Director of Undergraduate Studies: Drew Beattie, M 107,
702-1594, beattie@uchicago.edu

Departmental Secretaries: Rebecca Meyers and Alison LaTendresse, Midway Studios, 753-4821, cova@humanities.uchicago.edu

Web: http://cova.uchicago.edu

Program of Study

The Committee on the Visual Arts (COVA) is concerned with the making of art both as an individual expression and as a vehicle for exploring creativity, perception, and the constructed world. Whether students take COVA courses to meet a general education requirement or as part of a major in Visual Arts, the goal is that they will develop communicative, analytical, and expressive skills through the process of artistic production. COVA 10000-level courses, which are intended for students with no studio background, meet the general education requirement in the dramatic, musical, and visual arts. More advanced courses presume that students have taken at least COVA 10100 or 10200. (See individual course listings for specific prerequisites.)

Range of Course Offerings. COVA 10100, 10200, and 15000 serve as introductory courses to the elements of visual communication and the critical investigation of art. COVA 10100 and 10200 introduce elementary visual communication through the manipulation of various materials in the studio and also include readings and visits to local museums and galleries. These courses engage principles of visual language stressing the relationship of form and meaning. COVA 15000, which is primarily intended for Visual Arts majors, examines the place of artistic practice in contemporary culture. COVA 20000 to 24900 are media specific courses that begin to teach technical skills and provide a conceptual framework for working in these media (e.g., painting, photography, sculpture, video). COVA 25000 to 26900 are nonstudio courses in the theory and criticism of art. COVA 27000 to 29000 are more advanced studio courses.

Students in other fields of study may also complete a minor in COVA. Information follows the description of the major.

Program Requirements

The B.A. program in the Committee on the Visual Arts is intended for students interested in the practice and study of art. The Committee's faculty consists of a core of artists and other humanists interested in making and thinking about art. Those who major in Visual Arts take an individually arranged program of studio, lecture, and seminar courses that may include some courses outside the Humanities Collegiate Division. The program seeks to foster understanding of art from several perspectives: the practice and intention of the creator, the visual conventions employed, and the perception and critical reception of the audience. In addition to work in the studio, these aims may require study of art history and intellectual history, as well as psychology, criticism, and aesthetics. Because of the diversity of student interests and the Committee's interdisciplinary orientation, require-ments for the major are flexible.

All students take a core of COVA 10100, 10200, and 15000 as early in their studies as possible. After completing these core courses, but no later than Winter Quarter of their third year, students meet with the Director of Undergraduate Studies to plan the rest of their program. At least five of the courses beyond the core must be drawn from the second level of predominantly studio-oriented offerings (COVA 20000 to 24900). The remaining three courses may be any intellectually consistent combination of COVA studio courses, COVA critical and theory courses (COVA 25000 to 26900), and any other relevant offerings in the College. Up to two independent study courses that are relevant to the major may be counted toward these three electives. (For more information, consult the sample programs of study that follow.)

As preparation for the senior project, students must take COVA 29600 in the spring of their third year. This studio seminar examines approaches to independent studio projects. The culminating experience of the COVA major is a senior project consisting of a studio project and/or an extended paper that represents a coherent line of inquiry. This work, for which students may receive credit in COVA 29900, is done under the supervision of a primary adviser and must also be approved by the Director of Undergraduate Studies. In the summer between the third and fourth years it is expected that students in the program prepare themselves to present their ideas for the senior project at a group critique at the beginning of the academic year. (NOTE: The Visual Arts major, taken as it is in the context of the College's liberal arts tradition, does not normally prepare a student for admission to an M.F.A. program without additional studio work.)

Summary of Requirements

General introductory art history, drama, or music course*

Education

Major 2 COVA 10100-10200

1 COVA 15000

1 COVA 29600 (junior seminar)

1 COVA 29900 (senior project)

5 from COVA 20000-24900

3 electives relevant to the major

* Students majoring in Visual Arts cannot use a COVA course to meet the general education requirement in the dramatic, music, and visual arts

Sample Programs. The Committee encourages its students either to focus their major in the studio or to construct interdisciplinary major programs combining studio and nonstudio courses that focus on a particular theme. The following examples are suggestions only:

(1) A program that explores relationships of image and text in the construction of narratives, combining courses in drawing and graphics with courses in creative writing, literature, and art history.

