Courses

Spring 2016 Courses

Atelier

The “Peer” Review

ATL 494 / THR 494 · Spring 2016

S01 · Mondays, 1:30 - 4:20 pm Location TBA

Instructors: John Doyle

This course is a practical examination of Henrik Ibsen's epic play "Peer Gynt". Through close examination of scenes from the play, the internationally acclaimed director John Doyle aims to develop a new adaptation.

Waking the Dead

ATL 497 · Spring 2016

S01 · Thursdays, 1:30 - 4:20 pm

Instructors: Jennine Willett · Kevin Pyle

Graphic novelist Kevin C. Pyle and Jennine Willett, Co-Artistic Director of Third Rail Projects, a dance theater company known for immersive works, will collaborate with students across multiple disciplines to integrate movement, images, and text into a new story-telling format.

Creative Writing

Literary Translation

CWR 206 · Spring 2016

C01 · Thursdays, 9:00 - 10:50 am

Instructors: Jhumpa Lahiri

Practice in the translation of literary works from another language into English supplemented by the reading and analysis of standard works.

How to Write a Song

CWR 211 / MUS 211 · Spring 2016

C01 · Tuesdays, 1:30 - 4:20 pm

Instructors: Paul Muldoon

An introduction to the art of writing words for music, an art at the core of almost every literary tradition from Homer through Beowulf to W.B Yeats and beyond.

Graphic Design

VIS 214 / ARC 214 / CWR 214 · Spring 2016

U01 - Alice Chung · Fridays 10:00 am - 12:20 pm and 1:30 - 4:20 pm

Instructors: Alice Chung

This studio course will introduce students to the essential aspects and skills of graphic design, and will analyze and discuss the increasingly vital role that non-verbal, graphic information plays in all areas of professional life, from fine art and book design to social networking and the Internet.

Graphic Design: Typography

VIS 215 / CWR 215 · Spring 2016

U01 - David Reinfurt · Tuesdays 1:30 - 4:20 pm and 7:30 - 9:40 pm

Instructors: David Reinfurt

This studio course introduces students to graphic design with a particular emphasis on typography. Students learn typographic history through lectures that highlight major shifts in print technologies and through their engagement in studio design projects.

Creative Nonfiction

JRN 240 / CWR 240 · Spring 2016

S01 · Mondays, 1:30 to 4:20 pm

Instructors: Staff

This is a course in factual writing and what has become known as literary nonfiction, emphasizing writing assignments and including several reading assignments from the work of John McPhee and others.

Advanced Poetry

CWR 302 · Spring 2016

Multiple sections offered

Instructors: Marie Howe · Paul Muldoon

Advanced practice in the original composition of poetry for discussion in regularly scheduled workshop meetings.

Advanced Literary Translation

CWR 306 / COM 356 · Spring 2016

C01 · Thursdays, 9:00 - 10:50 am

Instructors: Jhumpa Lahiri

Practice in the translation of literary works from another language into English supplemented by the reading and analysis of standard works.

Life is Short, Art is Really Short

CWR 315 · Spring 2016

C01 · Thursdays, 1:30 - 4:20 pm

Instructors: James Richardson

All literature is short — compared to our lives, anyway — but we'll be concentrating on poetry and prose at their very shortest. The reading will include proverbs, aphorisms, greguerias, one-line poems, riddles, jokes, fragments, haiku, epigrams and microlyrics.

Special Topics in Creative Writing: Writing Autobiography

CWR 345 · Spring 2016

C01 · Tuesdays, 1:30 - 3:20 pm

Instructors: Edmund White

Students will explore their own lives through various devices and discover that the truth is never elemental but can be released through literary strategies. During the semester each student will write either one long autobiographical piece or three shorter ones.

Advanced Screenwriting: Writing for Television

CWR 405 / VIS 405 · Spring 2016

C01 · Fridays, 1:30 - 3:50 pm

Instructors: Steven Katz

This advanced screenwriting course will introduce students to the post 1990’s “golden age of television” and outline the differences between writing for film and a scripted TV series.

Dance

Introduction to Ballet

DAN 207 · Spring 2016

U01 · Mondays & Wednesdays 12:30 - 2:20 pm

Instructors: Tina Fehlandt

From grand plié to grand jeté, Introduction to Ballet is for students with a curiosity for the study of classical ballet.

Introduction to Movement and Dance

DAN 209 · Spring 2016

U01 · Mondays & Wednesdays 9:00 - 10:50 am

Instructors: Aynsley Vandenbroucke

Designed for people with little or no previous training in dance, the class will be a mixture of movement techniques, improvisation, choreography, observing, writing, and discussing.

