University Bulletin (2025-2026)

FA 3a Introduction to Drawing I
[ ca ]

Beginning-level course. No previous drawing experience necessary. Preference to first-year students and sophomores. May be repeated once for credit if taught by different instructors.

A studio class that introduces a range of drawing materials and methods, intended for both studio majors and non-majors. Students will draw from direct observation of still-life, landscape, and the human figure. Drawing media may include graphite, charcoal, ink, and collage, as well as watercolor and pastel. The drawings of great artists throughout history will be studied to provide examples of what is possible within this broad and expressive visual language. Usually offered every semester.

FA 4a Sculpture Foundation: 3-D Design I
[ ca ]

Beginning-level course. Preference to first-year students and sophomores. May be repeated once for credit if taught by different instructors.

Exploration of three-dimensional aspects of form, space, and composition utilizing a variety of materials and sculptural techniques. Emphasizes students' inventing of images through the use of modern materials and contemporary ideas about sculpture. Assignments are based on abstract thought and problem solving. The intent of this course is to give students a rich studio experience and promote a fresh and meaningful approach to visual concepts. Usually offered every semester.

FA 5a Sculpture: Utilizing Waste Stream Materials
[ ca ]

Encourages students to consider their studio practice through the lens of sustainability. Through out the semester, we will collaborate with the waste stream culture on campus to access materials for fabricating sculptural ideas and installations. Projects will be introduced through images and videos from contemporary artists that help inspire conversations as we move through the semester. A significant part of the course is participating in critique and trying to articulate what we see. Your skills will advance as a maker, and also as a more informed viewer. Usually offered every second year.

FA 5b Sculpture: Blurring the Boundaries
[ ca ]

This studio course is an opportunity to work both in painting and in sculpture. Students are expected to create a dialogue between methods of collage, drawing, monotype, painting, and methods of constructing three-dimensional objects, including mixed media and installation. We use paintings as a source for sculpture, and sculpture as a source for painting. There will be an additional two hours of monitored shop time that students are required to attend weekly outside of scheduled class time. Usually offered every year.

FA 6a Sculpture: Body as Source
[ ca ]

Explores how the body can be involved in the subject of making sculpture. Examines different ways in which the body is used as a source, including observation, process, fragmentation, narrative, and performance. Projects are introduced through slides from contemporary artists implementing the concepts put forth. Usually offered every second year.

FA 7a Drawing Under the Influence
[ ca ]

This course is intended for first-year students and sophomores.

Explores various historical and contemporary ideas and techniques. Through differing art practices, students create unique works of art that integrate genres and time periods in the service of self-expression. Students will examine, study and recreate facsimiles from the Renaissance, Baroque and Neoclassic eras as well as from Pop, Photorealist, Abstract Expressionist, and Minimalist movements. Usually offered every semester.

FA 8a Introduction to Video Art
[ ca dl ]

Explores producing moving images as fine art. While a basic overview of Adobe Premiere software is offered, emphasis is on conceptual framework and cultivating methodologies that best suit ideas. Students will experiment with materials, modes of production (performance, experimental documentation, appropriation, non-linear narrative), and exhibition (video monitors, projection, theatrical, installation, Internet) in order to consider the effect of these decisions on generating meaning and to better communicate one's statement through the genre. Usually offered every semester.

FA 9a Introduction to Digital Photography: Ethics of Photography
[ ca dl ]

Prerequisite: One studio art course, FA 3a - FA 28a. May be repeated for credit with permission of the instructor.

An introduction to the visual forms and concepts of the photographic image. A range of digital techniques is covered along with aspects of the history of photography. Students must provide their own digital camera. Field trips and image presentations supplement the studio aspect of the course. Usually offered every semester.

FA 10a Intermediate Photography: Constructing Imagery
[ ca dl ]

Prerequisite: FA 9a.

This photo is a fake! Through examining the notion of artifice, the creation of a photograph can adopt an interdisciplinary practice. By constructing the subject of an image, we are able to mediate the idea of what exactly a photograph can be. We will be examining the history of the constructed image alongside artistic approaches to image making, involving intervention and manipulation of a subject. In direct opposition to the methods of the candid and documentary genres in photography and film, the constructed image depends on artifice and invention to create or manipulate the subject. This genre makes use of a vast range of techniques including staging, directing, collaging, sculpting and painting, as well as creating a performative studio-based practice, where images are fabricated instead of being "found."

Students will work independently to produce visual works demonstrating the concepts learned in class. Topics will include: the history and theory of the constructed image, lighting equipment and techniques, intro to film software, as well as philosophical and political perspectives in the history of the constructed image. By the end of this class, students are expected to have a series of images (still or moving) that utilize these techniques to create a coherent body of work. Through constructing these images, students will be able to create their own visual language to convey personal narratives and ideologies. Usually offered every third year.

FA 11a Beginning Painting: Visual Concepts
[ ca ]

Previous drawing experience recommended.

A 6-hour per week class recommended for Studio Art majors and minors, and other students with drawing or pre-college painting experience. Concepts of form, color theory, and composition will be introduced while working from landscape, still life and the figure. Museum trips and slide lectures will augment studio work. Usually offered every fall.

FA 11b Beginning Painting: Visual Possibilities
[ ca ]

Previous drawing experience recommended.

This is a six-hour per week studio class recommended for sophomore studio art majors or other students desiring an in-depth painting course. Color theory and various methods of oil painting will be introduced while working from landscape, still life, and the figure. Museum trips and slide lectures will augment studio work. Usually offered every spring.

FA 12a Printmaking: Intaglio
[ ca ]

Using the etching press in the Printmaking Studio, this course is an introduction to basic intaglio processes of drypoint and etching as well as monotype, carborundum prints and collograph. Students will work on metal, plastic or cardboard plates and make experimental, painterly images in both black and white, and color. Usually offered every year.

