of war, struggles for social justice, and human / civil rights around the world. The format for the course will include presentations, guest speakers, readings, papers, and photographic assignments. Students will study iconic photographs, the photographers who made them, and the social and geopolitical contexts within which they were made. Each student will engage in a self-defined, semester-long photographic project / essay in the Ann Arbor-Detroit region. By the end of this course, students will have an understanding of the role of the photographer in scrutinizing and revealing critical issues in society. 

Instructor(s): Phoebe Gloeckner

Prerequisites: Intermediate proficiency in the digital creation and manipulation of images and animation.

What is a book? Is a book defined by its function or by its physical qualities? How does the form of a book dictate how we use it? In this course, students will study examples of electronic books and engage in a critical discussion of form and function. Students will work on a semester-long project: with the prompt of a familiar fairy tale, each student will create original interpretations of the story as an electronic book incorporating text, image, sound, motion, and interactivity.

Software requirements: Adobe Creative Suite 5.5. 
Hardware requirement (in addition to laptop): Apple iPad (any model), Kindle Fire, any Android tablet, or iPhone.

Instructor(s): Hannah Smotrich

Prerequisite: A&D major and TMP II or permission of the instructor. Preferred prerequisite: previous design course.

Students will explore a range of graphic design projects -- from information design to persuasive posters -- all from the vantage point of the 2012 Elections. This course assumes an interest in research and content generation in addition to visual communication challenges. Previous design course work and a passion for active citizenship will be helpful. Understanding how the Electoral College works is not necessary.

Instructor(s): Lily Cox-Richard

Prerequisites: Background experiences in both sculpture and art history or permission of the instructor.

This course examines questions of scale in sculpture (often confused with size which is measurable, scale is relative to viewer, site, context). Together, art and design students and art history students will explore ways in which issues of scale are approached and resolved in the process of creative work, as well as consider how these decisions impact the perception, experience, and understanding of the work once made. This course will be especially useful for A&D students seeking to understand contemporary sculpture practices in the context of broader historical and critical frameworks, and for HA students interested in issues concerning the reception of contemporary artists, including the analysis of artists' writings and interviews. This course meets for studio practice on Mondays and requires weekly readings for Wednesday seminar classes, discussing works from a variety of cultural backgrounds, from the early 1960s to the present. In the studio, students will use a variety of materials to explore scale through assignments and final projects.

An optional field trip to Marfa, Texas is planned, to visit Judd's Chinati Foundation, Ballroom Marfa, and Prada Marfa (co-pay required). This course meets with History of Art 489 taught by Joan Kee.

Instructor(s): Edward West

Prerequisite: TMP II: Messages or permission of instructor.

Taking photographs is a way of being in the world.  It forces us to focus on things outside of ourselves/ beyond ourselves.  It’s also an important way to learn about the people and communities around us. In this course we’ll use photography to move into public space, photographing the relationship of people to their environments.  Sites will include SE Michigan including the environs of Ann Arbor, Detroit and Windsor. Urban as well as rural and suburban locations will be used to establish your semester-long focus on a community or subculture. Each student will select a community to image.  The community may be as large as a city neighborhood or as small as a party of friends —any situation in which the action is unfolding independent of your control.  The goal is to utilize actions in the world as the stimulus for the taking of photographs. Class sessions will alternate between fieldwork and investigations of historical and contemporary “street” photography by practitioners including Danny Lyon, Steven Shore Robert Frank, Mary Ellen Mark and Andre Kertesz.  Topics include control of available light, understanding camera controls, picture organization and other fundamental issues in the creation of photographic images.

Instructor(s): David Chung

Prerequisites: TMP III and A&D major or permission of instructor.

This course examines how movement and animation is created through the use of sequential images, drawing and software tools. Instruction in digital motion graphics, hand drawing, and rotoscoping will be covered. Students will develop filmmaking skills from concept to a finished work through group projects, classroom workshops and an individual final project.

Instructor(s): Heidi Kumao

Prerequisites: TMP III and A&D major or permission of instructor.

From smart phones and billboards to car DVD players and mapped architectural projections, film/video works are now situated and normalized for an expanding range of contexts.  In this class, students will learn about and create video/animation work for a variety of situations such as: site-specific projections for objects and spaces, car media players, performances/presentations, or phones, to name a few.  An overview/history of the creative uses of visual media will contextualize the production of critical works from magic lantern shows to surveillance video art and interactive installations.

