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Fine Art + New Studio Practice Program of Study

Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree (BFA) in Fine Art + New Studio Practice

This is a general overview of a program of study. Each Program of Study is personalized based on the path you choose. Contact Academic Advising with questions about your program of study.

Click on any course to read its description

FYE: FIRST-YEAR EXPERIENCE  
Required Major Courses: Fall credits
FYE100: Systems of Drawing
Drawing is a primary strategy for creative activities in art, language, communications, engineering and design. In this course, students are introduced to various forms of knowing through seeing and drawing. Different drawing systems are investigated both in the field and classroom, and are aligned with areas of study of creative practice today. Each drawing system will be explored as both a foundational skill set and a tactical approach to success in later creative endeavors.
3.0
FYE150: Digital 2D
In Digital 2D, students are introduced to image/content creation, manipulation, editing, and management through Adobe Suite programs. Students will learn proper file management and workflow techniques, along with proper digital documentation and presentation of work. Students will also employ digital terminology across a wide range of disciplines and practices while also recognizing the cultural implications of digital creation, appropriation, and distribution. By the end of the course, students will have built a solid foundation of digital knowledge and skills that will benefit them as visual creators and communicators.
3.0
Required Major Courses: Spring  
FYE199: IAS: Intro to Advanced Study

Introduction to Advanced Study offers a unique and broad-based exposure in advanced-level art and design disciplines offered at MIAD. The philosophy behind Introduction to Advanced Study is to invite students to explore problem solving and ways of working within the majors. Students will be actively engaged in making as a mode of inquiry and will gain experience in both the conceptual basis for the disciplines as well as the practical processes of the disciplines studied. Faculty will offer a variety of course structures and themes.

Credits: 3.0
Prerequisite(s): FYE100, FYE150, FYE130 & 3CR

3.0
Required in fall or spring; completed in first year  
FYE110: Visual Language
This course is an introduction to composition and color theory. Students will learn and apply the elements and principles of art and design in a variety of assignments through a variety of traditional and digital tools and media. All assignments will focus on how ideation techniques are fundamental to creative problem solving. Students will gain a clear understanding of how 2D elements and compositional theory are employed to create clear and effective visual communication, aid personal expression, and help comprise a personal aesthetic. Students will learn to identify how 2D fundamentals are employed in contemporary, professional, and historical work.
3.0
FYE130: Fabrication
The focus of this course will be form, light, and content. Students will learn to imbue three-dimensional form with meaning and also investigate how light can affect perceptions of form and space. Research strategies, fabrication, and digital and material techniques are advanced through hands-on experiments, projects, and in-depth discussion. Students receive an orientation to MIAD’s 3-D Lab and Open Lab.
3.0
FYE121: RPC: Research, Process and Connection
Research, Process and Connection is a theme-based introductory course in which students conduct research and engage in a creative process that leads to a body of visual work. Each section of RPC is devoted to a particular idea, process, or approach. Students will develop concepts, translate ideas, and apply methods as they make their work. Students will explore their work and thinking within a historical, cultural, and personal context. This will be reinforced through critical dialogue during stages of ideation, production, completion, and evaluation.
At the end of the semester, students are required to present their final research in a digital presentation. These presentations should demonstrate visual evidence of work completed throughout the semester as well as the ability to analyze their progress and learning in a public format.
3.0
FYE151: Digital 4D
Digital 4D considers how image, text and sound unfold over time and across various distribution models. Students will learn and reinforce proper file management and workflow techniques, along with proper digital documentation and presentation of work. Students are introduced to video editing, basic animation, and audio tools, they will gain experience in using a variety of software and hardware, while considering their role as cultural producers. Motion graphics and the onscreen image-as-experience will be introduced. By the end of this course, through a series of projects, students will have completed a self-determined final project that incorporates a design or fine arts focus, and demonstrates an understanding of basic 4D principles.
3.0
Critical Studies: FYE  
WRTG120: Processes of Inquiry
The first-year writing seminar will emphasize the significance of inquiry. Students will experience writing as an intellectual, creative and meaning-making act. Practicing writing as inquiry will enable students to learn the skills, strategies, and conceptual frameworks that will transfer to every new learning context and situation. The course serves as a writing-based first year seminar in which students integrate their learning across all of their courses.
3.0
ARTH151: Intro to the Practice of Art & Design History
In this course, students will explore key works and moments of art and design across culture and time, while learning proper terminology and methodology for analyzing visual images, objects, and structures within the study of the discipline. Students will contextualize and interpret works recognizing that different interpretive frameworks can be used to analyze works of art and design. As a broad approach to the discipline, the course encourages inquiry, critical evaluation, and curiosity about the richness of art and design history. Students will acquire the analytical skills to navigate, translate, diagram, and express the complexities of visual culture and production.
3.0
HUMT121: Intro to Humanities
Humanities is the study of what it means to be human through cultural inquiry and analysis. In this introductory course, students explore texts, artifacts, and situations to broaden their perspective and understanding of the human condition. Frames of inquiry will be influenced by history, culture, economics, political power and other social circumstances. The course takes an intersectional approach to analysis, examining the interconnected nature of societal categories such as race, class, and gender. In this class, research and dialogue are the fundamental modes of learning
3.0
Students complete 15 credits each semester first year to complete degree requirements in four years  
SOPHOMORE  
Required Major Courses: Fall credits
NSP200: Singularity + Multiplicity

