S y l l a b u s

winter, 2004, our place in nature

COURSE REQUIREMENTS:

1. Attendance to, and participation in, all class functions;

2. A final refined syncretic essay of approximately 15 pages;

3. Two to three drafts of your developing essay;

4. Evidence of acquired familiarity and a degree of expertise in one or two new artistic media;

5. Successful integration of artwork with essay work;

6. Successful participation in your peer group’s class presentation.

WRITING PROJECT
Your winter quarter writing project is the primary mode for demonstrating your engagement and learning in the program as a whole. Your skills as a writer, researcher, and "arguer" are considered essential to completing this course and moving on in your undergraduate studies.
Capturing the philosophical, historical, and practical themes of the program within a particular, focused argument will establish your degree of mastery of those themes and your ability to read and think critically, skills considered necessary for any future endeavor.
I. Learning Goals:
o To develop research and writing skills
o To develop and support unique perspectives on key themes
o To develop critical thinking and reading skills
II. Basic Expectations:
o Connection to a key concept/theme/question of the program
oUse of some fall and some winter quarter program texts in the substantiation of your
claim
o Minimal amount of outside research to enrich and focus ideas
oCompletion of each stage of the process in a timely manner and as determined by
your faculty advisor
o A final presentation with your peer group
III. Components
workshops: participation and documentation in portfolio
research: documentation in portfolio and evident in final draft
peer review: in class (attendance); peer evaluation
tutor meetings: documentation in portfolio and from tutor
faculty advisor: individual & peer group meetings
presentation: role in presenting and evidence of preparation in portfolio
IV. Stages
Generating ideas.............. (weeks 1-2)
Developing thesis..............(weeks 2-3)
Outlining............................(weeks 3-4)
Drafting.............................(weeks 4-5)
First draft..........................(weeks 5-6)
Second draft......................(weeks 6-7)
Third Draft........................(weeks 7-8)
Final Draft.........................(week 8-9)
Presentation.......................(week 9/10)

ART PROJECTS
Your artwork in winter quarter is meant to engage your whole mind in problems and concerns that matter most to you.
Far from segregating imaginative work from critical thinking (in your essay), our hope is that the two will complement and feed each other, improving the quality of both.
I. Learning Goals
o To explore and express idea in visual form.
o To use visual means to make a compelling idea more powerful, tangible, or meaningful
II. Basic Expectations
o Development and completion of a project of sufficient magnitude and complexity as determined by your faculty
o Correlation to a concept/theme/question critical to your thesis paper
o Use of at least one print media
o Completion of each stage of the process in a timely manner and as determined by your faculty advisor
o Use in or display during final presentation with your group

III. Stages
Generating ideas................(weeks 1-2)
Concept critique................(week 3)
Mock-ups...........................(week 4)
Production plan.................(week 5)
Final critique......................(week 9)
Presentation.......................(week 9/10)
IV. Assignments:
In addition to the linoleum carving and letterpress printing that you already have at your disposal, you will self-select to learn 1 or 2 out of 3 new media:
A. Monoprinting: this is an incredibly free form and playful process involving you, a plate of plexiglass, ink, and whatever else your imagination can conjure. Produce line-drawings, washes, intricate patterns, layers of shapes, colors, and textures, combine with other print media to create incredibly rich and varied imagery.
B. Drypoint printing: the simplest form of etching, this technique involves scratching into plexiglass, creating channels and "burs" in which ink can collect. The result is usually a soft and sumptuous line drawing. Scratching into plexi makes it easy to use other materials as your guide or inspiration because you can simply slip something under the plexi and trace!
C. Photography (the schedule for photography is not set yet and may require that you independently seek out proficiency to reap the full benefits...your own happy faculty cannot provide technical instruction, but many of your fellow students CAN.) Includes camera use and B&W darkroom development/printing proficiency.