Course Descriptions

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Intro to Motion

Learn the fundamentals of animation

How does animation actually work? In this online introductory animation course, you'll learn the 12 essential principles of animation including squash and stretch, anticipation, and exaggeration. Working with a professional animator, you'll explore how fundamental concepts in physics and motion are used to create sophisticated, convincing motion art in sequential art, video, 2D animation, and 3D animation, and more. Practical projects include stop-motion and flipbook-style animation.

Intro to Visual Arts

Explore the purpose and process of art-making

What makes a painting work? What inspires a sculptor to create? Artists are influenced by the language of art and visual communication, historical and social forces, and the evolution of new modes of expression. In this online visual arts course, you'll deepen your art knowledge by exploring your own artistic creativity. You'll look at paintings, sculptures, experimental pieces, and more, learning to critique composition and decode their social or political purpose. Course projects include art themes and creating your own art pieces that demonstrate your grasp of course concepts in the medium of your choice.

JavaScript for Designers I

Learn how to write simple JavaScript programs from scratch.

Learn the fundamentals of JavaScript, the programming language that allows you to make things happen when a user interacts with your website. You will learn how to create clean, valid code as you create programs that respond to various kinds of user interaction. Assignments include a range of projects: interactive dialogue boxes, a trivia quiz, a rainbow color picker, a sortable database, and more.

Landscape Photography

Unleash your nature photography skills

Landscape photography can be fascinating and endlessly inspiring, just like the natural world. In this course, you will explore a wide range of concepts and techniques to help you get more out of your nature photography. Each assignment will challenge you to go out and photograph the natural world, exploring compositional concepts and shooting techniques for different kinds of subjects and environments, ranging from macro and mobile to HDR and panoramic shots. To help you organize, edit, and showcase your work, the course will explore editing techniques using Adobe Lightroom. By the end of the course, you'll have created a stunning portfolio of images celebrating your favorite natural location(s).

Life Drawing I

Learn life drawing using classic techniques

Life drawing is a fundamental artistic challenge. Capturing the human figure in all its infinite, intricate variations requires both a mastery of technique and a thorough understanding of the body. In this online life drawing course, you'll make your figure drawings come to life with guidance with feedback from an expert instructor. Following traditional methods, you'll learn the standard measures and proportions artists use to achieve naturalistic and expressive figure drawings. The course builds progressively from the fundamentals to the challenges of portraiture, three-dimensional form, composition, and expression.

Life Drawing II

Tackle advanced topics in life drawing

Life drawing is an endless, fascinating challenge for an artist. In this online advanced life drawing course, you'll learn how to observe and capture the clothed human figure and explore basic techniques for all figure drawings. Working with a trained illustrator, you'll learn essential concepts in form, structure, and motion as you address subjects that interest and engage you. Discover the seven functions of the line, constructing scenes, and incorporating color.

Lightroom

Manage your photo workflow with Lightroom

Have you ever spent more time working on a photo shoot at your desk than you did taking the pictures? If so, consider managing, developing, printing, and presenting your images efficiently with Adobe Lightroom Classic. In this online Lightroom course, working with a photography pro, you'll learn how to import and catalog your images with ease, and use basic and advanced development and retouching tools to create stellar shots, taking advantage of advanced production techniques and workflows.

Logo Design I

A step-by-step process for logo design

Logos are the front line—the identity of a company. They are ubiquitous, and they are vital. In this introductory online logo design course, you'll learn how to design logos that will strengthen the visual image of your own or your client's company. Working with a design pro, you'll explore the development of logos through a series of case studies. Each exercise combines a written, conceptual component with hands-on projects for creating an effective logo.

Marketing Design

Create designs that communicate to consumers

Marketing designers have a daunting task: communicate with visuals and text in a way that entices consumers. Large corporations, small businesses, and non-profits alike require effective marketing design to promote their products and services. In this online marketing course, you'll make design decisions through research, writing, and planning techniques that set marketing designers (and their clients) apart from the competition. Each course lecture features real-life case studies as well as industry best practices for concept development, branding extensions, image-building, presentation, and even non-traditional marketing.

Narrative Photography

Advanced studies in photojournalism

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Readers and publishers expect photographers to be able to tell stories with images. In this online photojournalism course, you will explore how to utilize an editorial or narrative approach to photography. Throughout the course, you will use conceptualism in conjunction with documentary to build photo essays and other narrative projects. Studying with a respected photojournalist, you'll learn how to research, pitch, shoot, edit, and present a body of work that encompasses unifying themes.