Prerequisite: A&D major and Fundamentals of Drawing or permission of instructor.

For students interested in continuing drawing. The instructor, yet to be identified, will define the theme/content of this course.

Instructor(s): John Marshall, Elona Van Gent

Prerequisites: A&D major and Digital Studio or permission of the instructors.

This course will introduce students to using 3-D computer modeling for art and design.  The course will give students a functional understanding of modeling in Rhino and Maya and prepare them to build on this understanding for more advanced courses and projects.  Two sections of Digital 3-D will meet concurrently with students switching sections halfway through the semester. Students from both sections will spend half of the semester with John Marshall focusing on accurate NURBS models using Rhino. The other half of the semester will be spent with Elona Van Gent focusing on polygonal model topology using Maya. Students will learn to create and edit models using both approaches to 3-D modeling as tools for visualization, animation, and digital fabrication. Occasionally both sections will meet together for presentations and reviews. 

Instructor(s): John Marshall, Elona Van Gent

Prerequisites: A&D major and Digital Studio or permission of the instructors.

This course will introduce students to using 3-D computer modeling for art and design.  The course will give students a functional understanding of modeling in Rhino and Maya and prepare them to build on this understanding for more advanced courses and projects.  Two sections of Digital 3-D will meet concurrently with students switching sections halfway through the semester. Students from both sections will spend half of the semester with John Marshall focusing on accurate NURBS models using Rhino. The other half of the semester will be spent with Elona Van Gent focusing on polygonal model topology using Maya. Students will learn to create and edit models using both approaches to 3-D modeling as tools for visualization, animation, and digital fabrication. Occasionally both sections will meet together for presentations and reviews. 

Instructor(s): Sherri Smith

Prerequisite: A&D major and TMP I: Construction or permission of instructor.

Students learn the basic skills for exploration of contemporary fibers work. Techniques include weaving, silk screening fabrics in repeat, and other techniques of students’ choices. Students design and execute several finished projects.

Instructor(s): Jan-Henrik Andersen

Prerequisite: A&D sophomore status or permission of instructor.

This course seeks to develop three-dimensional understanding of functional objects. Form issues such as   structure, proportionality, geometry and functional analysis are exercised through sketching techniques, drafting, and 3-D modeling using basic CAD (Rhino on OSX or Windows). This course also covers basic model making from sketch models through presentation models. Coursework also involves introduction to materials and rudimentary understanding of manufacturing processes and human-object relationships such as anthropometrics and perception of objects.

Instructor(s): Franc Nunoo-Quarcoo

Prerequisite: A&D major or permission of instructor.

Camp Take Notice (CTN) is a community of homeless people who live in tents in a small wooded area next to I-94 in Ann Arbor. This community is one of many tent cities in the United States. CTN will be the genesis for an exploration of Visual Identity Design & Application for, and symbol of, temporary housing and related cultural issues. Students will approach design as a problem-solving activity, with particular emphasis on complex usage as well as constraints. Students will be introduced to different approaches and methodologies for designing logos/logotypes, and how to apply these logos/logotypes across a range of user needs from analog and digital to 2-D and 3-D applications. Final projects will be exhibited at the end of the semester. The most successful and thought provoking projects will be selected for further consideration by CTN. Students will collaborate with students enrolled in ARTDES 310.002 – Design & Build Portable Shelter: Camp Take Notice.

Instructor(s): Roland Graf

Prerequisite: A&D major or permission of instructor.

Camp Take Notice (CTN) is a community of homeless people who live in tents in a small wooded area next to I-94 in Ann Arbor. This community is one of many tent cities in the United States. CTN will be the genesis for broad exploration of tents as a solution for, and symbol of, temporary housing and related cultural issues. The studio practice focus of the course is design and construction of portable, affordable lightweight shelters and their “sculptural forms” that convey aesthetic and cultural messages. Students will be introduced to different lightweight construction methods – ranging from ultra light backpacking tents to portable geodesic domes – and will each build a sample lightweight shelter based on their individual research. Final projects will be exhibited at the end of the semester. The most successful and thought provoking projects will be selected for further consideration by CTN. Students will collaborate with students enrolled in ARTDES 310.001 – Visual Identity Design & Applications: Camp Take Notice.

