You are here

All programs’ curricula are developed in response to Program Learning Outcomes, which signify what students learn within a degree program or emphasis area. All program learning outcomes respond to overarching Institutional Learning Outcomes. View the MFA program learning outcomes here

Fall - First Year (Show All)
Course Course Number Credits
Special Topics in Art History I: Modernism To Conceptualism AHCS585 3
Special Topics in Art History I: Modernism To Conceptualism

This course examines the development of Modernism as a discourse in the visual arts, from its development in the 1840s to challenges of its key assumptions in the 1960s. Attendance at Visiting Artists Lecture Series (VALS) is required as part of this course.

Graduate Critique I GRAD610 3
Graduate Critique I

Part of the two year course sequence GRAD610 / GRAD611 / GRAD710 / GRAD711.

In this two-year course sequence, all graduate students, regardless of media, discuss common issues of studio practice. The course provides an in-depth discussion and investigation of how an artist’s work is perceived as a public statement, and how one’s work exists in the world.

Graduate Studio I GRAD620 3
Graduate Studio I

Part of the course sequence GRAD620 / GRAD621 / GRAD720 / GRAD721.

Graduate Studio is a 6-hour course structured around dedicated studio time and one-on- one studio visits between students and faculty members. This two-year course sequence focuses on each individual student’s practice, specifically directed toward an interrogation of the aesthetic, conceptual, and technical issues arising out of their work. It will culminate in the end-of-semester review during which the student and a review committee will discuss and evaluate the development of the student’s practice as observed over the course of the semester within the framework of the seminar.

Critical Theory and Practice I: Aesthetics And Politics LIBS650 3
Critical Theory and Practice I: Aesthetics And Politics

This two-semester course is a cross-disciplinary investigation of the various intersections of the realms of the aesthetic and the political, and engages in questions of humanity, power, and representation. We will discuss how orderings of social relations become manifest in the world and how the political becomes ‘sensible’. Through the discussion of assigned readings, we will develop an understanding of the ways in which visual cultural production provides the very frameworks for what becomes perceptible and legible. We will consider how works of art can produce encounters that slow our perceptual operations and reading capabilities in a world of easily disseminated, readymade perspectives in service of dominant values and worldviews. Assigned texts will bridge and interrogate the discourses of class, race, gender, disability, art, and the social realm. We will discuss how artists and theorists have responded to the representational politics of the present moment in order to locate individual prac- tices within the larger cultural and socio-political environment. Our goal will be the development of individual, subjective voices within a collective, collaborative, and relational process.

Elective * 3
Elective

Please see your department for available electives.

  15
Spring - First Year (Show All)
Course Course Number Credits
Special Topics in Art History II: 1960s To The Present AHCS585 3
Special Topics in Art History II: 1960s To The Present

The historical development of the discourse of Modernism established a narrative that proved very influential. However, the terms of that narrative came under question from a diverse range artists and voices. This course looks at Contemporary Art as a varied field arising out of challenges to historical “modern art” in the late 1960s and developing a range of practices that continue to challenge our understanding of art and its relation to society today. Attendance at Visiting Artists Lecture Series (VALS) required as part of this course.

Graduate Critique II GRAD611 3
Graduate Critique II

Part of the two year course sequence GRAD610 / GRAD611 / GRAD710 / GRAD711.

In this two-year course sequence, all graduate students, regardless of media, discuss common issues of studio practice. The course provides an in-depth discussion and investigation of how an artist’s work is perceived as a public statement, and how one’s work exists in the world.

Graduate Studio II GRAD621 3
Graduate Studio II

Part of the course sequence GRAD620 / GRAD621 / GRAD720 / GRAD721.

Graduate Studio is a 6-hour course structured around dedicated studio time and one-on- one studio visits between students and faculty members. This two-year course sequence focuses on each individual student’s practice, specifically directed toward an interrogation of the aesthetic, conceptual, and technical issues arising out of their work. It will culminate in the end-of-semester review during which the student and a review committee will discuss and evaluate the development of the student’s practice as observed over the course of the semester within the framework of the seminar.