FA 12b Printmaking: Woodcut and Relief
[ ca ]

Introduction to relief printmaking using linoleum and woodblock. Students become familiar with working in a print shop, how to use color in printmaking, planning images, direct drawing on wood, and how to critique printmaking in a group setting. Usually offered every year.

FA 13a Intermediate Drawing I
[ ca ]

Previous drawing experience recommended.

Intended for students seeking drawing experience beyond FA 3a and for studio art majors. Various materials and methods of drawing are used, as historical and contemporary works are studied through slides and museum strips. Students hone basic skills and use drawing as an increasingly personal language. Usually offered every fall.

FA 13b Drawing: Advanced Visual Concepts
[ ca ]

Previous drawing experience recommended.

Offers a wide range of experience in drawing. Perceptual and conceptual issues will be pursued, and students will be encouraged to concentrate on the more complex and creative aspects of drawing. Usually offered every spring.

FA 14a Intermediate Painting: On Location
[ ca ]

An intermediate-level painting course emphasizing the plastic and formal means necessary to create work that will become an increasingly personal statement. Usually offered every fall.

FA 14b Intermediate Painting: The Figure in Context
[ ca ]

Prerequisite: FA 11a or FA 11b, or permission of the instructor.

An intermediate-level painting course emphasizing the plastic and formal means necessary to create work that will become an increasingly personal statement. Usually offered every spring.

FA 16a Off The Pedestal: Explorations of Installation Art
[ ca ]

Takes students through the processes of creating artworks outside of the studio or gallery. The course is designed to introduce concepts and practices of installation and site-specific art. We will focus on how artists use location and site as basis for artistic expression. Students will examine the intersections of object, environment, and audience. In completing a series of projects, readings, discussions, and critiques, students will engage in contemporary art practices that explore the boundaries between sculpture, landscape/architecture, and performance. Students will work independently and/or collaboratively to create site-specific works that transform the viewer’s experience of a space/locale. Focus will be on conceptual development, material experimentation, and engagement with the history and theories of installation and site-specific art. Usually offered every year.

FA 16b Sculpture: Object in Clay
[ ca ]

With clay as the focused material, this course offers an in-depth examination of sculptural concepts ranging from object-making to site-specific works. Numerous techniques and processes will be introduced including hand-building, wheel-throwing, and working from the figure. Students will be encouraged to develop their own visual vocabulary and to understand their ideas in the context of contemporary sculpture. Usually offered every semester.

FA 17a Printmaking: Monotypes
[ ca ]

Offers a hands-on experimentation with Monotype Printing. Monotypes are unique images produced using a plate/matrix. Monotypes can be created on metal, glass, plexiglass or cardboard using subtractive, additive or a combination of multiple processes. Students will also explore collagraphs; a collagraph print is made from a collage of various materials glued together and inked, using relief, intaglio and embossing printing techniques on an etching press, creating dimensional prints. Usually offered every second year.

FA 17b Printmaking: Silkscreen
[ ca ]

Explores silkscreen using photographic stencil techniques. Students learn how to create stencils that are handmade and computer-generated. The relationship between fine art and commercial printing is discussed. Usually offered every second year.

FA 18a Experimental Threads
[ ca ]

Prerequisite: Instructor permission.

Guides students through spinning, felting, sewing, weaving, mending, and embroidery techniques to promote inventive approaches with fibers across the disciplines of sculpture, textiles, fashion, painting, and book arts. Material possibilities include supple materials that can respond similarly to cloth and fibers such as plastic, rubber, wire, paper, and more. Students refine skills in design, armature making, and various textile practices while exploring materials in a hands-on, lab environment. Experimental Threads is a studio class complemented with historical background, theoretical texts, and autobiographical accounts. Lectures and readings uplift the marginalized histories of textile crafts, domestic labor, and outsider art. Visits to the Rose Art Museum provide exposure to an array of textile-based contemporary artworks. Discussions consider fiber arts in multiple contexts–cultural, domestic, industrial, art historical, decolonial, queer, and feminist. Usually offered every second year.

FA 27b Book Arts and Editions
[ ca ]

Hands-on exploration of the book format and artist book editions, including a brief introduction to the history and aesthetics of bookmaking. Students will learn about the form and structure of the book, sequencing, page layout and binding techniques, by doing their own books in class. The class includes demonstrations of various techniques, adhesive and non-adhesive bindings, sewn binding (single/multiple structures), experimental object-book formats and the preparation/layout of a book editions. No previous experience required. Usually offered every year.

FA 28a Painting Siena
[ ca ]

Course to be taught at Brandeis program in Siena.

Explores the unique cultural and artistic contributions of Siena, Italy. Students will study and practice traditional and contemporary painting techniques with excursions to visit masterworks and experience the cultural life of the medieval city. Usually offered every year.

FA 92a Internship and Analysis in Studio Art

Usually offered every year.

FA 98a Independent Study

Prerequisites: Normally open only to fine arts majors in their junior and senior years. As the number of times FA 98a may be taken is limited by department regulations, the interested student should consult the appropriate undergraduate advising head and his or her major adviser.

Usually offered every year.

FA 98b Independent Study

Prerequisites: Normally open only to fine arts majors in their junior and senior years. As the number of times FA 98b may be taken is limited by department regulations, the interested student should consult the appropriate undergraduate advising head and his or her major adviser. Yields half-course credit.

Usually offered every year.

FA 99a Senior Research in Studio Art

Prerequisites: A GPA in fine arts courses of 3.00.

Usually offered every year.

FA 99b Senior Research in Studio Art

Prerequisites: A GPA in fine arts courses of 3.00. Interested studio students must take FA 99a in the fall semester of their senior year, in addition to FA 110a and 110b. At the beginning of the spring semester, students wishing to pursue honors will have their artwork reviewed by studio faculty. Based on this review, eligible students will be given permission to enroll in FA 99b for the spring semester.

Usually offered every year.

FA 110a Senior Studio I
[ ca ]

Prerequisite: Instructor permission.

