The broadly interdisciplinary Critical Studies curriculum provides students with critical-historical perspectives on art and culture, and the research, writing and presentation skills essential to a well-rounded approach to art and design. It permits them to situate contemporary visual culture within its wider geographical and historical contexts, to investigate a range of issues that impact cultural production, and to discover resonances with their own practice.
The program consists of courses for the BFA and BBA degrees, which require 42 Critical Studies credits, a minimum 12 of which must be in art history. "Survey of World Art & Design” in the first year of studies serves as a key initiation to the historical examination and critical analysis of art and design across ages and cultures. Students learn to look at, contextualize, and interpret images and artifacts. "Critical Reading & Writing" emphasizes creative thinking and writing as tools for personal expression.
In addition to required courses, Art History and Critical Studies electives focus on specific aspects of cultural production and its uses, and enable students to sharpen their own critical and theoretical points of view. Social Science courses consider the complexities of social change, cultural diversity, and human thought. Students learn to exercise reason, to analyze and organize, form convincing arguments, and to speak and write logically.
Parsons Paris takes special advantage of its campus and location as the ideal environment for observing and exploring social and cultural difference. Visits to studios, museums, galleries and various cultural events expose students to historical and contemporary art and
Students will be introduced to world art and design (with an emphasis on Western civilization), from pre-history to the 14th century in order to develop and improve their visual literacy. The course exposes students to the breadth and diversity of the visual arts and design worldwide, while providing a chronological, cultural and historical framework for understanding the production and reception of art and design within specific contexts. The textbook and selected readings broaden critical perspectives and allow the students to conduct preliminary art historical research, thus introducing them to art history as an academic discipline. Students articulate their understanding of visual and contextual materials through class presentations, research projects and papers, and discussion. Museum and gallery visits will complement classes held at Parsons Paris.
3 credits Fall and Spring
Students will be introduced to world art and design (with an emphasis on Western civilization), from the 15th century to the present in order to develop and improve their visual literacy. The course exposes students to the breadth and diversity of the visual arts and design worldwide, while providing a chronological, cultural and historical framework for understanding the production and reception of art and design within specific contexts. The textbook and selected readings broaden critical perspectives and allow the students to conduct preliminary art historical research, thus introducing them to art history as an academic discipline. Students articulate their understanding of visual and contextual materials through class presentations, research projects and papers, and discussion. Museum and gallery visits will complement classes held at Parsons Paris.
3 credits Fall and Spring
This broadly chronological course examines the major movements of European and American art between 1900-1960. Each unit will focus on key thematic elements and specific historical transformations. Students will be taught to formulate art historical contentions based on stylistic, iconographic, and historical analysis and observation. Students focus on specific works and ideas, even as they are introduced to the breadth and variety of modernism. Two museum trips will afford first-hand experiences with canonical works of art.
3 credits Fall
This course examines the trajectory of contemporary art from 1960 to the present, with attention to developments in European and American art as well as in "global" culture. Our topics include: reactions to modernism, the dematerialization of art and the rise of conceptualism, activist art and institutional critique, site-specificity, and time-based art. Students focus on specific works and ideas, even as they are introduced to the breadth and variety of contemporary art.
3 credits Spring
This course focuses on how design processes, design products, and design discourse are interrelated. It encourages students to reflect and write critically about design and provides them with a foundation in research methods that impact design practice. Readings from leading designers, theorists and historians lead students to situate their own approaches to design within a swiftly changing contemporary context, while visual materials and visits to design-related exhibitions allow them to broaden their base of design references.
3 credits Fall (Sophomore Fashion, Communication Design required)
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.
*3 credits Fall *
As an introduction to design in general, this seminar provides students with a contextual understanding of specific movements in design history. The weekly sessions will incorporate topics ranging from avant-garde movements, technology and media, information theory, business and marketing practices, sociology, and psychology, set within a broad historical narrative.
3 credits Spring
Our society is transient, consumerist, multinational, and plugged in. Understanding design’s social, philosophical and economic context is key to understanding the importance and relevance of design today. How do issues such as tribalism (target markets), environmental awareness, anti-globalization, post-colonialism and modern economic theory affect the design profession? This contemporary design history class looks at issues and topics concerning the design profession through lectures, case studies and field trips around Paris.
3 credits Fall (Junior Communication Design required)
This course examines the relationship between fashion and film. The course is grounded in critical studies addressing the merging of the two media as representative of cultural values. The first half of the course considers methods of costume design such as character construction and cultural representation. Following the midterm, we use a contextual approach, considering film in relation to its era, beginning in the 1960's through the present.
3 credits Fall
This course examines the history of women's fashion from the 19th to the 21st centuries. It proceeds chronologically and focuses on key designers and movements, such as orientalism, subcultures, postmodernism and anti-fashion, and unpacks fashion in relation to its socio-cultural environment, issues of social identity and body ideals. By emphasizing contemporary fashion's historical rag picking, the course explores the connection between past and present fashions. It provides a visual culture of the history of fashion and will be delivered in the form of lectures, seminar discussions, and visits.