This course will examine the evolution of art from the perspective of making, using art history and theory to motivate inquiry into how art gestures are affected by past, present and future contexts. The seminal 1936 Walter Benjamin essay “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction” will provide an informative and illuminating backdrop to studio project prompts, class discussions and further readings and research. We will explore how meanings are encoded in authentic, unique objects and events, and how representations of those objects and events are decoded in different contexts. Students will experiment with old and new technologies, and investigate how tools define, limit and expand creative possibilities. Through critique, students will learn how artistic intent and the dynamic of multiple viewpoints, via an audience, ultimately produce shared meaning.

Credits: 3.0
Prerequisite(s): FYE100, FYE150, FYE130

3.0
NSP220: Approaches to Making

This course is multidisciplinary, and students will choose a medium, in which they would like to advance their skills. They will be given a strong conceptual and practical foundation in mastering of its essentials and developing and cultivating skills will be emphasized. Based on the material covered in this course students will be able to continue their quest long beyond the duration of this course.

Credits: 3.0
Prerequisite(s): FYE100, FYE150, FYE130

3.0
NSP206: Studio Principles

This course provides students with the foundational knowledge and skills within a specific area or discipline of focus. Emphasis on tools, materials, techniques and formal visual principles structure a sequence of assignments and exercises. Students will engage in a process of creation, construction and experimentation. Awareness of traditional and contemporary precedents promotes development of skills, personal vision and distinct expression. Through analysis and critique of their own and each other’s work, the class will establish the language of analytic and intuitive problem-solving.

Credits: 3.0
Prerequisite(s): FYE100, FYE150, FYE130

3.0
Required Major Courses: Spring  
NSP221: Approaches to Making

This course is multidisciplinary, and students will choose a medium, in which they would like to advance their skills. They will be given a strong conceptual and practical foundation in mastering of its essentials and developing and cultivating skills will be emphasized. Based on the material covered in this course students will be able to continue their quest long beyond the duration of this course.

Credits: 3.0
Prerequisite(s): FYE100, FYE150, FYE130

3.0
NSP207: Studio Principles

This course provides students with the foundational knowledge and skills within a specific area or discipline of focus. Emphasis on tools, materials, techniques and formal visual principles structure a sequence of assignments and exercises. Students will engage in a process of creation, construction and experimentation. Awareness of traditional and contemporary precedents promotes development of skills, personal vision and distinct expression. Through analysis and critique of their own and each other’s work, the class will establish the language of analytic and intuitive problem-solving.