FA 110a and FA 110b are considered two halves of a full-year experience required for studio art majors. Heuristic in nature, this course culminates in a final studio faculty review of the work produced. Review will take the form of an exhibition. Student work can be undertaken in sculpture or painting or a combination of both. Usually offered every fall.

FA 110b Senior Studio II
[ ca ]

Prerequisite: Instructor permission.

FA 110a and FA 110b are considered two halves of a full-year experience required for studio art majors. Heuristic in nature, this course culminates in a final studio faculty review of the work produced. Review will take the form of an exhibition. Student work can be undertaken in sculpture or painting or a combination of both. Usually offered every spring.

FA 118a Studio Seminar
[ ca oc ]

Introduces students to crucial facets of a successful studio practice that happen concurrently, and in dialogue with art making. Writing, reading, communication, and professional practices will be explored as ways of bolstering students' understanding of their own studio practice within the wider history of art and particularly within the context of contemporary art. Usually offered every year.

FA 119b Professional Practice in Art
[ ca wi ]

Prerequisite: Instructor permission.

This is an introductory course to business practices of working artists and arts professionals for students who plan to pursue cultural work/production professionally. Part seminar, part laboratory, students will gain practical experience through hands-on writing exercises while contemplating the philosophical ramifications of what it means to be a contemporary practicing cultural worker through the course's curated reading material and discussion. We will explore diverse modes of professional engagement as well as various opportunities/possibilities, in and outside of traditional art world structures. Usually offered every year.

FA 210a Post-Baccalaureate Studio

Post-baccalaureate studio art students should enroll in FA 210a in the fall and FA 210b in the spring. Studio faculty are available to meet with students for individual critiques. Participation in these studio visits, as well as group critiques, visiting artists' lectures, and field trips are considered part of these courses. Usually offered every year.

FA 210b Post-Baccalaureate Studio

Post-baccalaureate studio art students should enroll in FA 210a in the fall and FA 210b in the spring. Studio faculty are available to meet with students for individual critiques. Participation in these studio visits, as well as group critiques, visiting artists' lectures, and field trips are considered part of these courses. Usually offered every year.

FA 220a Post Baccalaureate Studio Critique
[ ca ]

Introduces Post Baccalaureate students to crucial facets of a successful discussion and critique practice that happen concurrently, and in dialogue with art making. Communication will be explored as ways of bolstering students' understanding of their own studio practice within the wider history of art and particularly within the context of contemporary art. During group critiques, students are expected to critique both their own work and that of their peers. Students will be engaged in weekly active critique of their work and the work of their peers. Developing good critique skills will involve both one-on-one studio visits and group critique. Usually offered every year.

AAAS/FA 75b History of African American Art
[ ca deis-us ]

"Black art has always existed," stated artist Romare Bearden. "It just hasn't been looked for in the right places." This course examines how Black artists in the U.S. explore beauty, individuality, justice and other themes through personal, racial, and societal lenses. Usually offered every fourth year.

FA 23b Architectural Drawing and Digital Design I
[ ca dl ]

Intended to develop new skills in conceptualizing, designing, and communicating architectural ideas. Students will be exposed to conceptual strategies of form and space and site relationships within social and environmental factors. Students will study the basic techniques and concepts of architectural design and digital drawing, with two and three-dimensional representation skills. Usually offered every year.

FA 24a Architectural Drawing and Digital Design II
[ ca dl ]

Intended to develop new skills in conceptualizing, designing, and communicating architectural ideas. Students will be exposed to conceptual strategies of form and space and site relationships within social and environmental factors. Students will study the basic techniques and concepts of architectural design and digital drawing, with two and three-dimensional representation skills. Usually offered every year.

FA 30b History of Western Art II: From the Renaissance to the Modern Age
[ ca ]

Open to all students; first-year students and sophomores are encouraged to enroll.

A study of the major styles in architecture, painting, and sculpture of the West from the Renaissance to the early twentieth century. Usually offered every year.

FA 49a Art and Revolution: Visual Culture in the Americas
[ ca djw ]

Explores how art and social transformation intersected in the Americas during the 20th and 21st centuries. Examines the dynamic relationship between visual culture and revolutionary movements, from the Mexican Revolution's muralist movement to contemporary social activism. Students analyze how artists, photographers, and filmmakers both documented and shaped pivotal moments of political change across Latin America, including the Cuban Revolution and responses to various dictatorships. The course emphasizes how artistic movements both emerged from and influenced political circumstances throughout the Americas. Usually offered every year.

FA 73a Asian American Art
[ ca ]

Critically explores art practices made by and about people of Asian descent in the United States. Beginning in the nineteenth century and ending in the twenty-first century, this course traces specific artist, movement, and artwork case studies across the nineteenth and long twentieth century, including photography and visual cultures of exclusion, early twentieth century American modernism and abstraction, artmaking during and affected by the WWII era, postwar practices in new media and performance, and narratives of global contemporary art.

Far from attempting to create a comprehensive lineage of Asian American art, this course complicates unified histories or characteristics of Asian American art, and rather contextualizes specific case studies that bring forward questions around issues of race, identity, place (and its claims) in American visual culture as it pertains to works by Asian American artists. Artists and authors include ShiPu Wang, Marci Kwon, Isamu Noguchi, Chiura Obata, Miné Okubo, Rea Tajiri, Nam June Paik, Yoko Ono, Yasuo Kuniyoshi, Bernice Bing, Yong Soon Min, and Tseng Kwong Chi among others. Usually offered every third year.

FA 95a Research Internship

Instructor permission required. Yields half-course credit.

Research under the supervision of a Brandeis Fine Arts faculty member. Usually offered every year.

FA 149a The Age of Rubens, Rembrandt and Vermeer
[ ca wi ]

Explores the major figures of seventeenth-century painting in the Netherlands and Flanders: Rubens, Van Dyck, Rembrandt, and Vermeer. During this time, the ideal of Renaissance painter/courtier gives way to the birth of the modern artist in an open market, revolutionizing the subjects, themes, and styles of painting. Usually offered every second year.