3 credits (Fall)
As the site of the announcement of the invention of photography in 1839, Paris has been one of the most photographed cities in the world ever since. This class focuses on understanding the context in which some of the most renowned images of Paris were made, and discovering some of the lesser-known treasures evoking the French capital. Part chronological and part thematic, the course will explore different types of photographs of the city, from the purely documentary in intent to the most personal, reflecting on how these images fit into photographic traditions as well as contributing directly or indirectly to our vision of Paris and its past. Visits to exhibitions and reserve collections in museums will take us out of the classroom to see both original photographs and the city. This lively critical examination of how Paris has been portrayed by a culturally diverse panel of photographers should appeal to students of all specialties as they reflect on creative practice while living in Paris.
3 credits Fall
Since photography's invention, the act of photographing has been framed both by the technical realities of the medium and by social and aesthetic traditions. This course will examine some of the major movements and styles in the history of photography, with particular attention to the 1880-1970 period. Through study of the pioneering work of key individuals, students will analyze how creative possibilities changed and expanded over time, and how the options and artistic stances we take for granted emerged historically. Each week will focus on a key movement or conceptual innovation which will be studied through image analysis, historical and technical context and the reading of primary texts by photographers and secondary texts by historians or critics. Students will prepare a presentation in which they analyze a body of images by a photographer of their choice and present a series of their own photographs exploring that photographer's way of working.
3 credits Spring
Postmodernism: Art, Design and Theory in the 1980s
This course considers the development of postmodern aesthetics in art, architecture, fashion, design, and literature during the 1980s. What exactly is (or was) postmodernism? We will approach this this question by considering: Neo-expressionism in Italy, Germany, and the United States; critical models of appropriation and repetition (Sherman, Prince, Koons, Levine, etc.); Neo-Geo; 'hard' and 'soft' revivals in architecture (Philip Johnson) and design (the Memphis Group); the bright young things of 80s literature (Brett Easton Ellis's Less Than Zero), as well as pertinent developments in fashion (Armani, Calvin Klein) and popular culture (Madonna).
3 credits Spring
Survey of World Art & Design I
Students will be introduced to world art and design (with an emphasis on Western civilization), from pre-history to the 14th century in order to develop and improve their visual literacy. The course exposes students to the breadth and diversity of the visual arts and design worldwide, while providing a chronological, cultural and historical framework for understanding the production and reception of art and design within specific contexts. The textbook and selected readings broaden critical perspectives and allow the students to conduct preliminary art historical research, thus introducing them to art history as an academic discipline. Students articulate their understanding of visual and contextual materials through class presentations, research projects and papers, and discussion. Museum and gallery visits will complement classes held at Parsons Paris.
3 credits Fall and Spring
Survey of World Art & Design II
Students will be introduced to world art and design (with an emphasis on Western civilization), from the 15th century to the present in order to develop and improve their visual literacy. The course exposes students to the breadth and diversity of the visual arts and design worldwide, while providing a chronological, cultural and historical framework for understanding the production and reception of art and design within specific contexts. The textbook and selected readings broaden critical perspectives and allow the students to conduct preliminary art historical research, thus introducing them to art history as an academic discipline. Students articulate their understanding of visual and contextual materials through class presentations, research projects and papers, and discussion. Museum and gallery visits will complement classes held at Parsons Paris.
3 credits Fall and Spring
The Children of Abraham: Christianity, Judaism, and Islam
This course is an introductory survey and comparative study of the three Abrahamic religions; Judaism, Christianity and Islam. It examines the shared aspects as well as the distinct elements of these religions, and shows that sometimes these traditions work together and sometimes they are at odds and warfare against each other. We will first introduce the three Abrahamic religions emphasizing their common source. Then we will compare them along thematic lines, and finally we will examine the way these three major traditions impact the modern West and the Middle East specifically. Among the themes we will discuss in this course are: scripture and tradition, God and the worship of God, the creation & Adam and Eve, Abraham, Jesus, ritual life, the end of times and afterlife, proselytism, Jerusalem, politics and inter-religious dialogue.
3 credits Fall (Fulfills Social Science Requirement for Design Management Majors)
From Worth to Wang: The History of Fashion
This course examines the history of women's fashion from the 19th to the 21st centuries. It proceeds chronologically and focuses on key designers and movements, such as orientalism, subcultures, postmodernism and anti-fashion, and unpacks fashion in relation to its socio-cultural environment, issues of social identity and body ideals. By emphasizing contemporary fashion's historical rag picking, the course explores the connection between past and present fashions. It provides a visual culture of the history of fashion and will be delivered in the form of lectures, seminar discussions, and visits. 3 credits (Fall)
This course will explore kitsch through different artistic experiences and trace the relationship between art and kitsch in past and – more important – current artistic practice. Since its inception, kitsch has generally been considered a pejorative designation. Today, however, kitsch is adopted and widely appreciated as a style. Among the questions to be addressed in the course are: How can we understand the new status of kitsch? How does artistic value become kitsch value? How does good taste become officially bad, and in what context? And what is the place of a kitsch aesthetic in modern culture? During the semester, we will look at examples of relevant works and investigate the ideas of several writers (e.g. Thomas Kulka, Hermann Broch, Matei Calinescu, Gillo Dorfles, Umberto Eco and Clement Greenberg).
