Ruby Que, "Ghost Trains"
Graduate Curriculum & Courses
Graduate Curriculum & Courses
The Master of Fine Arts (MFA) program at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) is designed to offer maximum flexibility in addressing your individual needs as a student. Following admission through a department, you will design your two-year plan of study based on optimizing the offerings and opportunities available throughout SAIC. You are encouraged to seek out curricular advising as needed from a variety of available sources including the dean, graduate dean, graduate division chair, department heads, academic advising, the graduate admissions office, and your peers.
Studio—MFA 6009 Graduate Projects, Seminars and/or maximum of 12 credits of 3000-level and above studios | 39 |
Art History | 12 |
|
|
Electives—any course in any area at 3000 level or above | 9 |
Participation in four graduate critiques |
|
Participation in ONE of the following as appropriate to artistic practice:* Graduate Exhibition, AIADO or Fashion Exhibition, Graduate Performance Event, Graduate Screenings |
|
Total Credit Hours | 60 |
* Students who wish to use an alternative venue or presentation outside of these options must receive permission from the Dean of Graduate Studies. The AIADO Department encourages students in their MFA design programs to participate in the AIADO and Fashion Graduate Exhibition.
Degree Requirements and Specifications
- Completion schedule: You have a maximum of four years to complete your MFA in Studio degree. This includes time off for leaves of absence. Students will have access to studios for four semesters only.
- Transfer credits: You must complete a minimum of 45 credit hours in residence at SAIC. You can request up to 15 transfer credits at the time of application for admission, which are subject to approval at that time. No transfer credits are permitted after a student is admitted.
- Art History requirement: MFA students are required to take ARTHII 5002 Graduate Survey of Modern and Contemporary Art OR ARTHI 5120 Survey of Modern and Contemporary Architecture and Design. Art History courses must be at the 4000-level and above.
- Undergraduate studio courses: Graduate students are permitted no more than one undergraduate studio course (3000-level and above) per semester without permission of the Dean of Graduate Studies. Courses at the 1000 and 2000-level are allowed only with permission.
- Full-Time Status Minimum Requirement: 12 credit hours
MFA 6009 Graduate Projects
MFA 6009 Graduate Projects advising, an ongoing individual dialogue with a wide range of full-time and part-time faculty advisors, is at the heart of the MFA program at SAIC, encouraging interdisciplinary study across the curriculum. You are required to register for one MFA 6009 Graduate Projects advisor each semester, and we highly recommend you register for two.
In the registration process, you may elect to earn 3 or 6 hours of credit with each advisor. This option is designed to allow for maximum flexibility in designing your program. You can earn as few as 3 and as many as 6 credits with each advisor each semester, thus dedicating a maximum of 12 credit hours to your studio activity. The number of credits you earn has no correlation with the length or frequency of the advising sessions or to faculty assessment of student work.
The remaining credits required for the full-time 15-credit hour load may include graduate seminars and academic or studio electives. MFA students are urged to take graduate seminars, and an introductory seminar in their department of admission is highly recommended. In addition, the MFA student may choose from all the art history, studio, and academic offerings across the curriculum (including undergraduate offerings above 3000 level) in any given semester to customize their degree experience.
Graduate Critiques
As one of the principle means of assessment each semester, you will be required to participate in Critique Week, a week-long schedule of critiques during which classes are suspended.
Fall semester critiques are organized by department with panels representing the discipline. This provides you with an opportunity to understand the department’s expectations, have your work reviewed from a disciplinary point of view, and to reiterate the expectations for graduate study.
Spring semester critiques are interdisciplinary, with panel members and students from across SAIC disciplines. Interdisciplinary critiques allow for a broad range of responses to your work, and are intended to assess the success of your work for a more general, albeit highly informed audience. Critique panels include faculty, visiting artists, and fellow graduate students.
Graduate Exhibition or Equivalent
At the conclusion of your studies, you will present work in the SAIC Graduate Thesis Exhibition, other end-of-year events at SAIC, or the Gene Siskel Film Center—or arrange with the graduate dean or division chair for an alternative thesis of equal professional quality. Each year more than 200 graduate students exhibit work, screen videos and films, and present time-based works, writings, and performance to a collective audience of 30,000 people.
Students wishing to install work around prevalent themes, strategies or stylistic affinities can participate in a juried and curated section of the SAIC Graduate Thesis Exhibition. A faculty and staff committee conducts extensive studio visits and, as a collaborative project with student participants, organizes and installs the show in designated space at the exhibition.
Undergraduate Courses
MFA students are advised to understand the expectations of their faculty when enrolled in undergraduate studio classes. Although graduate students are an asset to the group dynamic, faculty requirements for graduate students in undergraduate classes are variable. The student is responsible for understanding the faculty member's expectations about completion of assignments, attendance, and any other criteria for earning credit. To assure that graduate students are working at degree level, they are permitted no more than one undergraduate studio course (3000 level and above) per semester without permission of the dean of graduate studies. Courses at the 1000 and 2000 level are allowed only with permission.
Course Listing
| Title | Catalog | Instructor | Schedule |
|---|---|---|---|
| Media Practices: The Moving Image | 2000 (001) | James Connolly, Eric Fleischauer | Tues
9:00 AM - 3:00 PM In Person |
Description
This course is designed to introduce students to the language and histories of the moving image arts and the diverse ways in which artists have contributed to them. Throughout the semester we will examine a range of approaches to creating moving image work. We will compare and contrast established ?norms? with radical and experimental approaches to these various media, leading to an understanding of the rich, complex, and evolving landscape upon which individuals have been making, and continue to make, moving image art. Students will engage with this expanded field through lectures, readings, screenings, meetings with visiting artists as well as becoming active in discussions and practitioners in the field via group projects. Working in small groups, students will complete a series of short projects to introduce them to the various pathways of the department. By the end of the semester, students should have gain basic production and postproduction skills as well a good understanding of the key concepts relevant to contemporary film, video, new media, installation and animation.
