Certificate Programs

Students will analyze in this course social, societal, cultural, artistic, ethnic, and historic ideas with a focus on a statement driven development of a collection. Referential work and encounter historic and iconic influences are important elements to develop creative abstraction in designs and emphasis on authentic and personal designs. In this course students learn to analyze and use properties and principles of materiality to make design decisions informed by sustainable practices and take responsible decisions. Students will experiment a variety of design ideation methods to encounter innovations and develop a new vision.

Prerequisites: Sophomore core studios – Fashion Design 2

This course introduces the 3D form, fabrics and basic garment construction. Through the practice of draping muslin on the mannequin, fabrics workshops and analysis students learn how 2D materials become 3D forms. The foundation of pattern shapes: bodices, skirts, sleeves, and collars are covered as are essential technical skills and garment assembly techniques. Weekly briefs encourage intensive 3D research and exploration of a variety of methods and techniques. The course initiates a flexible, experimental and critical approach towards materials, volumes, and shapes from which design concepts emanate in an individual, personal, problem-solving process.

Prerequisites: Foundation core studios – Semester 1 is prerequisite for semester 2.

Knitwear is becoming an increasingly popular and innovative area of design due to modern developments in technology making it even more exciting and experimental. The course focus on learning the fundamentals about knit, the machines and the creative aspect being explored. The course allows students to develop a strong personal style and design signature through experimental projects, knitwear programming workshops and collaborations with the industry. This class will cover as well the fabrication of knit on the industrial knitting machines. Students will learn how to develop technical files to collaborate with an industry leading knitting company. The final piece in the course is a fully knitted personal garment. Either on fully fashion or cut and sewn.

The course will teach the students through different workshops, how to define and understand the different steps to build a well-balanced collection with the right positioning: products, commercial, image, but also the management of a collection with an international business strategy that will lead to success. This course will highlight the making off of the collection: products lines and logistics, collection budget, sourcing and manufacturing, wholesale and retail pricing, commercial and image choices and tools.

This course provides an in-depth study of materiality, focusing on the exploration and manipulation of textiles to align with and enhance a designer’s unique vision. Students will investigate a wide range of material manipulation techniques, including experimental approaches to fabric construction, surface treatments, and innovative material combinations.

The course emphasizes the integration of individual design aesthetics into textile development, highlighting how personalized materials can contribute to the overall impact of a fashion collection. Students will learn to push the boundaries of traditional textile design, experimenting with textures, colors, and forms to create distinctive fabrics that express their personal style and creative concepts.

Key components of the course include hands-on workshops, material experimentation, and guided projects that challenge students to develop their own bespoke textiles. Students will have the opportunity to apply their newly acquired skills in the creation of custom materials for their senior collections, providing a tangible and practical outcome for their studies.

This course focuses on contextualize design philosophy with evidence of fashion history, theoretical underpinnings, and contemporary culture that addresses issues of justice, equity and social responsibility. Students professionalize principals and practices of developing the fashion collection from initial concept to final garments. Understanding and contextualize the codes of garments and re-interpret them into a new vision, taking critical topics including gender, race, size inclusivity and activism through the lens of fashion are core goals in this course. Students communicate muse ideas through research and abstract textile manipulation to develop a collection based on a character.

Prerequisites: Sophomore core studios – Fashion Research I

The focus of this course is placed on creative problem solving of designer garments via advanced construction techniques, tailoring methods, draping, pattern making and finishing techniques. Students will learn how to drape a jacket and how the tailored jacket is constructed. They will interpret the traditional techniques into a garment with vision to make a statement. Understand and contextualize the codes of tailoring and re-interpret them. Learn the complex construction of a tailored garment and use that to be innovative. Students will produce multiple looks in 3D to prepare for the senior year.

Prerequisites: Sophomore core studios – 3D Pattern Development I.

This class focuses on digital tools for fashion design and fashion illustration. Students use Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign to prepare concept boards and collection concepts completed with scanned sources and original artwork. Exploring a variety of digital design and presentation methods, students will focus on developing new design concepts for defined niche markets; project briefs will involve research and style analysis of a French couture house or a European luxury brand. Applying digital communication and presentation skills, students will develop a new contemporary vision for an innovative product range and their own graphic identity presented in a professional PowerPoint presentation.