Prerequisite: A&D major or permission of instructor. Students must be able to spend all day in Detroit, from 9am to 4pm.
This course fulfills the Engagement Studio requirement.

Connecting A&D students with fourth graders at the Butzel elementary school in Detroit through semester long art projects, this class is a combination of work with the children and contextual studies that address issues of urban schools and the radical transformation creative projects have on cognitive development. Working intensively in Detroit every Friday, students learn first hand some of the city's history and contemporary culture with field visits and projects. Planning for and reflecting on class projects, students develop close ties with the children and produce vibrant art that transforms the physical nature of the schools, and shared experiences across generations and cultures that transform the nature of connected creative work. 

Instructor(s): Janie Paul

Prerequisite: A&D major or permission of instructor.
This course fulfills the Engagement Studio requirement.

The United States is now one of the most incarcerating nations in the world. The prison industry is growing at a rapid rate with increasingly higher percentages of African-American, Hispanic, and Native American men, women and teen-agers serving time. In many states, including Michigan, educational and recreational activities have been eliminated from the prisons. This class gives students the opportunity to work inside a prison, facilitating a creative arts workshop for men, women, or adolescents. Readings, films and discussion will provide background and training for working in a prison setting. Students will work in small groups once a week at a local correctional facility or youth facility. The class will meet once a week as a class to share art projects with each other, and to discuss films, reading material and issues that arise in the workshops. During the other three-hour block of class time, small groups will meet for one hour each with the instructor for supervision and discussion.

Instructor(s): Sadashi Inuzuka

Prerequisite: A&D major or permission of instructor.
This course fulfills the Engagement Studio requirement.

Students learn about ceramics sculpture instruction for individuals with disabilities and about disability issues in current society. This outreach course is offered in collaboration with the Ann Arbor Center for Independent Living. Students partner up with an individual with disabilities who uses the resources of the AACIL, and together students and their partners create sculptural ceramic works. Classes are held at the ceramics studio, School of Art and Design, and at the AACIL in south Ann Arbor. The goal of this course is to instill knowledge of ceramics instruction, an appreciation for and greater community connections.

Instructor(s): Nick Tobier

Prerequisite: A&D major or permission of instructor.
This course fulfills the Engagement Studio requirement.

Working with a neighborhood in Detroit (Brightmoor) and Detroit Community School within that neighborhood, this course focuses on inspiring and beginning to equip students to become innovative, imaginative and entrepreneurial leaders through art and design. Students will prototype ideas, objects, innovations and processes, and refine these through field work, validation, and testing towards innovative projects and products that can impact the school and the community. Students will work hands-on each day, either in the studio building prototypes or in Brightmoor, working with our school and community partners. Students will learn and practice frameworks for social entrepreneurship, human centered design, and design thinking, as well as explore the individual skills and will necessary to respond with action to complex social questions.

Instructor(s): Rebekah Modrak

Prerequisite: Digital Studio I, TMP I: Construction, and TMP II: Messages or permission of the instructor.

In the course of a day, we rotate through a series of costumes, from sleepwear, ready-to-wear clothing, casual and special occasion apparel, tattoos and biohazard suits to our stockbroker or Blimpee Burger work uniforms. Studio projects in this course will examine possible ways to clothe bodies and to transform into multiple personalities. Students will consider fashion and fantasy, adapt found clothing, manufacture and manipulate costumes, and construct anything from head-gear to full-body transformations.

Offered occasionally. 

Instructor(s): Carol Jacobsen

Prerequisite: A&D major or permission of instructor.

Students use video cameras as a diaristic tool to document time-based experience of self and/or other/s within a social or cultural environment that gives larger meaning to the personal.  Campus resources such as the Bentley, Clements, Museum of Natural History, Kelsey Museum, Museum of Art, University Library, Campus Musical or Performance Events and/or other regional environments are encouraged as a larger, cultural or social context for personal reflection and questioning.  Assigned readings, films and photographic lectures will expand our ideas and discussions.

Instructor(s): Endi Poskovic

Prerequisite: TMP II: Messages and Digital Studio or permission of the instructor.