3 credits Fall
This course considers the development of postmodern aesthetics in art, architecture, fashion, design, and literature during the 1980s. What exactly is (or was) postmodernism? We will approach this this question by considering: Neo-expressionism in Italy, Germany, and the United States; critical models of appropriation and repetition (Sherman, Prince, Koons, Levine, etc.); Neo-Geo; 'hard' and 'soft' revivals in architecture (Philip Johnson) and design (the Memphis Group); the bright young things of 80s literature (Brett Easton Ellis's Less Than Zero), as well as pertinent developments in fashion (Armani, Calvin Klein) and popular culture (Madonna).
3 credits Spring
The course provides an introduction to the broad currents of South Asian art and architecture focusing on the Hindu, Buddhist and Jain traditions that are linked by their origins in Vedic texts that served as the basis of ritual practice and belief in northern India from 2000 BCE to 600 BCE. Rather than offer an exhaustive chronological survey of these traditions, the course is organized around thematic concepts. The course will be structured around primary and secondary source readings along with slide presentations. Students will be encouraged to look, describe, analyze and interpret what they see, using the readings to help develop a vocabulary for discussion.
3 credits Fall
After evaluation through a placement test, non-native English speaking students may be required to take English for International Students prior to enrolling in Liberal Studies courses. EIS focuses on developing the English reading, writing, and comprehension skills necessary to their successful completion of their academic program. Emphasis is placed on the analysis of texts and visual materials in order to improve research skills, critical vocabulary, and oral expression. EIS may be repeated for credit once, based on exam results and the instructor's discretion. Students may earn a maximum of three credits toward Liberal Studies requirement with EIS.
1.5 credits Fall and Spring
This year-long course is designed to improve 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 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 and critical methodologies applicable to art and design, which can then be used to critique and analyze visual and material artefacts.
3 credits Fall and Spring
These language courses use dialogues, oral and written exercises, short compositions and literary texts to establish a firm foundation in the language. Students approach everyday life situations in French, while learning the fundamentals of grammar and the complexity of conversation and the written word. The intermediate and advanced courses serve as a more sophisticated introduction to French culture and lifestyle and as a means of consolidating grammar and vocabulary. Conscientious completion of homework and class participation is emphasized. Field trips compliment the course work.
3 credits Fall and Spring
This course is designed to give beginning students a basic knowledge of the Italian language. Special emphasis is placed on speaking and interacting in Italian. Students develop the ability to construct more complex sentences. The conversations relate to different topics chosen by the students. At this level, themes may include contemporary art, design, literature, cultural events, or movies.
3 credits Fall and Spring
This course explores the ways in which gender, sex and sexuality are embodied, lived, practiced, masked and resisted both individually and in communities. Through a study of different theories and examples (both literary and visual), students will gain further critical perspective not only on how gender and sex are social categories more than natural ones, but also on the pervasive ways in which discourses of gender, sex and sexuality produce how we see bodies, and how we do not. Questions thus turn on how we respond to "difference" and what "difference" reveals about the social norms of a culture. It is not, however, simply a matter of becoming more sensitive to others. Rather, the stakes become how 'sight', 'appearance', 'visibility' and 'invisibility' affect livability and survivability of a human being in his/her society.
3 credits Fall (Fulfills Social Science Requirement for Design Management Majors)
This course will introduce students to the theories of some of the main founders of the social sciences and their understanding of collective and individual behavior. Students will explore the works of Marx, Weber, Freud, Jung, and Durkheim as well as other important social scientists. Teaching material includes readings, films and outdoor observations accompanied by photographs and/or video.
3 credits Fall (Freshman Design Management required)
This course is an introductory survey and comparative study of the three Abrahamic religions; Judaism, Christianity and Islam. It examines the shared aspects as well as the distinct elements of these religions, and shows that sometimes these traditions work together and sometimes they are at odds and warfare against each other. We will first introduce the three Abrahamic religions emphasizing their common source. Then we will compare them along thematic lines, and finally we will examine the way these three major traditions impact the modern West and the Middle East specifically. Among the themes we will discuss in this course are: scripture and tradition, God and the worship of God, the creation & Adam and Eve, Abraham, Jesus, ritual life, the end of times and afterlife, proselytism, Jerusalem, politics and inter-religious dialogue.
3 credits Fall (Fulfills Social Science Requirement for Design Management Majors)
