Theories of NatureCulture is a graduate-level critical and cultural theory seminar with a focus on environmental justice approaches that lays the foundations for advanced study in the interdisciplinary field of nature-culture-sustainability studies, introducing students to vital topics, theories, and perspectives in the environmental humanities.

Why does mainstream US environmental thought conceive of nature and human culture as separate? Are they really a dichotomy? What does it mean to describe something as “natural”? What do the humanities and arts have to contribute to environmental studies and environmental justice? This iteration of Theories of NatureCulture asks students to engage with a variety of cultural production, including poetry, essays, short fiction, film, music, and critical theory to analyze how the concept of nature is represented in different cultural imaginaries, as well as the embodied and material consequences of its representations. The course will expand and complicate students’ understandings of environmentalism by asking them to carefully and thoughtfully engage with a variety of ecological modes of thought, including: queer ecologies, ecofeminisms, Black ecological imaginings, Indigenous environmental thought, anticolonial environmentalisms, eco-crip theory, and Black feminist ecologies, among others.

In this seminar, we will carefully read and discuss a range of texts centered on environmental issues and concepts. Our readings and discussions will be complemented by field trips, writing assignments, group projects, and site visits. Close engagement with theoretical material will enable us to consider how different styles and disciplinary practices encourage particular forms of comprehension and interaction with the environment.

This course is open to all graduate level students and to junior, senior/fifth year undergraduate students, with priority given to those in the NCSS and other Liberal Arts concentrations pending seat availability.

Elective

The unscripted gap of the “betwixt and between” is a space of great curiosity and charge. This space has captured the imagination of many artists, designers, and writers throughout time. The main interest of this course is to investigate the nature of this space, how it is experienced, understood and given meaning from multiple viewpoints in art, design, and literature, and the ways it can become a space of significance for our practice as artists and designers. As background to our own research, we examine features of “the between” as it is evoked in theories of liminality,  philosophies of spatial poetics and the open work, and the aesthetics and practices of phenomenology, synesthesia, and dialogue. Specific works of artists and designers will also walk us to that space. Centrally we will seek and build upon complex ideas raised through the course as we open to qualities of human understanding necessary to meet this fragile world of shifting borders, ecologies, and identities.

Motion can be used as a dynamic and interdisciplinary tool to communicate ideas and narratives that utilize time based media. The intention of this studio class is to equip students with understandings of the mechanics of motion, making and working through analysis and discussion of motion pieces, which they will then use to inform decisions, harnessing motion as a tool for presentation of their work and its documentation as well. Students will navigate motion through the 12 principles of animation, assess moving pictures across different media like live action films, traditional animation, stop motion animation, advertising and motion graphics through diverse screenings. They will also draw on their understanding of time, sequencing, narratives and techniques in their own creative practices. Students will begin with a solid foundational understanding of After Effects, be equipped with essential skills and techniques like working with hand-drawn animation, stop motion and motion graphics using text based-media. As a project focus for the course, students will work on a 45-second motion project of their choice, using vector graphics, kinetic type, or object stop motion. From pre-production to post-production, they will consider processes like storyboarding and sound in creating their visual sequences.

Elective

Typography is never innocent, and a shape is never just a shape. Its interaction with social and historical context, its inextricable link to speech and thought, and its record of instrumentalization all make type profoundly political. The interdependency between letterforms and written content shapes how we experience the world; type has the power to attack, convince, appease, influence, and inform us. But can type be an instrument of transformation, an agent in promoting positive social change?

This course invites both designers and non-designers to ask how typography and type design influence public perception and participation and will investigate to what extent typographic variation may be a tool for empowerment and advocacy. The class will investigate typographic standards, questions of readability and accessibility, and 'appropriateness' through a series of three main project prompts, which will encourage students to rethink typography in publications, posters, and their own practice.  Subsequently, case studies, and readings aim at fostering an open discourse about what typographic variation and disruption of norms can mean in times of protest and how a typographic ‘voice’ can act as an agent for positive change and inclusive world-building. 

Discussions will be informed by lectures and readings/works by Angela Riechers, Audre Lorde, L.i.P. Collective, Læ collectiv·f·e Bye Bye Binary, Sang Mun, Beatrice Caciotti, BeOakley, Corinne Ang, Imad Gebrayel, Silas Munro, and Sabiha Basrai. Visual references include the work of Sister Corita Kent; Emory Douglas (and material from the NY Schomburg Center 'Black Power' exhibition); AIDS-era protest graphics of ACT UP; feminist direct-action graphics of the Women's Action Coalition; anti-Vietnam-war material from the NYPL exhibition 'You Say You Want a Revolution' and more.

Estimated Cost of Materials: $80.00

Elective

“A picture is worth a thousand words”, and that is the level of impact activists aim to achieve when they employ the use of posters in various movements. By looking at posters made for political revolutions and social movements across different cultures, this course will challenge students to engage with critical issues and use visual communication to explore their points of view and find their voices in the social and political realms.