(2) A program that explores issues of identity construction through image making, and combines courses in painting, sculpture, drawing, and photo-graphy with courses in anthropology, art history, and gender studies.

(3) A program in the practice of painting exploring aesthetic form as a vehicle for individual expression, including art history and philosophy courses.

(4) A studio-based program in photography that concentrates on black-and-white silver-gelatin processes, and includes a thorough investigation of the history and conceptual framework of the medium.

(5) A program that investigates issues surrounding representations of the body (including an engagement with contemporary and historic practices in visual art and film, as well as feminist, gender, race, and class theory) and concludes in an installation of a series of photographs.

(6) A studio-based program in sculpture that examines how our sensory or kinesthetic knowledge of our bodies differs greatly from how we are seen as objects in space by others (possibly including additional courses in the history of art and in anatomy).

Grading. COVA students must receive quality grades for the thirteen courses that constitute the major. With consent of their College adviser and the instructor, nonmajors may take COVA courses for P/F grades if the courses are not used to meet a general education requirement.

Honors. COVA students who have a 3.0 or higher overall GPA and a 3.5 or higher GPA for all COVA course work may be awarded honors. The work submitted will be reviewed for honors by the COVA faculty.

Minor Program in the Committee on the Visual Arts

The minor in COVA requires a total of at least six courses: three are the 10000-level sequence (10100, 10200, 15000) and three are drawn from COVA studio courses chosen in consultation with the Director of Undergraduate Studies. Students also complete an advanced studio project with the consent of the instructor in one of the studio courses.

Students who elect the minor program in COVA must meet with the Director of Undergraduate Studies before the end of Spring Quarter of their third year to declare their intention to complete the minor. (The deadline for students graduating in 2004-05 is the end of Winter Quarter 2005.) Students choose courses in consultation with the Director of Undergraduate Studies. The director's approval for the minor program should be submitted to a student's College adviser by the deadline above on a form obtained from the adviser.

Courses in the minor (1) may not be double counted with the student's major(s) or with other minors; and (2) may not be counted toward general education requirements. (This means that non-COVA options must be used to meet the general education requirement in the dramatic, musical, and visual arts.) Courses in the minor must be taken for quality grades, and more than half of the requirements for the minor must be met by registering for courses bearing University of Chicago course numbers.

The following group of courses would comprise a minor in COVA:

Requirements for the COVA Minor

COVA 10100

COVA 10200

COVA 15000

Three studio courses drawn from COVA 20000-24200 and 27000-29000

An advanced studio project emerging from one of these studio courses

Faculty

D. Beattie, C. Cohen, D. Frid, H. George, L. Letinsky, H. Mirra, R. Peters, A. Ruttan

Courses: Committee on the Visual Arts (COVA)

Students must attend the first and second classes to confirm enrollment. No exceptions will be made unless the student notifies the instructor before the first class.

Introductory Courses

10100. Visual Language I. COVA 10100 and 10200 may be taken in sequence or individually. This course meets the general education requirement in the dramatic, musical, and visual arts. Through studio production and analysis of visual images and objects, this course engages the communicative, analytical, and expressive possibilities of the range of images animating contemporary visual culture. The studio is used to explore the principles, conventions, and inventions of image making. Emphasis is placed on the give-and-take process of making as a means to understand the relationships between the intent of the maker and the content, appearance, and meanings generated by images. Focusing primarily on two-dimensional images, among the issues which may be explored are originality and reproduction, color, surface organization, spatial illusion, the communicative properties of materials, and the recognition of accident and chance as artistic resources. Previous experience in media-based studio courses will not normally be accepted as a replacement for this course. Visits to museums, galleries, and other cultural and commercial sites required, as is attendance at designated events. Lab fee $50. Autumn, Winter, Spring.

