Study Abroad at PCA Course Offerings

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.

Students in this course are introduced to and develop skills for the application of current CAD/ CAM technologies for apparel production, including computer-aided design for apparel pattern making, pattern alterations and made-to-measure patterns. Performing a variety of functions in the organization, storage and retrieval of patterns within a CAD system. This 3D software will prepare students for the fashion industry where the 3D pattern development software is widely used. Digital pattern development is demonstrating to students the time efficient and sustainable practice.

Prerequisites: Sophomore core studios – Pattern Drafting 2

This course analyzes the qualities and characteristics of the fabrics to develop a garment in 3D by draping on the form. Students will analyze traditional garments and reproduce in 3D by learning the classic draping techniques and principles. This course introduces the practice of draping muslin on the mannequin, fabrics workshops and analysis students learn how 2D materials become 3D forms. Students will explore and focus on draping a garment in fabric by using style lines on the body, analyzing the creative use of volume. Students will produce multiple looks in 3D to prepare for the senior year.

Prerequisites: Sophomore core studios – Pattern Drafting 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.

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 the fundamentals of design and its processes. Students use sketchbooks as documentary tools in order to developed design thinking and creative signature based on primary research. Students will acquire new approaches, observe material and specific characteristics, practice drawing in all its forms and play with a wide variety of techniques and media. Learning the construction of the garments by examining clothing and fashion in context are part of the fundamentals in design. Students will learn to observe representations of clothing and how they manipulate the meaning of the garment.

Prerequisites: Foundation core studios

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.

Pre-requisites: 3D Pattern Development I or Sophomore studio courses

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.

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.

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

Applying the basic pattern drafting skills to the creative world of fashion is the focus in this course. The tools and methods encountering will help to think out of the box and be creative in the research of volumes and how the body is behaving in. Students will use and apply geometric shapes in the flat pattern drafting to explore new ideas in the construction of the garment. Cutting, slashing and spreading the patterns in a creative way to develop interesting contemporary shapes and volumes which will be applied. Student develop pattern in 2D and construct a 3D garment.

Prerequisites: Foundation core studios – Pattern Drafting 1

Practical application of appropriate computer software is a must to cover the demands of hectic fashion market. This course explores CAD software techniques used in the fashion industry to enrich the possibilities of communication skills.

Students will learn how to use vector drawings in Illustrator to create technical flats of essential garments. Different commands in Illustrator will be taught to facilitate the smooth creation of industry appropriate garment. In addition rendering techniques will enhance their digital image presentation such as the creation of pattern, brushes or symbols for technical garment details like print, zips or embellishments. Students will also learn to create digital fashion illustrations using Illustrator that will accompany their flat drawings. Essential InDesign skills will be taught to create a coherent layout and presentation of all the students work.

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

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 4D Studio I is a project‑based studio course that introduces students to contemporary hybrid practices at the intersection of fine arts and technology. The course provides foundational instruction in new media art, time‑based media, and emerging artistic frameworks, with an emphasis on how artistic practice engages with technological culture and contemporary social contexts.

Through a structured progression from initial ideation to fully realized projects, students develop foundational technical competencies while exploring a range of production methodologies. Instruction introduces diverse technologies and processes—including interaction design, introductory programming, artificial intelligence, and robotics—alongside media forms such as video, three‑dimensional environments, and electroacoustic work. Technical exploration is integrated with critical inquiry, supporting students in developing reflective, research‑informed approaches to artistic production.

Teaching is delivered through face‑to‑face, one‑to‑one studio instruction in the instructor’s studio, providing individualized mentorship that supports skill development, conceptual clarity, and professional studio practice. By the end of the course, students demonstrate an introductory level of proficiency in four‑dimensional artistic processes and an emerging ability to articulate artistic intent within contemporary technological discourse.

Prerequisites: Sophomore Core Video 1 & 2

Successful figure drawing emphasizes the complexity, variety, innovation, and relevance of the practice of drawing in contemporary art and design. This course will encourage students to draw through direct observation and emphasize strong fundamental skills, materials, mixed media, draftsmanship, and experimentation with increasing attention on the conceptual as well as the perceptual. Students will study anatomy, proportion, figure/ground relationships, composition plotting and layout, planar value, light and shadow analysis and the fundamentals of perspective.

“Books or book-like objects where an artist has significant control over the final appearance, intended as works of art in themselves” — Stephen Bury.