Credits: 3.0
Prerequisite(s): FYE100, FYE150, FYE130

3.0
NSP207: Studio Principles

This course provides students with the foundational knowledge and skills within a specific area or discipline of focus. Emphasis on tools, materials, techniques and formal visual principles structure a sequence of assignments and exercises. Students will engage in a process of creation, construction and experimentation. Awareness of traditional and contemporary precedents promotes development of skills, personal vision and distinct expression. Through analysis and critique of their own and each other’s work, the class will establish the language of analytic and intuitive problem-solving.

Credits: 3.0
Prerequisite(s): FYE100, FYE150, FYE130

3.0
NSP290: Sophomore Seminar

This course provides an overview of the NEW STUDIO PRACTICE curriculum and the scope of Fine Art practice. It is a forum for navigating individual courses of study by introducing and using skills that are relevant throughout one’s education. Coordinated with individual academic advising, growing confidence in goal setting will begin the preparation for professional practices.
Learning how to conduct and assess effective research; develop project proposals; write artists statements; refine digital skills in representing artwork; organize a quality e-Portfolio and organize a path of inquiry are among the essential hands-on experiences. Art world issues such as copyright, safe studio practices and critique models that are pertinent at this level of study will be covered. Field trips, guest speakers, and visiting artists will impart significant perspectives on the art world beyond the classroom.

 

Credits: 1.5
Prerequisite(s): FYE100, FYE150, FYE130

1.5
Studio Electives  
3cr. studio elective:
A studio elective is any studio course (art or design major course) within MIAD’s entire Program of Study, as long as it not a requirement of the student’s major, and as long as the student meets the prerequisite(s). In addition to required courses from all eleven majors, each semester MIAD offers various special electives with a range of topics.
3.0
Critical Studies: Sophomore  
WRTG200: Critical Conversations

WR200 is a course in which students use writing and research to engage in critical conversations about topics that matter. You will compose and communicate in a variety of forms as you hone your awareness of the relationship between audience, context, and purpose in a variety of rhetorical situations. This course emphasizes writing- in-process, and you will be challenged to take responsibility for all phases of the process: from journaling through drafting and revision to composing carefully crafted and polished texts. You will also conduct self-directed inquiry and develop proficiency evaluating and working with a variety of primary and secondary sources. Throughout, you will be required to demonstrate evolving critical judgement and self-reflection. Ultimately, students will develop the tools to shape informed opinions and engage thoughtfully and meaningfully in public dialogue about contemporary issues.

Credits: 3.0
Prerequisite(s): WRTG120 & HUMT121

3.0
NASC220: Patterns in Nature

The Introduction to Natural Sciences is based upon first hand investigations and discoveries in the field of Natural Sciences. In this course students will deepen their understanding of the nature of the scientific method, its theoretical challenges, and pursue a series of empirical applications in the lab and in the field. This practical knowledge will be broadened through intensive reading, discussions, critiques, and oral assignments. This is an intensive, practical approach that uses the scientific method as a tool for investigation, problem solving and critical thinking. This course is challenging and demanding, but rewarding. Excellence in analytical and critical thinking skills are of utmost importance.

Credits: 3.0
Prerequisite(s): none

3.0
ARTH212: History of Art Since 1850

In this in-depth course, students will explore key works of art from 1850 to the present, while using proper terminology and methodology for analyzing works within the study of the field. Students will contextualize and interpret works recognizing that different interpretive and cultural frameworks can be used to analyze works of art. As a focused approach to the discipline, the course is designed to encourage inquiry, critical evaluation, and curiosity about modern and contemporary art. Through selected readings and discussions, students will broaden their awareness of the history of modern and contemporary art and demonstrate their understanding through critical writing, research, and presentation.

Credits: 3.0
Prerequisite(s): WRTG120 & ARTH151

3.0
Students complete 15/16.5 credits each semester second year to complete degree requirements in four years  
JUNIOR  
Required Major Courses: Fall credits
NSP300: Connections

This class places an emphasis on experimental approaches to research and ideation in order to strengthen and enhance the student’s studio experiments. Through a series of exercises, projects and curated experiences this class examines the artist’s relationship to materials, process and context via numerous lenses. Students refine their artist voice through ideation, experimentation, research and reflection, and develop their ideas and studio output through material experiments, drawings, research, and writing.