Students explore matrix based print technologies and create singular prints and multiples utilizing both analog and digital processes. Class demonstrations cover basic planographic and relief techniques and introduce students to making and printing images from a variety of inked surfaces: stone, metal, wood, linoleum, MDF, and others. Emphasis is placed on the relationship of contemporary print practices to the broader visual culture. Class engagements place printmaking within larger socio-political and cultural contexts through lectures, discussions, and museum/gallery visits. Work studio procedures, proper and safe use of equipment, materials and tools are instructed throughout the semester. Basic aspects of exhibiting, curating, and preserving prints and artworks on paper are also covered.

Instructor(s): Carol Jacobsen

Prerequisite: A&D major and sophomore status.

Students shoot their own photographs and combine them with found photographs to produce large scale, digital images that synthesize and re-contextualize mainstream representations as well as critical and/or fantastical counter-statements. The focus is on shooting, gathering, montages, and printing large images. Students study and discuss contemporary photographic practices within a social context through assigned readings and viewing creative and experimental works by various artists and photographers. Approaches to image making are explored through humor, satire, poetry, critique, diary and other expressions.

Instructor(s): Cynthia Pachikara

Prerequisite: Junior or senior A&D major or permission of instructor.

Video Installation explores the potential of video when it is unleashed from the standard screen or monitor and allowed to occupy an environmental space. Students begin by doing lighting tests in the video projection lab in A&A and then venture outdoors, using the urban environment as a classroom, exploiting the portability of the projectors, and casting videos onto unexpected places (building facades, sidewalks, bodies of water, etc). Projects focus on the definition of “screen,” the materiality of light, the value of “interference” and "distortion" in public settings, and explore strategies to enrich the marriage between images and sites.

Instructor(s): Dwayne Overmyer

Prerequisite: A&D major and TMP II: Messages or permission of the instructor.

This course is an introduction to the range of ways in which typographic texts (of varying degrees of complexity) and images (of many kinds) interrelate in typical communicative contexts. Text is considered both as linguistic code and as graphic pattern; images are considered both as sources of information and means of evocation.

Instructor(s): Dwayne Overmyer

Prerequisite: Sophomore A&D major and TMP II: Messages or permission of instructor.

This course is a close study of the full range of typographic variables (i.e., the characteristics of letterforms and the ways in which they are combined and configured to create texts) and of the relationship of typographic form to conventions of language-use.

Instructor(s): Robert Platt

Prerequisite: Sophomore A&D major or permission of instructor.

The visual surface of a painting invites imaginative engagement by implying space and movement that do not exist except in a viewer’s acts of perception. This course focuses on building knowledge of the basic tools of oil painting in order to intelligently create this engagement. Through a series of paintings from observation as well as from imagination, students investigate the potential of color, surface, mark, and form to create spaces and movement that refer to the external world as well as those that are unique to the pictorial plane. Students who anticipate enrolling in more advanced painting classes are encouraged to begin here, as this course prepares students for more advanced topics, and may serve as a prerequisite for some advanced courses.

Instructor(s): Douglas Hesseltine

Prerequisite: Sophomore A&D major or permission of instructor.

This course introduces grid based systems and how to construct and deconstruct them to enhance clarity and creativity. Visual communication has become a complicated discipline. A single document can require a complex rational structure and an expressive and innovative display of elements. Instruction includes history and current practices of design for document presentation. Structural foundation of the page including hierarchical, column, and modular grids are analyzed and utilized. The page structure is explored by examining the interrelationships among typographic elements, pictorial elements, and graphic elements of line and shape. Problems involve transitions from strict order to calculated deconstruction.

Instructor(s): Janie Paul

Prerequisite: A&D major or permission of instructor.

This course provides an objective study of color as a visual phenomenon utilizing both wet and dry mixed media on a 2-dimensional surface. Lectures, projects and assignments will include studies of the work of modern and contemporary artists and the theory and understanding of temperature, intensity, hue, tint, shade, elements of perspective, and composition. Students will have an opportunity to study the theory of color as it relates to the visual arts and to put into practice the results of their studies.

Instructor(s): Sherri Smith

Prerequisite: A&D major and previous weaving course and or permission of instructor.

This course focuses on individual projects for students who have already completed Entanglement. It provides an opportunity for the student to pursue in depth work in area(s) of most interest.

Instructor(s): Jim Cogswell

Prerequisites: Prior course in painting and A&D major or instructor approval.

