Course Offerings

This course provides historical background to understand how contemporary communication practices and technologies have developed and are in the process of developing and reflects on what communication has been in different human societies across time and place. It considers oral and literate cultures, the development of writing systems, of printing, and different cultural values assigned to the image. The parallel rise of mass media and modern western cultural and political forms and the manipulation and interplay of the properties and qualities conveyed by speech, sight, and sound are studied with reference to the printed book, newspapers, photography, radio, cinema, television, new media.

The skills learned in this course will prepare students for upper-division communication courses, and provide students with basic research methods in the field of communication. Students will become familiar with a range of research methods (survey, interview, ethnography, discourse, and political economy.

In this course, students will be introduced to graphic design history and graphic design principles. They will learn to apply these principles through hands-on exercises and projects, using both analog means and digital tools (Adobe Photoshop). No prerequisites.

This course offers a comprehensive introduction to the world of materials, especially textiles, and their central role in designing, producing and experiencing fashion. Students will learn to identify materials and techniques, relying on historical and contemporary examples from all over the world, focusing on their properties and applications in fashion design.
This course is devised as an immersion into the materiality of fashion, exploring fibers, raw materials, dyes, textiles, finishes, and garment construction. It will also address pattern making, surface ornamentation, textile design, and the different stages of collection design. Issues of production and labor, functionality, seasonality and sustainability will also be integral to class discussions.
Combining object-based study, textile and garment analysis, and hands-on activities, this course will engage students in thinking critically about the different making processes and materials of fashion and the artisans and producers behind them. Through lectures, seminars, and site visits, and extensive use of literary, visual and film sources, students will gain insights into how fashion is made from start to finish.