This course explores the medium of the book in all its forms and meanings, focusing on the intricate relationships between content and container, inside and outside, internal and external structures. A book is not merely its content or shape, but the integration of both. The materiality of a book is integral to its conception, requiring a harmonious dialogue among its various components: texts, images, paper, ink, grids, typeface, chapters, titles, captions, format, size, and number of pages. These elements create a networked hierarchy that defines the book’s structure. Through a collaborative approach students will conceive and create their own book, applying a methodical approach to uncover the medium’s richness and complexity. This course will specifically focus on artists’ books in the form of exhibition catalogs, investigating their unique editorial characteristics and the specificities they offer as a distinct art form.

This course will focus on making drawings as a process of investigation and experimental practice. Through set projects students discover new forms of expression, possibilities for mixing media and ways to appropriate the act of drawing. Each exercise is contextualized and provides the starting point for discussion. Over the course of the Semester students will discover potential for their personal work and contribute to the design and content of the course in the Spring Semester. Classes include events and collaborations inside and outside of the school expected to generate new ways of thinking about drawing.

Prerequisites: Sophomore year drawing, advanced drawing skills

List of supplies : Graphite, different qualities of pencil (from hard to soft), charcoal/compressed charcoal, ballpoint pen, eraser – different kinds (rubber, putty), oil bar, water pen, India Ink brushes – a range of sizes, sketchbook(s), paper of different scales and qualities, a hardback large-scale portfolio.

Building upon the foundation laid in Moving Image I, this studio-based course advances the study of the moving image as a contemporary artistic practice, with a focus on short documentary forms and video art. Building on the technical and conceptual foundations developed in Semester 1, the course emphasises research-driven approaches and sustained project development. Students engage with non-fiction moving-image practices, including the video essay, documentary, docufiction, hybrid forms, loop-based and gallery-oriented video, and performance for camera. Screenings and readings support hands-on work, with projects contextualised through examples by contemporary artists. Screenings and readings are paired with weekly mini-assignments, allowing theory to directly inform practice. The course deepens students’ engagement with collaboration, research, oral presentation, and professional studio practice. Editing is approached as both a creative and technical process, encouraging students to think critically about how images are assembled and how they are experienced. The second half of the semester is dedicated to a final project, supported through research, critique, and iterative refinement. By the end of the course, students are expected to demonstrate a coherent artistic direction and a critical understanding of the moving image as an open and plural medium.

Prerequisites :  Foundation Core studios/Sophomore Video 1

This course will focus on the making of sculptural form and installation work with clay, in the art context, and shall encourage the use of varied mediums and materials to combine with clay. It is based on the exploration of different subject matters and the acquisitions of technical skills. This second semester will be focusing on production of sculptural or installation works.? The program is set up to help each student to develop a personal vision through sculpture and installation in clay: – By discussing their motivations and contextualizing their work. – By developing their abilities to choose the most suitable technique and the most appropriate medium to use for a project. Prerequisites: Sophomore year sculpture

Prerequisites: Sophomore year sculpture

Print Matters Advanced serves as an experimental laboratory for students wishing to deepen their understanding of Printmaking as a Fine Art form and further develop their skills within their own artistic languages. Rooted in tradition, innovation, methodology, and exploration, this studio-based course encourages students to delve deeper into the vast creative potential of Printmaking. The aim is to facilitate the development of personal artistic methods and language. Students are invited to actively engage in an experimental approach that questions the nature of images and their transformation. By walking the fine line between traditional approaches and creative freedom, students will gain an understanding in how printmaking can lead to transitions between states and realities, ultimately sparking new modes of artistic thinking and making the techniques their own.

“Cutting edge artworks and tactile fabrics may have once seemed irreconcilably diverse, but today, there are threads that bind” — Bradley Quinn, The Fabrics of Art Today

Textiles play an increasingly prominent role in the art world, seen in works such as Ghada Amer’s embroidered canvases, Annette Messager’s installations, Tracey Emin’s patchworks, and Andy Holden’s knitted rocks. These artists exemplify the innovative use of textiles to create unexpected and dynamic forms of art. This course offers an exploration of textiles as a medium for translating fine art concepts into three-dimensional forms. Whether your focus is on tactile textures, spatial construction, mass, or sculptural expression, you’ll engage in hands-on experimentation and receive technical guidance to develop two personalized, impactful textile projects.

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 rigour 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

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.

