Rebecca Keller

This advanced, interdisciplinary course provides a generative space for developing and understanding creative projects through the discourse of the field of Sculpture. Students in this course come together from various departments to enrich the content of their work through critique and conversation with Sculpture faculty and other advanced level students from across the school. Weekly readings inform the development of self-directed creative projects which form the basis for discussion and may form the basis for a thesis body of work.

What do we mean when we say “nature?” The word is a large container. According to the NY times, “Natural’ doesn’t mean anything anymore. Like any container, the language we use frames our understandings. Famously, the ‘natural world’ was organized into a naming system designed by Carl Linneaus in 1758. But things have changed. DNA has shaken the categories; First Nations scholars restore indigeneous names to taxonomy; new ideas about relationships between the human and non-human world are evolving, and approaches—both visual and verbal-- of organizing, depicting and describing the ‘natural’ world are shifting. There is science, there is theory, there is common usage, there is policy, poetry, art. This class will touch upon all. Texts include Braiding Sweetgrass, The Language Of Landscape, A Darker Wilderness/Black Nature Writing, essay collections on science and nature, poems by Mary Oliver, explorations of alternative naming systems, legal doctrine/ laws governing usage, investigations of how nature is described, organized for study, depicted and codified. The class will use the 280 building interior courtyard/ garden and adjacent classroom as a studio/laboratory/gallery/exploratorium. Assignments will engage ephemeral ‘natural’ materials, co-creation with natural forces, and projects that incorporate or examine systems of display, description and study. We will learn about current initiatives around contemporary sustainability/ ecological/diversity/ educational and art practices. Collaboration and iteration will be encouraged.

What is the relationship between artists, arts, institutions and the body politic? This class looks at how artists respond to political moments, and how those moments are in turn shaped by artists. The course provides an overview of activist and protest art from the early twentieth century until today, and also focuses on the political and institutional responses engendered: raising issues of censorship, identity, public funding, community, and the role of art and artists in society at large. Beginning with pioneers like Kathe Kollwitz and Jacob Lawrence, we look at a wide range of 20th C artists and how they responded to the issues of their day (topics include War, Propaganda, McCarthyism, Feminism, ACT-UP, the 90's Culture Wars, etc,) and continuing to 21st Century artists and exhibitions engaging political and social concerns. The class links historic developments and artist's responses, including artworks and exhibitions on the front lines of institutional and cultural change. Major assignments : Students prepare a 20-25 minute presentation with a bibliography and write a research paper. Graduate students will write an additional essay

This course addresses the complexities of teaching a studio art or seminar course at the college level. Various teaching approaches and structures will be explored including leading discussions about ideas and art, conducting critiques, working with diverse groups and individuals, instructional design (curriculum, syllabus, project assignments, etc.) and demonstrating and presenting ideas and materials. We will examine issues related to arts assessment for individuals and for institutions. We will consider evolving conceptions of teaching in different higher education contexts?art schools, liberal arts colleges, community colleges, and research universities. Gain practical knowledge about teaching strategies. Develop your own teaching philosophy, portfolio and curriculum examples. Assemble a 'tool kit' to build your teaching career.

A master's thesis is required for completion of the master's degree in arts administration. The thesis should demonstrate a student's ability to design, justify, execute, evaluate, and present the results of original research or of a substantial project. In this class students work closely with an MAAAP program advisor, and meet frequently with other MAAAP participants in groups and in individual meetings. The thesis is presented, in both written and oral form, to a thesis committee for both initial and final approval. You must be a Master of Arts in Arts Administration and Policy student to enroll in this course.