Studio Art Courses for Non-Art Majors

The Art Department offers the following Studio Art courses for non-majors and minors. Not all courses will be offered every semester. Art majors may not apply these courses to major requirements.

ART 1212 - Non-Majors Ceramics: Handbuilding

This course introduces students to the basic hand-building techniques and technical knowledge required to work and fire ceramics. Students develop both a conceptual understanding and practical knowledge of the ways in which three-dimensional ceramic form functions. Lectures and visual presentations explore historical and contemporary approaches to ceramics. This course is restricted to non-Art majors.

ART 1213 - Non-Majors Ceramics: Wheel throwing

This ceramics course focuses on wheel throwing as an expressive tool with which students develop their ceramic techniques of thrown and altered forms. Students investigate traditional vessel making, as well as thrown and altered sculptural and functional objects. Topics of study include contemporary and historical wheel-thrown objects and an introduction to high-fire, atmospheric firing. This course is restricted to non-Art majors.

ART 1251 - Jewelry and Metals for Non-Art Majors

This course explores traditional and contemporary approaches to the creation of handcrafted jewelry and precious or semiprecious metal objects. The course will introduce basic casting and fabricating techniques such as hollow construction and surface embellishment. This course is restricted to non-Art majors.

ART 1261 - Painting for Non-Art Majors

This course explores acrylic painting techniques and materials. Students study composition, the use of color, and design elements and principles. This course is restricted to non-Art majors.

ART 1271 - Film Photography for Non-Majors

This course introduces basic photographic problem solving focused on technical and aesthetic concerns while addressing the history of photography. Students learn black and white film exposure, development and printing. This course is restricted to non-art majors.

ART 1273 - Digital Capture for Non-Art Majors

This course introduces basic digital photographic strategies for image making focused on technical and aesthetic concerns while addressing how photographic images function in visual culture. Students learn image capture, fundamentals of basic camera functions, processing, manipulation and printing of digital image files, and maintenance and archiving of a digital archive. Contemporary photography topics are integrated into the curriculum through assignments and related independent research. This course is restricted to non-art majors.

ART 1291 - Sculpture for Non-Majors

Students in this course examine fundamental principles, procedures, and techniques in producing art using a variety of sculptural tools and materials. Emphasis is placed on critical and creative thinking and multi-modal expression through investigations of physical form, process, context, and studio practices. This course is restricted to non-art majors.

Art History Courses for Non-Art Majors

The following ARTH course meets General Studies Arts and Humanities requirements for non-majors, but will not meet requirements in the major for students in one of the Art Department majors or minors.

ARTH 1500 - Art and Visual Literacy

Prerequisite: ENG 1009 or ENG 1010 or Permission of Department;

Restricted to those students who are not majoring in art, communication design, or art history, theory and criticism.

Crosslisting: HON 1500

This course is a general introduction to the tools and methods used to analyze and interpret works of art in a variety of contexts. Students learn how to effectively communicate how visual forms work in conjunction with cultural beliefs both in the past and present. Analytical tools appropriate to the disciplines of art criticism and art history, including the use of research, are used by the student to support interpretations. A variety of artistic traditions, including materials and techniques from across the globe and throughout time, are introduced so that students are prepared to identify and interpret historical and contemporary examples of visual art and design. By developing an awareness of the relationship between visual forms and the messages they convey, students increase their ability to respond critically to their own increasingly complex, visual environment. This course is designed for the non-major and recommended for the General Studies requirement in Arts and Humanities. Credit will be granted for only one prefix: ARTH or HON.

Cross listed Courses

Partnerships Between the Art Department and Other Departments:

ART 1300  Woods: Materials and Fabrication
(With Industrial Design, IND 1010)

ARTH 3310 African Art
(With Africana Studies, AAS 3310)

ARTH 3360 Contemporary Chicana/o Art
(With Chicana/o Studies, CHS 3025)

ARTH 3385 Feminist Art Since 1960
(With Gender Institute for Teaching and Advocacy, GWS 3960)

ARTH 3405 Native American Art
(With Native American Studies, NAS 309A)

ARTH 3780 Cinema as Visual Art
(Partnership with English for the Cinema Studies minor, ENG 2860)

Courses for Industrial Design

Courses available to Industrial Design (IND) students with alternate prerequisites and permission of the Department of Art:

  • Sculpture courses
  • Moldmaking for Ceramics
  • Jewelry and Metalsmithing courses
  • Select Communication Design courses

Student cutting cardboard