FA 166b Representing Globalism
[ ca djw nw ]

For several decades, artists have been investigating the character and consequences of life under global capitalism. Through examination of writings by artists, theorists, and historians in the context of art since the turn of the millennium, this course seeks to uncover stories of the global present and possible futures. Usually offered every third year.

FA 171b Buddhist Art
[ ca nw ]

Surveys Buddhist art and architecture in different parts of the world. Primarily, religious buildings, artworks, and monuments from South Asia, Southeast Asia, and East Asia will be examined within their historical, cultural, and social contexts. Usually offered every fourth year.

FA 176a Fashion History of China
[ ca ]

Examines the evolution of garments, ornaments, accessories, shoes, and other bodily adornments in China through the lens of art history. Ancient murals, tomb figurines, and representations in painting will be the primary materials of investigation. Students learn about the importance of dress and fashion (and their visual representations) in shaping identities through the ages. Usually offered every third year.

FA 177b French Connection in Modern East Asian Art
[ ca djw ]

Examines the encounter of East Asian artists with France, Paris in particular, since the late nineteenth century. It deals with a range of artistic expressions, focusing on painting, but also covering fashion design, architecture, and conceptual art. Usually offered every second year.

FA 178b Seminar on Chinese Calligraphy and Practice
[ ca nw oc ]

Prerequisite: Some knowledge of reading Chinese. May not be taken for credit by students who took FA 191a in prior years.

Introduces the major scripts and canonical works of Chinese calligraphy. Besides studying historical developments, students gain hands-on experience with producing their own works. The class combines theory and practice to advance understanding of the aesthetic, critical language, and the functions of this enduring art. Usually offered every second year.

FA 187a Approaches to Architecture and the City
[ ca ]

Trains students in developing the ability to conduct architectural and urban analysis of the built environment. Through a comparative case-study approach, based on selected readings, real spaces, and creative projects, students will better understand architectural and urban design in relation to social, cultural, human, and political aspects. Usually offered every year.

FA 193a Studies in Modern and Contemporary Architecture
[ ca oc wi ]

Topics may vary from year to year; the course may be repeated for credit with permission of the instructor.

Usually offered every third year.

FA 194a Studies in Latin American Art
[ ca djw oc ]

Builds a theoretical foundation and art historical background for discussing art and theories coming from Latin America. The subject matter (specified in the topic that accompanies the title) in this seminar may vary depending on the instructor and year. Examples of topics include: Indigenous Art; Women Artists, Latinx Art, and Colonialism and Geopolitics.Usually offered every third year.

FA 199a Methods and Approaches in the History of Art
[ ca dl wi ]

Prerequisite: One course in Art History and instructor permission.

Explores various ways of analyzing works of art and provides an overview of the historical development of the discipline. Designed specifically for junior and senior art history majors. Usually offered every year.

FA/NEJS 43a Middle Eastern Cities: Navigating the Transition from Empires to Nation-States and the Globalized Wo
[ ca djw hum ]

Offers an integrated exploration of Middle Eastern literature, urbanism, and architecture. It delves into the vibrant urban heritage of the Middle East, spanning from ancient metropolises like Cairo, Damascus, Istanbul, Jerusalem, and Baghdad. By engaging in a comprehensive examination of Middle Eastern cities, students will acquire profound insights into the region's multifaceted histories, including the impacts of colonialism, imperialism, nation-state formation, and the dynamics within our increasingly globalized world. Usually offered every second year.

FA 18a Experimental Threads
[ ca ]

Prerequisite: Instructor permission.

Guides students through spinning, felting, sewing, weaving, mending, and embroidery techniques to promote inventive approaches with fibers across the disciplines of sculpture, textiles, fashion, painting, and book arts. Material possibilities include supple materials that can respond similarly to cloth and fibers such as plastic, rubber, wire, paper, and more. Students refine skills in design, armature making, and various textile practices while exploring materials in a hands-on, lab environment. Experimental Threads is a studio class complemented with historical background, theoretical texts, and autobiographical accounts. Lectures and readings uplift the marginalized histories of textile crafts, domestic labor, and outsider art. Visits to the Rose Art Museum provide exposure to an array of textile-based contemporary artworks. Discussions consider fiber arts in multiple contexts–cultural, domestic, industrial, art historical, decolonial, queer, and feminist. Usually offered every second year.

FA 220a Post Baccalaureate Studio Critique
[ ca ]

Introduces Post Baccalaureate students to crucial facets of a successful discussion and critique practice that happen concurrently, and in dialogue with art making. Communication will be explored as ways of bolstering students' understanding of their own studio practice within the wider history of art and particularly within the context of contemporary art. During group critiques, students are expected to critique both their own work and that of their peers. Students will be engaged in weekly active critique of their work and the work of their peers. Developing good critique skills will involve both one-on-one studio visits and group critique. Usually offered every year.

FA 3a Introduction to Drawing I
[ ca ]

Beginning-level course. No previous drawing experience necessary. Preference to first-year students and sophomores. May be repeated once for credit if taught by different instructors.

A studio class that introduces a range of drawing materials and methods, intended for both studio majors and non-majors. Students will draw from direct observation of still-life, landscape, and the human figure. Drawing media may include graphite, charcoal, ink, and collage, as well as watercolor and pastel. The drawings of great artists throughout history will be studied to provide examples of what is possible within this broad and expressive visual language. Usually offered every semester.

FA 7a Drawing Under the Influence
[ ca ]

This course is intended for first-year students and sophomores.

Explores various historical and contemporary ideas and techniques. Through differing art practices, students create unique works of art that integrate genres and time periods in the service of self-expression. Students will examine, study and recreate facsimiles from the Renaissance, Baroque and Neoclassic eras as well as from Pop, Photorealist, Abstract Expressionist, and Minimalist movements. Usually offered every semester.