|
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentArea of StudyLocation |
| Media Practices: The Moving Image | 2000 (001) | James Connolly, Eric Fleischauer | Tues
9:00 AM - 3:00 PM In Person |
Description
This course is designed to introduce students to the language and histories of the moving image arts and the diverse ways in which artists have contributed to them. Throughout the semester we will examine a range of approaches to creating moving image work. We will compare and contrast established ?norms? with radical and experimental approaches to these various media, leading to an understanding of the rich, complex, and evolving landscape upon which individuals have been making, and continue to make, moving image art. Students will engage with this expanded field through lectures, readings, screenings, meetings with visiting artists as well as becoming active in discussions and practitioners in the field via group projects. Working in small groups, students will complete a series of short projects to introduce them to the various pathways of the department. By the end of the semester, students should have gain basic production and postproduction skills as well a good understanding of the key concepts relevant to contemporary film, video, new media, installation and animation.
|
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentArea of StudyLocation |
| Media Practices: The Moving Image | 2000 (002) | Mikey Peterson, Daniele Wilmouth | Wed
9:00 AM - 3:00 PM In Person |
Description
This course is designed to introduce students to the language and histories of the moving image arts and the diverse ways in which artists have contributed to them. Throughout the semester we will examine a range of approaches to creating moving image work. We will compare and contrast established ?norms? with radical and experimental approaches to these various media, leading to an understanding of the rich, complex, and evolving landscape upon which individuals have been making, and continue to make, moving image art. Students will engage with this expanded field through lectures, readings, screenings, meetings with visiting artists as well as becoming active in discussions and practitioners in the field via group projects. Working in small groups, students will complete a series of short projects to introduce them to the various pathways of the department. By the end of the semester, students should have gain basic production and postproduction skills as well a good understanding of the key concepts relevant to contemporary film, video, new media, installation and animation.
|
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentArea of StudyLocation |
| Media Practices: The Moving Image | 2000 (002) | Mikey Peterson, Daniele Wilmouth | Wed
9:00 AM - 3:00 PM In Person |
Description
This course is designed to introduce students to the language and histories of the moving image arts and the diverse ways in which artists have contributed to them. Throughout the semester we will examine a range of approaches to creating moving image work. We will compare and contrast established ?norms? with radical and experimental approaches to these various media, leading to an understanding of the rich, complex, and evolving landscape upon which individuals have been making, and continue to make, moving image art. Students will engage with this expanded field through lectures, readings, screenings, meetings with visiting artists as well as becoming active in discussions and practitioners in the field via group projects. Working in small groups, students will complete a series of short projects to introduce them to the various pathways of the department. By the end of the semester, students should have gain basic production and postproduction skills as well a good understanding of the key concepts relevant to contemporary film, video, new media, installation and animation.
|
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentArea of StudyLocation |
| Media Practices: The Moving Image | 2000 (003) | Paige Taul, Sid Branca | Thurs
9:00 AM - 3:00 PM In Person |
Description
This course is designed to introduce students to the language and histories of the moving image arts and the diverse ways in which artists have contributed to them. Throughout the semester we will examine a range of approaches to creating moving image work. We will compare and contrast established ?norms? with radical and experimental approaches to these various media, leading to an understanding of the rich, complex, and evolving landscape upon which individuals have been making, and continue to make, moving image art. Students will engage with this expanded field through lectures, readings, screenings, meetings with visiting artists as well as becoming active in discussions and practitioners in the field via group projects. Working in small groups, students will complete a series of short projects to introduce them to the various pathways of the department. By the end of the semester, students should have gain basic production and postproduction skills as well a good understanding of the key concepts relevant to contemporary film, video, new media, installation and animation.
|
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentArea of StudyLocation |
| Media Practices: The Moving Image | 2000 (003) | Paige Taul, Sid Branca | Thurs
9:00 AM - 3:00 PM In Person |
Description
This course is designed to introduce students to the language and histories of the moving image arts and the diverse ways in which artists have contributed to them. Throughout the semester we will examine a range of approaches to creating moving image work. We will compare and contrast established ?norms? with radical and experimental approaches to these various media, leading to an understanding of the rich, complex, and evolving landscape upon which individuals have been making, and continue to make, moving image art. Students will engage with this expanded field through lectures, readings, screenings, meetings with visiting artists as well as becoming active in discussions and practitioners in the field via group projects. Working in small groups, students will complete a series of short projects to introduce them to the various pathways of the department. By the end of the semester, students should have gain basic production and postproduction skills as well a good understanding of the key concepts relevant to contemporary film, video, new media, installation and animation.
|
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentArea of StudyLocation |
| Media Practices: The Moving Image | 2000 (004) | Paige Taul, Asya Dubrovina | Fri
9:00 AM - 3:00 PM In Person |
Description
This course is designed to introduce students to the language and histories of the moving image arts and the diverse ways in which artists have contributed to them. Throughout the semester we will examine a range of approaches to creating moving image work. We will compare and contrast established ?norms? with radical and experimental approaches to these various media, leading to an understanding of the rich, complex, and evolving landscape upon which individuals have been making, and continue to make, moving image art. Students will engage with this expanded field through lectures, readings, screenings, meetings with visiting artists as well as becoming active in discussions and practitioners in the field via group projects. Working in small groups, students will complete a series of short projects to introduce them to the various pathways of the department. By the end of the semester, students should have gain basic production and postproduction skills as well a good understanding of the key concepts relevant to contemporary film, video, new media, installation and animation.
|
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentArea of StudyLocation |
| Media Practices: The Moving Image | 2000 (004) | Paige Taul, Asya Dubrovina | Fri
9:00 AM - 3:00 PM In Person |
Description
This course is designed to introduce students to the language and histories of the moving image arts and the diverse ways in which artists have contributed to them. Throughout the semester we will examine a range of approaches to creating moving image work. We will compare and contrast established ?norms? with radical and experimental approaches to these various media, leading to an understanding of the rich, complex, and evolving landscape upon which individuals have been making, and continue to make, moving image art. Students will engage with this expanded field through lectures, readings, screenings, meetings with visiting artists as well as becoming active in discussions and practitioners in the field via group projects. Working in small groups, students will complete a series of short projects to introduce them to the various pathways of the department. By the end of the semester, students should have gain basic production and postproduction skills as well a good understanding of the key concepts relevant to contemporary film, video, new media, installation and animation.
|
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentArea of StudyLocation |
| Form and Meaning | 2004 (001) | Tues
8:30 AM - 11:15 AM In Person |
|
Description
Form and Meaning is a rigorous investigation of the art of moving image editing and provides a historical and theoretical understanding of both classical film editing and newer modes and models of editing and perception. The course provides a working foundation and framework. A close reading of films will train the student in the core aesthetic decisions, structures, strategies and demands of editing cinematic works. In addition, we will look at examples and discuss how editing functions for the installation artist, and further, how the Internet, New Media, television and video art have made an impact on concepts surrounding editing. Weekly readings will expand on the work presented in class. Students should expect to research and write both a midterm and final papers as well as a few short responses to works presented in class. Form and Meaning is a theory-based seminar and is not designed to offer critique for works in progress.
