Liberal Arts and Sciences Courses

“Visual Culture 1: Gateways to Art and Culture” will address the history of visual communication and the changes that visual culture has undergone up until the 18th century across geographical boundaries, while providing students with the tools to understand the visual culture of the present. The class will address formal analysis, the study and history of materials, techniques, and genres. Students will also learn the semiotic language of visual culture and the socio-cultural contexts framing the history of art, past and present.

This course will help students understand how visual objects reflect the cultural context in which they were originally produced and consumed, and how the meaning assigned to them changes over time. This will create bridges for the students to connect to the present visual culture while understanding that images are fluid signs which help create and maintain cultural, social, and political discourse.

How does the world influence you, and how do you influence the world? In this class, you will discover narratives and other texts that reveal the complexity of your identity. You will apply that understanding to a broader exploration of the necessity of empathy in navigating difference in today’s global society. You’ll be invited to turn your awareness into advocacy  by posing a research question about a topic that captures your interest and fuels your curiosity. By the end of the semester, you will have completed a personal narrative, learned how to critically analyze diverse texts, and developed research techniques that will be valuable during your academic career and beyond. You will continue to hone these skills in a specialized Thought Lab II course of your choosing during your second semester.

Planned as a continuation of Visual Culture 1, Visual Culture 2: Unpacking Art, Power & Modernity offers a transparent chronology to continue but deepen an investigation of art, design and world perspectives from roughly 1800 to 1960.
These are years loosely associated with “modernisms.” It explores Western and non-Western, dominant, and marginalized histories during this proposed 160-year time frame, broadening and reinforcing first-year students’ historical awareness, while de-centering dominant canons.

Visual Culture 2 uses multi-cultural artifacts, readings, seminar-like discussions and experiential collaborations to explore and critically analyze key works and key themes like colonialism, structural racism, xenophobia, industrialization, technology, capitalism and consumerism from multiple perspectives.
By the end of the semester, students should have the necessary critical tools to become empathic citizen-artists who can engage an equitable, transglobal, diasporic, technically creative and environmentally demanding present and future.

Where do your curiosities in the world lead you? How can you transform general interest in a subject into specific knowledge that can fuel a creative practice? Building on concepts from Thought Lab I, Thought Lab II will allow you to take a deep dive into a themed seminar of your choosing. Seminar themes may range from environmental and social justice to narrative to technology. These courses will invite you to explore a special topic through a variety of media to deepen your understanding of key events that have shaped its history. By the end of the semester, you will complete assignments which may include an exploratory essay or a research paper, and ultimately, a creative translation of course themes. 

These courses introduce students to special topics in the liberal arts and sciences that can inspire them to explore new intellectual and creative pathways as they investigate human experiences locally and globally. LIBS 214 courses deepen these investigations by incorporating soft skills development like critical thinking, research, writing, and, in many cases, art and design project development into the classroom experience.      

Creative Action is an integrated learning program that introduces students to compelling social and environmental issues within their community through a series of core courses.Students are introduced to the goals of the program in their sophomore year by their Liberal Studies faculty who partner with local and international community organizations to identify and solve real-world environmental problems and social issues.

In project-based courses, students will develop their research, leadership, and collaboration skills in a multidisciplinary team of classmates. Art and design fields are increasingly being called upon to address nontraditional, complex projects and issues. The Liberal Arts and Sciences Creative Action classes help students develop their soft skills which are in high demand in the creative job market.

Some offerings include:

True Stories: This course improves writing, self-expression, communication, and collaborative skills by introducing students to interviewing techniques and writing skills that will be useful in their professional practice. Small interdisciplinary student groups conduct interviews at the Wende Museum or the Culver City Senior Center. The research focuses on learning about an elder's life experiences and the associated historical period and location in which they lived.  As they collect the information, students are guided through a process in which they work individually and collectively to create an original book that explores the Elder's personal identity, family history, and various compelling intergenerational issues. The illustrated book is based on transcriptions of the interviews, students' research, observations, and revelations concerning the seniors' life experiences. The course culminates in presentations of each subject's life story and the associated student artwork at the Wende Museum.  

Shelter Me: This course supports the development of research techniques, collaboration, critical analysis, creative thinking, articulate expression, and information literacy. The Site Partner for this course is SELAH, a coalition of neighborhood organizers who recognize unhoused individuals as fellow members of our community worthy of the same dignity, respect, and representation afforded to any housed person.

Homelessness.  It's a sad fact that both nationally and locally, we are seeing dramatic increases in the number of people living on the streets. Many of these are youngsters and college students. Sadly, the facts are that the demographics of homelessness have changed; people experiencing homelessness are not only getting younger, but they are more likely to work at full-time jobs. Research has indicated that one in three people who are homeless have college degrees.  Many are families with children.  Some are elderly who have aged into homelessness. Still others have fallen on hard times and can't afford the high housing prices. It is vital to gain a historical perspective of the current conditions that lead to homelessness  -  by understanding the past and present, we can hopefully visualize a better future.

Required for all undergraduate majors.

Addresses a variety of issues in art, design, film, and culture from 1960 to the present. Students may focus on fine art, mass media, or design, or popular culture. See department schedule for topics. 

Required for the following majors: Communication Arts, Digital Media, Fashion Design, Product Design, and Toy Design.

Provides a critical and contextualized chronological survey of graphic design, illustration, and advertising and how these disciplines responded to and affected political, cultural, and social changes.

Required for Communication Arts majors.

An introduction to the relationship between design and functionality in objects with an emphasis on understanding designed objects in their broad sociocultural context.

Required for Product Design majors.

This is a survey of contemporary fine art on a global stage.

Required for Fine Arts majors.

