Each course in this category is an introduction to an area of study in the visual and performing arts and includes direct exposure to works of art or live performances and preparation of written responses to the experiences. You will realize that art functions as a major cultural force in the experiences of individuals and communities. An understanding of the arts helps people define what is meaningful and significant in life.

Student Learning Outcomes

1. Explain principles and questions that define the arts and analysis of formal elements of works of art.
2. Explain how meaning in the arts is created and interpreted.
3. Explain the historical and cultural contexts for artists and their works.
4. Skill Outcome #1:
   • Critical thinking: Comprehensively evaluate issues, ideas, artifacts, or events before forming a conclusion; or
   • Written communication: Write effectively for multiple purposes and audiences.
5. Skill Outcome #2:
   • Collaboration: Effectively work on a team; or
   • Oral communication: Effectively prepare and deliver a formal oral presentation.

Courses

You are required to take one course in the Arts Foundations category.

ART 101 — Introduction to Art
Introduction to the visual arts. Examination of creative, social, historical, and aesthetic aspects of selected works of art. Skills: critical thinking, oral communication 

ART 153 — Making and Meaning in Art and Design
This course entails investigating contemporary practices of art and design, studying how images and objects acquire meaning, experimenting with basic studio processes, and learning to use digital media in combination with traditional media in making art. Skills: critical thinking, oral communication

ART 159 — Drawing Fundamentals
Drawing course designed for nonart and design majors and minors outside of the Department of Visual and Media Arts. (Visual and media arts majors/minors must take ART 155.) Students will learn how to create observational and expressive drawings using the elements and principles of art, and how to develop ideas for drawing. Skills: critical thinking, oral communication

ART 231 —  Integrating the Visual Arts Across Disciplines
Art-based inquiry as an integrative approach to teaching in PK-6. Connections among art and other content areas emphasized to develop interdisciplinary approaches with a focus on big ideas and their relationships to the world through problem-solving, creative inquiry, and art-based activities. Skills: collaboration, critical thinking

ART 260 — Introduction to Painting
A painting course designed for art majors and nonart majors. Fundamentals of painting in opaque media with a variety of subjects and styles. Skills: critical thinking, oral communication 

ART 270 — Sculpture: Creating/Building/Making
A hands-on studio course that is equally accessible and challenging for both art and non-art majors. Introduction to basic sculpture techniques includes mold making, metal working, wood working, and sewing. Creative project topics include lost wax bronze casting, found object assemblage, soft sculpture, and fibers. Skills: critical thinking, oral communication

ART 271 — Sculpture: Digital 3D Modeling and Design
This primarily computer-based studio course is accessible and challenging for both art and non-art majors. Introduction to basic digital fabrication techniques will be taught, including 3D digital modeling and rendering, laser cutting, 3D scanning and printing. Creative project topics cover prototypes, inventions, hybrids, digital artifice, and public art proposals. Skills: critical thinking, oral communication

ART 275 — Ceramics: The Basics
A ceramics course designed for art and non-art majors covering all basic clay and ceramics techniques and their historical background. Some clay geology, clay making, and kiln loading/unloading will be covered within the context of general studio practices and safety. Skills: critical thinking, oral communication

CLA 250 — Classical Art and Archaeology
Survey of the art and archaeology of the classical world from the Bronze Age through the dissolution of the Roman Empire. Emphasis on the development of the characteristic forms of classical art, the aesthetic and historical contexts of specific works, and the techniques of classical archaeology, which have revealed them. Prerequisite: Fulfillment of GE Foundations - Writing. Skills: oral communication, written communication

DAN 200 — Introduction to Dance
An introduction to dance as an art form. This course is designed for the liberal arts student interested in learning to appreciate, understand, discuss, and write about dance. Skills: collaboration, critical thinking 

FVP 225 — Film Culture
Introductory course to film as a significant cultural form. Examines the formal elements through which films tell stories, and the kind of stories they tell in response to audience needs and desires. Focuses on how audience interaction shapes narrative filmmaking. Skills: critical thinking, oral communication

JPN 222 — Early Modern Japanese Literature and Theatre
This course explores Japanese literature and theatre during the Edo Period, from 1600 through the end of the 19th century. Readings will consist primarily of literary and theatrical works in English translation as well as history, philosophy, religion, art, etc. No prior knowledge of Japanese is required. Fulfills Cultures - Global Perspectives. Skills: critical thinking, oral communication

MUS 100 — Introduction to Music Literature
Basic music course designed especially for liberal arts students. Study of musical forms, styles, media, and materials, coupled with the development of intelligent listening habits. Skills: oral communication, written communication 

MUS 128 — Strum and Drum for Everyone
Study of basic performance skills on ukulele and percussion designed for the general student. Students will engage in discussion about the role of community music making in today's society.  Requires students to have a soprano or concert ukulele and a hand drum or 5 gallon bucket with drum sticks. Skills: oral communication, written communication

MUS 129 — Fundamentals of Music
Beginning study of music notation, sight singing, keyboard, and music terminology. Designed for the general student who wishes to learn the fundamentals of music, as well as for the prospective music major or minor who has had no theoretical training. Skills: collaboration, critical thinking 

MUS 218 — World Music
An exploration of non-Western music and Western folk music. Develops listening skills and ability to describe musical sounds and structures. Introduces an ethnomusicological perspective that considers music in relation to other aspects of society and culture. Fulfills Cultures – Global Perspectives.  Skills: critical thinking, oral communication

PHI 220 — Aesthetics
An inquiry into the nature, criteria, and significance of the fine arts  and/or artistic creation and response. Skills: collaboration, critical thinking

PHO 170 — Introduction to Photography
An introductory course in digital photography without darkroom instruction. Covers camera operation and use, basic image processing, composition and visual communication, and artists using the medium. Access to digital camera with manual control options is required. Cell phone cameras or point-and-shoot cameras without exposure controls are not adequate. Skills: critical thinking, oral communication

THE 101 — Introduction to Theatre
Basic course in theatre. Emphasis on contemporary stage practice and theory, not theatre history. Students will experience a wide variety of live, filmed, and taped performances, analyze their reactions to them, and present two reports on them. Skills: collaboration, critical thinking 

THE 161 — Theatre Production
An introduction to the collaborative nature of the theatrical process, production practices, and theatrical operations. The course examines the duties and responsibilities of the various collaborative artists, such as actors, directors, designers, producers, and managers. Students will participate in the production activities of the college. Course is required for theatre majors. Skills: collaboration, critical thinking

WGS 255 — Gender and Popular Culture
Introduction to historical and contemporary US popular and everyday culture, arts, and entertainment as mechanisms that produce and reinforce ideologies about gender, race, and sexuality. Analyzes formal elements and aesthetics of various popular arts, modes of production and distribution, and the role of popular arts in activism and resistance. Fulfills Cultures – U.S. Diversity. Skills: oral communication, written communication

WRT 219 — Introduction to Creative Writing
Introduction to the theory and practice of various forms of creative writing. Students may write poetry, fiction, or creative nonfiction and also read literature in each genre. Prerequisite: Fulfillment of GE Foundations - Writing. Skills: collaboration, critical thinking