FA 11a Beginning Painting: Visual Concepts
[ ca ]

Previous drawing experience recommended.

A 6-hour per week class recommended for Studio Art majors and minors, and other students with drawing or pre-college painting experience. Concepts of form, color theory, and composition will be introduced while working from landscape, still life and the figure. Museum trips and slide lectures will augment studio work. Usually offered every fall.

FA 11b Beginning Painting: Visual Possibilities
[ ca ]

Previous drawing experience recommended.

This is a six-hour per week studio class recommended for sophomore studio art majors or other students desiring an in-depth painting course. Color theory and various methods of oil painting will be introduced while working from landscape, still life, and the figure. Museum trips and slide lectures will augment studio work. Usually offered every spring.

FA 12a Printmaking: Intaglio
[ ca ]

Using the etching press in the Printmaking Studio, this course is an introduction to basic intaglio processes of drypoint and etching as well as monotype, carborundum prints and collograph. Students will work on metal, plastic or cardboard plates and make experimental, painterly images in both black and white, and color. Usually offered every year.

FA 12b Printmaking: Woodcut and Relief
[ ca ]

Introduction to relief printmaking using linoleum and woodblock. Students become familiar with working in a print shop, how to use color in printmaking, planning images, direct drawing on wood, and how to critique printmaking in a group setting. Usually offered every year.

FA 13a Intermediate Drawing I
[ ca ]

Previous drawing experience recommended.

Intended for students seeking drawing experience beyond FA 3a and for studio art majors. Various materials and methods of drawing are used, as historical and contemporary works are studied through slides and museum strips. Students hone basic skills and use drawing as an increasingly personal language. Usually offered every fall.

FA 13b Drawing: Advanced Visual Concepts
[ ca ]

Previous drawing experience recommended.

Offers a wide range of experience in drawing. Perceptual and conceptual issues will be pursued, and students will be encouraged to concentrate on the more complex and creative aspects of drawing. Usually offered every spring.

FA 14a Intermediate Painting: On Location
[ ca ]

An intermediate-level painting course emphasizing the plastic and formal means necessary to create work that will become an increasingly personal statement. Usually offered every fall.

FA 14b Intermediate Painting: The Figure in Context
[ ca ]

Prerequisite: FA 11a or FA 11b, or permission of the instructor.

An intermediate-level painting course emphasizing the plastic and formal means necessary to create work that will become an increasingly personal statement. Usually offered every spring.

FA 17a Printmaking: Monotypes
[ ca ]

Offers a hands-on experimentation with Monotype Printing. Monotypes are unique images produced using a plate/matrix. Monotypes can be created on metal, glass, plexiglass or cardboard using subtractive, additive or a combination of multiple processes. Students will also explore collagraphs; a collagraph print is made from a collage of various materials glued together and inked, using relief, intaglio and embossing printing techniques on an etching press, creating dimensional prints. Usually offered every second year.

FA 17b Printmaking: Silkscreen
[ ca ]

Explores silkscreen using photographic stencil techniques. Students learn how to create stencils that are handmade and computer-generated. The relationship between fine art and commercial printing is discussed. Usually offered every second year.

FA 27b Book Arts and Editions
[ ca ]

Hands-on exploration of the book format and artist book editions, including a brief introduction to the history and aesthetics of bookmaking. Students will learn about the form and structure of the book, sequencing, page layout and binding techniques, by doing their own books in class. The class includes demonstrations of various techniques, adhesive and non-adhesive bindings, sewn binding (single/multiple structures), experimental object-book formats and the preparation/layout of a book editions. No previous experience required. Usually offered every year.

FA 28a Painting Siena
[ ca ]

Course to be taught at Brandeis program in Siena.

Explores the unique cultural and artistic contributions of Siena, Italy. Students will study and practice traditional and contemporary painting techniques with excursions to visit masterworks and experience the cultural life of the medieval city. Usually offered every year.

FA 4a Sculpture Foundation: 3-D Design I
[ ca ]

Beginning-level course. Preference to first-year students and sophomores. May be repeated once for credit if taught by different instructors.

Exploration of three-dimensional aspects of form, space, and composition utilizing a variety of materials and sculptural techniques. Emphasizes students' inventing of images through the use of modern materials and contemporary ideas about sculpture. Assignments are based on abstract thought and problem solving. The intent of this course is to give students a rich studio experience and promote a fresh and meaningful approach to visual concepts. Usually offered every semester.

FA 5a Sculpture: Utilizing Waste Stream Materials
[ ca ]

Encourages students to consider their studio practice through the lens of sustainability. Through out the semester, we will collaborate with the waste stream culture on campus to access materials for fabricating sculptural ideas and installations. Projects will be introduced through images and videos from contemporary artists that help inspire conversations as we move through the semester. A significant part of the course is participating in critique and trying to articulate what we see. Your skills will advance as a maker, and also as a more informed viewer. Usually offered every second year.

FA 5b Sculpture: Blurring the Boundaries
[ ca ]

This studio course is an opportunity to work both in painting and in sculpture. Students are expected to create a dialogue between methods of collage, drawing, monotype, painting, and methods of constructing three-dimensional objects, including mixed media and installation. We use paintings as a source for sculpture, and sculpture as a source for painting. There will be an additional two hours of monitored shop time that students are required to attend weekly outside of scheduled class time. Usually offered every year.

FA 6a Sculpture: Body as Source
[ ca ]

Explores how the body can be involved in the subject of making sculpture. Examines different ways in which the body is used as a source, including observation, process, fragmentation, narrative, and performance. Projects are introduced through slides from contemporary artists implementing the concepts put forth. Usually offered every second year.