10200. Visual Language II. (=ISHU 10800) COVA 10100 and 10200 may be taken individually and in any order. This course meets the general education requirement in the dramatic, musical, and visual arts. Through the examination of three-dimensional forms and a series of studio problems, this course develops the formal and conceptual skills necessary to think visually—to "see" and to experience the vast array of objects, spaces, and ideas embedded in the contemporary cultural landscape. Emphasis is placed on the give-and-take process of making (which may include the construction and analysis of objects, alteration of spaces, or the placement/ arrangement/collection of objects) as a vehicle for students to learn how ideas, thoughts, and emotions take physical form and generate meaning. Previous experience in media-based studio courses will not normally be accepted as a replacement for this course. Visits to museums, galleries, and other cultural and commercial sites required, as is attendance at designated events. Lab fee ranges from $10 to $40. Autumn, Winter, Spring.

15000. Art Practice and Theory. PQ: Required of all COVA majors and should be taken before their fourth year. Open to nonmajors with consent of instructor. This course does not meet the general education requirement in the dramatic, musical, and visual arts. This course examines the place of artistic practice in contemporary culture and the rhetoric of images. Emphasis is placed on the visual arts, examining discourses such as the assignment of value to works, the formation of taste, the relationship between individual production and institutional practices, the role of authorship (intentionality) in the construction of meaning, the gate-keeping functions of curatorial and critical practice, the function and maintenance of categorical distinctions constituting "otherness" (high/low, naive, primitive, outside), the relationship between truth and authenticity, the uses of art (e.g., transcendence, decoration, activism, therapy, play). Visits to museums, galleries, and other cultural and commercial sites required, as is attendance at designated events. Winter.

Intermediate-Level Courses

21300. Figure Drawing Today. PQ: COVA 10100 or 10200, or consent of instructor. This class explores approaches to drawing the figure. Drawing from life is the basis of further explorations into various modes of invention. A variety of materials are introduced including pencil, charcoal, pastel, watercolor, and mixed media. Assignments investigate different models of stylistic invention from the realistic to comic expression. Readings, field trips, and assignments address contemporary and classical approaches to portraiture, identity, narrative, and social critique. Class sessions include studio work, criticism, and visits to local collections. Lab fee $60. Winter/ Spring.

21500. Graphics: Etching. PQ: COVA 10100 or 10200, or consent of instructor. This class consists of basic studies of the intaglio process through art-historical references, technical demonstrations, and studio work. The work is critiqued during each stage of the procedure from the inception of the idea of the sketches, proof prints, final prints, and presentation of a portfolio. Various techniques are introduced, such as engraving, aquatint, mezzotint, soft ground, dry point, and lift ground. Artistic questions raised specifically by these techniques are discussed and considered in relation to the final portfolio of prints. Lab fee $60. R. Peters. Winter.

21900. Color Theory and Practice. PQ: COVA 10100 or 10200, or consent of instructor. This class introduces color to students in all media. Color is looked at using various theoretical, cultural, and historical models, as well as intuitive and conceptual approaches to working. Instruction includes the use of a variety of media, such as drawing, painting, collage, photography, and digital. Design and fine art models are used to explore this complex area of visual expression. Lab fee $30. A. Ruttan. Winter.

22000-22100. Beginning Painting. PQ: COVA 10100 or 10200, or consent of instructor. This studio course introduces students to the fundamental elements of painting (its language and methodologies) as they learn how to initiate and develop an individualized investigation into subject matter and meaning. The class emphasizes group critiques and discussion. Lab fee $60. D. Beattie. Autumn, Winter.