Credits: 3.0
Prerequisite(s): NSP200

3.0
NSP320: Contemporary Critical Theory

This course examines visual art through contemporary cultural theory, rather than art history and aesthetics. Art exists in relation to the political, and operates as and within language. Through the viewpoint of art makers, we examine theories of representation and modes of interpretation. Readings and works examined define art as symbolic articulations of sociality and subjectivity. In-class projects and discussion; articulate positions supported by argument without resorting to opinion.
Key issues include formal, contextual, and conceptual developments and are discussed in relation to socioeconomic, intellectual, political, and cultural contexts. Emphasis is placed on theoretical and critical issues. The study of contemporary cultural theory is a study into the formation of the contemporary subject – ourselves – as well as the study of how we come to know and see art.

 

Credits: 3.0
Prerequisite(s): WRTG200 & NSP200

3.0
NSP306: Open Studio I

This course is an introduction to self-directed learning designed to further one’s growth as an artist. Individual artistic investigations will center on self-determined modes of making. Students may choose to concentrate on one discipline or they may work across several disciplines. That choice will be guided by the instructor and by advanced student mentors in the class. Guidance will also be offered as the student defines broad themes for artistic inquiry. Successful self-determined inquiry requires the students to reflect on the trajectory of their work and it further requires them to nurture a dialog with their work.
Students will have the opportunity to work with multiple NSP faculty during Open Studio.

 

Credits: 3.0
Prerequisite(s): NSP200, NSP290 & 9CR

3.0
Required Major Courses: Spring  
NSP301: Junior Project

This class focuses on connections between the student’s art projects thus far and possibilities for their future.  In this project-based course students refine their personal artistic direction and increase their understanding of the relationships between formal, conceptual and contextual aspects of their art work. Examining their own working process in relation to current options allows students to expand their thinking and their perspective while developing their work. Students will learn to craft a well-considered written proposal for a semester-long investigation.  Critiques and writing assignments provide students the opportunity to assess and adjust their projects throughout the semester. Documentation becomes an effective tool to assess process, studio projects, and research. 

Credits: 3.0
Prerequisite(s): NSP300

3.0
NSP307: Open Studio II

This course is an introduction to self-directed learning designed to further one’s growth as an artist. Individual artistic investigations will center on self-determined modes of making. Students may choose to concentrate on one discipline or they may work across several disciplines. That choice will be guided by the instructor and by advanced student mentors in the class. Guidance will also be offered as the student defines broad themes for artistic inquiry. Successful self-determined inquiry requires the students to reflect on the trajectory of their work and it further requires them to nurture a dialog with their work.
Students will have the opportunity to work with multiple NSP faculty during Open Studio.

 

Credits: 3.0
Prerequisite(s): NSP306

3.0
NSP391: Junior Seminar

This course prepares students to enter into the community of artists. Continuing to build and refine an archive as a self-driven pedagogical tool, students will review and deepen their path of inquiry. Learning to further define one’s goals and make well-considered choices in courses, internships, community service and/or exhibitions while beginning to build a resumé are pertinent to preparing for the senior year. Defining what constitutes your studio practice, advancing your research strategies, developing time management and budget skills to support that practice are essential components examined through interviewing professional artists. An understanding of how to keep abreast of current issues in your field will be fostered. Field trips, guest speakers, and visiting artists will impart significant perspectives on the art world beyond the classroom.

Credits: 1.5
Prerequisite(s): NSP290 & NSP306

1.5
Critical Studies: Junior  
WRTG300: The Creative Professional in Context

In The Creative Professional in Context, students explore the process of constructing a professional, public identity through written and verbal communication about their work in Fine Art and/or Design. They refine their skills in writing, speaking, and listening, and use writing as a means to examine the conceptual, critical, philosophical, and historical foundations of their emerging creative work within the broader contexts of their chosen fields and of visual culture broadly conceived.