FA 16a Off The Pedestal: Explorations of Installation Art
[ ca ]

Takes students through the processes of creating artworks outside of the studio or gallery. The course is designed to introduce concepts and practices of installation and site-specific art. We will focus on how artists use location and site as basis for artistic expression. Students will examine the intersections of object, environment, and audience. In completing a series of projects, readings, discussions, and critiques, students will engage in contemporary art practices that explore the boundaries between sculpture, landscape/architecture, and performance. Students will work independently and/or collaboratively to create site-specific works that transform the viewer’s experience of a space/locale. Focus will be on conceptual development, material experimentation, and engagement with the history and theories of installation and site-specific art. Usually offered every year.

FA 16b Sculpture: Object in Clay
[ ca ]

With clay as the focused material, this course offers an in-depth examination of sculptural concepts ranging from object-making to site-specific works. Numerous techniques and processes will be introduced including hand-building, wheel-throwing, and working from the figure. Students will be encouraged to develop their own visual vocabulary and to understand their ideas in the context of contemporary sculpture. Usually offered every semester.

FA 23b Architectural Drawing and Digital Design I
[ ca dl ]

Intended to develop new skills in conceptualizing, designing, and communicating architectural ideas. Students will be exposed to conceptual strategies of form and space and site relationships within social and environmental factors. Students will study the basic techniques and concepts of architectural design and digital drawing, with two and three-dimensional representation skills. Usually offered every year.

FA 24a Architectural Drawing and Digital Design II
[ ca dl ]

Intended to develop new skills in conceptualizing, designing, and communicating architectural ideas. Students will be exposed to conceptual strategies of form and space and site relationships within social and environmental factors. Students will study the basic techniques and concepts of architectural design and digital drawing, with two and three-dimensional representation skills. Usually offered every year.

MUS 196b Sound and Space: Sound Installation and Movement Staging in the Field of Music Composition
[ ca ]

May be repeated for credit.

Students will design their own sound installation and learn how to build meaning through space and sound In relation to a cross-disciplinary research topic. This research will be modeled on methods cross-disciplinary project-building In various disciplines. Students will be informed by historical precedent In this field, design (and fulfill) a research goal around the production of the installation, and understand how to create (and to actually create by the end of the class) an intellectually rigorous and engaging interaction between the aural and visual. Usually offered every second year.

THA 125b The Art of Scenography: Scenic Design and Invention for Performance
[ ca dl ]

May be repeated for credit if taught by different instructors. Open to non-majors.

Introduces students to the process of creating evocative and imaginative designs for the stage. This course is designed for students of all majors and years who want to learn about scenic design. Working with a variety of source material, students will explore how to develop ideas and striking theatrical images that tell the story of the text. How can we create a psychological visual environment that transports the viewer to another time and space? How do textures, colors, and composition work on the mind? We will use installation art, sculptural thinking, and creative writing to inspire our environments. We will examine the body and the space it inhabits to create new interdisciplinary possibilities. How can new technologies such as video and projection inform our process? Working in a studio setting, students will be introduced to methods and craft of set design - including research, sketching, model making and drafting. Above all, students will be asked to take risks, and begin to develop their artistic vision. Of interest to designers, directors, film-makers, fine artists, and anyone interested in the process of creating a visual story line. Students are required to purchase materials. Usually offered every year.

FA 8a Introduction to Video Art
[ ca dl ]

Explores producing moving images as fine art. While a basic overview of Adobe Premiere software is offered, emphasis is on conceptual framework and cultivating methodologies that best suit ideas. Students will experiment with materials, modes of production (performance, experimental documentation, appropriation, non-linear narrative), and exhibition (video monitors, projection, theatrical, installation, Internet) in order to consider the effect of these decisions on generating meaning and to better communicate one's statement through the genre. Usually offered every semester.

FA 9a Introduction to Digital Photography: Ethics of Photography
[ ca dl ]

Prerequisite: One studio art course, FA 3a - FA 28a. May be repeated for credit with permission of the instructor.

An introduction to the visual forms and concepts of the photographic image. A range of digital techniques is covered along with aspects of the history of photography. Students must provide their own digital camera. Field trips and image presentations supplement the studio aspect of the course. Usually offered every semester.

FA 10a Intermediate Photography: Constructing Imagery
[ ca dl ]

Prerequisite: FA 9a.

This photo is a fake! Through examining the notion of artifice, the creation of a photograph can adopt an interdisciplinary practice. By constructing the subject of an image, we are able to mediate the idea of what exactly a photograph can be. We will be examining the history of the constructed image alongside artistic approaches to image making, involving intervention and manipulation of a subject. In direct opposition to the methods of the candid and documentary genres in photography and film, the constructed image depends on artifice and invention to create or manipulate the subject. This genre makes use of a vast range of techniques including staging, directing, collaging, sculpting and painting, as well as creating a performative studio-based practice, where images are fabricated instead of being "found."

Students will work independently to produce visual works demonstrating the concepts learned in class. Topics will include: the history and theory of the constructed image, lighting equipment and techniques, intro to film software, as well as philosophical and political perspectives in the history of the constructed image. By the end of this class, students are expected to have a series of images (still or moving) that utilize these techniques to create a coherent body of work. Through constructing these images, students will be able to create their own visual language to convey personal narratives and ideologies. Usually offered every third year.

FA 12a Printmaking: Intaglio
[ ca ]

Using the etching press in the Printmaking Studio, this course is an introduction to basic intaglio processes of drypoint and etching as well as monotype, carborundum prints and collograph. Students will work on metal, plastic or cardboard plates and make experimental, painterly images in both black and white, and color. Usually offered every year.

FA 12b Printmaking: Woodcut and Relief
[ ca ]

Introduction to relief printmaking using linoleum and woodblock. Students become familiar with working in a print shop, how to use color in printmaking, planning images, direct drawing on wood, and how to critique printmaking in a group setting. Usually offered every year.

FA 13a Intermediate Drawing I
[ ca ]

Previous drawing experience recommended.

Intended for students seeking drawing experience beyond FA 3a and for studio art majors. Various materials and methods of drawing are used, as historical and contemporary works are studied through slides and museum strips. Students hone basic skills and use drawing as an increasingly personal language. Usually offered every fall.