22200. Sculpture I: Making a Three Dimensional Object. PQ: COVA 10100 or 10200, or consent of instructor. The starting point for this class is an in-depth study of the form of an egg, an object known but not understood in all its three-dimensional subtlety. With that new knowledge, students synthesize an abstract concept based on a deep understanding of the form of the egg. Then sculptural form is given to each concept. The technical skills learned are clay modeling, traditional waste mold making, plaster casting, and basic skills having to do with the construction of small objects. But students primarily begin to learn how to conceptualize and construct an object in real space. Each student makes one plaster casting and two sculptures. Lab fee $50. H. George. Autumn.

22300. Sculpture II. PQ: COVA 10100 or 10200, or consent of instructor. One of the primary things that all cultures do is make objects. The objects, for better or worse, result from a belief system primarily, and secondary the materials are available. The first part of this class is a brief study of a few cultures with respect to their made objects. The major part of the class is given over to students inventing cultures of their own. Once invented, students are asked to make an object or objects of veneration for that imagine culture. That object results primarily from the student's invented system of invented cultural beliefs. There will be some reading and many visits to museums and galleries in Chicago and a few brief papers. Lab fee $40. H. George. Not offered 2005-06; will be offered 2006-07.

22400. Modeling the Figure. PQ: COVA 10100 or 10200, or consent of instructor. Working in the traditional studio environment of both the American Academy and the Ecole des Beaux Arts in nineteenth and early twentieth-century Paris, students have the opportunity to model in clay one full figure and one portrait. To augment and enrich the studio work, students make weekly trips to sculpture exhibitions in galleries and museums. Skills learned are traditional clay modeling and, most importantly, hand-eye coordination (training the hand to make what the eye sees). Students also begin to appreciate just how personal the sense of sight is and to what degree all sight is a conversation between the viewer and what is being looked at. No particular talent or previous experience is necessary. Lab fee $50. H. George. Autumn.

22500. Digital Imaging. (=CMST 28800) PQ: COVA 10100 or 10200, or consent of instructor. Using the Macintosh platform, this course introduces the use of digital technology as a means of making visual art. Instruction covers the Photoshop graphics program as well as digital imaging hardware (i.e., scanners, storage, printing). In addition, we address problems of color, design, collage, and drawing. Topics of discussion may include questions regarding the mediated image and its relationship to art as well as the examination of what constitutes the "real" in contemporary culture. Lab fee $60. A. Ruttan. Autumn.

23800. Video I: Beginning Video. (=CMST 28900/38900) PQ: COVA 10100 or 10200, or consent of instructor. This course is an introduction to videomaking with digital cameras and non-linear (digital) editing. Students produce a group of short works, which is contextualized by viewing and discussion of historical and contemporary video works. Video versus film, editing strategies, and appropriation are some of the subjects that are part of an ongoing conversation. Lab fee $60. Autumn.

23801. Video Workshop. (=CMST 28903) PQ: COVA 23800 or consent of instructor.This is a production course geared towards short experimental works and video within a studio art context. Screenings include recent works by Harrison and Wood, Fischli and Weiss, Martin Kersels, Jane and Louise Wilson, Halflifers, and Douglas Gordon. Discussions and readings address non-narrative strategies, rapidly changing technology, and viable approaches to producing video art in a world full of video images. Lab fee $60. Winter, Spring.

23901. Documentary Video. (=CMST 28000) This course focuses on the making of independent documentary video. Examples of direct cinema, cinéma vérité, the essay, ethnographic film, the diary and self-reflexive cinema, historical and biographical film, agitprop/activist forms, and guerilla television are screened and discussed. Topics include the ethics and politics of representation and the shifting lines between fact and fiction. Labs explore video pre-production, camera, sound, and editing. Students develop an idea for a documentary video; form crews; and produce, edit, and screen a five-minute documentary. A two-hour lab is required in addition to class time. Lab fee $50. J. Hoffman. Autumn.

23902. Documentary Video: Production Techniques. (=CMST 28001) PQ: COVA 23901 or consent of instructor. This course focuses on the shaping and crafting of a nonfiction video. Students are expected to write a treatment detailing their project. Production techniques focus on the handheld camera versus tripod, interviewing and microphone placement, and lighting for the interview. Post-production covers editing techniques and distribution strategies. Students then screen final projects in a public space. Lab fee $50. J. Hoffman. Spring.