Introduction to Dance Across Cultures

DAN 215 / ANT 355 · Spring 2016

S01 · Tuesdays, 1:30 - 4:20 pm

Instructors: Judith Hamera

Interested in learning more about ethnography, hip hop, butoh, Sufi whirling, and bharatanatyam? This seminar combines the study of dance's social and political moves across cultures with studio sessions in six global dance techniques.

Contemporary Technique & Choreography

DAN 220 · Spring 2016

Rebecca Stenn & Nicole Wolcott · Fridays, 11 am - 12:50 pm Tuesdays & Thursdays, 2:30 - 4:20 pm

Instructors: Nicole Wolcott · Rebecca Stenn

This contemporary dance class focuses on strengthening fundamental alignment and coordination. It incorporates aspects of jazz, modern and ballet.

Introduction to Hip-Hop Dance

DAN 222 / AAS 222 · Spring 2016

Multiple sections offered

Instructors: Joseph Schloss · Raphael Xavier

This introductory survey course gives equal weight to scholarly study and embodied practice, using both approaches to explore a range of hip-hop dance techniques, as well as the cultural and historical contexts from which these dances emerged.

Approaches to Ballet: Technique and Repertory

DAN 431 · Spring 2016

C01 / U01 · Mondays & Wednesdays, 4:30 - 6:20 pm Fridays, 1:30 - 3:20 pm

Instructors: Tina Fehlandt

This course will be divided in units focusing on Jerome Robbins, Antony Tudor, and other 20th century choreographers. Students will be coached by internationally known guest artists, Robert LaFosse, Amanda McKerrow, John Gardner, to master and understand the diverse styles of each piece of repertory learned.

Theater & Music Theater

Playwriting II: Intermediate Playwriting

THR 305 · Spring 2016

S01 - Anne Washburn · Mondays 1:30 - 4:20 pm

Instructors: Anne Washburn

A continuation of work begun in Introductory Playwriting. In this class, students will complete either one full-length play or two long one-acts (40-60 pages) to the end of gaining a firmer understanding of characterization, dialogue, structure, and the playwriting process.

Staging Identity: Strategies for Surviving the American Stage

AMS 314 / LAO 314 / THR 324 · Spring 2016

S01 - Jorge Cortinas · Mondays 1:30 - 4:20 pm

Instructors: Jorge Cortiñas

This course maps some benefits and perils of theater made for, by, or about people of color in the United States. We will investigate the difficult-to-theorize and contested space between politics and artistic craft.

Lighting Design

THR 318 / VIS 318 · Spring 2016

C01 - Jane Cox · Wednesdays 12:30 - 4:20 pm

Instructors: Jane Cox

An introduction to the art and craft of lighting design for the stage and an exploration of light as a medium for expression.

Scenic Design

THR 319 / VIS 319 · Spring 2016

S01 · Mondays 12:30 - 4:20 pm

Instructors: Riccardo Hernandez

An introduction to the art and craft of scenic design for the stage and and exploration of the use of space as a medium of textual interpretation.

Sound Design

THR 320 / MUS 313 · Spring 2016

S01 - Robert Kaplowitz · Mondays 1:30 - 4:20 pm

Instructors: Robert Kaplowitz

An opportunity to explore what theatrical sound design is, how to look at a text from the point of view of sound, how to launch your creative process, and how to take the ideas based on that creative process and turn them into sounds to be used in a show.

Violence as a Metaphor: The 1916 Rising in Dublin

ENG 324 / THR 328 · Spring 2016

S01 - Fintan O'Toole · Tuesdays 1:30 - 4:20 pm

Instructors: Fintan O'Toole

A hundred years ago, an armed group of Irish nationalist rebels took over public buildings in Dublin, declared a Republic and held out for a week against the British army. After those leaders were executed, the Rising was embraced as a ritual of sacrifice, the most effective piece of public theater yet staged. In this course we look at what happened in Easter Week, 1916, how it was imagined at the time and how it was later reflected in drama, in poetry and in fiction.

Locked Up: The Theatre, Literature and Cinema of Coercive Confinement in Ireland

THR 327 / ENG 337 · Spring 2016

C01 - Fintan O'Toole · Wednesdays 1:30 - 4:20 pm

Instructors: Fintan O'Toole

From the 1920s until the 1950s Ireland locked up people who did not fit the state's desired image in a vast complex of institutions. In this course we consider how this system was reflected in plays, fiction and film, sometimes in direct testimony by survivors, sometimes in the most surprising ways.

Movements for Diversity in American Theater

THR 332 / AMS 346 / GSS 342 / AAS 322 · Spring 2016

S01 · Wednesdays, 1:30 - 4:20 p.m.