Prerequisites: Sophomore core studios – Semester 1 is prerequisite for semester 2.

This course provides a comprehensive study of advanced fashion illustration techniques, emphasizing the integration of traditional hand-drawing with modern digital tools. Students will explore the dynamic combination of mixed media, blending the tactile quality of hand-rendered illustration with the precision and versatility of digital software. Through a series of projects, students will develop their ability to seamlessly merge these two approaches, enhancing their creative expression and expanding their technical skills. The course focuses on illustrating key textiles, prints, and accessories by experimenting with both manual and digital methods, fostering an innovative and personalized artistic style. By mastering the balance between hand and digital media, students will be prepared to meet the evolving visual communication demands of the fashion industry. This course serves as a bridge between the artistry of traditional illustration and the efficiency of digital design, equipping students with the skills needed to create compelling fashion visuals and textiles.

This course gives students the opportunity to develop a personal portfolio of creative work. Students identify their specified career goals and prepare their portfolios accordingly, demonstrating their professionalism and understanding of the fashion industry. Focus in this course is the development of individuals and authentic way of presenting the designers universe and vision.

Prerequisites: Junior core studios

In order to evolve and discover new pictorial horizons painting today must remain open to the possibility of a dialogue with the wide range of multidisciplinary influences that are available. Where once the field of exploration was defined by the rigueur and strict dictates of a formal training.

The strength of painting today lies in its flexibility to use such training and adapt to the influences of other 2D and 3D disciplines and the pictorial possibilities that they offer as art experience. The possibility to create an art experience through research, experimentation and interaction are the key components in the junior year in painting. With this as a core component the dynamics of painting are explored through a variety of set projects designed to stimulate the individual imagination.

Prerequisites: Sophomore year painting

The Junior Sculpture I studio-based course introduces students to key issues in contemporary sculpture while providing the technical and conceptual means to develop a personal artistic language and identity. Students engage with sculpture as an exploratory medium, experimenting with different approaches, materials, and concepts that extend beyond traditional definitions of the form. The course encourages investigation of technical skills necessary for conceiving and executing sculptural work across various scales and contexts. Through structured assignments and ongoing studio practices, students explore how identity forms gradually through time, memory, language, and place, concepts that may become material for sculptural investigation. Students examine how sculpture and installation can serve as tools to explore personal and cultural layers, investigating the relationship between material choices, form, and meaning. The course considers how textures, gestures, and spatial relationships can evoke experience without relying solely on narrative or figurative representation. Over the semester, students develop and pursue a personal sensibility within their artistic research, building confidence in making conceptual and formal choices. Regular critiques and discussions contextualize student work within contemporary sculpture practices while encouraging individual artistic development.

Prerequisites : Sophomore Sculpture

You may select an elective from the many course offerings in your department or in other departments with the approval of your department chair.

This interdisciplinary course explores the rise of visual media, communication and information, within the context of a broad cultural shift away from the verbal and textual toward the visual, which has taken place since the advent of photography and cinema in the late 19th century, through the birth of television, to the present proliferation of digital media worldwide. We will consider the critical practices of looking, historicizing and interpreting that have accompanied this ‘visual turn’. Our readings will primarily address the theoretical foundations of the study of visual culture, which is understood to incorporate a variety of visual media and visual technologies: painting and sculpture, scientific imagery, material culture, the internet. If everything can be visual culture, what remains of traditional notions of medium specificity? What critical tools must be invented to analyze visual events from a visual cultural perspective? The relationship between the visual arts and visual media, especially with respect to the ‘global’ contemporary visual landscape, will be a focus of this course.

You may select an elective from the many course offerings in your department or in other departments with the approval of your department chair.

Building upon the investigative approaches introduced in Studio Concepts I, this studio-based course advances students’ understanding of studio practices through a rhizomatic approach that addresses the complexity of contemporary artistic production. Students work practically, producing work through methodologies aligned with professional artistic practice while exploring different conceptual models of the studio itself. The course examines practices requiring minimal infrastructure alongside traditional studio formats and expanded “Hors le Mur” approaches, where ideas are sought through urban exploration, site visits, and engagement with contexts beyond the studio walls. Students study concrete examples of exhibition production, from initial conception and sketches through technical development, simulation, and final realization. The course continues to challenge students to explore creative processes across all media while deepening their ability to justify conceptual decisions and document developmental processes. Students refine their capacity to create individual and critical responses to ideas spanning all disciplines, strengthening the underlying connections between their investigations and their personal artistic practice through sustained engagement and reflection.