FA 13b Drawing: Advanced Visual Concepts
[ ca ]

Previous drawing experience recommended.

Offers a wide range of experience in drawing. Perceptual and conceptual issues will be pursued, and students will be encouraged to concentrate on the more complex and creative aspects of drawing. Usually offered every spring.

FA 14a Intermediate Painting: On Location
[ ca ]

An intermediate-level painting course emphasizing the plastic and formal means necessary to create work that will become an increasingly personal statement. Usually offered every fall.

FA 14b Intermediate Painting: The Figure in Context
[ ca ]

Prerequisite: FA 11a or FA 11b, or permission of the instructor.

An intermediate-level painting course emphasizing the plastic and formal means necessary to create work that will become an increasingly personal statement. Usually offered every spring.

FA 17a Printmaking: Monotypes
[ ca ]

Offers a hands-on experimentation with Monotype Printing. Monotypes are unique images produced using a plate/matrix. Monotypes can be created on metal, glass, plexiglass or cardboard using subtractive, additive or a combination of multiple processes. Students will also explore collagraphs; a collagraph print is made from a collage of various materials glued together and inked, using relief, intaglio and embossing printing techniques on an etching press, creating dimensional prints. Usually offered every second year.

FA 17b Printmaking: Silkscreen
[ ca ]

Explores silkscreen using photographic stencil techniques. Students learn how to create stencils that are handmade and computer-generated. The relationship between fine art and commercial printing is discussed. Usually offered every second year.

FA 27b Book Arts and Editions
[ ca ]

Hands-on exploration of the book format and artist book editions, including a brief introduction to the history and aesthetics of bookmaking. Students will learn about the form and structure of the book, sequencing, page layout and binding techniques, by doing their own books in class. The class includes demonstrations of various techniques, adhesive and non-adhesive bindings, sewn binding (single/multiple structures), experimental object-book formats and the preparation/layout of a book editions. No previous experience required. Usually offered every year.

FA 28a Painting Siena
[ ca ]

Course to be taught at Brandeis program in Siena.

Explores the unique cultural and artistic contributions of Siena, Italy. Students will study and practice traditional and contemporary painting techniques with excursions to visit masterworks and experience the cultural life of the medieval city. Usually offered every year.

FA 5a Sculpture: Utilizing Waste Stream Materials
[ ca ]

Encourages students to consider their studio practice through the lens of sustainability. Through out the semester, we will collaborate with the waste stream culture on campus to access materials for fabricating sculptural ideas and installations. Projects will be introduced through images and videos from contemporary artists that help inspire conversations as we move through the semester. A significant part of the course is participating in critique and trying to articulate what we see. Your skills will advance as a maker, and also as a more informed viewer. Usually offered every second year.

FA 5b Sculpture: Blurring the Boundaries
[ ca ]

This studio course is an opportunity to work both in painting and in sculpture. Students are expected to create a dialogue between methods of collage, drawing, monotype, painting, and methods of constructing three-dimensional objects, including mixed media and installation. We use paintings as a source for sculpture, and sculpture as a source for painting. There will be an additional two hours of monitored shop time that students are required to attend weekly outside of scheduled class time. Usually offered every year.

FA 6a Sculpture: Body as Source
[ ca ]

Explores how the body can be involved in the subject of making sculpture. Examines different ways in which the body is used as a source, including observation, process, fragmentation, narrative, and performance. Projects are introduced through slides from contemporary artists implementing the concepts put forth. Usually offered every second year.

FA 16a Off The Pedestal: Explorations of Installation Art
[ ca ]

Takes students through the processes of creating artworks outside of the studio or gallery. The course is designed to introduce concepts and practices of installation and site-specific art. We will focus on how artists use location and site as basis for artistic expression. Students will examine the intersections of object, environment, and audience. In completing a series of projects, readings, discussions, and critiques, students will engage in contemporary art practices that explore the boundaries between sculpture, landscape/architecture, and performance. Students will work independently and/or collaboratively to create site-specific works that transform the viewer’s experience of a space/locale. Focus will be on conceptual development, material experimentation, and engagement with the history and theories of installation and site-specific art. Usually offered every year.

FA 16b Sculpture: Object in Clay
[ ca ]

With clay as the focused material, this course offers an in-depth examination of sculptural concepts ranging from object-making to site-specific works. Numerous techniques and processes will be introduced including hand-building, wheel-throwing, and working from the figure. Students will be encouraged to develop their own visual vocabulary and to understand their ideas in the context of contemporary sculpture. Usually offered every semester.

FA 8a Introduction to Video Art
[ ca dl ]

Explores producing moving images as fine art. While a basic overview of Adobe Premiere software is offered, emphasis is on conceptual framework and cultivating methodologies that best suit ideas. Students will experiment with materials, modes of production (performance, experimental documentation, appropriation, non-linear narrative), and exhibition (video monitors, projection, theatrical, installation, Internet) in order to consider the effect of these decisions on generating meaning and to better communicate one's statement through the genre. Usually offered every semester.

FA 10a Intermediate Photography: Constructing Imagery
[ ca dl ]

Prerequisite: FA 9a.

This photo is a fake! Through examining the notion of artifice, the creation of a photograph can adopt an interdisciplinary practice. By constructing the subject of an image, we are able to mediate the idea of what exactly a photograph can be. We will be examining the history of the constructed image alongside artistic approaches to image making, involving intervention and manipulation of a subject. In direct opposition to the methods of the candid and documentary genres in photography and film, the constructed image depends on artifice and invention to create or manipulate the subject. This genre makes use of a vast range of techniques including staging, directing, collaging, sculpting and painting, as well as creating a performative studio-based practice, where images are fabricated instead of being "found."

Students will work independently to produce visual works demonstrating the concepts learned in class. Topics will include: the history and theory of the constructed image, lighting equipment and techniques, intro to film software, as well as philosophical and political perspectives in the history of the constructed image. By the end of this class, students are expected to have a series of images (still or moving) that utilize these techniques to create a coherent body of work. Through constructing these images, students will be able to create their own visual language to convey personal narratives and ideologies. Usually offered every third year.