PrerequisitesPrerequisite: FVNM 2000 |
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentArea of StudyLocation |
| Form and Meaning | 2004 (002) | Edgar Jorge Baralt | Wed
8:30 AM - 11:15 AM In Person |
Description
Form and Meaning is a rigorous investigation of the art of moving image editing and provides a historical and theoretical understanding of both classical film editing and newer modes and models of editing and perception. The course provides a working foundation and framework. A close reading of films will train the student in the core aesthetic decisions, structures, strategies and demands of editing cinematic works. In addition, we will look at examples and discuss how editing functions for the installation artist, and further, how the Internet, New Media, television and video art have made an impact on concepts surrounding editing. Weekly readings will expand on the work presented in class. Students should expect to research and write both a midterm and final papers as well as a few short responses to works presented in class. Form and Meaning is a theory-based seminar and is not designed to offer critique for works in progress.
PrerequisitesPrerequisite: FVNM 2000 |
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentArea of StudyLocation |
| Sonics and Optics | 2005 (001) | Kioto Aoki | Mon
9:00 AM - 3:00 PM In Person |
Description
Sonics and Optics is an intensive study of lenses, optics, sensors, stocks, materials, laboratory processes, microphones, and recorders as essential tools in film/video making. Throughout the semester students will learn the fundamentals of a lens (focal length, aperture), its relationship to the camera (shutter, ISO), and aesthetic options available. The course will offer the same immersive perspective of sound technologies; including choosing microphones (stereo, cardioid, shotgun, contact, etc), recording options (sound device, field recorder, mixing board), and methods of field recording. This course is an essential technical base for all advanced moving image work. In-class screenings of films and videos and weekly readings will expand on the technical workshops at the core of the course. Students should expect to complete a series of quick technical exercises as well as a more in depth final project.
PrerequisitesPrerequisite: FVNM 2000 |
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentArea of StudyLocation |
| Sonics and Optics | 2005 (002) | Daniele Wilmouth | Fri
9:00 AM - 3:00 PM In Person |
Description
Sonics and Optics is an intensive study of lenses, optics, sensors, stocks, materials, laboratory processes, microphones, and recorders as essential tools in film/video making. Throughout the semester students will learn the fundamentals of a lens (focal length, aperture), its relationship to the camera (shutter, ISO), and aesthetic options available. The course will offer the same immersive perspective of sound technologies; including choosing microphones (stereo, cardioid, shotgun, contact, etc), recording options (sound device, field recorder, mixing board), and methods of field recording. This course is an essential technical base for all advanced moving image work. In-class screenings of films and videos and weekly readings will expand on the technical workshops at the core of the course. Students should expect to complete a series of quick technical exercises as well as a more in depth final project.
PrerequisitesPrerequisite: FVNM 2000 |
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentArea of StudyLocation |
| Introduction to Experimental 3D | 2015 (001) | Anneli Goeller | Mon
9:00 AM - 3:00 PM In Person |
Description
This class is inspired by Johannes Itten?s radical early twentieth-century basic art course developed for the Weimar Bauhaus School of Art, but here using the Maya 3D software, typically used for commercial productions by the entertainment industry. Students will solve a series of formal problems, introduced in increasing levels of complexity. Moving from the 2-dimensional to the 3-dimensional and ultimately to the four-dimensional or time-based, students will evolve their abilities to utilize aspects of light and dark, form, rhythm, color, proportion and volume but in terms of a post photographic discourse, with the intention of advancing a new virtual cinema.
PrerequisitesPrerequisite: FVNM 2000 |
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentArea of StudyLocation |
| Introduction to Experimental 3D | 2015 (002) | Marlena Novak | Thurs
9:00 AM - 3:00 PM In Person |
Description
This class is inspired by Johannes Itten?s radical early twentieth-century basic art course developed for the Weimar Bauhaus School of Art, but here using the Maya 3D software, typically used for commercial productions by the entertainment industry. Students will solve a series of formal problems, introduced in increasing levels of complexity. Moving from the 2-dimensional to the 3-dimensional and ultimately to the four-dimensional or time-based, students will evolve their abilities to utilize aspects of light and dark, form, rhythm, color, proportion and volume but in terms of a post photographic discourse, with the intention of advancing a new virtual cinema.
PrerequisitesPrerequisite: FVNM 2000 |
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentArea of StudyLocation |
| New Media: Crash Course | 2100 (001) | Christopher Lee Collins | Mon
9:00 AM - 3:00 PM In Person |
Description
This introductory studio course focuses on screen-based new media works, their historical contexts, their specific aesthetics and theoretical concerns. Students gain an understanding of the emerging culture and historical antecedents of new media. Interactive, network and web based technologies are introduced from the perspective of media art making. Students will be exposed to relevant theoretical texts. Historical and contemporary new media works are screened, demonstrated and discussed. Through a series of workshops, assignments and a final project, students will gain a general understanding of how to read and write new media using various techniques such as HTML ++ CSS, JavaScript, Realtime systems, Generative systems, and Art Games.