Critical Theory and Practice II: Aesthetics And Politics LIBS651 3
Critical Theory and Practice II: Aesthetics And Politics

This two-semester course is a cross-disciplinary investigation of the various intersections of the realms of the aesthetic and the political, and engages in questions of humanity, power, and representation. We will discuss how orderings of social relations become manifest in the world and how the political becomes ‘sensible’. Through the discussion of assigned readings, we will develop an understanding of the ways in which visual cultural production provides the very frameworks for what becomes perceptible and legible. We will consider how works of art can produce encounters that slow our perceptual operations and reading capabilities in a world of easily disseminated, readymade perspectives in service of dominant values and worldviews. Assigned texts will bridge and interrogate the discourses of class, race, gender, disability, art, and the social realm. We will discuss how artists and theorists have responded to the representational politics of the present moment in order to locate individual prac- tices within the larger cultural and socio-political environment. Our goal will be the development of individual, subjective voices within a collective, collaborative, and relational process.

Elective * 3
Elective

Please see your department for available electives.

  15

Fall - Second Year (Show All)
Course Course Number Credits
Graduate Critique III GRAD710 3
Graduate Critique III

Part of the two year course sequence GRAD610 / GRAD611 / GRAD710 / GRAD711.

In this two-year course sequence, all graduate students, regardless of media, discuss common issues of studio practice. The course provides an in-depth discussion and investigation of how an artist’s work is perceived as a public statement, and how one’s work exists in the world.

Graduate Studio III GRAD720 3
Graduate Studio III

Part of the course sequence GRAD620 / GRAD621 / GRAD720 / GRAD721.

Graduate Studio is a 6-hour course structured around dedicated studio time and one-on- one studio visits between students and faculty members. This two-year course sequence focuses on each individual student’s practice, specifically directed toward an interrogation of the aesthetic, conceptual, and technical issues arising out of their work. It will culminate in the end-of-semester review during which the student and a review committee will discuss and evaluate the development of the student’s practice as observed over the course of the semester within the framework of the seminar.

Professional Practices GRAD776 3
Professional Practices

A seminar in which the intricacies, idiosyncrasies, and responsibilities of the professional artist are discussed and deconstructed. Attendance at Visiting Artists Lecture Series (VALS) is required as part of this course.

Thesis I LIBS774 3
Thesis I

This course supports s students in the development of their written thesis about their work and practice. Students will acquire critical writing skills that will prepare them for the literary demands of an artist, including grant applications.

Elective * 3
Elective

Please see your department for available electives.

  15
Spring - Second Year (Show All)
Course Course Number Credits
Graduate Critique IV GRAD711 3
Graduate Critique IV

Part of the two year course sequence GRAD610 / GRAD611 / GRAD710 / GRAD711.

In this two-year course sequence, all graduate students, regardless of media, discuss common issues of studio practice. The course provides an in-depth discussion and investigation of how an artist’s work is perceived as a public statement, and how one’s work exists in the world.

Graduate Studio IV GRAD721 3
Graduate Studio IV

Part of the course sequence GRAD620 / GRAD621 / GRAD720 / GRAD721.

Graduate Studio is a 6-hour course structured around dedicated studio time and one-on- one studio visits between students and faculty members. This two-year course sequence focuses on each individual student’s practice, specifically directed toward an interrogation of the aesthetic, conceptual, and technical issues arising out of their work. It will culminate in the end-of-semester review during which the student and a review committee will discuss and evaluate the development of the student’s practice as observed over the course of the semester within the framework of the seminar.

Exhibition Preparation GRAD777 3
Exhibition Preparation

Each student in the final year works on the organization, planning, and installation of MFA exhibitions. The course focuses on exhibition psychology, design, and documentation.  Attendance at Visiting Artists Lecture Series (VALS) is required as part of this course.

Thesis II LIBS775 3
Thesis II

This course supports s students in the development of their written thesis about their work and practice. Students will acquire critical writing skills that will prepare them for the literary demands of an artist, including grant applications.

Elective * 3
Elective

Please see your department for available electives.

  15

Electives (Show All)
Course Course Number Credits
Studio Practice AHCS575B 3
Studio Practice

What does it mean to work in painting and photography at this moment in time? Is it possible to incorporate our political concerns into our work? What is successful political artwork and how might it take form in painting and photography? What is our relationship to the histories attached to these two modes of production, as well as their contemporary manifestations? How might these two mediums intersect?

Out on the Town AHCS585D
Out on the Town

This is a course designed to acquaint students with exhibitions of artwork currently being produced and shown, as well as the discussions happening around them. We will visit artists and art organizations websites and read texts related to them. Through these materials we will examine the political and art dialogues of the moment, considering the ways colonialism and inequities in the art establishment are being addressed and what some alternatives might be. We will also investigate the methods that artists and arts organizations are using to make artwork available physically and virtually.