23903. Video: Camera, Lights, Sound. (=CMST 28904/38904) PQ: CMST 23800/23901 or consent of instructor. Previous video or film experience helpful but not required. This intensive laboratory explores differences between video formats, video, and film, as well as experiments with basic lighting design. The class is organized around a series of production situations, and students work in crews to understand modes of production. Each crew learns to operate and maintain the Panasonic AG-DVX100 24p camera; Bolex 16mm camera and Sachtler tripod; and Arri lights, gels, diffusion, and grip equipment. There will be additional workshops, field trips, and screenings. An additional lab outside of class time lab is required. Lab fee $50. J. Hoffman. Autumn.

24000. Beginning Photography. (=CMST 27600/37600) PQ: COVA 10100 or 10200, or consent of instructor. Camera and light meter required. Photography affords a relatively simple and accessible means for making pictures. Demonstrations are used to introduce technical procedures and basic skills, and to begin to establish criteria for artistic expression. Possibilities and limitations inherent in the medium are topics of classroom discussion. We investigate the contemporary photograph in relation to its historical and social context. Course work culminates in a portfolio of works exemplary of the student's understanding of the medium. Field trips required. Lab fee $60. L. Letinsky, Winter; Staff, Autumn.

24109. Precarious Forms: Drawing with Things. PQ: COVA 10100 or 10200. Intermediate or advanced standing. This studio course uses a variety of sources, subject matter, and processes (e.g., mapping, tracing, movement) to create a group of images-objects that address space, physicality, content, and time. Our goal is to investigate line, surface, precariousness, stability, and materiality in order to expand on drawing as a genre. Artists include Mark Manders, Pae White, Anne Wilson, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Sarah Sze, Julie Mehretu, Gego, Lygia Clark, Marcel Duchamp, Archigram, Janine Antoni, Annette Messager, and Gabriel Orozco. D. Frid. Winter.

Theory and Criticism Courses

25100/35101. Nonfiction Film: Representations and Performance. (=CMST 28202/38200) We attempt to define nonfiction cinema by looking at the history of its major modes (i.e., documentary, essay, ethnographic, and agit-prop film), as well as personal/autobiographical and experimental works that are less easily classifiable. We explore some of the theoretical discourses that surround this most philosophical of film genres. The relationship between the documentary and the state is examined in light of the genre's tendency to inform and instruct. Finally, we look at the ways in which distribution and television affect the production and content of nonfiction film. J. Hoffman. Autumn.

25105/35105. Body, Space, Desire: Feminist Theories of Visuality. (=ARTH 28012/38102, GNDR 28102/38102,) PQ: Any 10000-level ARTH or COVA course, or consent of instructor. This course examines the ambivalent status of visuality and the visual arts in feminist theory and attempts to reimagine their relationship through themes of body, space, and desire. We read works from several traditions, including French feminism and psychoanalysis, film theory, science and technology studies, black feminist theory and critical race studies, materialist feminism, queer theory, and contemporary art and art criticism. Case studies are drawn from art, film, and visual culture broadly defined; assignments include exercises in the confrontation and integration of theory with history and practice. R. Zorach. Spring.

25201. Cinema and the First Avant-Garde, 1890 to 1933. (=ARTH 25205, CMST 25201/45201) PQ: CMST 10100 and 28500, or consent of instructor. This course explores the manner in which a number of movements (as well as the concept of the avant-garde more generally) have related to the cinema, both in practice and theory. Movements considered are Symbolism, Futurism (Italian and Russian), Dada, Constructivism, Surrealism, and De Stil. The Cineclub movement and magazines dedicated to the film and the avant-garde are also studied. Readings include manifestos and documents from the various movements, as well as historical studies. Texts by Poggioli and Burger are also read. We show films by Bauer, Lang, Wiene, Bragaglia, Eisenstein, Ivens, Richter, Ruttmann, Vertov, Dulac, Epstein, and others. T. Gunning. Winter.