PrerequisitesPrerequisite: FVNM 2000 |
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentArea of StudyLocation |
| Animation I: Drawing for Animation | 2420 (001) | James Trainor | Tues
9:00 AM - 3:00 PM In Person |
Description
This class introduces the traditional animation techniques of creating movement through successive drawings. Techniques include metamorphosis, walking cycles, holds, squash and stretch, blur and resistance. Students use the pencil test Lunch-Box to view their work . Students complete a series of exercises encouraging a full range of animation skills and a final project. Films illustrating drawn-animation techniques are screened regularly.
|
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentArea of StudyLocation |
| Animation I: Drawing for Animation | 2420 (002) | Sara Payne | Thurs
9:00 AM - 3:00 PM In Person |
Description
This class introduces the traditional animation techniques of creating movement through successive drawings. Techniques include metamorphosis, walking cycles, holds, squash and stretch, blur and resistance. Students use the pencil test Lunch-Box to view their work . Students complete a series of exercises encouraging a full range of animation skills and a final project. Films illustrating drawn-animation techniques are screened regularly.
|
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentArea of StudyLocation |
| Animation I: Drawing for Animation | 2420 (003) | Matthew Marsden | Fri
9:00 AM - 3:00 PM In Person |
Description
This class introduces the traditional animation techniques of creating movement through successive drawings. Techniques include metamorphosis, walking cycles, holds, squash and stretch, blur and resistance. Students use the pencil test Lunch-Box to view their work . Students complete a series of exercises encouraging a full range of animation skills and a final project. Films illustrating drawn-animation techniques are screened regularly.
|
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentArea of StudyLocation |
| The Digital Dark Age | 2900 (041) | Eric Fleischauer | Thurs
12:15 PM - 3:00 PM In Person |
Description
as we continue to digitize our world, the chorus of techno-optimists singing technology’s praises is louder than ever. but...are our expansive networks and digital tools truly enlightening us? or are they in fact working to obscure, impede, and deny us the very things they are said to provide? this seminar will confront the dark cloud looming over our digital domains. we will examine how advances in information technology have generated a growing set of unintended consequences that hinder our view of the world, and diminish our agency within it. we will reflect on various topics including technology and power, complex uncertainty, perpetual surveillance, archival viability, and eroding empathy. selected readings, screenings, assignments, and critiques will map out lines of inquiry for students to consider and apply to their research + studio practices. a significant amount of class time will be spent in critique + conversation offering students feedback and mentorship throughout the semester.
PrerequisitesPrerequisite: Must be a sophomore to enroll. |
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentLocation |
| Environmental Extractions: Art, Place, and Voice | 2900 (042) | Mikey Peterson | Tues
12:15 PM - 3:00 PM In Person |
Description
How do environments influence art, and how can we extract imagery, sound and ideas from these places to create work and develop our artistic voices? Through location exploration, image/sound/object collection, experimentation, research and writing we can discover connections between ourselves, our environment, and the artmaking that will shape our creative practices. What are the concerns that drive one?s creative practice? How does one set the terms for its future development? Sophomore Seminar offers interdisciplinary strategies for the evaluation and communication of students? individual practice as artists, designers, and/or scholars. Through essential readings, studio projects, and writing, students will generate narratives about how and why they make art. Works by video artists, visual artists, and filmmakers are also viewed and discussed.
PrerequisitesPrerequisite: Must be a sophomore to enroll. |
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentLocation |
| Video Everywhere | 3003 (001) | Eric Fleischauer | Mon
9:00 AM - 3:00 PM In Person |
Description
This course introduces video as a medium for artistic expression and social inquiry. Students gain an understanding of the video image-making process and develop proficiency with video equipment, including portable and studio production and editing systems. Strategies for the use of video as an art-making tool are explored. Works by video artists are viewed and discussed.
PrerequisitesFVNM 2000 or FVNM 5020 |
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentArea of StudyLocation |
| Sound and Image | 3011 (001) | James Paul Wetzel | Tues
9:00 AM - 3:00 PM In Person |
Description
This course focuses on the relationship of sound to moving image, and introduces post-production techniques and strategies that address this relationship as a compositional imperative. Thorough instruction is given on digital audio post-production techniques for moving image, including recording, sound file imports, soundtrack composition and assembly, sound design, and mixing in stereo and surround-sound. This is supplemented by presentations on acoustics and auditory perception. Assigned readings in theories and strategies of sound-image relationships inform studio instruction. Assigned projects focus on gaining post-production skills, and students produce independent projects of their own that integrate sound and moving image. Artists include Chantal Dumas, Walter Verdin, Deborah Stratman, Lucrecia Martel, Martin Scorcese, Abigail Child, Frederic Moffet, Gyorgi Palvi, Francis Ford Coppola, Gary Hill, and others. Writings in theory include texts by Michel Chion, Rick Altman, and others. The student?s independent image-and-sound work is foregrounded and supported; supplemental assigned projects include sound sequence composition and ADR recording and mixing.
PrerequisitesSOUND 2001 or FVNM 2004 or FVNM 5020 |
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentArea of StudyLocation |
| Beginning Screenwriting | 3024 (001) | John Petrakis | Tues
3:30 PM - 6:15 PM In Person |
Description
This course introduces students to the basic elements of a screenplay, including format, terminology, exposition, characterization, dialogue, voice-over, adaptation, and variations on the three-act structure. Weekly meetings feature a brief lecture, screenings of scenes from films, extended discussion, and assorted readings of class assignments. This is primarily a writing class, with students required to write a four-to-five page weekly assignment related to the script topic of the week.
|
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentArea of StudyLocation |
| Beginning Screenwriting | 3024 (002) | Gitanjali Kapila | Fri
8:30 AM - 11:15 AM In Person |
Description
This course introduces students to the basic elements of a screenplay, including format, terminology, exposition, characterization, dialogue, voice-over, adaptation, and variations on the three-act structure. Weekly meetings feature a brief lecture, screenings of scenes from films, extended discussion, and assorted readings of class assignments. This is primarily a writing class, with students required to write a four-to-five page weekly assignment related to the script topic of the week.
|
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentArea of StudyLocation |
| Experimental Film and Video Narrative | 3026 (001) | Melika Bass | Thurs
9:00 AM - 3:00 PM In Person |
Description
This course is a production class designed for students interested in alternative modes of narrative production in film and Video. Through workshops on writing, acting, and directing, students learn to work with actors, dialogue, and alternative narrative structures. Students apply the concepts covered in class to their selected projects, from production through editing. Throughout the course, a wide range of narrative films utilizing experimental modes of production are screened. Technical issues are covered in cinematography workshops, but it is assumed that students have a solid technical grounding in their medium of choice. Though the body of this class focuses on film and video production, the class is also appropriate for students working in performance and sound.