Prerequisites: Sophomore year sculpture/Junior Sculpture1

In order to evolve and discover new pictorial horizons painting today must remain open to the possibility of a dialogue with the wide range of multidisciplinary influences that are available. Where once the field of exploration was defined by the rigueur and strict dictates of a formal training,
the strength of painting today lies in its flexibility to use such a training and adapt to the influences of other 2D and 3D disciplines and the pictorial possibilities that they offer as art experience. The possibility to create an art experience through research, experimentation and interaction are the key
components in the junior year in painting. With this as a core component the dynamics of painting are explored through a variety of set projects designed to stimulate the individual imagination.

Prerequisites: Sophomore year painting/Painting Interactions 1

This course engages more complex forms of printmaking, such as photo emulsion silk screen, laser lithography and other forms of etching to encourage students to combine printing techniques.

The course will be given in a workshop environment, using water based materials.

Prerequisites: Printmaking 1

The Creative and Experimental Drawing studio-based course focuses on drawing as a process of investigation and experimental practice, encouraging students to discover new forms of expression, possibilities for mixing media, and ways to appropriate the act of drawing. Through workshops and assignments, students explore drawing beyond conventional approaches, engaging with perception, materiality, and process in unexpected ways. The course draws inspiration from diverse models, including surprising examples from nature and science, to encourage students to dismiss purely rational thinking and locate artistic activity at the intersection of sensory experience and material exploration. Students investigate different senses, attentiveness to unexpected effects, and the impact of evaluation during the creative process. The first half of the course introduces experimental methods and enriches students’ toolboxes for working with materials, situations, processes, and contexts. In the second half, students develop individual experimental projects, consolidating methods for sustaining experimental workflows in their broader artistic practice. The course includes collaborative exercises, events both inside and outside the school, generating new ways of thinking about drawing’s expanded possibilities.

Prerequisites: Sophomore year drawing, advanced drawing skills

What is performance art? Exploring the body and live media in art. What is the meaning of the term “performance” today? For many artists, its attitude is an integral part of their working process, with a range of expressive means: from painting to installation, video to text. This course will investigate ideas related to performance in the context of art. Together, we will experiment and delimit thinking around ‘performativity’, technology, and subjectivity via presentations, games, exercises, and visits to live events. The aim of this course is to explore and understand how the body (human and non-human) can be used as a tool for investigation, improvisation, and documentation. Students on the course are active in their learning. You will be introduced to key subjects and issues with examples of performances, followed by practical workshops where you will work together to develop and experiment through themes of music, movement, language, technology, liveness, and collectiveness. You will then be invited to test your own ideas with practical and conceptual support from the group. You will develop critical, creative, and producing skills in order to challenge what performance can be, what it can do in the world, and how it might connect ideas, practices, and communities.

These first project courses (P.F. 1&2) aim to establish the inherent principles that structure space from a sensorial and a practical point of view. The course will provide students with the cultural and technical tools needed to understand inhabited spaces. Exemplary projects drawn from housing, workplace, leisure and retail environments are investigated, while addressing building codes and conventions. Students will learn how to elaborate and develop clear ideas and conceptual principles, while considering urban context, space organization, negative and positive spaces, lighting and furniture functions. The ability to generate design solutions, select materials, color and finishes are emphasized.

The course aims at introducing students to the world of materials’ sensorial qualities, requirements, and performances. Students explore the relationships between colors, light and four specific materials (glass, wood, metal and plastics) from a sensorial point of view. Through a theoretical and practical approach of materials and tool technologies, students discover possibilities and ways to apply, combine and assemble materials within interior environments. The course will also encourage critical thinking with regard to an understanding and application of the life cycle analysis, as well as introducing organizations dedicated to sustainability and the rating systems they use. Visits to materials workshops and suppliers showrooms will complement this course.