25300. Introduction to Film Analysis. (=ARTH 20000, CMST 10100, ENGL 10800, ISHU 20000) This course introduces basic concepts of film analysis, which are discussed through examples from different national cinemas, genres, and directorial oeuvres. Along with questions of film technique and style, we consider the notion of the cinema as an institution that comprises an industrial system of production, social and aesthetic norms and codes, and particular modes of reception. Films discussed include works by Hitchcock, Porter, Griffith, Eisenstein, Lang, Renoir, Sternberg, and Welles. Autumn, Spring.

25301. Cinema as Vernacular Modernism: An International Perspective. (=CMST 27401, ENGL 28701) This course focuses on an important direction in twentieth-century mainstream cinema that can be considered as a "vernacular" form of modernism, interacting with but also independent from modernist movements in the traditional media. We explore this idea beginning with a sample of Hollywood films (slapstick comedies, The Crowd, Lonesome, Gold Diggers of 1933, film noir) and responses to American cinema by artists and intellectuals, mostly European. We then look at examples from British, Soviet, Italian, Chinese, and Japanese cinema, asking how these films can be understood as both aesthetic expressions of and responses to the social and cultural experience of modernity and modernization (including the world-wide circulation of Hollywood films) in different local and global constellations. M. Hansen. Winter.

25400. Theories of Media. (=ARTH 25900/35900, CMST 27800/37800, ENGL 12800/32800, ISHU 21800, MAPH 34300) PQ: Any 10000-level ARTH or COVA course, or consent of instructor. This course explores the concept of media and mediation in very broad terms, looking not only at modern technical media and mass media but also at the very idea of a medium as a means of communication, a set of institutional practices, and a habitat" in which images proliferate and take on a "life of their own." Readings include classic texts (e.g., Plato's Allegory of the Cave and Cratylus, Aristotle's Poetics); and modern texts (e.g., Marshall McLuhan's Understanding Media, Regis Debray's Mediology, Friedrich Kittler's Gramaphone, Film, Typewriter). W. J. T. Mitchell. Winter.

25551. Twentieth-Century Styles. (=ISHU 25550) PQ: Consent of instructor. How does the dramatic artist with a vision or concept reminiscent of particular genre and philosophy of art express that impulse through performance or design? Grounded in neo-classicism and romanticism, and relying on dramaturgical research into specific periods, this class explores twentieth-century styles, primarily between the World Wars. Readings may include Ibsen, Goethe, Racine, and Zola's Diatribe on Naturalism. Styles examined may include futurism and constructivism, German expressionism, and the epic theater of Brecht. Not offered 2005-06; will be offered 2006-07.

25700. Scene Painting. (=ISHU 26200) PQ: ISHU 25900 and consent of instructor. This course is an exploration of the basic tools and techniques of classical theatrical scene painting. Scene painting is a unique art that uses techniques and tools not associated with other types of painting. Some projects include faux finishes, foliage, scrim, and backdrops. Winter.

25704/35704. Photography, Modernism, Esthetics. (=ARTH 27304/37304) PQ: Any 10000-level ARTH or COVA course, or consent of instructor. J. Snyder. Winter.

26000/36300. Introduction to Theatrical Design. (=ISHU 20010) This course is a basic introduction to scenic, lighting, costume, and sound design for the theater with a major emphasis on lighting and scenic design. Students have the opportunity to pursue their own interests after the basic introduction in the form of a major project. The course develops an understanding of the design process with a historical perspective and a vocabulary specific to these four design disciplines, as well as an understanding of aesthetic visual elements of the theater. Autumn.

26100. Scenic Design. (=ISHU 26501) PQ: ISHU 20010 or consent of instructor. This course considers the process of stage design from both aesthetic and practical points of view. It surveys the historical development of scenography in relation to technology and theatrical style. The influence of tradition on modern stage design is investigated through a comparison of period designs and contemporary solutions established by scenographers. Not offered 2005-06; will be offered 2006-07.