PrerequisitesPrerequisite: FVNM 2005, 3003 or 5020 |
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentLocation |
| Handmade Cinema | 3027 (001) | Tatsu Aoki | Mon
9:00 AM - 3:00 PM In Person |
Description
Filmmakers often run into a problem of depending too much on equipment. This makes one believe that it is impossible to be creative without elaborate 'tools.' Artists of film can produce images in any circumstance-with or without complicated tools. If a filmmaker understands the process and mechanism of how images can be generated, equipment can be as minimal as one paper clip. This class is designed to introduce a variety of skills and ideas to make images with simple tools. Students are encouraged to make their own equipment to produce their own image effects. The course mainly focuses on reproduction of images without using large equipment. Some of the ideas introduced in this course are making images without camera and/or lenses; animation; pixilation; time exposure; time lapse; images using slides, stills, and newspapers; all phases of in-camera effects; rephotographing frames; printing in camera; optical printing; and contact printing.
PrerequisitesFVNM 2000 or FVNM 5020 |
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentArea of StudyLocation |
| Visualization and Storyboarding | 3033 (001) | Shelley Lynn Dodson | Mon/Wed
6:45 PM - 9:15 PM In Person |
Description
This class focuses on the study of film language, shot composition and idea development for time based media. Through the creation of storyboards, animatics, mood boards, character designs, and concept development students gain a thorough understanding of how to develop their ideas in the pre-preproduction process. Students who work in film, video, performance, and animation will learn narrative and experimental methods. Practical, conceptual and artistic topics will be addressed. A variety of short films and excerpts from live action films or animations will be shown in class, like work by Brad Bird or independent filmmakers like Emma De Swaef and Marc James Roels. Reading excerpts on composition, editing and storyboarding will be assigned. Coursework may vary but typically includes drawing character designs and storyboards, making animatics and some reading through weekly or bi-weeklt assignments. The final project involves concept development and a presentation, followed by a final animatic with sound.
PrerequisitesPrerequisite: FVNM 2000 or FVNM 2420 or FVNM 5020 |
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentLocation |
| Visualization and Storyboarding | 3033 (002) | James Trainor | Mon
9:00 AM - 3:00 PM In Person |
Description
This class focuses on the study of film language, shot composition and idea development for time based media. Through the creation of storyboards, animatics, mood boards, character designs, and concept development students gain a thorough understanding of how to develop their ideas in the pre-preproduction process. Students who work in film, video, performance, and animation will learn narrative and experimental methods. Practical, conceptual and artistic topics will be addressed. A variety of short films and excerpts from live action films or animations will be shown in class, like work by Brad Bird or independent filmmakers like Emma De Swaef and Marc James Roels. Reading excerpts on composition, editing and storyboarding will be assigned. Coursework may vary but typically includes drawing character designs and storyboards, making animatics and some reading through weekly or bi-weeklt assignments. The final project involves concept development and a presentation, followed by a final animatic with sound.
PrerequisitesPrerequisite: FVNM 2000 or FVNM 2420 or FVNM 5020 |
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentLocation |
| 3D Character Animation | 3036 (001) | Nick Flaherty | Wed
9:00 AM - 3:00 PM In Person |
Description
In this course, students will use 3D software to animate characters for narrative and non narrative films. Lectures and discussions will focus on both traditional and less-than-traditional 3D character pipeline with a strong emphasis on Character and Acting. Screenings will include a variety of films utilizing 3D character and puppet animation, especially those with exceptional use of personality and performance. Filmmakers screened include: Aaron and Amanda Kopp; Géraldine Gaston; Nikita Diakur. After a brief introduction to the fundamentals of the software (Maya), students will work on multiple short projects designed to develop skills as 3D character animators including those pushing strong animation mechanics and dialogue. These early animations will be critiqued rigorously. Projects will engage students as animators and actors, and will include a final project that focuses on creating engaging animation for a longer piece.
PrerequisitesPrerequisite: FVNM 2015 |
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentArea of StudyLocation |
| Lighting & Cinematography | 3070 (001) | Meredith Zielke | Tues
9:00 AM - 3:00 PM In Person |
Description
This is an intensive studio course for advanced students of film/video to explore the creative uses of light in their projects. Through the examination of cinematographic approaches across the various genres including narrative, experimental, and documentary, students apply advanced techniques of lighting and composition to their work. Emphasis is placed on the changing role of the cinematographer in the world of digital media.
PrerequisitesPrerequisite: FVNM 2004 & FVNM 2005 or FVNM 3003 or FVNM 5020 |
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentArea of StudyLocation |
| Structuring Narrative & Building the Imagined World | 3104 (001) | Gitanjali Kapila | Thurs
8:30 AM - 11:15 AM In Person |
Description
This course focuses on using the principles of narrative and narrative structure to explore worldbuilding as a method for creating platform-specific time-based media. Students will engage a variety of writings in order to apprehend the theoretical tools necessary for 1) understanding narrative as a controlled and mediated communication between writer and viewer; 2) apprehending the critical role of designed spaces and narrative mapping in creating imagined worlds; 3) interrogating the ways in which media technologies and delivery systems inform the centering of different narrative perspectives; 4) exploring the process of activating narrative content in the imagined world for platform-specific media. The works of Sophocles, Aristotle, and Joseph Campbell will provide a coordinated theoretical framework for course content. Over the course of the semester students should expect to produce an “imagined world” which has undergone at least 5-6 iterations based on course content. Students will also be expected to produce a screenplay, television pilot and bible, game bible or other platform-specific writing based on the world that the student builds.
PrerequisitesPrerequisite: FVNM 3024. |
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentArea of StudyLocation |
| Introduction to 2D Computer Animation | 3105 (001) | Pablo Keith Lorenzana | Fri
9:00 AM - 3:00 PM In Person |
Description
This course is an introduction to the concepts and processes utilized in the production of digital and analogue to digital 2-D animation. Students work especially with Photoshop and After Effects to develop projects. Complex compositing and layering are also explored in this class. Screenings vary but include primarily contemporary filmmakers / animators using tools covered in class, ranging from student films from other countries and institutions to professional and more commercial examples - all of which will be critiqued and discussed heavily each week. The first 7-8 weeks of class are spent creating ultra short animated films, along with a longer final project at the end of the semester.