Instructors: Brian Herrera

In this course, we undertake a critical, creative and historical overview of agitation and advocacy by theater artist-activists aiming to transform American theatre-making and determine the ways diversity is (and is not) a guiding principle of contemporary American theater.

The Nature of Theatrical Reinvention

THR 334 · Spring 2016

S01 - John Doyle · Mondays 7:30 - 10:20 pm

Instructors: John Doyle

This seminar explores how iconic pieces of theatre can be re-explored for modern audiences. The course will examine various aspects of how an artist can think out-of-the-box and the mechanisms the artist can use to do so.

Community-Based Performance

THR 337 · Spring 2016

C01 - Erica Nagel · Fridays 1:30 - 4:20 pm

Instructors: Erica Nagel

This hands-on seminar will explore contemporary theories and practices of community-based performance, investigating contemporary theatre, dance, and music groups that use these methods.

Re:Staging the Greeks

THR 365 / HLS 365 · Spring 2016

S01 · Tuesdays, 12:30 - 2:20 pm Fridays, 12:30 - 4:20 pm

Instructors: Bryan Doerries

A collaboration between the Theater Program of the Lewis Center for the Arts and the Program in Hellenic Studies: an acting/directing workshop investigating how to stage ancient Greek plays on the contemporary stage.

History of American Popular Entertainments

AMS 381 / GSS 379 / THR 383 / LAO 381 · Spring 2016

L01 - Brian Herrera · Mondays & Wednesdays, 11:00 - 11:50 am

Instructors: Brian Herrera

This course investigates the history of popular entertainments in the United States from the colonial era to the present.

Plays & Politics

ENG 382 / THR 382 · Spring 2016

Instructors: Mara Isaacs · Tamsen Wolff

This course addresses when and why producing political theatre matters. We will look specifically at contemporary and canonical plays from around the globe that take on various political crises (e.g., the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, Chile under Pinochet, the Liberian Civil War, the Arab Spring).

The “Peer” Review

ATL 494 / THR 494 · Spring 2016

S01 · Mondays, 1:30 - 4:20 pm Location TBA

Instructors: John Doyle

This course is a practical examination of Henrik Ibsen's epic play "Peer Gynt". Through close examination of scenes from the play, the internationally acclaimed director John Doyle aims to develop a new adaptation.

Visual Arts

Drawing

VIS 202 / ARC 202 · Spring 2016

Multiple sections offered

Instructors: Kurt Kauper · Nathan Carter

This course approaches drawing as a way of thinking and seeing. Students will be introduced to a range of drawing issues, as well as a variety of media, including charcoal, graphite, ink, oil stick, collage, string, wire and clay.

Painting

VIS 204 / ARC 328 · Spring 2016

Multiple sections offered

Instructors: Eve Aschheim

An introduction to the materials and methods of painting. The areas to be covered are color and its interaction, the use of form and scale, painting from a model, painting objects with a concern for their mass and interaction with light.

Black & White Photography

VIS 212 · Spring 2016

C01 - Deana Lawson · Tuesdays 1:30 - 4:20 pm

Instructors: Deana Lawson

An introduction to the processes of analog photography through a series of problems directed toward the handling of film-based cameras, light-sensitive paper, darkroom chemistry, and printing.

Digital Photography

VIS 213 · Spring 2016

Multiple sections offered

Instructors: Jeff Whetstone · Fia Backström

This studio course introduces students to aesthetic and theoretical implications of digital photography, with an emphasis on mastering digital equipment and techniques, managing print quality, and generally becoming familiar with all aspects of the digital workspace.

Graphic Design

VIS 214 / ARC 214 / CWR 214 · Spring 2016

U01 - Alice Chung · Fridays 10:00 am - 12:20 pm and 1:30 - 4:20 pm

Instructors: Alice Chung

This studio course will introduce students to the essential aspects and skills of graphic design, and will analyze and discuss the increasingly vital role that non-verbal, graphic information plays in all areas of professional life, from fine art and book design to social networking and the Internet.

Graphic Design: Typography

VIS 215 / CWR 215 · Spring 2016

U01 - David Reinfurt · Tuesdays 1:30 - 4:20 pm and 7:30 - 9:40 pm

Instructors: David Reinfurt

This studio course introduces students to graphic design with a particular emphasis on typography. Students learn typographic history through lectures that highlight major shifts in print technologies and through their engagement in studio design projects.

Introductory Sculpture

VIS 222 · Spring 2016

Multiple sections offered

Instructors: Martha Friedman · Pam Lins

A studio introduction to sculpture, particularly the study of form, concept, fabrication and the influence of a wide variety of materials and processes on sculpture and its consequences.