This course addresses practical issues of project management beyond the individual. Emphasis is placed on understanding how to create a project plan and manage a team to meet the scope of the project, milestones and deliverables.

This course explores the flourishing theoretical debate around architecture and design in the Modern Era. By providing students with the knowledge and skills required to understand and analyze their built environment, we will focus on significant periods that have marked architecture in Europe in the 19^th and 20^th centuries. Starting from the industrial revolution, the course will cover the prevailing theoretical movements that have characterized and formed Modern Architectural History.

By adopting Paris as a paradigmatic area of study, students will be first introduced to the redefinition of a “National Style” in 1840ies France while focusing on the interpretation of history in contemporary architectural language. Students will then look into emerging artists and building forms in North America and Europe starting with the School of Chicago and moving forward with the Arts & Crafts, and Art Nouveau movements, together with the Prairie School. Students will be also introduced to the influential Avant-garde schools such as the Art Déco and Bauhaus before approaching the International Style. Although the course offers a diachronic approach of History, Architecture and interior design will be also tackled through a thematic analysis with a series of exercises (In-class activities; field trips and visual analysis) where students will assess, explore and compare built structures in our urban environment.

This course is intended as an introduction to the communication of interior design projects. It is meant to provide students with a basic understanding of practical skills used to describe and represent space. Through a series of tasks, students familiarize themselves with basic design tools – conceptual sketches, study models, two dimensional drawings, volumetric representations and presentation techniques – which accompany the elaboration and communication of interior design proposals.

This first course in Project Communication is meant to provide students with the necessary practical skills to describe and represent space in two dimensions. The semester is dedicated to 2D technical drawing (dimensions, scale, plan, section, elevation views, and axonometric projections) by hand as well as in AutoCAD and the illustration of interior design proposals in Illustrator and Photoshop, with an understanding of their application as both powerful conceptual and presentation tools.

These first project courses (P.F. 1&2) aim to establish the inherent principles that structure space from a sensorial and a practical point of view. The course will provide students with the cultural and technical tools needed to understand inhabited spaces. Exemplary projects drawn from housing, workplace, leisure and retail environments are investigated, while addressing building codes and conventions. Students will learn how to elaborate and develop clear ideas and conceptual principles, while considering urban context, space organization, negative and positive spaces, lighting and furniture functions. The ability to generate design solutions, select materials, color and finishes are emphasized.

This course aims to introduce and explore the basic components and systems that define the built environment : structure, envelope, floors, walls, roof, stairs, windows, doors, environmental systems (including plumbing, electricity, ventilation, telecommunications, lighting, etc). Over the semester, each session is to address a particular component or system in detail (from exemplary references to technical aspects to graphic representational codes). Sustainability issues and energy-saving systems will also be studied.
The course as a whole intends to provide students with a comprehensive and thorough overview of the numerous aspects and characteristics which need to be considered when developing an interior design project. Bridging with Project Fundamentals 1 & 2, the course will allow students to understand how these components and systems co-exist and interface within the built environment.

The course aims at helping students to become aware that light is, first of all, a material, a tool to shape spaces, and thus handled and processed as such. Space lighting will be approached from the creative point of view – without it being limited to technological aspects. Students will understand the physiological and psychological aspects of lighting in interior design and will learn to define lighting project intentions in different types of spaces such as an apparel store, an art exhibition space or a restaurant.

Intensive workshops dedicated to the experimentation of various techniques provided for students: they will be able to choose how to present their final individual project and their print and digital portfolios for further career or education prospects.

The medium of photography is largely defined by its history of black and white pictures. The course will cover camera operation, principles of exposure and photographic composition concepts. The goal of this class is to provide a solid foundation of photographic black and white photography skills and techniques. It provides an overview of classic black and white photography while discussing camera techniques that apply to both traditional film and digital cameras. Students will learn how to effectively use their cameras in manual mode and make good quality negatives. The class includes camera and exposure meter instruction, technical lectures, effective scanning methods and instruction on film/digital crossover techniques.