26200. Costume Design for the Stage. (=ISHU 26300) PQ: ISHU 20010 or consent of instructor. This course is a discovery of the history and theories of costume design as well as an interpretation of character and theme through rendering and fabrication of costumes for the stage. Students develop a visual vocabulary through use of texture, color, and period. The beginning part of the course focuses on basic design rules and costume history. The latter part of the course is devoted to a series of design projects. Spring.

26300/36300. History of Photography, 1800 to 1950. (=COVA 26400/36400, HIPS 25300) PQ: Any 10000-level ARTH or COVA course, or consent of instructor. This course studies in detail the invention of the photographic system as a confluence of art practice and technology. The aesthetic history of photography is traced from 1839 through the present. Special emphasis is placed on the critical writing of P. H. Emerson, Erwin Panofsky, Alfred Stieglitz, Lewis Mumford, Susan Sontag, and Michael Fried. J. Snyder. Winter.

26305/36305. Art and the Value of Being Disturbed. (=ARTH 28305/38305) PQ: Any 10000-level ARTH or COVA course, or consent of instructor. Many subject matters and strategies that we now encounter regularly in art were considered stirring when they first appeared. This course surveys several consequential moments in the recent history of art during which art has stressed aesthetic and social norms. Topics include political realism, non-art/appropriation, pornography, institution critique, minimalism, conceptualism, body-based performance, sacrilege, and publicity. D. English. Winter.

26400. Lighting Design for Stage and Film. (=ISHU 26400) PQ: ISHU 20010 or consent of instructor. This is a basic exploration of the theory and practice of lighting design for both theater and motion pictures. Students develop theatrical lighting vocabulary, knowledge of basic electrical theory, color theory, theory of light, design tools, and the actual instruments used to light the stage through lectures and projects. Winter.

26500. History of International Cinema I: Silent Era. (=ARTH 28500/38500, CMLT 22400/32400, CMST 28500/48500, ENGL 29300/47800, MAPH 33600) This is the first part of a two-quarter course. The two parts may be taken individually, but taking them in sequence is helpful. The aim of this course is to introduce students to what was singular about the art and craft of silent film. Its general outline is chronological. We also discuss main national schools and international trends of filmmaking. Y. Tsivian. Autumn.

26600. History of International Cinema II: Sound Era to 1960. (=ARTH 28600/38600, CMLT 22500/32500, CMST 28600/48600, ENGL 29600/48900, MAPH 33700) PQ: Prior or current registration in CMST 10100 required; COVA 26500 strongly recommended. The center of this course is film style, from the classical scene breakdown to the introduction of deep focus, stylistic experimentation, and technical innovation (sound, wide screen, location shooting). The development of a film culture is also discussed. Texts include Thompson and Bordwell's Film History, An Introduction; and works by Bazin, Belton, Sitney, and Godard. Screenings include films by Hitchcock, Welles, Rossellini, Bresson, Ozu, Antonioni, and Renoir. Y. Tsivian. Winter.

26801/36801. Contemporary Art and the Environment. (=ENST 28400) This course offers an interdisciplinary introduction to recent art practice as it intersects with environmental issues. As a nomadic class, we often meet at relevant sites on campus and around Chicago, and we put theory into practice through hands-on class projects. The course is taught by a UK-based visiting artist in conjunction with the Smart Museum exhibition "Beyond Green: Toward a Sustainable Art." N. Norman. Autumn.

26804. American Art Since 1960. (=ARTH 28804) PQ: Any 10000-level ARTH or COVA course, or consent of instructor. This course charts activities along the major axes of visual arts production in the United States since 1960. In addition to the mainstream story, so-called "marginal" practices are considered, as are activities in key U.S. art centers other than New York City. D. English. Autumn.

Advanced-Level Studio Courses

27200. Advanced Painting. PQ: COVA 22000 and 22100, or consent of instructor. Presuming fundamental considerations, this studio course emphasizes the purposeful and sustained development of a student's visual investigation through painting, accentuating both invention and clarity of image. Group critiques and discussion. Lab fee $60. D. Beattie. Spring.

