11 courses with the subject MA, each shown exactly as we captured it from the college's catalog, with every element we hold. Where the wording looks broken, that is our reading of the catalog, not the college's text.
MA 2010Media Arts Tools & Technique3
This course serves as an introduction to an interdisciplinary mode of working within media arts. Students will learn technical skills in lens-based practices such as filmmaking and photography, basic audio recording, and coding-based creative practices. Students will engage with editing and production tools, and create artworks engaged in observation, critical analysis, and conceptual thinking. Projects will engage the materiality unique to each media. Emphasis is placed on techniques that cross and combine media to create rich experiences and artworks.
Moving between material and immaterial realms of artistic media practice, this course examines multiple ways of understanding the relationship between concepts, materials, and processes. Through a series of experimental projects, discussions, case studies, and critiques students learn to identify, and implement intellectual, emotional, formal, and experiential structures as integral and specific to working within the ever-evolving landscape of media and technology. We experiment with new materials and media as a Interdisciplinary Courses: Media Arts Choose 3 courses/9 credits from additional interdisciplinary course options. Studio Course from outside of Media Arts (select one) Advanced: Media Arts
This course introduces students to the core concepts of experimental game design, theory, and prototyping. The course focuses on (non-digital) game design and creation through fast-paced game prototyping. Topics covered include: rule design, level design, game balance, game-specific writing, narrative development, and aesthetic concerns. Students will engage in critical play- playing games and analyzing their characteristics. This course supports students who would like to develop game concepts to later be expanded within the Experimental Games Minor
Foundation Media 2 OR MA 2XXX Media Arts Tools & Techniques,, Foundation 2D
MA 3020Street Lab3
This class does not meet at MCAD and is conducted entirely outside of the school environment. For the duration of the class, the city becomes the studio, where observation, exploration, inspiration, and interventions of varying sorts take place. Students of art and design practicing in any media are encouraged to participate. Individually and as a group, students roam urban and rural environments armed with cameras (photo and video) and other gear (or none at all) that might be useful for creating and documenting/capturing various "engagements." The course is guided by four primary goals: 1) to reconsider the definition of the art stu Critical Studies Elective (choose one) AH/HS 3864 Readings in Photographic Culture This seminar-style course explores photographic culture through focused readings in the theory and history of photography, covering the period from 1839 to the present. These texts facilitate discussions of the ways in which technological transformations and concepts like truthfulness, documentary ethics, and authorship are presented and negotiated in the work of photographers. This course is an opportunity for students to discuss the historical and changing philosophical nature of the photographic medium. AH/HS 3867 Readings in Contemporary Art In this course students consider major issues in contemporary design across a range of design fields as articulated through critical texts and contemporary developments. Students examine contemporary design theory along with related work and processes. This course is taught as a seminar with some lecture. AH/HS 3868 Readings in Contemporary Design The graphic novel is an art form that offers the best of both worlds. While gaining legitimacy as a literary/art form, it retains the excitement and unique properties of reading a comic book. Students in this course read, discuss, and analyze graphic novels, as well as engage in critical scholarship on and about the graphic novel form. Looking at graphic novels in genres like mystery, superhero, manga, memoir, history and politics, or works beyond categorization, students examine how these stories are structured: the forms of novel, novella, and short story help differentiate and explain the subtleties of these forms. The class focuses AH/HU 3441 Readings in Contemporary Curation In this course, students consider major issues in contemporary curatorial studies across a range of locations, markets, and fields as articulated through critical texts and contemporary developments. Students examine curatorial studies theory and a wide range of curation practices. This course is taught as a seminar with some lectures. Curatorial Studies Elective Options (choose one) AH/SQR 3440 Curation and Conservation: Science in the Gallery This course allows students a close look at the materials and techniques used in both historical and contemporary art conservation. The class will work with conservators from the Midwest Art Conservation Center and items in local collections to gain an overview of the technical study of art history through hands-on experience studying and evaluating works of art, lab experiences, and readings and discussions of issues and debates in art conservation. Combining science, art history, and museum studies, this course seeks to explore the materiality of art-making from the perspectives of conservator, artist, and audience.
Introduction to Art and Design: History 2 (may be taken concurrently) or faculty permission. Introduction to Art and Design: History 2 or faculty permission Introduction to Art and Design: History 2 or faculty permission Introduction to Art and Design History 2 (may be taken concurrently) or faculty permission.
MA 3030Game Engines3
This class is concerned with virtual worlds developed entirely within the digital realm. Students learn how to write and develop ideas for nonlinear narratives and characters as well as how to build and/or modify fully functional virtual environments for single and multiple users. Issues covered include interface design, interaction, character design, animation, nonlinear structure, rules, and algorithms. Additionally, the class offers a thorough survey and study of programming concepts related to the development of games and simulated environments. Animation Studio Requirements: Advanced (select one)
Foundation: Media Arts: Tools & Techniques or Coding Concepts 1 or Introduction to Animation
MA 3045Studio and Set3
This course is designed to provide students with a basic understanding of the aesthetic, technical, theoretical, and conceptual issues related to artificial lighting used in the various aspects of still and moving image production. Technical information covered includes portrait lighting, studio set lighting, architectural lighting, electronic flash, continuous light, camera movement, blocking for actors, and color compensation. In addition to the technical and practical aspects of this course, students are expected and encouraged to develop a personal aesthetic and a conceptual foundation for their images.
Introduction to Photography or Introduction to Filmmaking
MA 3065Introduction to Sound3
Designed to acquaint students technically and conceptually with the medium of sound, this course provides a basic working vocabulary for understanding, discussing, and producing sounds. Topics covered include basic perceptual concepts and fundamentals of composing sound such as pitch, rhythm, duration, and volume. Students complete a series of assigned projects designed to demonstrate and assess competencies with microphones, studio recording, and digital editing, mixing, and processing. Animation Studio Requirements: Intermediate (select one)
The primary focus of this class is to provide media arts students with the tools that will enable them to enter professional practice immediately following graduation. Each student is required to produce a polished resume, artist statement, website, professional identity system, and portfolio. Topics include long-range goal creation and planning; financial, legal, and other business considerations; grant writing; and communication and marketing skills involving verbal, written, and visual presentations. Topics ar
In this seminar, students expand their understanding of practice within a cross-media platform. Students engage in intensive theoretical and critical studies in tandem with the development of advanced projects. Special emphasis is given to hybrid media and experimental exploration. Given that this course is open to all majors, students have an opportunity to engage and interact with those studying different fields, challenge and expand their knowledge and vocabulary, and gain a deeper understanding of interdiscip
This class provides students with an opportunity to further refine their creative, technical, and programmatic skills while working on larger-scale, sophisticated projects. Students engage in studies of theoretical, critical, and cultural concepts relevant to the design, development, implementation, and impact of games in contemporary society. Students are encouraged to investigate and identify their career plans and recognize their potential role in the context of the gaming industry. Specific career models and skill sets are discussed in relation to specialized aspects of game design and development.
During senior year, each media arts major is required to develop and complete a substantial body of work in his or her major. This course provides a forum for the critical evaluation of this work and curatorial guidance in preparation for the Commencement Exhibition. Course content includes critical readings, position papers, individual and group discussions, school presentations, and informational meetings.