PrerequisitesFVNM 2420 or 5020 |
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentArea of StudyLocation |
| Post-Production | 3122 (001) | Kera MacKenzie | Fri
9:00 AM - 3:00 PM In Person |
Description
This course gives students the opportunity to comprehensively explore industry-standard devices in digital editing and visual effects, bringing to bear the power and versatility of nonlinear editing on their creative projects. The class offers advanced editing techniques including data management, sound mixing, visual effects, color correction, compression and output options. The course is structured around a series of technical lectures and hands-on workshops as well as discussions of theoretical texts and screenings of films specifically selected to address important issues in the post-production process. Students will be working on the post-production of a single self-directed project. Students should come prepared with some of their footage ready for editing at the beginning of the semester. Students must participate in a mid-term critique and end-of-semester critique. Students will also generate a press kit for their project.
PrerequisitesFVNM 2004 or FVNM 3003 or FVNM 5020 |
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentLocation |
| Intermediate Screenwriting | 3124 (001) | Gitanjali Kapila | Thurs
3:30 PM - 6:15 PM In Person |
Description
Intermediate Screenwriting expands upon the skills learned in Beginning Screenwriting while preparing certain students for the longer-form writing required in Advanced Screenwriting. The purpose of the course is to allow students to develop mid-length stand-alone screenplays, adaptations from short stories or pilots for television series, while paying special attention to the vital role that drafting plays in the development of a successful script. Since Intermediate Screenwriting is first and foremost a writing class, there will be no formal reading or viewing assignments. However, throughout the semester, the professor will suggest books and articles to read and films to watch, that should help further and develop the various ideas that students are wrestling with in their scripts. For example, a work such as Kieslowski's ''The Decalogue'' will be suggested for students looking to embrace a thematic approach to a series of short films. Students have the option of completing two drafts of a 60-page script or three drafts of a 30-45 page script. Completion of these drafts are required to pass the class
PrerequisitesPrerequisite: FVNM 3024. |
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentArea of StudyLocation |
| Real-Time 3D | 3203 (001) | Alan Kwan | Tues
9:00 AM - 3:00 PM In Person |
Description
This course will explore new artistic possibilities of real-time 3D technologies that depart from traditional video game paradigm and typical tech fantasies of VR/AR. It will investigate real-time 3D as an art form itself, and encourage students to explore new forms of poetry and artistic expression enabled by 3D game engines. It will also expose students to experimental areas within the technical pipelines and encourage students to embrace a DIY spirit to develop their own artistry and language for the medium. We will watch, play, and discuss about different forms of artworks produced using real-time 3D technologies, including autonomous 3D simulation, interactive virtual world, real-time cinema, generative animation, mixed reality performance, and experimental video game. Some of the artists we will study in this course include Jeffrey Shaw, Harun Farocki, Tamás Waliczky, Tamiko Thiel and Tale of Tales. This course will use the 3D game engine Unity and 3D modeling software such as Maya or Blender. Students should expect to produce a mid-term project and a final project, to be presented in critique sessions of the course.
PrerequisitesPrerequisite: FVNM 2015 or FVNM 5020 or FVNM 5025 |
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentArea of StudyLocation |
| Motion Graphics and Visual Effects | 3215 (001) | Bun Stout | Wed
9:00 AM - 3:00 PM In Person |
Description
Students learn a wide range of post-production digital techniques for 2D animation, compositing (layering, collaging), and creating visual effects for video productions. Students produce projects that incorporate manipulated still images, animation, desktop video, and audio. Those who are intrigued by this kind of image manipulation will find the capabilities of the software dynamic and inspiring. Screenings and analysis focus on the use of such techniques in the world of video art, television, and film.
PrerequisitesFVNM 2000 or FVNM 5020 |
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentArea of StudyLocation |
| Advanced 2-D Computer Animation | 3216 (001) | Pablo Keith Lorenzana | Tues
9:00 AM - 3:00 PM In Person |
Description
This course continues a rigorous exploration of After Effects as a motion graphics, animation, and compositing tool for both 2D and 3D applications. A variety of techniques including Flash digital hand drawn animation, rotoscoping from live-action, and integration of 3D models from Maya are implemented. This course draws upon a wide range of animated sources from commercial to experimental, and requires a completed short animated film demonstrating technical proficiency as well as conceptual depth.
PrerequisitesPrerequisite: FVNM 3105 or permission of instructor. |
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentArea of StudyLocation |
| Large Scale Cinematic Production | 3223 (001) | Meredith Zielke | Wed
9:00 AM - 3:00 PM In Person |
Description
This advanced-level production course introduces students to two methodologies of large-scale moving-image making--hierarchical and collaborative. Following a project-selection process based on a submitted student proposals/scripts, students will perform roles as part of a production team, shifting responsibilities between 2 selected projects. Projects created will explore pre-production and production in traditional or hybrid narrative, documentary, experimental and/or installation-based forms. The course will include site-visits and in-class visits from production and curatorial specialists.
PrerequisitesMust take 2 3000 FVNM or SOUND classes |
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentArea of StudyLocation |
| Puppet Animation | 3420 (001) | Shelley Lynn Dodson | Thurs
9:00 AM - 3:00 PM In Person |
Description
This class introduces students to the design, construction, and filming of 3D-puppet animation (stop motion) through a diverse range of materials and techniques. Students gain experience in making puppets, creating an environment and learning lighting and cinematography. Through demonstrations and in class animating, students gain experience in animation techniques related to timing and performance. Practical, conceptual and artistic methods are explored. A variety of stop motion examples will be shown, from classic animators like Ray Harryhausen to more contemporary animators like Emma De Swaef and Marc James Roels. Past student work will also be shown as examples of creative and effective works of stop motion. An assignment is given every week. Half way through the semester, students present storyboards and concept development for a final project which involves the creation of puppets, a cohesive environment and shooting at least one of animation.