Paris Inside/Out is a one-credit course consisting of visits to art & design exhibits, as well as meetings with artists, artisans and designers in Paris. The course will use a wide approach by including a variety of artistic fields, thus allowing students to draw inspiration from any discipline. The course will be held every week in a different location in Paris. Students are free to participate in as many visits as they wish, however a minimum of 5 visits are required to pass the course. For each visit, students will create a personal work within a given set of constraints. At the end of the semester, students will be asked to present to the class a personal work inspired by one of the visits during the semester.

In this course, students will focus on the design of retail and commercial spaces, including restaurants, banks, boutiques, specialty shops and department stores. The differences in the treatment of tangible products retailing and intangible services offering will be emphasised through the exploration of content communication and the differential features that outline the character of a brand in a specific space. Design research methods and programming of client requirements will be introduced, as well as techniques of diagramming space to provide proper circulation and activity relationships.

Prerequisites: Project Fundamentals I or II or equivalent

This course aims to establish the inherent principles of furnishing space while adopting a practical approach to the design process of furniture within a retail and commercial context. It introduces the main categories of commercial space furnishings and the merchandising practices in stores. The role of human considerations with such approaches as physical anthropology and ergonomics related to furniture design will be studied. Students will learn how to maintain cohesiveness with brief and given context while designing the details of basic elements of custom components within interior spaces.

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 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.

This studio course explores the use of type and image in spatial contexts: retail design, exhibition design, signage or way-finding systems. It considers the tools and skills of typography, color, images and composition in relation to the human experience of three-dimensional space.

In Project 2, students will focus on the design of temporary retail and exhibition spaces, including trade show exhibits, pop-up stores or corporate / public events. The art of display, lighting, visual and sound communication, color schemes, and materials selection to generate a complete sensory experience for the customers / visitors will be emphasized. Guest experts and suppliers will introduce professional reality in this studio course.

This course consists of a series of 3 short modules, each dedicated to a particular means of spatial representation: Drawing Space (1), Visualising Space (2) and Modeling Space (3). Each module is structured as an intensive workshop, intended as a brief overview of key principles or basic tools and techniques pertaining to each specific approach. Drawing Space, will review the basics of 2D architectural drawings, such as plans, sections, elevations. Visualising Space, will expand upon both digital and analogue image making techniques used in the representation of interiors. Modeling Space, will explore various scale model making methods, tools and materials. Students can elect to take all 3 modules (for 3 credits) or chose to take only one or two independently (each for 1 credit). Each of the 3 modules, designed as a quick introduction or refresher course, will be concentrated over the first half of the semester, allowing students to swiftly integrate the notions covered in class, so as to better apprehend the rest of their semester’s studio courses.

“French for Paris” is a course open to beginners who would like to expand their knowledge of French culture and develop their listening & speaking skills. The course will cover specific themes relating to everyday life in Paris, its history, its culture, and the arts. Emphasis will be placed on phonetics (rhythm, intonation, liaisons, silent letters & some specific French sounds) as well as everyday vocabulary and exchanges. Different subjects will be developed over the semester: cultural life in Paris, French cinema, French and Francophone cuisine, as well as music. Students will be able to engage in short conversations and will practice describing themselves and their environment along with their studies and artistic practice. Visits in French will be organized. Conscientious completion of homework and class participation is emphasized; a website has been specially designed to accompany students throughout the semester (readings, targeted grammatical exercises, podcasts, phonetics, etc.) The class will be conducted in French.

In this class, students perfect resources for the visualization and the communication of interior design projects, both orally and visually. Students develop and explore new concepts, alternative methods and ideas to visually illustrate and present the various phases of the design process: from concept boards, fast scale models and graphics to rendering techniques and digital fabrication tools.

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 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.

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.

Paris Inside/Out is a one-credit course consisting of visits to art & design exhibits, as well as meetings with artists, artisans and designers in Paris. The course will use a wide approach by including a variety of artistic fields, thus allowing students to draw inspiration from any discipline. The course will be held every week in a different location in Paris. Students are free to participate in as many visits as they wish, however a minimum of 5 visits are required to pass the course. For each visit, students will create a personal work within a given set of constraints. At the end of the semester, students will be asked to present to the class a personal work inspired by one of the visits during the semester.

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.

The photography in the expanded field class suggests a creative lab approach. It invites the student to engage in a creative process, involving photography mixed with other media such as painting, drawing, appropriation, video, performance, installation, cut-outs, gif animations, text and sound, etc. This course aims to bring the medium of photography through a multi-layered creative process of transformation offering it a new dimension and a new story. Throughout the completion of course, the student will be asked to create a project and to go through the understanding of it’s presentation by simulating his ideal gallery exhibition via sketches and/or maquettes.