27802. Advanced Black-and-White Photography. (=CMST 27701/37701) PQ: COVA 10100 or 10200, and 24000 or 24100; or consent of instructor. Camera and light meter required. Students focus on a set of issues and ideas that expand upon their experience and knowledge, and that have particular relevance to them. All course work is directed toward the production of a cohesive body of black-and-white photographs. An investigation of contemporary and historic photographic issues informs the students' photographic practice and includes critical readings, as well as group and individual critiques. Visits to local exhibitions and darkroom work required. Lab fee $60. L. Letinsky. Spring.

27900. Color Photography. (=CMST 27900/37900) PQ: COVA 10100 or 10200, and 24000 or 24100; or consent of instructor. A camera and light meter are required. Course work is directed towards the investigation of color photographic materials, specifically with color negative film to make chromagenic prints. Students focus on a set of issues and ideas that expand upon their experience and knowledge. An investigation of contemporary and historic photographic issues informs the students' exploration, as does extensive darkroom work, gallery visits, and class and individual critiques. Visits to local exhibitions and darkroom work required. Lab fee $60. L. Letinsky. Spring.

28200. Sculpture III. PQ: COVA 10100 or 10200, or consent of instructor. The first part of this class on the hand skills of fine woodworking is devoted to learning through the making of basic wood joinery. Once learned, the major problem for the remainder of the quarter is to construct wood from one or more "bench"/sculptures using elaborate variations of specific joints and woods. We use traditional Japanese and pre-electric Western woodworking tools instead of power tools. Skills learned include a vocabulary of wood joints from the simple to the complex, and why they are as they are; how to cut, plane, and finish various woods and the basic properties of the most available woods; and how to use that knowledge to make a "bench"/sculpture of the student's own design. Lab fee $80. H. George. Spring.

29000/39000. Advanced Drawing. PQ: COVA 10100 or 10200, or consent of instructor. Looking at drawings as both ends in themselves and as links to work in any other visual medium, this course emphasizes drawing's uniquely interactive, interdisciplinary versatility in contemporary art. Each student makes individual work that chases drawing at the most personal and ambitious level, with the expectation that other or future work in other media is also nurtured in the process. Students then make drawings that embody an individual visual response to a particular theme. We conclude with drawings that directly address each student's self-identified weakest ability. Lab fee $60. D. Beattie. Autumn.

Independent Study Courses

29600. Junior Seminar. PQ: Required of COVA majors and should be taken in the Spring Quarter of their third year. Open to nonmajors with consent of Director of Undergraduate Studies. This seminar prepares COVA majors for their senior project. The project is an independent studio project or a combined studio/research paper project that students begin in the summer preceding their fourth year. Students engage in two main activities: (1) a series of studio projects challenging the imagination and enlarging formal skills; and (2) an introduction to the contemporary art world through selected readings, lectures, careful analysis of art objects/events, and critical writing. Studio projects are conceptually structured, allowing students to respond with individualized materials and approaches. Studio skills are developed while contending with the central task of articulating ideas through a resistant medium. Visits to museums, galleries, and other cultural and commercial sites required, as is attendance at designated events. R. Peters. Spring.

29700. Independent Study in Visual Arts. PQ: COVA 10100 or 10200, and consent of instructor. Students are required to submit the College Reading and Research Course Form. This course is similar to reading courses in other academic areas. We presume that the student has done fundamental course work and is ready to explore a particular area of interest much more closely. Autumn, Winter, Spring.

29900. Senior Project. PQ: Required of COVA majors. Consent of Director of Undergraduate Studies. Students are required to submit the College Reading and Research Course Form. This course provides an opportunity for a "summing up." It is a chance to work in a sustained way on a group of paintings or photographs, for example. This work is then presented as part of a graduation show. As an alternative, students may write a paper that examines issues that may have emerged from the studio and academic experience. Autumn, Winter, Spring.