PrerequisitesFVNM 2420 or 5020 |
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentArea of StudyLocation |
| Intermediate Animation: Sound to Image | 3423 (001) | Matthew Marsden | Thurs
3:30 PM - 9:15 PM In Person |
Description
This course introduces methods of animating to a soundtrack and the relationship between dialogue, voiceover, sound and image. Animating to logged audio, students learn the most normative pipeline for creating animated images. Advanced camera movements and digital 2-D animation with backgrounds are also covered. Students complete weekly assignments that build toward a final project, an animation with sync sound. Various International Animated works will be screened and discussed, From independent artists to innovative television. Examples of literary works, and interviews and articles will be presented as they apply. Negotiating sound and silence, image, text, content, form in ones work, are an important element in this course. Students complete a two-week group lip-sync project, 4 weekly assignments, and a final 6 week project with sync sound. advanced or graduate students may make the weekly assignments part of their final.
PrerequisitesFVNM 2420 or 5020 |
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentArea of StudyLocation |
| Advanced Drawing for Animation | 3430 (001) | Matthew Marsden | Tues, Tues
3:30 PM - 9:15 PM, 3:30 PM - 9:15 PM In Person |
Description
Students further develop 2-D drawing animation skills, with focus on complex movement, animating dialogue, and drawing with backgrounds. Drawings on paper are scanned into Toon-Boom Studio for digital cell production. Time is spent on creating backgrounds and camera moves in the program. Some Knowledge of Final-Cut Pro, After Effects or Flash is recommended.
PrerequisitesFVNM 2420 or 5020 |
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentArea of StudyLocation |
| Installation | 3705 (001) | Tirtza Even | Tues
9:00 AM - 3:00 PM In Person |
Description
The goal of the course is to understand, analyze and confront in practice various aspects of installation art in general and video installation in particular. The course will focus on themes such as site specific work; positive and negative spaces (use of light and projection); formation of an event or a situation (use of material, gesture and movement); the integration of video within sculptural/architectural, as well as narrative configurations etc. The examples shown in accordance with each topic will demonstrate various solutions to the issues discussed in class, and will include gallery and museum field trips as well as possible guest artist lectures. Visual examples will range from Cornell's boxes, minimalist and post minimalist art work, site specific projects by artists including Walter de Maria and Smithson, through pioneer installation makers such as Nauman, Bill Viola, Gary Hill and up to contemporary video installation makers such as Eijal liisa Ahtila, Stan Douglas, Isaac Julian, Doug Aitkins and many others. Readings will include articles by Peter Selz, Michael Archer, Fried Michael, Barbara London, Chrissie Iles, John Hanhardt and numerous others. Students will be required to plan and draw installation sketches as well as to videotape and construct actual video installation work. Class Requirements include weekly reading of relevant articles, two in-class team presentations of relevant artists, as well as 3 short installation production assignments and a more elaborate final project.
PrerequisitesPrerequisite: FVNM 3003 or 5020 |
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentArea of StudyLocation |
| Legacies of Punk and DIY Methods in Production | 3900 (001) | Sid Branca | Wed
12:15 PM - 3:00 PM In Person |
Description
This production course will explore the legacies of punk and alternative cultures via DIY (do-it-yourself) methods across an array of mass media. Topics covered through case studies will include: self-publishing and organization; touring and DIY exhibition; remaining and reinventing forms; and connecting production to political empowerment, support and action. Case studies will include grass-roots movements like riot grrrl/queercore (1990's) and amateur cinema (1920's), alongside presentations by contemporary visiting artists. Projects will include producing and tabling for Chicago Zine Fest; collaborative motion picture production; and an end-of-semester exhibition.
PrerequisitesPrerequisite: 2900 course |
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentArea of StudyLocation |
| Writing and Art Direction for Animation | 3900 (041) | Kate Stransky | Mon
12:15 PM - 3:00 PM In Person |
Description
This course teaches students how to use language creatively and practically in the development of animated media. As well as the role of art direction in the development of animation works. Students will develop skills in writing for the animated short, in relation to dialogue and visual description, treatments, and full scripts. The class will also cover in-depth art direction and pre-production. The goal of this class is to make students literate in the use of language and visuals in the creation of their work, as well as the utilization of these skills in professional animation studios. The class will also cover skills like pitching stories, writing project proposals and creating look books, decks etc.. Books will include; Writing for Animation, Comics, and Games by Christy Marx; Art Direction for Film and Video by Robert Olson Students will complete a series of assignments, based on their own ideas, and adapting existing texts, as well as each other’s writing into visuals. The class will culminate in a final project proposal that will contain a script, synopsis, and visual art direction for an animated work.
PrerequisitesPrerequisite: 2900 course |
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentArea of StudyLocation |
| Internet Artware | 3900 (042) | Wed
12:15 PM - 3:00 PM In Person |
|
Description
The web browser is a blank canvas, through code we can conjure up any kind of preexisting and not yet invented screen based media. It is also an art studio, equipped with tools for making hypertext, interactive video, 2D and 3D animation, electronic music, sound sampling and synthesis, mixed reality (AR/VR), artificial intelligence and so much more. The browser is also a place to share our work, collaborate with others and explore all manner of interesting cultural activity. In this course we will produce Artware (software art) for any kind of Internet connected device (mobile phones, laptops, VR headsets, Raspberry Pi, IoT, etc) by learning to code in the Internet's de facto programming language: JavaScript. We will be examining (through screenings, readings and interaction) the work of artists, designers and developers who both celebrate and criticize the promises and perils of our digital age. We will chat with alumni working professionally as Internet artists and creative technologists, through virtual visits as well as physical trips to local creative development agencies like IDEO and Digital Kitchen. The first part of the semester will be spent working on individual experiments as we learn the basics of Internet programming. Students will then conceive and pitch project concepts to each other, before spending the later part of the semester collaborating on open-source artware leveraging the same tools (git, GitHub) and processes (Agile, Scrum) used by professionals. We will learn how to properly document and present software projects online as well as how to maintain a professional creative code portfolio. We will also learn to use libraries/APIs (for virtual reality, artificial intelligence, hypermedia, etc) pertaining to the specific type of project we choose to work on.