This course will look at both the business and practical side of the photographic industry and the importance of understanding and work behind the scene. Students will have an introduction to all different aspects of the marketplace as the fine art world, press, advertising, and marketing, etc. We will look at their practical sides: producing images for a press editor, how to pitch to a client for an advertising campaign, how to create your own brand, legal agreements, copyright and reproduction rights. On the fine art side: we’ll look at dealing with galleries, physical and online, submissions, commissions, promotion, paperwork, framing and private views. This overview of the marketplaces should lead you to an easiest choice and understanding of your own positioning within a professional environment.

The Medium & Large Format Photography course is devoted to both the technical and creative use of the view camera and medium analogic format. Throughout the semester students will work in the studio and field to develop a personal project and perfect technical skills. Students will discover differences between cameras and understand the contemporary photographic practice by exploring books and exhibitions. By semester’s end an elegant and cohesive portfolio will have been produced. This course is a requirement for Junior Photography majors.

In this course students will learn about digital printing techniques and their unique aesthetics and uses for the production of contemporary works of art and fashion photography. The fundamentals of color management and color profiles will be taught and students will learn how to properly optimize and prepare their digital files for printing. Scanning will also be covered. Paper choice is also at the heart of this class. Visit to other labs in Paris. Preservation issues surrounding various types of digital prints will also be discussed. Homework assignments will reinforce topics covered in class and students will be required to demonstrate their technical progress during in-class critiques of their work. More and more, the printing of images also concerns the preparation of books, zines and magazines. Students will have the opportunity to measure themselves with the conceptual challenges and design possibilities that the field offers.

Focusing on the application of photography and installation, this course will explore the uses of photography in space. The course will concentrate on the implications of the relationships among artist, object, and image. Through the experimental and nontraditional approaches in installation, the student will explore the formal, spatial, conceptual and visual presentation of installation. The presentation of still and time-based media in screen-based and installation environments will also be covered.

The aim of this course is to give students the fundamental skills to execute professional magazine assignments. This practical course includes the most common editorial themes such as: Fashion, Portraiture, Accessory Still Life, Travel and Architecture. Students will work on various shooting projects; in-class fashion shootings with models, in collaboration with the Fashion Seniors, as well as a range of authentic editorial assignments on location in Paris. Thorough in-class critics will follow each photo shoot.

The course explores the ideas of social conformity- looking into how society may accept or reject people within the community, regarding how they fill our preconceived idea of what we “should” be. Looking into identity and how many people may construct an alternate identity to avoid social exclusion. The course addresses photography’s ability to highlighting one’s identity to themselves and establish an understanding where we fit in. Students will explore ways of being, thinking, seeing, and making throughout readings, writing and photo-based assignments.

Students are introduced to the use of colors in photography and they will be asked to explore life in colors through their own image-making. Through books, visits to exhibitions, lectures and examples the aim is to stimulate the discovery and understanding of a variety of approaches and possibilities. Students will develop a personal project over the length of the whole semester starting from their curiosity and interest.

“French for Paris” is a course open to beginners who would like to expand their knowledge of French culture and develop their listening & speaking skills. The course will cover specific themes relating to everyday life in Paris, its history, its culture, and the arts. Emphasis will be placed on phonetics (rhythm, intonation, liaisons, silent letters & some specific French sounds) as well as everyday vocabulary and exchanges. Different subjects will be developed over the semester: cultural life in Paris, French cinema, French and Francophone cuisine, as well as music. Students will be able to engage in short conversations and will practice describing themselves and their environment along with their studies and artistic practice. Visits in French will be organized. Conscientious completion of homework and class participation is emphasized; a website has been specially designed to accompany students throughout the semester (readings, targeted grammatical exercises, podcasts, phonetics, etc.) The class will be conducted in French.

This course acquaints students with the neighborhoods, cultures, people, customs, institutions and organizations in Paris through a thematic approach based on three main modules: the city and its history; the literary and artistic representations of the city; the city, its citizens, and its future. Students will learn about key moments in French history, from the Romans on, via the Middle Ages, the Revolution, Haussmannization, and May 1968; they will be introduced to such themes as political migrations and colonialism, and will explore the city from a variety of points of views including literary and artistic exchanges, urban history, architecture, and ecology. Active exploration of the environment is strongly encouraged and learning is accomplished through a variety of means: site visits, the examination of texts and images, and first-hand encounters with museums, galleries, and libraries, as well as other art and design-related resources in the city.