Painting I

Master a traditional approach to painting

For centuries, artists have used paint to represent the physical world. Now you too can learn how to paint online. In this online painting course, you'll learn a traditional approach to oil painting or acrylic painting. Working with a professional artist, you'll study a time-honored approach to painting that enables you to capture proportion, perspective, and lighting in the world around you. You'll learn how to build a foundation with preparatory sketches and underpainting, find out how to mix your paints correctly, and gain control over value through monochromatic painting and color studies.

PHO 106: Photo Retouching

Perfect your images using Photoshop

Nearly every photograph can benefit from retouching, whether it's to correct subtle color problems or make major changes to the subject or background. In this online photo editing course, you'll learn how to turn good photographs into showstoppers. Using Photoshop's tools and filters, you'll learn to make seamless changes, realistically enhancing your images so that no one knows work was done. Photographers and designers will benefit from learning systematic professional routines taught in this course.

PHO 205: Lightroom

Learn to manage your creative photography workflow

Have you ever spent more time working on a photo shoot at your desk than you did taking the pictures? If so, consider managing, developing, printing, and presenting your images efficiently with Adobe Lightroom Classic. In this online Lightroom course, working with a photography pro, you'll learn how to import and catalog your images with ease, and use basic and advanced development and retouching tools to create stellar shots, taking advantage of advanced production techniques and workflows.

PHO 208: Color Correction

Correct and enhance image color using Photoshop

Do you know how to get the best out of your digital images? As every art director knows, even the best photographs (on the best of days) can be plagued by problems such as color casts, unnatural tones, dull highlights, murky shadows, or low contrast. In this online color correction course, you'll learn systematic techniques for every aspect of Photoshop color management using Photoshop. Working with a Photoshop guru, you'll learn how to identify classic color scenarios and use both comprehensive and quick-and-dirty methods for correcting them.

PHO 301: Photographic Genres

Explore new genres and expand your creative and professional scope.

Which genres of photography are you interested in? Which genres would you like to be recognized for? In alignment with your creative and professional goals, this course will allow you to take a deep dive into areas of focus within commercial photography, editorial photography, and fine art photography. Based upon your exploration and research of photographic genres, industry trends, and the work of exceptional photographers, you will create your own images inspired by your expanded view of photography.

PHO 302: Late 20th Century Photography to Today

Ground your creative work in a knowledge of 20th and contemporary artists.

Closely examine and critically analyze photographic work produced from the 1980s to present day. Explore photographic work and artistic styles, concepts, and exhibitions in relation to historical context and the impact of photography on art and culture. Through the development of both written and visual work you will present your research, an expanded view of photography, technology, aesthetics, and artistic concepts.

PHO 333: Creative Exploration

Get messy as you explore new photography techniques

Explore, experiment, and expand your ability to manipulate, fabricate, and conceptualize images through the use of technology, alternative photographic processes, innovative photo setups, mixed media, collage, digital compositing and/or other approaches to creating unique and compelling images.

PHO 360: Project Management and Workflow

Define your portfolio goals and enhance your professional workflow

What kind of photographer do you want to be? Are you interested in developing Commercial, Documentary/Editorial and/or Fine Art photography? In collaboration with your faculty mentor you will review and analyze your current portfolio and workflow strategies, identify the type of work you want to create, develop your customized academic plan that will serve as a roadmap for the remainder of your Bachelor’s degree program, and expand your depth of experience with photographic project workflow components such as budgeting, estimating, scouting, shooting, processing, file management, and delivering client-based or exhibition ready work. This multi-faceted course has been provided as an opportunity for you to define your creative path with an emphasis upon academic and professional success.

PHO 404: Senior Project

Develop your creative directions in photography based on sound methodology and research.

Follow your creative passion by conceiving, producing, and promoting an innovative collection of images in alignment with your artistic and professional goals. This is your opportunity to focus on creating a unique cohesive series of images informed by research as well as instructor and peer feedback. During this course you will advance your ability to print, promote, and present your photographic work. At the conclusion of the course, you will exhibit your creative work through a website, social media, self-published book, exhibition, or other physical or virtual venue, as well as share it with your instructor and your peers.

PHO 422: Global View of Photography

Gain the ability to create work that adresses international and local perspectives

Contemporary photographers must be prepared to produce work that appeals to a global audience. You will research photographers and creative image makers who produce international work. Based upon your findings, you will develop and produce a multi-faceted photographic campaign focused on gaining the attention of an international audience. By considering cultural differences, you will develop the cultural sensitivity required to be a global creative and the skills to effectively research compelling and contemporary imagery for domestic and international audiences.