Provides a historical, cultural, and social perspective on toys and games with discussions on their creation and use. Students will also learn about the development of the global toy industry.

Required for Toy Design majors.

Students select from course offerings that vary each semester.

Surveys the manifestation of cultural, political, religious, and economic forces through architecture, landscapes and interiors from prehistory to the advent of the industrial era.

Required for Architecture/Landscape/Interiors majors.

Study fibers, yarns, and fabrics and acquire a practical understanding of how each affects the appearance and performance of the textile product. Issues of sustainability are examined as they relate to the cultivation and production of fibers. Learn to make fabric choices based on an understanding of the woven structure and knowledge of individual fabric properties.

Required for Fashion Design majors.

Study knit construction, its design possibilities, and how it affects the performance of the fabric and finished product. Knit swatches using a variety of stitches, combining yarns and varying gauge. Other topics include dyeing, printing and finishes as processes which affect the aesthetic appeal of the finished product, and as functional finishes which enhance performance. The impact of these processes is examined.

Required for Fashion Design majors.

Lab Fee: $25.

A comprehensive overview of child development from conception to adolescence, including developmental stages, critical periods, effects of early stimulation, environmental enrichment, and how to apply this information when designing children’s toys, books, games, products, and entertainment.

Required for Toy Design majors.

Surveys the history of photography as an art form from 1839 through the present. Students examine both technical and aesthetic developments through a chronological review of major figures and movements.

Required for Photography majors.

An in-depth study of fashion creators, trends, and the political climate that has created men’s and women’s fashion during the 20th century.

Required for Fashion Design majors.

Focuses on the study of clothing from prehistoric costume to the 19th century, and the factors that influence style changes. This course surveys costume from its ethnic origins through adaptation and assimilation into “fashion” trends in each century.

Required for Fashion Design majors.

Investigates a diversity of critical and generative approaches to twentieth century design situated historically while introducing current themes and debates in contemporary architectural practice and related disciplines.
Prerequisite: CRIT205 History + Theory I or CRIT206 History + Theory II.

Required for Architecture/Landscape/ Interiors majors.

Juniors and Seniors are required to take an upper division elective in each of the respective years, there are several courses that will fulfill this requirement. Current students should consult their departments for more information.

Required for all undergraduate majors.

Explores the connections between math and art in two and three dimensions. The class includes an exploration of Escher’s work, tiling the plane, fractals, and the golden ratio. It also covers topics such as graphing equations and geometric constructions.

Required for the following majors: Digital Media, Fashion Design, Fine Arts, Product Design, and Toy Design.

Covers topics in analytical geometry and trigonometry. There is an emphasis on algebraic manipulation and on applications of the topics covered to the design field.

Required for Architecture/Landscape/Interiors majors.

An overview of different topics that have to do with handling money such as banking, consumer credit, mortgages, investments, insurance and taxes.  Examine some common business practices such as payroll, markup/markdown, and business analytics, and go over some accounting practices such as record-keeping, inventory and depreciation. Case studies and real life application problems that will make this course highly useful and immediately relevant.

Natural Science Requirement

Fashion Design, Toy Design, and Product Design offer Natural Science courses that are specific to their curricula. All other majors choose one course from the following offerings.

The Psychology of Seeing

If you can see no colors at all, you cannot see white either. You recognize an old friend, even though she has changed. Your brain constructs these experiences, but how? And what happens when the brain doesn’t work normally?

Imagination and the Brain

Why can you imagine a new space monster, but not a new color? The worlds you can imagine are shaped by the way the brain constructs imagery. Thus, mental images leave their traces in the art you make.

The Science of Sleep and Dreaming

A multidisciplinary natural science class about sleeping and dreaming, focusing on the content and structure of dreaming and “dream logic.” Learn about the physiology of sleep and sleep disorders and about the neurology and phenomenology of dream content.

Required for the following majors: Architecture/Landscape/Interiors, Communication Arts, Digital Media, Fine Arts..

Anatomy is the study of the structures and functions of the human body, and ergonomics is the applied science of equipment design. This course examines the human anatomy and its implications for the ergonomic design of toys for children at different stages of physical maturation.

Required for Toy Design majors.

Uses the principles of physics to understand human anatomy as a mechanical system. Emphasis is placed on physiological issues related to age, gender, and physical disabilities. Consideration is also given to the implications of these principles for applied ergonomics.

Required for Product Design majors.

Toy Design offers a social science course that is specific to their curriculum. All other majors choose one course from a variety offerings.

A required senior- level course where students identify and critically reflect on a theme that intersects with their own studio practice, discipline and/or identity and their work in Liberal Studies. The capstone is the signature course and culminating expression of the Liberal Arts program.

Required for all undergraduate majors.

A minimum grade of “C" (2.0) or better is required to pass this course.

Note that Creative Writing, Art History, Cultural Studies, Sustainability minors and Fine Arts majors take specific capstones. Please see department for courses

The complicity of interior organizations with the collapse of labor and leisure is demonstrated through an examination of the spaces of work and consumption. Ergonomics, office landscaping, corporate parks, junk space, malls, themed environments, surveillance, and spectacle are addressed..

Prerequisite: CRIT304 History + Theory III.

Required for Architecture/Landscape/Interiors majors.

Landscape as a system of representation and performance is studied through the tradition of formal and picturesque gardens, the discourses of the beautiful and sublime, urban parks, the integration of modernism and landscape, earth art, everyday and extreme landscapes, industrial and natural ecologies, and landscape urbanism.

Prerequisite: CRIT304 History + Theory III.

Required for Architecture/Landscape/Interiors majors.

Juniors and Seniors are required to take an upper division elective in each of the respective years, there are several courses that will fulfill this requirement. Current students should consult their departments for more information.

Required for all undergraduate majors.