In this course students learn to use writing as a means of effectively communicating ideas and information about their emerging professional identities. To these ends, students will write, edit and revise often; engage in self-directed research; analyze different rhetorical situations within the professional sphere; and refine their professional selves through both oral and written assignments. Instructors in WRTG300 employ frequent use of writing workshops and writing groups as well as individual writing assignments. Because the course is conducted in seminar fashion, students are expected to assume considerable responsibility for course materials and processes.

WRTG300 emphasizes the composition of polished, substantive written work, including description of studio work and processes, critical analysis of art/design texts, reflective writing, and communication with colleagues and peers. Assignments foster the development of a professional identity by engaging students in critical reading and discussion of key texts in visual culture and their major field, and identifying personal, cultural, and professional influences and connections that impact the student’s work. The course work will culminate in the creation of a substantive document representing a professional self, conceived in relation to these critical contexts.

Credits: 3.0
Prerequisite(s): Junior standing & WRTG200

3.0
ARTH318: Art History Elective

ARTH318 provides students the opportunity to give in-depth focus to a wide range of elective topics in Art History. Experience in the disciplines is broadened through intensive reading, writing, research and oral assignments. Among the topics which students may choose to study are courses such as: 19th Century American Masters; Early Chinese Art; Women, Art, and Society; The Bauhaus; The History of Industrial Design; and others.

ARTH318 is an advanced-level elective course in Art History. In ARTH318 students will undertake an in-depth and systematic investigation of one area of study in Art History. This topic may focus on the art of a geographic area or culture, a particular movement in the history of art, or on the life and work of one artist or group of artists. In each case, the course of study will include an extensive analysis of individual works of art, the cultures from which these emerged, and the critical discourse that helps us understand this art more clearly.

As an advanced-level course, ARTH318 is designed with the understanding that the coursework will feature interpretation, analysis and critical method rather than the mere assimilation and recall of factual material. Students will be presented with readings and lecture material from a variety of sources – and from a range of historic and critical literature on the topic under consideration. Each student will be expected to engage actively with course materials and methods.

Credits: 3.0
Prerequisite(s): WRTG200 & ARTH212

3.0
NASC320/350/321:Natural Science Elective

NASC320 Topics in Natural Sciences description should be updated to reflect our current course offering:

NASC320 is an advanced-level course that examines one of the many fields of Natural Sciences. Topics in Natural Science will rotate on a semester basis. Students will study the nature of scientific inquiry, the methods, theories, discoveries, technology, and language important to the specific field of science of their choosing. As part of the course, students will also conduct an independent inquiry utilizing the basis of scientific inquiry and research.

As an advanced course, NASC320 builds upon skills and knowledge acquired in NASC220. It is designed with the understanding that the coursework will focus on interpretation, analysis and critical method rather than on mere assimilation and recall of factual material. Students will examine a field of natural science through readings and lecture material from a variety of sources and from a range of scientific and critical opinion. The material and assignments will vary depending upon the field of natural sciences taught. This course can be retaken with change in topic for a 6 credits maximum.

Credits: 3.0
Prerequisite(s): NASC220

NASC321: Topics in Natural Sciences – Field Experiences

As an advanced course, NASC321 builds upon skills and knowledge acquired in NASC220. It is designed with the understanding that the coursework will focus on interpretation, analysis and critical method rather than on mere assimilation and recall of factual material. Students will first examine the field of natural science through readings and lecture material from a variety of sources and from a range of scientific and critical opinion. Students will apply in the field the theoretical knowledge gained by a literature review, with direct inquiry and hands-on activities and investigations. This course relies heavily on field work, direct inquiry and self-directed independent research culminating with a peer-reviewed oral examination. Note: The field component of this course i9 days, located at offsite from MIAD.

Prerequisites: NASC220 or equivalent and permission of the instructors.

