MFA/CD Courses

This course represents a student's continuing thesis enrollments. The student continues to enroll in this course until the thesis is submitted for binding.

1 Credit Hour. 1 Lecture Contact Hour. 0 Lab Contact Hours.
Grade Mode: Credit/No Credit

This course represents a student's continuing thesis enrollments. The student continues to enroll in this course until the thesis is submitted for binding.

2 Credit Hours. 2 Lecture Contact Hours. 0 Lab Contact Hours.
Grade Mode: Credit/No Credit

This course is required as a condition of employment for graduate teaching and instructional assistants. It will provide in-service training and evaluations of instructional philosophies, techniques, and responsibilities. This course does not earn graduate degree credit.

This course may be taken only to fulfill communication design background. Students will acquire knowledge and graphic design skills necessary for advanced studies. This course does not earn graduate degree credit. Repeatable up to 3 times, with different emphases. Prerequisite: Instructor approval.

3 Credit Hours. 3 Lecture Contact Hours. 0 Lab Contact Hours.
Course Attribute(s): Exclude from 3-peat Processing|Exclude from Graduate GPA|Leveling
Grade Mode: Leveling/Assistantships

Students will research, create, and produce advanced online products for Internet. Emphasis is placed on information architecture, interface design, and navigation constructs in order to produce unique online communications. Repeatable up to 3 times when the area(s) of study change.

3 Credit Hours. 3 Lecture Contact Hours. 0 Lab Contact Hours.
Grade Mode: Standard Letter

This course examines the traditional and experimental advanced usage of type as a visual tool to express meaning. Repeatable up to 3 times when the area(s) of study change.

3 Credit Hours. 3 Lecture Contact Hours. 0 Lab Contact Hours.
Course Attribute(s): Exclude from 3-peat Processing
Grade Mode: Standard Letter

This course examines emerging issues in graphic design and design criticism, primarily from the turn of the 21st century to the present. Students will learn to analyze and critique graphic design, and will produce a work of critical writing.

3 Credit Hours. 3 Lecture Contact Hours. 0 Lab Contact Hours.
Grade Mode: Standard Letter

This course explores the modernist movement in design, as it emerged in Europe and America in the early twentieth century. Topics include: visual cultural theory, the origins of modernism, Dada, Constructivism, DeStijl, the Bauhaus, and American modernism.

3 Credit Hours. 3 Lecture Contact Hours. 0 Lab Contact Hours.
Grade Mode: Standard Letter

In this course, students explore the relationship between form and content through the lens of postmodern graphic design and typography from the 1960s through the early 2000s. The course begins with the emergence of postmodernism and traces its connections to contemporary developments, including: counter-archival, decolonizing, anti-racist, feminist, and queer perspectives in typography. This hybrid studio-seminar course approaches design history through a pluralistic practice of researching, writing, and designing.

3 Credit Hours. 3 Lecture Contact Hours. 0 Lab Contact Hours.
Grade Mode: Standard Letter

In this course students examine communication design research methods, modes of practice, and models of the creative process. Students will engage in individual research inquiries in order to develop the topic for their master’s thesis in Communication Design, and to present at the MFA Thesis Forum.

3 Credit Hours. 3 Lecture Contact Hours. 0 Lab Contact Hours.
Course Attribute(s): Exclude from 3-peat Processing
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
 

An independent study requiring complex problem-solving in communication design. Repeatable up to 3 times when the area(s) of study change.

3 Credit Hours. 3 Lecture Contact Hours. 0 Lab Contact Hours.
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
 

This course explores the detailed anatomy of typefaces in order to design custom typefaces through various applications. Students with an advanced knowledge of typography will research detailed type anatomy as well as historical, technological, and cultural typographic contexts. Repeatable up to 3 times when the area(s) of study change.

3 Credit Hours. 3 Lecture Contact Hours. 0 Lab Contact Hours.
Course Attribute(s): Exclude from 3-peat Processing|Topics
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
 

This course focuses on designing a digital experience by connecting people, place, and technology. Students who are interested in digital placemaking, digital innovations/transformation, mobile technology, and exploring hybrid experiences are encouraged to enroll in the course. The course discusses communication, digital products, environments, and services as an ecosystem and the role a designer plays in a larger context. Repeatable up to 3 times when the area(s) of study change.

3 Credit Hours. 3 Lecture Contact Hours. 0 Lab Contact Hours.
Course Attribute(s): Exclude from 3-peat Processing|Topics
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
 

In this course, students explore the implications of social networking and mobile communications in contemporary communication design. Repeatable up to 3 times when the area(s) of study change.

3 Credit Hours. 3 Lecture Contact Hours. 0 Lab Contact Hours.
Course Attribute(s): Exclude from 3-peat Processing|Topics
Grade Mode: Standard Letter

This course explores the designer’s role in the dissemination of information and examines the history and current practices of independent publishing. There is an emphasis on authorship, typography, and experimentation. Repeatable up to 3 times when the area(s) of study change.

3 Credit Hours. 3 Lecture Contact Hours. 0 Lab Contact Hours.
Course Attribute(s): Exclude from 3-peat Processing|Topics
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
 

In this course, students explore international perspectives in design. This course requires a field trip abroad and will conclude with one extensive communication design assignment based upon the field trip experience. Repeatable up to 3 times when the area(s) of study change.