This course focuses on the generation of paintings to explore how images and ideas emerge from an encounter between a physical knowledge of the materials, an external stimulus, and the skills and desires that an individual artist brings to the encounter. Students are given four separate problems to address, each requiring a process of informal exploration directed toward creating four developed paintings. Students also are responsible for researching generative processes in the work of contemporary artists. The course presupposes a working knowledge of oil paint as a material, although students might also be asked to step beyond that medium.

Instructor(s): Shaun Jackson

Permission of instructor is required.

IPD is a cross-disciplinary course through which teams of students from Business, Engineering, Art & Design, and Architecture simulate a competitive product development environment. Each team acts as an independent firm in competition with other teams (firms), designing and building a fully functional product. A wide variety of solutions are encouraged. Each team works through the process of market research, concept generation and selection, technical development, production process design, pricing, inventory stocking and advertising. A culminating trade show the first Wednesday after Thanksgiving invites votes from members of the community. 
Offered every fall term.

Prerequisite: A&D major or permission of instructor. Students must be able to spend all day in Detroit, from 9am to 4pm.
This course fulfills the Engagement Studio requirement.

Connecting A&D students with fourth graders at the Butzel elementary school in Detroit through semester long art projects, this class is a combination of work with the children and contextual studies that address issues of urban schools and the radical transformation creative projects have on cognitive development. Working intensively in Detroit every Friday, students learn first hand some of the city's history and contemporary culture with field visits and projects. Planning for and reflecting on class projects, students develop close ties with the children and produce vibrant art that transforms the physical nature of the schools, and shared experiences across generations and cultures that transform the nature of connected creative work. 

Instructor(s): Janie Paul

Prerequisite: A&D major or permission of instructor.
This course fulfills the Engagement Studio requirement.

The United States is now one of the most incarcerating nations in the world. The prison industry is growing at a rapid rate with increasingly higher percentages of African-American, Hispanic, and Native American men, women and teen-agers serving time. In many states, including Michigan, educational and recreational activities have been eliminated from the prisons. This class gives students the opportunity to work inside a prison, facilitating a creative arts workshop for men, women, or adolescents. Readings, films and discussion will provide background and training for working in a prison setting. Students will work in small groups once a week at a local correctional facility or youth facility. The class will meet once a week as a class to share art projects with each other, and to discuss films, reading material and issues that arise in the workshops. During the other three-hour block of class time, small groups will meet for one hour each with the instructor for supervision and discussion.

Instructor(s): Sadashi Inuzuka

Prerequisite: A&D major or permission of instructor.
This course fulfills the Engagement Studio requirement.

Students learn about ceramics sculpture instruction for individuals with disabilities and about disability issues in current society. This outreach course is offered in collaboration with the Ann Arbor Center for Independent Living. Students partner up with an individual with disabilities who uses the resources of the AACIL, and together students and their partners create sculptural ceramic works. Classes are held at the ceramics studio, School of Art and Design, and at the AACIL in south Ann Arbor. The goal of this course is to instill knowledge of ceramics instruction, an appreciation for and greater community connections.

Instructor(s): Nick Tobier

Prerequisite: A&D major or permission of instructor.
This course fulfills the Engagement Studio requirement.

Working with a neighborhood in Detroit (Brightmoor) and Detroit Community School within that neighborhood, this course focuses on inspiring and beginning to equip students to become innovative, imaginative and entrepreneurial leaders through art and design. Students will prototype ideas, objects, innovations and processes, and refine these through field work, validation, and testing towards innovative projects and products that can impact the school and the community. Students will work hands-on each day, either in the studio building prototypes or in Brightmoor, working with our school and community partners. Students will learn and practice frameworks for social entrepreneurship, human centered design, and design thinking, as well as explore the individual skills and will necessary to respond with action to complex social questions.

Registration restricted to senior Art & Design majors in the new 2002+ Curriculum.

Description

This yearlong undergraduate capstone course allows for the synthesis of the students' academic and studio work, developing an individual project proposal and culminating in a thoughtful presentation that demonstrates knowledge of specific issues, methods, and materials. Working with faculty advisors, the students will produce a series of works by organizing, planning, and investigating their concepts in contemporary contexts. The final presentation will engage the public (exhibition, publication, performance, or other appropriate means) and will be documented in a written and visual portfolio.