Credits: 3.0
Prerequisite(s): NASC220

3.0
HUMT380: Service Learning

Service Learning is an interdisciplinary course with a service-learning component and is designed as the synthesis of a student’s four-year humanities and social science experience. In HUMT380 students will study a topic in-depth (i.e., cities, families, borders, aging, food) and be presented with many opportunities for interdisciplinary investigation. Through intensive reading, writing, research and oral assignments, students will analyze an issue in order to evaluate how social groups function and work towards resolution. Topics will be dealt with through scholarly and community investigations that may include sociology, psychology, anthropology, economics, political science, and history.

In HUMT380 students will have the opportunity to examine a social issue in depth, from a variety of perspectives. The coursework will focus on the historical and philosophical background of a given topic, as well as helping students to learn how to assess a variety of approaches to social systems through an examination of the nature of service in the community.

In the study of the social sciences, we examine patterns in our personal lives, the communities we live in, and a larger global context in order to see how they are connected. Through the in-depth study of a particular topic (i.e., food, cities, family, rivers, borders, aging), students will be able to analyze an issue in order to evaluate how social groups understand and work towards resolution. HUMT380 includes a service- learning component that is connected to the topic being studied. This will take place in the larger community, and it will allow students to examine the information they are learning through thinking and acting in a multicultural context.

Credits: 3.0
Prerequisite(s): Junior standing & WRTG200

3.0
Students complete 13.5/15 each semester third year to complete degree requirements  
SENIOR  
Required Major Courses: Fall credits
NSP440: Multidisciplinary Thesis I

This course provides for the resolution of critical, technical and philosophical skills essential for establishing a successful practice as an artist, or as a basis for continued post-baccalaureate study. Each student is required to demonstrate appropriate competence within an individually described program of study. This program will evidence competence: artistic, cultural and scholastic; culminating in a required thesis exhibition.

A self-directed studio component forms the backbone of this course, which is taught in concert with Senior New Studio Practices Seminar. At the beginning of this yearlong undertaking, the student, in consultation with the instructor, will define a starting point for the thesis project. Through this project, students will form an extensive body of work. The direction of the student’s project will be tested through rigorous examination of the artwork produced. New directions or productive tangents may be identified and pursued as the semester progresses. Students expand their ideas, and experiment within the studio practice while being open to ambiguity and discovery. Through the repeated process of researching, making and critiquing, students develop and refine a cohesive body of work for presentation during the final thesis exhibition in the second semester. This work represents personal vision and is presented professionally. The experience of this public presentation of work serves to inform an overall concept of the artist’s continuous process from initial idea to execution and reception. Final assessment of the student’s thesis takes the form of a panel meeting within the exhibition space.

Credits: 3.0
Prerequisite(s): Senior standing & NSP301

3.0
NSP400: Standpoints + Circumstances

This course is a dynamic combination of studio work and critical inquiry into the meanings embedded within and around artworks. This course will demonstrate the importance of understanding one’s position within the world of creative production, and in the larger social context, to understand generation and interpretation of meanings. Through critique, we will examine how individual viewpoints, and interpretations of the viewpoints of others, are shaped by contexts. As students develop their studio practices, they will be asked to explore available interpretations of their work and the work of others, and to bring these interpretations to bear through exhibition. Venues for artistic and creative production will be explored, to empower students to see themselves as generators of culture, and members of communities responsible for their own artistic sustenance.

Credits: 3.0
Prerequisite(s): Senior standing & NSP301

3.0
NSP490: Senior Seminar

This course is a forum for addressing and engaging post-MIAD possibilities and issues including graduate school, community opportunities, business concerns self-presentation, and other matters important to Fine Arts students who are about to graduate. Taught in concert with Multidisciplinary Thesis, it is also a forum for students to discuss and determine Senior Show preparations and to properly prepare to present themselves to the greater public. Expanding upon e-Portfolios, students assemble a professional artist packet and an appropriate web presence. Application of learned principles and skills via hands-on experiences allows students to take the first steps toward a professional practice as a fine artist upon graduation.

Because we shape and are shaped by the context of our time, culture and experience, the Seminar/Thesis combined experience will examine contemporary art issues through multiple opportunities: field trips, visiting artists, readings, films, lectures, discussions and exercises to impart significant perspectives on the art world beyond the classroom. Thesis will focus on a primary studio practice, while Seminar rounds out the student’s skills with applied professional practices and exposure to established professionals working in the creative fields.

