The arts provide us with a rich record of human cultures and values throughout time. They enable us to understand and enjoy the experiences of our senses and to sharpen our aesthetic sense—that human quality through which we comprehend beauty. To appreciate the relationship between form and meaning is to realize that the creative arts, regardless of their medium of expression, share important principles.

Courses in this Foundational Area have varied emphases: the process of creativity, the analysis of the artistic imagination, or the relationship between artists, their works, and the societies in which their works are produced. You may choose a hands-on experience and paint, draw, design, or write. Alternatively, you may study both classic and recent works of literature, art, music, dance, or theatre. All courses in this area challenge you to understand creativity and the distinctive intellectual process of the human imagination.

Learning Objectives

1. examine the nature of creativity, especially imaginative and intuitive thinking
2. situate creative works, and judgments about those creative works, in their appropriate social and historical context
3. develop your own creative and expressive abilities, so that you can better understand the qualities that shape an artist’s work

see Schedule of Classes for class times and course descriptions

Anthropology

ANTH-225 Language and Human Experience

Studio Art

ARTS-100 Art: The Studio Experience

ARTS-205 The Artist's Perspective: Drawing

ARTS-210 The Artist's Perspective: Painting

ARTS-215 The Artist's Perspective: Sculpture

ARTS-235 The Artist's Perspective: Video Art

Art History

ARTH-105 Art: The Historical Experience
ARTH-210 Modern Art: 19th & 20th Centuries

Communication

COMM-105 Visual Literacy

Graphic Design

GDES-230 Graphic Design History: Visual Culture, Commerce and Propaganda

Literature

LIT-105  The Literary Imagination
LIT-120  Interpreting Literature
LIT-135  Critical Approach to the Cinema
LIT-215  Writers in Print/in Person
LIT-225  The African Writer
LIT-245  The Experience of Poetry
LIT-270  Transformations of Shakespeare

Performing Arts

PERF-110 Understanding Music
PERF-115 Theatre: Principles, Plays and Performances
PERF-200 Dance as an Art Form
PERF-205 Masterpieces of Music
PERF-210 Greatness in Music
PERF-215 Opera on Stage and Film
PERF-220 Reflections of American Society on Stage
PERF-225 The African American Experience in the Performing Arts

Philosophy

PHIL-230 Meaning and Purpose in the Arts