This is a year-long course which addresses the creative process as well as technique and critique. Through select readings, field trips to galleries and museum exhibitions, screenings of film clips and viewing of historical and contemporary artists’ work, students will have the opportunity to develop their artistic reference points as they delve into the production of their own personal projects. Students will be expected to engage in class discussions and group critiques, and will be encouraged to experiment outside their comfort zones as they begin to think along conceptual as well aesthetic and formal frameworks, examining problems and trying different approaches to refine their practice and production.

This course introduces students to the creative and technical possibilities of digital photography. Through demonstrations and hands-on sessions, students learn the fundamentals of Adobe Photoshop to produce effective digital photographs. Students are taken through all the basic processes encountered in digital workflow, from basic scanning and retouching, image enhancement, and printing fundamentals, to RAW file processing and photographic post-production methods.

Prerequisite(s): Black & White Photography, Introduction to Digital Photography, Digital Skills & Composition or equivalent.

The emphasis in this fundamental course is the ability to create technically good photographs through proper camera handling and the effective use of simple lighting techniques. Open to all students, this course provides the essential knowledge necessary for any professional image maker, artist or designer in today’s image driven world. Starting with an in-depth understanding of how to maximize the functions of a digital SLR camera, students will be introduced to basic lighting techniques (on-camera and off-camera) in order to maximize the quality of their images. In addition, a component of the course will focus on digital workflow, archiving, retouching and professional output (printing). Through numerous in-class shoots, students will gain first hand experience in producing high-quality images for various purposes such as print or digital portfolios, websites, documentation, promotional material, etc.

This is the first part of a yearlong course of learning and mastering the fundamental techniques of studio lighting. The students become familiar with how to create traditional, practical lighting scenarios in a studio environment. Electronic flashes and tungsten lights will be used to achieve control of color, contrast, and reflection. Lighting techniques are demonstrated and applied in class to various assignments of tabletop still lifes and portraiture. Emphasis is placed on understanding light and of mastering the technical aspects of the lighting equipment. Assignments will be theme based: headshots, full portraits, and several still lifes.

Prerequisite: Black & White Photography or Introduction to Digital Photography or equivalent.

Students are introduced to basic photography using color materials. Through a year-long study, they learn to master camera controls and film exposure in the format of their choice. Ambient and artificial lighting as well as their impact on various emulsions are examined with an eye towards producing high quality digital color prints, color C-prints and transparencies. Emphasis will be on developing a personal approach and vision using color materials. Exposure to historical antecedents, contemporary readings and criticism are integrated into the course.

This is a year-long course which addresses the creative process as well as technique and critique. Through select readings, field trips to galleries and museum exhibitions, screenings of film clips and viewing of historical and contemporary artists’ work, students will have the opportunity to develop their artistic reference points as they delve into the production of their own personal projects. Students will be expected to engage in class discussions and group critiques, and will be encouraged to experiment outside their comfort zones as they begin to think along conceptual as well aesthetic and formal frameworks, examining problems and trying different approaches to refine their practice and production.

Prerequisites: Semester 1 or equivalent are prerequisites for semester 2.

This is the second part of a yearlong course of learning and mastering the fundamental techniques of studio lighting. The students become familiar with how to create traditional, practical lighting scenarios in a studio and also in an outdoor environment using multiple light sources while mixing studio electronic flash with outdoor light. Electronic flashes and tungsten lights will be used to achieve control of color, contrast and reflection. Emphasis is placed on understanding light and of mastering the technical aspects of the lighting equipment. Lighting techniques are demonstrated and applied in class to various assignments. The class is project based. The students will choose their projects from several themes: headshot/ portraits, nudes, outdoor flash portraits, and in-class still life.

Prerequisite: Lighting Techniques 1

Photographers can’t and don’t take pictures at random. Since photography’s invention, the act of photographing has been framed both by the technical realities of the medium and by social and aesthetic traditions. This course will examine some of the major movements and styles in the history of photography, with particular attention to the rich 1880-1970 period. Through study of the pioneering work of key individuals, we will analyze how creative possibilities changed and expanded over time, and how the options and artistic stances we take for granted emerged historically. Each week will focus on a key movement or conceptual innovation, which we will study through image analysis, historical and technical context and the reading of primary texts by photographers and secondary texts by historians or critics. Students will prepare a presentation in which they analyze a body of images by a photographer of their choice and present a series of their own photographs exploring that photographer’s way of working.