How to Make a Film

VIS 262 · Spring 2016

Multiple sections offered

Instructors: Keith Sanborn

Through hands-on studio work, screenings, critical readings and group critiques, this course teaches the basic tools and approaches for film production with digital media including writing, camerawork, sound, editing, and postproduction.

Documentary Filmmaking

VIS 263 · Spring 2016

S01 - Su Friedrich · Wednesdays 7:30 - 9:40 pm and Thursdays 1:30 - 4:20 pm

Instructors: Su Friedrich

This course introduces students to documentary film production using digital video, with an emphasis on the practical challenges of working in the real world.

Introductory Printmaking

VIS 309 · Spring 2016

C01 - Daniel Heyman · Tuesdays 7:30 - 9:40 pm and Wednesdays 1:30 pm - 4:20 pm

Instructors: Daniel Heyman

This course introduces techniques of copper plate etching, and relief printing. Assignments focus on applications of various printmaking techniques, while encouraging independent development of subject matter.

Lighting Design

THR 318 / VIS 318 · Spring 2016

C01 - Jane Cox · Wednesdays 12:30 - 4:20 pm

Instructors: Jane Cox

An introduction to the art and craft of lighting design for the stage and an exploration of light as a medium for expression.

Scenic Design

THR 319 / VIS 319 · Spring 2016

S01 · Mondays 12:30 - 4:20 pm

Instructors: Riccardo Hernandez

An introduction to the art and craft of scenic design for the stage and and exploration of the use of space as a medium of textual interpretation.

Sonic Cinema: Music, Noise, and the Moving Image

VIS 336 / MUS 302 · Spring 2016

· F01 Wednesdays, 7:30 - 9:40 pm S01 Thursdays, 1:30 - 4:20 pm

Instructors: Staff

This course will explore the use of sound in relation to moving images, including film scoring, musicals, soundtracks, music videos, and experimental sound and video art.

World on a Wire: 12 Films, 12 Filmmakers

VIS 338 · Spring 2016

· S01 Fridays, 11:00 am - 12:20 pm F01 Thursdays, 7:30 - 10:20 pm

Instructors: Pacho Velez

In this course we will encounter the output of some of the most engaging filmmakers working today. No film shown in this course will be more than eighteen months from its world premiere, and each will be accompanied by a Q+A with its director.

Advanced Painting

VIS 404 · Spring 2016

U01 - Pam Lins · Wednesdays 12:30 - 4:20 pm

Instructors: Pam Lins

This course explores a variety of possible "equations" by which a painting gets made. Students will experiment with different media and approaches: direct observation, ways to use photography, digital images and post-digital imagery.

Advanced Screenwriting: Writing for Television

CWR 405 / VIS 405 · Spring 2016

C01 · Fridays, 1:30 - 3:50 pm

Instructors: Steven Katz

This advanced screenwriting course will introduce students to the post 1990’s “golden age of television” and outline the differences between writing for film and a scripted TV series.

Advanced Questions in Photography

VIS 411 · Spring 2016

C01 - Deana Lawson · Wednesdays 1:30 - 4:20 pm

Instructors: Deana Lawson

This class will investigate the idea of "manipulation" in photography and examine different approaches to controlling form and content. Class lectures will look at the work of such artists as James Welling, Collier Schorr, Arthur Jaffa, and Boris Mikhailov, among others.

Advanced Sculpture

VIS 421 · Spring 2016

U01 - Martha Friedman · Wednesdays 12:30 - 4:20 pm

Instructors: Martha Friedman

In this course, each student will determine a specific theme that they will poke, prod and refine throughout the semester, ultimately completing three fully realized, thematically-linked sculptures and/or installations.

Narrative Film: Working from the Script

VIS 438 · Spring 2016

C01 - Su Friedrich · Wednesdays 1:30 - 4:20 pm

Instructors: Su Friedrich

A script is only the beginning. Then come the interesting decisions: the actors, the visual style, and the sound design. In this class, each student will be given one segment of a script which they can interpret in any way they choose.

Art as Interaction

VIS 439 · Spring 2016

U01 - Fia Backstrom · Wednesdays 12:30 - 4:20 pm

Instructors: Fia Backström

With roots in activities as diverse as mural painting, sports, street fairs, or community activism, publicly engaged art inserts itself into specific contexts and directly engages its audience-often with the hope for social change. This class will investigate the evolving practice of art by creating objects designed to interact with people and spaces around campus.

Trying Out Positions

ART 495 / VIS 495 · Spring 2016

U01 - Joe Scanlan · Wednesdays 12:30 - 4:20 pm

Instructors: Joe Scanlan

Artists have long deployed language as a kind of satellite hovering in the vicinity of their artworks, influencing their reception.