Credits: 1.5
Prerequisite(s): Senior with Thesis

1.5
Required Major Courses: Spring credits
NSP441: Multidisciplinary Thesis II

This course provides for the resolution of critical, technical and philosophical skills essential for establishing a successful practice as an artist, or as a basis for continued post-baccalaureate study. Each student is required to demonstrate appropriate competence within an individually described program of study. This program will evidence competence: artistic, cultural and scholastic; culminating in a required thesis exhibition.

A self-directed studio component forms the backbone of this course, which is taught in concert with Senior New Studio Practices Seminar. At the beginning of this yearlong undertaking, the student, in consultation with the instructor, will define a starting point for the thesis project. Through this project, students will form an extensive body of work. The direction of the student’s project will be tested through rigorous examination of the artwork produced. New directions or productive tangents may be identified and pursued as the semester progresses. Students expand their ideas, and experiment within the studio practice while being open to ambiguity and discovery. Through the repeated process of researching, making and critiquing, students develop and refine a cohesive body of work for presentation during the final thesis exhibition in the second semester. This work represents personal vision and is presented professionally. The experience of this public presentation of work serves to inform an overall concept of the artist’s continuous process from initial idea to execution and reception. Final assessment of the student’s thesis takes the form of a panel meeting within the exhibition space.

Credits: 3.0
Prerequisite(s): NSP440 & NSP490

3.0
NSP491: Senior Seminar

The Senior Fine Arts Seminar is a forum for addressing and engaging post MIAD possibilities and issues including graduate school, community opportunities, business concerns, and other matters important to Fine Arts students who are about to graduate. It is also a forum for students to discuss and determine Senior Show preparations. Application of learned principles and skills via hands-on experiences allow students to take the first steps toward a professional practice as a fine artist upon graduation. Field trips, guest speakers, and visiting artists will impart significant perspectives on the art world beyond the classroom.

Credits: 1.5
Prerequisite(s): NSP440 & NSP490

1.5
Studio Electives  
3cr studio elective:
A studio elective is any studio course (art or design major course) within MIAD’s entire Program of Study, as long as it not a requirement of the student’s major, and as long as the student meets the prerequisite(s). In addition to required courses from all eleven majors, each semester MIAD offers various special electives with a range of topics.
3.0
3cr studio elective:
A studio elective is any studio course (art or design major course) within MIAD’s entire Program of Study, as long as it not a requirement of the student’s major, and as long as the student meets the prerequisite(s). In addition to required courses from all eleven majors, each semester MIAD offers various special electives with a range of topics.
3.0
Critical Studies: Senior  
WRTG400: Senior Writing Seminar

Senior Writing Seminar is an intensive capstone writing course run as a seminar examining the making of meaning through narrative; specifically, exploring forms of Life Writing. Students will study the various forms of “life writing” including: autobiography, memoir, new journalism and creative nonfiction. Through weekly written explorations, students will explore and practice the different forms that the genre of “life writing” may take. Within the context of a growing public popularity of autobiographical writing and memoirs, students will explore possible social, political and rhetorical purposes for writing from life and will compose a final, capstone life writing project individually as means for practicing this form of writing.

WR 400 is a capstone writing course that introduces students to emerging hybrid and intermodal forms of personal writing and causes them to analyze the contexts within which it is occurring. Through formal and informal written exercises, students will explore the capacity of language to help shape and give meaning and form to personal experiences, influences, individuals, achievements or landscapes. This writing should provide a reflective springboard for looking backward or for facing the future and determining larger contexts and meanings for experiences. It should also cause students to continue to develop more sophisticated skills as writers.

The nature and form of the writing that students produce will be various –individual writers will complete intensely reflective responses to readings and to one another’s writing. In an effort to identify past memories and influences, material choices and intentions, important events and people, composing short and long pieces about those issues and individuals.