Political posters span across a broad spectrum. They can be about macro-politics such as war/peace, environmental issues, gun regulation, LGBTQ, disability rights, government propaganda, etc. Micro-politics in our day-to-day within organizations such as schools, companies, or other community spaces can also be addressed through posters. Lastly, the personal is political as well. Identities shape the way we experience and perceive the world. This course aims to help students identify what they believe in and to visualize and distribute their message through posters.

Conducted in lecture, seminars, and studio assignments. Students will use typography, photos, and illustrations to create their own compelling posters. We will learn from existing visual heritage and analyze how people tackled difficult topics and supported their causes across a variety of social contexts using the form of the poster. We will look at posters from ACT UP, the Civil Rights Movement, Barbara Kruger, Martha Rosler, Martin Wong, and more. Students will learn to harness their typographic and pictorial skills to address pressing social issues and amplifying underrepresented voices. All majors are welcome.

Estimated Cost of Materials: $30.00

Elective

This is a course about design and motion, filtered through the lens of real-world, graphic design applications. From film titles to animated gifs, design installations to handheld applications, motion is an important consideration in 21st century graphic design. This course combines disciplines of graphic design, animation, storytelling and sound design. Through a series of in-studio and multi-week assignments, students will create animated projects that include real-world assignments as well as experimental exercises. Short weekly lectures will discuss historic and current works of influential Motion Designers, Animators and Directors. Adobe After Effects will be the primary production tool for this class. Through the sequence of assignments, students will become fluent with the software.

Elective

The current understanding of what constitutes design is straining at the margins of convention. The reach of design has moved beyond the materiality of objects, to biotechnological matter of chemicals and encoded genetic information, from physical space to code and data. Human beings now live lives that are immersed in design. The designer and their subject share a dialectical relationship, constantly shaping and reshaping each other. The role of the designer, thriving in the world of post-industrial and digital technologies, is thus broader today than ever before-from designing brands and creating personalities, to contriving and manipulating living organisms. Post-postmodernism, pseudo-modernism, supermodernism, digimodernism, are only a few of the many terms trying to describe our current state. Today, we occupy the digital domain as thoroughly as we do physical space. Codes and algorithms have also become signifiers of a new biotechnological paradigm shift, marking the passage into a posthuman epoch by launching us into a virtual space composed of a bright galaxy of screens and digital worlds, creating a symbiotic relationship between our technology and biological selves. As designers, we shape, clash, align, and distort this new space, elaborating a stage for the New Man and the New Woman, and perhaps even the Nonhuman. In this class, we will explore our contemporary condition through visual-research based projects around self-design, speculative design and design fiction. We will use graphic design as a medium to ask questions about ethical concerns emerging from advancements in science and technology. We will develop a new design vernacular incorporating ideas from revolutionary recent developments in genetics, biotechnology, and artificial intelligence. We will employ machine vision: microscopy, neuroimaging and NASA archives to create new fictional worlds in concert with the life forms around and inside us. This engagement with the sciences will allow us as graphic designers to acquire some fundamental tools that probe fundamental human nature, and help us navigate the posthuman epoch that lies ahead.

Elective

How do designers respond, think about and make for equitable futures? How much do we need to scrap or throw under the proverbial bus (ourselves included)? Unmaking studio is a space that explores possibilities through collaborative experimentation and reflection on how we can design in pluralistic ways. We will intentionally break habits, structures, tools, methods, and models of thought that have become canonized as the way to make Graphic Design. Along the way, we will experiment, at times in collaboration, with a series of prompts that explore analog and digital outcomes — forms, images, stories, languages, publications, the unknown, the emergent — thinking about the stories our work tells about ourselves (our lineages, our choices, and our values), our communities, and how all of this has the potential to radically and joyfully shift how we engage as human beings.

Estimated Cost of Materials: $50.00

Elective

This studio course is an investigation in the act of making. We’ll begin the semester by looking at performance theory, linguistics, ornamentation, and replication to explore the “act,” and simultaneously use digital fabrication, material research and hand craft to explore the “making.” You will further expand on these ideas by applying lenses of your choice to develop your own methodologies and frameworks to situate your work within a larger conversation about making and graphic design. While our primary modes of making will be within the realm of digital fabrication (using the resources at CoWorks), we will also incorporate other modalities to explore the tensions between presenting information/concepts and performing design. Course meetings will range from group discussions, making and fabrication demonstrations, work time and critiques. This course is designed for the graphic design student who already has an established independent practice with strong research and conceptual interests. The class will culminate in a final project that will support, enhance or evolve your Graphic Design Degree Project or Thesis.