PrerequisitesPrerequisite: 2900 course |
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentArea of StudyLocation |
| Advanced Screenwriting | 4025 (001) | John Petrakis | Fri
3:30 PM - 6:15 PM All Online |
Description
Advanced Screenwriting is designed for students who have completed Beginning Screenwriting, or its equivalent, and are interested in pursuing the art and craft of feature-length screenwriting. The entire semester will be devoted to the completion of the first draft of one feature-length script by each student. All ten students in the class will be working on their own individual scripts, and by reading them aloud during class in a workshop structure, complete with post-reading discussion, it will allow students to participate in the creation of not just one, but ten, feature-length scripts. Since Advanced Screenwriting is first and foremost a writing class, requiring copious amounts of scripting and drafting, there will be no formal reading or viewing assignments. However, throughout the semester, the professor will recommend books or films that will assist in the development or completion of the students' first drafts. For instance, a film such as Aki Kaurismaki's 'Ariel' will be referenced as an example of how to develop powerful themes in a relatively short amount of screen time. Students are required to complete the first draft of a feature-length screenplay, approximately 90-110 pages. Completion of the draft, and a final thumbs-up by the teacher, are required to pass the course.
PrerequisitesPrerequisite: FVNM 3024 or FVNM 3124. |
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentArea of StudyLocation |
| Handmade Cinema II | 4027 (001) | Tatsu Aoki | Tues
3:30 PM - 9:15 PM In Person |
Description
The class is designed as an advanced independent project for students who have taken Handmade Cinema to further enhance and develop their work involving motion picture and moving image processing and mechanisms. Students work on their existing projects and are required to finish or produce images. Instruction and weekly meetings are held throughout the semester. All students are given access to JK Optical Printer, Digital Printer, Oxberry Optical Printer and Contact Printer Model C and other production tools and machines. The works can be generated as physical films or digital media. Some outside work is also required. Additionally, a final project presentation is due at the end of the semester. Review and reading assignments will be given. Weekly individual meetings and few class meetings will be held.
PrerequisitesPre FVNM 3027 |
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentLocation |
| Advanced Experimental 3D | 4211 (001) | Marlena Novak | Tues
9:00 AM - 3:00 PM All Online |
Description
Within the 3D Maya software environment we will focus on creating speculative objects and alternate worlds. Inventive world-building with an emphasis on post-human topics, technical and conceptual skills will concentrate on imaginative 3D configurations of experimental ecologies. Advanced techniques include nCloth , Bifrost and deformer simulations within Autodesk Maya, advanced zBrush modeling and texturing skills, 3D scanning and render optimization. Substance Painter is available for additional 3D texturing. At midterm students present project development examples along with a Project Schedule and an Artist Statement; students will learn to create a professional Artist Rider that will accompany their completed Final project. Engaged weekly participation in course readings and discussions along with technical exercises are required. Course content addresses the theoretical territory of the simulated environment and Anthropocenic topics, and will address the `vibrancy? of 3D objects and object-oriented ontology as applied to the virtual world. Projects can function to amplify or critique the conceptual materials; works can address innovative proposals, solutions, and concerns, presenting dystopic, utopic or heterotopic themes. Imaginary environments, both external and internal, along with their inhabitants ? encountering each other and their worlds ? are among the subjects that can be invented/proposed in various and creative ways. Potential project output can include computer-generated moving image installations, interactive artworks, and digital 2D or 3D prints. Collaborations with class members are welcome.
PrerequisitesPrerequisite: FVNM 2015 or FVNM 5025 |
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentLocation |
| Terrorism: A Media History | 4255 (001) | Mary Patten | Wed
12:15 PM - 3:00 PM In Person |
Description
An investigation of media and cinematic representations of 'terrorism' through the 20th century up to the present. Primary 'texts' will be films, videos, and photography, supported by readings from a wide range of sources: historical, political economy, fiction, media criticism, oral histories. Students will screen and study propaganda films, narratives, film and video essays, and experimental works whose subject directly or obliquely addresses the subject of political violence. The course will examine the moblizing effects of these works, and seek to unpack a hefty suitcase of current debates about moral relativism, just and unjust wars, the problem of evil, and uses of violence in film.
|
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentArea of StudyLocation |
| Advanced Animation Projects | 4500 (001) | Christopher Sullivan | Thurs
9:00 AM - 3:00 PM In Person |
Description
This class is for students who have explored various animation techiques and wish to create a finished work. All animation techniques (drawing, puppets, cut-outs, CG, etc.) are welcome. Students work in an environment of highly motivated, like minded individuals, and receive regular critiques of their work-in-progress.
PrerequisitesPrerequisite: FVNM 3423 or FVNM 3424 or FVNM 3430 |
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentLocation |
| Senior Film/Video Projects | 4900 (001) | Daniele Wilmouth | Thurs
9:00 AM - 3:00 PM In Person |
Description
This senior Capstone course is designed for students who made a serious commitment to film and video as a major part of their art practice and who wish to focus on the completion of a moving image project for public presentation. Students will be asked to document their practice and develop a realistic plan for the exhibition of their work. The structure of the class consists of periodic workshops, regular critiques of student works as well as individual meetings. Additionally, students will be exposed to diverse examples of contemporary moving image works and will participate in discussions of relevant critical topics. Students should be both self-directed and interested in developing a support system for producing each other's work.
PrerequisitesPrerequisite: 3900 course |
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentLocation |
| Introduction to Experimental 3D | 5025 (001) | Marlena Novak | Thurs
9:00 AM - 3:00 PM In Person |
Description
This class is inspired by Johannes Itten's radical early twentieth-century basic art course developed for the Weimar Bauhaus School of Art, but here using the Maya 3D software, typically used for commercial productions by the entertainment industry. Students will solve a series of formal problems, introduced in increasing levels of complexity. Moving from the 2-dimensional to the 3-dimensional and ultimately to the four-dimensional or time-based, students will evolve their abilities to utilize aspects of light and dark, form, rhythm, color, proportion and volume but in terms of a post photographic discourse, with the intention of advancing a new virtual cinema.
|
Class Number |
Credits |
DepartmentArea of StudyLocation |
Take the Next Step
Visit the graduate admissions website or contact the graduate admissions office at 312.629.6100, 800.232.7242, or gradmiss@saic.edu.