Collaborative Projects GRAD631 3
Collaborative Projects

Seminar/studio hybrid. Students build knowledge and professional capacity through collaborative project- based learning in the areas of collabo- ration, collective art production, collective arts programming and curation, and collective action. Students form collectives, operate an artist run space (called Sidebar) and develop research-driven and discourse-driven projects for public exhibition and public engagement.

Critical Theory and Practice I: Aesthetics and Politics AHCS650 3
Critical Theory and Practice I: Aesthetics and Politics

This two-semester course is a cross-disciplinary investigation of the various intersections of the realms of the aesthetic and the political, and engages in questions of humanity, power, and representation. We will discuss how orderings of social relations become manifest in the world and how the political becomes ‘sensible’. Through the discussion of assigned readings, we will develop an understanding of the ways in which visual cultural production provides the very frameworks for what becomes perceptible and legible. We will consider how works of art can produce encounters that slow our perceptual operations and reading capabilities in a world of easily disseminated, readymade perspectives in service of dominant values and worldviews. Assigned texts will bridge and interrogate the discourses of class, race, gender, disability, art, and the social realm. We will discuss how artists and theorists have responded to the representational politics of the present moment in order to locate individual practices within the larger cultural and socio-political environment. Our goal will be the development of individual, subjective voices within a collective, collaborative, and relational process.

Critical Theory and Practice II: Aesthetics and Politics AHCS651 3
Critical Theory and Practice II: Aesthetics and Politics

This two-semester course is a cross-disciplinary investigation of the various intersections of the realms of the aesthetic and the political, and engages in questions of humanity, power, and representation. We will discuss how orderings of social relations become manifest in the world and how the political becomes ‘sensible’. Through the discussion of assigned readings, we will develop an understanding of the ways in which visual cultural production provides the very frameworks for what becomes perceptible and legible. We will consider how works of art can produce encounters that slow our perceptual operations and reading capabilities in a world of easily disseminated, readymade perspectives in service of dominant values and worldviews. Assigned texts will bridge and interrogate the discourses of class, race, gender, disability, art, and the social realm. We will discuss how artists and theorists have responded to the representational politics of the present moment in order to locate individual practices within the larger cultural and socio-political environment. Our goal will be the development of individual, subjective voices within a collective, collaborative, and relational process.

Sovereignty of Context GRAD654A 3
Sovereignty of Context

Locating context, meaning and power in your art practice. Using tools of Critical Indigenous Research Methods, social linguistics discourse analysis, community development asset mapping, and Theory of Change planning and project management methods to think deeply about building a relevant, generative and sustainable art practice. Students produce three formal project proposals that align audience, strategy, form, discourse, and context.

Art as Ceremony GRAD654B 3
Art as Ceremony

A deep dive into the realm of immersive installation environments, symbolic representation, and symbolic exchange. Students engage fundamentals of metaphor and narrative as agents of the ontological and epistemological negotiation of meaning making and knowledge transfer. Students then learn how to strategically position multi-model, multi-sensory content as metaphor and narrative within defined spaces, environments, and landscapes to produce transformational audience experiences.

Sonifying Community AHCS581 3
Sonifying Community

In this hybrid seminar/studio class, students learn the histories, contexts, theories, methods, and strategies by which artists have employed sound within the social contexts of public, private, contested and intersubjectively determined spaces and environments. Students learn a fundamental set of skills and critical literacies pertaining to analog and digital modes of sonifying human experience, intentions, environments, and systems. Students learn how to use analog and digital modes of sound as tools for listening, facilitation, consensus building and community self-determi- nation, as well as interrogation, manipulation, coercion, and discipline. Sonifying Community provides a safe, supportive, mentoring framework for students to learn how to research, design, produce and publicly exhibit a significant sound work within a diversity of socially engaged contexts.

  21

* In addition to Independent Studies, electives may be taken from the offerings of Fine Arts, Liberal Arts and Sciences, and other departments with department approval.


The curriculum displayed is meant to provide an overview of the current semester’s offerings in this department; it does not represent all degree requirements for the Major or Area of Emphasis. These can be found in each student’s Course Catalog (identified by the year in which one would have entered the college as a Foundation student), which can be found here. If you have questions regarding your specific curricular requirements and/or Course Catalog, please contact your department.