3 Credit Hours. 3 Lecture Contact Hours. 0 Lab Contact Hours.
Course Attribute(s): Exclude from 3-peat Processing|Topics
Grade Mode: Standard Letter

This course will explore hands-on printing methods for designers. Letterpress, screen-printing, and other alternative printing methods will be explored to visually express design concepts. Repeatable up to 3 times when the area(s) of study change.

3 Credit Hours. 3 Lecture Contact Hours. 0 Lab Contact Hours.
Course Attribute(s): Exclude from 3-peat Processing|Topics
Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Students will translate technological and socioeconomic issues into the near future. They will explore the role of design in solving or coping with the consequences of today's actions. The course will prepare students to think critically about the role of design in the evolution of humankind.

3 Credit Hours. 3 Lecture Contact Hours. 3 Lab Contact Hours.
Course Attribute(s): Exclude from 3-peat Processing|Topics
Grade Mode: Standard Letter

This course introduces students to critical design practice and serves as one of several thesis preparation courses offered. Design Practice sets the foundation for building a significant and cohesive body of creative work.

3 Credit Hours. 3 Lecture Contact Hours. 0 Lab Contact Hours.
Course Attribute(s): Exclude from 3-peat Processing|Topics
Grade Mode: Standard Letter

This course further examines communication design research methods, modes of practice, and models of the creative process to advance thesis research through making and visualizing abstract ideas.

3 Credit Hours. 3 Lecture Contact Hours. 0 Lab Contact Hours.
Course Attribute(s): Exclude from 3-peat Processing|Topics
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
 

In this course students will explore different methods of exhibition within traditional and alternative settings. They will experiment with collaborative and multidisciplinary strategies to produce speculative proposals for public and professional communities. Students will come away with an in-depth understanding of various exhibition contexts and the ability to analyze and select the exhibition strategies most appropriate to engage a specified inquiry. Repeatable up to 3 times when the area(s) of study change.

3 Credit Hours. 3 Lecture Contact Hours. 0 Lab Contact Hours.
Course Attribute(s): Exclude from 3-peat Processing|Topics
Grade Mode: Standard Letter

This course introduces the basics of generative art and design. Utilizing code as a creative medium, students engage in computation through a creative, thoughtful, and transformative approach. Students learn the potential of programming in the field of Communication Design. Repeatable up to 3 times when the area(s) of study change.

3 Credit Hours. 3 Lecture Contact Hours. 3 Lab Contact Hours.
Course Attribute(s): Exclude from 3-peat Processing|Topics
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
 

This course surveys movements in design history with a focus on the modern and contemporary eras. Graphic design is situated within the contexts of art, architecture, film, and other design disciplines. Major themes include the rise and fall of the European avant-garde; art and editorial direction in the Interwar Period; and topics in post-WWII modernism and postmodernism.

3 Credit Hours. 3 Lecture Contact Hours. 0 Lab Contact Hours.
Course Attribute(s): Exclude from 3-peat Processing|Topics
Grade Mode: Standard Letter

This course surveys the most important mass media from the late 19th century until now. It asks how we can assess the impact that different visual cultures, technologies, and products have had on collective and individual attention since the modern era began. Students will study the forms, logic, delights, and limitations of older inventions, like cinema, as well as newer ones, like social media. They will analyze media history, theory, and contemporary debates to gain an understanding of attention as a precious resource for design specifically and social existence in general.

3 Credit Hours. 3 Lecture Contact Hours. 0 Lab Contact Hours.
Course Attribute(s): Exclude from 3-peat Processing|Topics
Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Students are placed in regional and national advertising agencies, digital media studios, or graphic design firms to gain professional practice experience. Repeatable once for credit.

3 Credit Hours. 0 Lecture Contact Hours. 5 Lab Contact Hours.
Grade Mode: Standard Letter

This course introduces theories, techniques, and practices of motion graphics for students with a strong foundation in communication design. This course focuses on the successful integration of images, typography, and sound over time to create nuanced and complex messages. Experimentation, research, critical analysis, and concept development is emphasized. Repeatable up to 2 times when the area(s) of study change.

3 Credit Hours. 3 Lecture Contact Hours. 0 Lab Contact Hours.
Course Attribute(s): Exclude from 3-peat Processing
Grade Mode: Standard Letter

In this course students are introduced to theoretical and conceptual aspects of socially engaged art and design. The course reconsiders the role of the designer in the context of participatory and public practices. Repeatable up to 3 times when the area(s) of study change.

3 Credit Hours. 3 Lecture Contact Hours. 0 Lab Contact Hours.
Course Attribute(s): Exclude from 3-peat Processing
Grade Mode: Standard Letter

This course represents a student’s continuing thesis enrollments. The student continues to enroll in this course until the thesis is submitted for binding.

3 Credit Hours. 3 Lecture Contact Hours. 0 Lab Contact Hours.
Grade Mode: Credit/No Credit
 

The course represents a student’s initial thesis enrollment. No thesis credit is awarded until the student has completed the thesis in ARTC 5399B.

3 Credit Hours. 3 Lecture Contact Hours. 0 Lab Contact Hours.
Grade Mode: Credit/No Credit
 

This course represents a student's continuing thesis enrollments. The student continues to enroll in this course until the thesis is submitted for binding.

5 Credit Hours. 5 Lecture Contact Hours. 0 Lab Contact Hours.
Grade Mode: Credit/No Credit