Foundation Program

The Foundation Program provides a unified and dynamic experience designed to build a durable framework for all areas of study in Visual Arts. This program is founded upon intensive lecture, studio, and lab investigation of techniques, methods, and concepts.

The curriculum broadens and expands a student’s formal creative design vocabulary, while introducing new ways of thinking about images, time, space, and audience. This program encourages students to think analytically and to use their imagination to develop an awareness of the role of artists in our culture.

Students with a major in Visual Arts and a studio concentration (Animation/Interactive Media, Cinematic Arts, Graphic Design, Photography, Print Media) are required to take the following courses:

Animation/Interactive Media Concentration

Animation/Interactive Media calls upon the theories and artistic practices of animation, cinema, motion graphics, games and technology. Students in this concentration study animation and interactive media through a combination of traditional media and digital tools. In-class critiques of personal work and investigation of the history of animation and interactive art are emphasized for the development of a framework from which students can begin their path as animators and interactive artists.

Advanced-level courses in animation incorporate technically intensive experience in 3-D computer animation and digital compositing, as well as exploration of emerging practices including real-time applications and performance or interactive animation. Interactivity courses address critical and aesthetic issues across a variety of forms including internet art, games, simulators, and immersive environments. A thorough preparation in interactive techniques, including scripting, opens students to a deeper understanding of interaction design principles and aesthetics, taking them beyond a “point and click” paradigm of interaction and encouraging the exploration of interactivity as a complex field of exchange between artist: audience, creator: participant, organism: machine, body: space and self: other.

Throughout the Animation/Interactive Media program of study, students are encouraged and expected to develop their own artistic voice through exploration of the media and critical review of their work. Students completing the Animation/Interactive Media concentration have the opportunity to produce a fully-developed work at the culmination of the program.

For B.F.A. students

with a concentration in Animation/Interactive Media, the following are required in addition to the visual arts core courses:

• ART 341 - Introduction to Animation (3.00) (Animation gateway: must earn a “B”or better)
• ART 382 - Introduction to Interactive Media (3.00) (Interactive gateway: must earn a “B” or better)
• ART 383 - Sound Design (3.00)
• ART 343 - History of Animation (3.00)
• ART 384 - Introduction to 3D Computer Animation (3.00)
• ART 387 - Expression in Time and Motion (3.00)
• ART 484 - Advanced 3D Computer Animation (3.00)
• ART 488 - Advanced Topics in Animation and Interactive Media (3.00)
• ART 489 - Senior Projects (3.00)
• Three ART electives
• One Art History and Museum Studies elective