Objectives

• Engage a theme by means of creative work
• Investigate the theme intelligently through critical and/or theoretical readings and writings
• Demonstrate meaningful use of tools and technical skills
• Develop and demonstrate an awareness of the context for which work is created
• Engage a public arena with the work through exhibition, performance, website, and/or other appropriate venues
• Prepare documentation of the project in the form of a written thesis statement of 1500 words that is supported by relevant printed visual images
• Prepare a website that includes the written thesis, visual documentation of the public engagement, current resume, short artist statement, one page written plan for the first five years following receipt of BFA
• Present the project to a faculty review committee that serves as the student's senior review committee

Logistics and Format

• Students work with two faculty and two graduate students, who teach in collaboration. There are four faculty/graduate student teams each teaching approximately 20 students per section.
• Fall semester is a 6 credit course, which is divided between 3 credits for IP studio practice and 3 credits for class periods and workshops that include development of resume, websites, CD and/or DVD preparations, writing of artist statements and thesis, public speaking, portfolio documentation, publicity possibilities.
• Winter semester is a 6 credit course, which is divided between 3 credits for IP studio practice and 3 credits for class periods and workshops that include discussion of venue organization and portfolio preparation.
• Students are encouraged to choose advanced studios that relate to and support their IP creative work.
• Each student is assigned an individual Integrative Project studio space for independent studio practice.

Instructor(s): Holly Hughes

No prerequisites.

This seminar explores the history and theory of Performance Art and Avant Garde Theatre, focusing on American work since modernism. Although Performance is often seen as a minor subgenre of the larger world of art and design practices, students discover how this work has been central to the evolution of postmodern contemporary work. The class takes a field trip to Chicago, has visitors, and students respond through their own creative work to the material covered. 

Required for Interarts Performance majors; open to all. Satisfies the A&D Humanities requirement.

Prerequisite: A&D major.

This upper-level writing course engages students in reading and writing genres specific to art and design practice - genres such as the formal analysis, the curatorial note, the portfolio or creator’s statement, the critical review, and research writing. Being able to articulate sophisticated insights about their own and others’ works through expository writing is a necessary skill for all fields of art and design. This course examines these forms of writing from a variety of angles, and students write and revise three to four papers based on their own creative interests. In addition to improving writing skills in preparation for the Integrative Project thesis, this course also offers students the opportunity to examine and develop their critical thinking skills.

Prerequisite: School of Art & Design major or permission of the School.

In this upper-level writing course, students will be exposed to some topical issues in contemporary art and design. Key historical and theoretical readings will be addressed and students will be expected to work through several iterative drafts of a response paper. Selected critical issues of art and design will be related to the perspectives and methods of visual and cultural analyses and will focus on presenting various comparative perspectives. These issues will be exemplified by specific art and design interventions, with the final paper exploring a specific case study.

Offered every term. No prerequisites.

Offered fall term only. No prerequisites.

The course introduces students to the basic techniques of intaglio, relief, lithography, and monotype printing methods. Students learn the safe use and handling of the printmaking studio materials and equipment, develop an awareness of printmaking history, and learn to analyze prints through critiques and class discussions. Emphasis is placed on practice/production as well as content/concept. Students are encouraged to incorporate other materials and concepts based on academic major, interests, or expertise. Participation in group discussions and critiques is required.

Offered every term. No prerequisites.

Offered fall term only. No prerequisites.

Offered fall term only. No prerequisites.

Offered fall term only. No prerequisites.

The course introduces students to drawing the human figure by observing its form, shape, contour, perspective, proportion, light co The course introduces students to observing, seeing, and drawing the human figure in terms of its form, shape, contour, perspective, proportion, light source, and resulting contrast of light and shadow. Students will learn a new way of viewing the human form, as well as other objects and physical matter, in terms of their physical relationship to themselves and objects around them. Participation in group discussions and critiques is required.

Offered fall term only. No prerequisites.

The course introduces the principles and processes of graphic imaging - effective communication using typography and visual imagery. Course assignments stress the imaging process, the fundamentals of art and design, and methods for the production of graphic imaging projects. Students learn important aspects of design practice including design terminology, computer software, and how to interact with professional artists/designers. Participation in group discussions and critiques is required.

Offered winter term only. No prerequisites.

Offered winter term only. No prerequisites.

Offered winter term only. No prerequisites.

Offered winter term only. No prerequisites.

Offered winter term only. No prerequisites.

No Prerequisites

No prerequisites.

Third-year MFA graduate students.