Credits: 3.0
Prerequisite(s): Senior standing & WRTG300

3.0
ARTH318: Art History Elective

ARTH318 provides students the opportunity to give in-depth focus to a wide range of elective topics in Art History. Experience in the disciplines is broadened through intensive reading, writing, research and oral assignments. Among the topics which students may choose to study are courses such as: 19th Century American Masters; Early Chinese Art; Women, Art, and Society; The Bauhaus; The History of Industrial Design; and others.

ARTH318 is an advanced-level elective course in Art History. In ARTH318 students will undertake an in-depth and systematic investigation of one area of study in Art History. This topic may focus on the art of a geographic area or culture, a particular movement in the history of art, or on the life and work of one artist or group of artists. In each case, the course of study will include an extensive analysis of individual works of art, the cultures from which these emerged, and the critical discourse that helps us understand this art more clearly.

As an advanced-level course, ARTH318 is designed with the understanding that the coursework will feature interpretation, analysis and critical method rather than the mere assimilation and recall of factual material. Students will be presented with readings and lecture material from a variety of sources – and from a range of historic and critical literature on the topic under consideration. Each student will be expected to engage actively with course materials and methods.

Credits: 3.0
Prerequisite(s): WRTG200 & ARTH212

3.0
HUMT340: Topic in Humanities

Topic in Cultural Studies offers students a range of topics in the interdisciplinary study of cultural phenomena in various societies. Courses may draw on or combine the methods and perspectives of an array of disciplines, including literary theory, media theory, film/video studies, cultural anthropology, history, philosophy, political economy, communication, sociology, social theory, psychology, museum studies, art history, and the history, philosophy or sociology of science. Experience in the topic is broadened through intensive reading, writing, research and oral assignments. As an advanced-level course, HUMT360 is designed with the understanding that the coursework will feature interpretation, analysis, and critical method rather than mere assimilation and recall of factual material. Each student will be expected to engage actively with course materials and methods and contribute regularly to class discussions and/or oral collaborative efforts—such as focus groups and panel discussions—that relate to course material.

Credits: 3.0
Prerequisite(s): WRTG200

3.0
HUMT340: Topic in Humanities

Topic in Cultural Studies offers students a range of topics in the interdisciplinary study of cultural phenomena in various societies. Courses may draw on or combine the methods and perspectives of an array of disciplines, including literary theory, media theory, film/video studies, cultural anthropology, history, philosophy, political economy, communication, sociology, social theory, psychology, museum studies, art history, and the history, philosophy or sociology of science. Experience in the topic is broadened through intensive reading, writing, research and oral assignments. As an advanced-level course, HUMT360 is designed with the understanding that the coursework will feature interpretation, analysis, and critical method rather than mere assimilation and recall of factual material. Each student will be expected to engage actively with course materials and methods and contribute regularly to class discussions and/or oral collaborative efforts—such as focus groups and panel discussions—that relate to course material.

Credits: 3.0
Prerequisite(s): WRTG200

3.0
Students complete 16.5/13.5 credits each semester fourth year to complete degree requirements  
120 credits minimum required to complete degree  

News

gener8tor Art x Sherman Phoenix announces 2024 Fall Cohort

Of the seven Milwaukee artists selected for the gener8tor Art x Sherman Phoenix 2024 Fall Cohort, three are part of the community at the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design (MIAD). Assistant Professor Morgan Bouldes, current senior Nomka Enkhee ’25 and Photography & Digital Media Lab Technician Grant Gill ’13 (Photography) were selected as part of the grant and mentorship program.

Painting is alive at the Painting is Dead Gallery

It’s over 20 years and 30 miles from a figure drawing class at the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design to the new Painting is Dead Gallery in Fredonia, Wis., owned by Katie Musolff ’04 (Painting) and Andy Fletcher, who first met in the class.

MIAD alum publishes picture book for neurodiverse children

MIAD alum Morgan Tillisch ’24 (Illustration) wrote and illustrated a book to help neurodiverse kids feel comfortable sharing. With the help of her professors and the Lubar Innovation Center, Tillisch recently published “I Can Share My Toys” through Barnes & Noble.