Estimated Cost of Materials: $125.00

Elective

Motion design is a powerful, foundational feature of digital screens. It helps direct the viewer’s attention, present information sequentially, add personality or depth to otherwise static graphics, contextualize interactive elements, and so much more. In this studio elective, students will learn the fundamentals of motion design and explore a wide variety of video and animation techniques. We will look at a wide range of influences and styles ranging from stop motion animation, to film title sequences, to early-Internet Flash animations, to interface design, to contemporary practices for brand identities and social media. Instruction will focus on digital motion design using Adobe After Effects, with additional tutorials in Premiere Pro, audio production, and HTML/CSS for web-based animations. Students will leave the course with a broad overview of the field of motion design and a deep understanding of rhythm, timing, sequence, narrative, and expression.

Estimated Cost of Materials: $25.00

Elective

Building on a collection of texts at the intersection of language, identity, and societal conditioning, this course examines the extent to which typography can engage in world building and the production and dissemination of proposals for alternative systems. Through a series of parallel assignments including reading, writing, and making, we will individually and collectively explore different strategies and mediums through which we can activate a multitude of voices and approaches that comprise our complex world of many worlds.

Elective

In this Graphic Design studio, students will learn the building blocks of book construction. In addition to handwork and bindery skills, students will work to set type, manually and digitally, to match their conceptual vision and learn to plan, execute and create well crafted book projects. The course will cover the history of the book from codexes and manuscripts all the way through modern zines to give us context for our technical work. We will study the medium of the artists’ book which, though rooted in traditional book forms, take on any shape and design that the artist can imagine. This medium has a rich history—we’ll study exemplars in the Special Collections archive and visit with contemporary artists in the field. 

Craft is essential to creating effective forms that tell the story of our design practice. How can the technical skills learned in traditional book binding be adapted to your vision and voice?

Elective

Type + Code is a studio course in which students combine web programming with variable fonts to create interactive, dynamic typographic experiences. Students will become proficient in code (HTML, CSS, and JavaScript) and type design (Glyphs) to create original fonts, web specimens, digital articles, and more. This course encourages students to push the boundaries on contemporary type design and find new or underutilized use cases for experimental typography, both as a form of expression and in practical applications. These experiments are supported by readings from a wide variety of influences, including video games, performance studies, and computer science. No prior experience in type design or coding is required.

Elective

Photography plays an important role in the field of graphic design -- within publications, posters, electronic media, etc. Because of the camera's availability and fairly inexpensive cost, photography has become one of the most popular hobbies in the world. Although he/she is in possession of such a device, the average person is not entirely aware of certain image manipulations and other concepts used by the graphic designer. This four-week workshop introduces designers to the lighting studio and the many uses of the camera in creating design artifacts.

Elective

Photography plays an important role in the field of graphic design -- within publications, posters, electronic media, etc. Because of the camera's availability and fairly inexpensive cost, photography has become one of the most popular hobbies in the world. Although he/she is in possession of such a device, the average person is not entirely aware of certain image manipulations and other concepts used by the graphic designer. This four-week workshop introduces designers to the lighting studio and the many uses of the camera in creating design artifacts.

Elective

Photography plays an important role in the field of graphic design -- within publications, posters, electronic media, etc. Because of the camera's availability and fairly inexpensive cost, photography has become one of the most popular hobbies in the world. Although he/she is in possession of such a device, the average person is not entirely aware of certain image manipulations and other concepts used by the graphic designer. This four-week workshop introduces designers to the lighting studio and the many uses of the camera in creating design artifacts.

Elective

This workshop is a four week introduction to letterpress printing. We will work with handset foundry type, wood type and photopolymer plates tocreate finely printed specimens of type and image. We will learn Pantone color mixing and matching and discuss papers and substrates suitable for the process.

Participants will learn to design for the letterpress printing process and prepress techniques for creating successful photopolymer plates. The course will also cover proper Vandercook Proof Press setup, inking, cleaning and troubleshooting.

Elective

This workshop is a four week introduction to letterpress printing. We will work with handset foundry type, wood type and photopolymer plates tocreate finely printed specimens of type and image. We will learn Pantone color mixing and matching and discuss papers and substrates suitable for the process.

Participants will learn to design for the letterpress printing process and prepress techniques for creating successful photopolymer plates. The course will also cover proper Vandercook Proof Press setup, inking, cleaning and troubleshooting.

Elective

This workshop is a four week introduction to letterpress printing. We will work with handset foundry type, wood type and photopolymer plates tocreate finely printed specimens of type and image. We will learn Pantone color mixing and matching and discuss papers and substrates suitable for the process.

Participants will learn to design for the letterpress printing process and prepress techniques for creating successful photopolymer plates. The course will also cover proper Vandercook Proof Press setup, inking, cleaning and troubleshooting.

Elective

This workshop will use Risograph printing to combine practical prepress skills with experimental form-making. The aim of the workshop is to teach students to consider the craft and value of well-planned files to produce high-quality outputs that can be replicated and shared. By focusing on the Risograph printer students will work within a series of technical constraints that will require creative solutions as well as a strong understanding of this particular printing process, color, paper, and file preparation.

Estimated Cost of Materials: $40.00

Elective