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.

Paris Inside/Out is a one-credit course consisting of visits to art & design exhibits, as well as meetings with artists, artisans and designers in Paris. The course will use a wide approach by including a variety of artistic fields, thus allowing students to draw inspiration from any discipline. The course will be held every week in a different location in Paris. Students are free to participate in as many visits as they wish, however a minimum of 5 visits are required to pass the course. For each visit, students will create a personal work within a given set of constraints. At the end of the semester, students will be asked to present to the class a personal work inspired by one of the visits during the semester.

Paris Inside/Out is a one-credit course consisting of visits to art & design exhibits, as well as meetings with artists, artisans and designers in Paris. The course will use a wide approach by including a variety of artistic fields, thus allowing students to draw inspiration from any discipline. The course will be held every week in a different location in Paris. Students are free to participate in as many visits as they wish, however a minimum of 5 visits are required to pass the course. For each visit, students will create a personal work within a given set of constraints. At the end of the semester, students will be asked to present to the class a personal work inspired by one of the visits during the semester.

This year-long course is designed to improve critical thinking, reading, and writing skills. Students learn to understand the inherent argument and logic of a text, to think more systematically and critically, and to write more effectively by developing skills in the structure, grammar, and mechanics of writing. Students also work toward the more focused goal of situating design and art practices within larger intellectual, historical and philosophical frameworks by exploring the indissoluble connection between ideas and the products of human culture. This is achieved by introducing students to texts representing and describing various methodologies applicable to art and design, which can then be used to critique and analyze visual and material artifacts.

This course acquaints students with the neighborhoods, cultures, people, customs, institutions and organizations in Paris through a thematic approach based on three main modules: the city and its history; the literary and artistic representations of the city; the city, its citizens, and its future. Students will learn about key moments in French history, from the Romans on, via the Middle Ages, the Revolution, Haussmannization, and May 1968; they will be introduced to such themes as political migrations and colonialism, and will explore the city from a variety of points of views including literary and artistic exchanges, urban history, architecture, and ecology. Active exploration of the environment is strongly encouraged and learning is accomplished through a variety of means: site visits, the examination of texts and images, and first-hand encounters with museums, galleries, and libraries, as well as other art and design-related resources in the city.

“French for Paris” is a course open to beginners who would like to expand their knowledge of French culture and develop their listening & speaking skills. The course will cover specific themes relating to everyday life in Paris, its history, its culture, and the arts. Emphasis will be placed on phonetics (rhythm, intonation, liaisons, silent letters & some specific French sounds) as well as everyday vocabulary and exchanges. Different subjects will be developed over the semester: cultural life in Paris, French cinema, French and Francophone cuisine, as well as music. Students will be able to engage in short conversations and will practice describing themselves and their environment along with their studies and artistic practice. Visits in French will be organized. Conscientious completion of homework and class participation is emphasized; a website has been specially designed to accompany students throughout the semester (readings, targeted grammatical exercises, podcasts, phonetics, etc.) The class will be conducted in French.

This course is open to students who have already had some exposure to the French language because they have taken short courses, or because they have interacted with French speakers. However, these false beginners still need to master the basics. Students will start their study with topics and grammar necessary for successful daily interactions with a strong emphasis on oral production. As the course progresses, they will delve into themes dealing with French culture and life in Paris.

Pre-requisites: FLIB-1150 French for Paris OR per Placement test results

Conceived as an introduction to the history of photography, this course will focus on the first half of the 20^th century. The main movements and aesthetics characterizing that period will be examined through the work of various international photographers. Arranged thematically while following a chronological progression, it will approach each theme in connection with a major photographer whose singularity will help understand the particularities and issues of the subject and put them into perspective. As a product of light and chemistry, photography has always been determined by technical parameters. We will address these parameters and see how they shaped the history of the medium and what we can learn from them today.

Since its invention, photography has had an ambivalent status, regarded by some only as a way of recording or copying things, while others considered it as an actual means of artistic creation. This constant dichotomy between document and art will constitute the common thread of this course. We will look at it with a critical eye, examining photographs through all the stages of their life, from the moment they were taken to the moment they were printed, published, exhibited or discovered by others. In doing so, we will be able to examine how the status of these photographs often changed during the various stages of their history, going from mere document to renowned work of art.

Based mostly on the observation and comment of photographic images, this course aims to start a discussion and foster debate on photography, its specificities and the way they were developed and used in the first half of the 20^th century.