MUS 196b Sound and Space: Sound Installation and Movement Staging in the Field of Music Composition
[ ca ]

May be repeated for credit.

Students will design their own sound installation and learn how to build meaning through space and sound In relation to a cross-disciplinary research topic. This research will be modeled on methods cross-disciplinary project-building In various disciplines. Students will be informed by historical precedent In this field, design (and fulfill) a research goal around the production of the installation, and understand how to create (and to actually create by the end of the class) an intellectually rigorous and engaging interaction between the aural and visual. Usually offered every second year.

THA 126b Playback Theatre
[ ca ]

Comfortable clothing recommended.

Playback Theatre is a form of improvisation where audience members voluntarily share true stories and then instantly witness a group of actors and a musician recreating the 'essence' of what was shared. Deeper issues related to the audience and society are revealed through the metaphorical reenactments of each story, reinforcing a sense of community and self worth. In this course we will learn the basic skills and forms required to perform Playback Theatre successfully, as well as analyze some of the theories of how the Playback experience strengthens communities by connecting people. Usually offered every second year.

FA 119b Professional Practice in Art
[ ca wi ]

Prerequisite: Instructor permission.

This is an introductory course to business practices of working artists and arts professionals for students who plan to pursue cultural work/production professionally. Part seminar, part laboratory, students will gain practical experience through hands-on writing exercises while contemplating the philosophical ramifications of what it means to be a contemporary practicing cultural worker through the course's curated reading material and discussion. We will explore diverse modes of professional engagement as well as various opportunities/possibilities, in and outside of traditional art world structures. Usually offered every year.

FA 149a The Age of Rubens, Rembrandt and Vermeer
[ ca wi ]

Explores the major figures of seventeenth-century painting in the Netherlands and Flanders: Rubens, Van Dyck, Rembrandt, and Vermeer. During this time, the ideal of Renaissance painter/courtier gives way to the birth of the modern artist in an open market, revolutionizing the subjects, themes, and styles of painting. Usually offered every second year.

FA 156b Postimpressionism and Symbolism, 1880-1910
[ ca wi ]

Artists Vincent Van Gogh, Gauguin, Seurat and Cézanne, first identified with Post-Impressionism, are contextualized with Toulouse-Lautrec and others who defined the French art world before 1900. Symbolism has its roots in the art work of Redon, Van Gogh and above all Gauguin, here studied in context with poetry and art criticism of the times. The Expressionist move toward an abstract idiom in Norway, Germany and Austria will focus on Edvard Munch and Gustav Klimt. Decorative styles such as Art Nouveau and Jugendstil define the bridge to the 20th century. The course ends with early 20th century masters, Matisse and the Fauves, and finally German Expressionism. Usually offered every fourth year.

FA 191b Studies in Renaissance and Baroque Art
[ ca oc wi ]

Preference to Fine Arts majors and minors, Italian Studies minors, and Medieval and Renaissance minors only. Topics may vary from year to year; the course may be repeated for credit as topics change.

Usually offered every third year.

FA 193a Studies in Modern and Contemporary Architecture
[ ca oc wi ]

Topics may vary from year to year; the course may be repeated for credit with permission of the instructor.

Usually offered every third year.

FA 199a Methods and Approaches in the History of Art
[ ca dl wi ]

Prerequisite: One course in Art History and instructor permission.

Explores various ways of analyzing works of art and provides an overview of the historical development of the discipline. Designed specifically for junior and senior art history majors. Usually offered every year.

FA 118a Studio Seminar
[ ca oc ]

Introduces students to crucial facets of a successful studio practice that happen concurrently, and in dialogue with art making. Writing, reading, communication, and professional practices will be explored as ways of bolstering students' understanding of their own studio practice within the wider history of art and particularly within the context of contemporary art. Usually offered every year.

FA 8a Introduction to Video Art
[ ca dl ]

Explores producing moving images as fine art. While a basic overview of Adobe Premiere software is offered, emphasis is on conceptual framework and cultivating methodologies that best suit ideas. Students will experiment with materials, modes of production (performance, experimental documentation, appropriation, non-linear narrative), and exhibition (video monitors, projection, theatrical, installation, Internet) in order to consider the effect of these decisions on generating meaning and to better communicate one's statement through the genre. Usually offered every semester.

FA 9a Introduction to Digital Photography: Ethics of Photography
[ ca dl ]

Prerequisite: One studio art course, FA 3a - FA 28a. May be repeated for credit with permission of the instructor.

An introduction to the visual forms and concepts of the photographic image. A range of digital techniques is covered along with aspects of the history of photography. Students must provide their own digital camera. Field trips and image presentations supplement the studio aspect of the course. Usually offered every semester.

FA 10a Intermediate Photography: Constructing Imagery
[ ca dl ]

Prerequisite: FA 9a.

This photo is a fake! Through examining the notion of artifice, the creation of a photograph can adopt an interdisciplinary practice. By constructing the subject of an image, we are able to mediate the idea of what exactly a photograph can be. We will be examining the history of the constructed image alongside artistic approaches to image making, involving intervention and manipulation of a subject. In direct opposition to the methods of the candid and documentary genres in photography and film, the constructed image depends on artifice and invention to create or manipulate the subject. This genre makes use of a vast range of techniques including staging, directing, collaging, sculpting and painting, as well as creating a performative studio-based practice, where images are fabricated instead of being "found."

Students will work independently to produce visual works demonstrating the concepts learned in class. Topics will include: the history and theory of the constructed image, lighting equipment and techniques, intro to film software, as well as philosophical and political perspectives in the history of the constructed image. By the end of this class, students are expected to have a series of images (still or moving) that utilize these techniques to create a coherent body of work. Through constructing these images, students will be able to create their own visual language to convey personal narratives and ideologies. Usually offered every third year.