Fred Camper

This is a writing course, with the goals of helping you write excellent basic English and developing your skills in presenting arguments, using careful observations of art works and careful readings of writings on art. Reading is one way of improving your writing, and we will study essays almost entirely by artists, likely including photographers (Paul Strand and Edward Weston), painters (Gerhard Richter and Agnes Martin), sculptors (Constantin Brancusi), filmmakers (Dziga Vertov and Maya Deren), architects (Louis Sullivan), and conceptual artists (Barbara Kruger and Jenny Holzer). We will view art by the artists whose work we consider, and discuss both how their written statements connect with their work and the larger problem of using writing to describe and interpret visual art. There will be short assignments on the writing and work of the artists we consider, and one assignment in which you write an artist's statement, either for the work you are now making or for the work you hope to make. There will also be a research paper on an artist of your choice with the instructor's approval, in which you argue a thesis about that artist's work. Each of these assignments will also be revised based on the instructor's comments, and the minimum length of all together will be at least 7,500 words.

FYS I are theme-based writing courses designed for first-year students, with an emphasis on teaching foundational writing skills. Students will develop the intellectual skills of reading critically, and writing responsively, which forms the basis of each student's career at the School. While faculty have autonomy in determining course theme, the theme is an accessory to the writing; the balance in these classes is weighed toward explicit writing instruction and workshopping of student writing, not content. This course provides guided experience in writing college-level essays of various kinds, which may include critical, analytical and argumentative essays. A significant amount of time is devoted to the craft of writing. Grammatical and organizational strategies, argumentation, and skills in thesis/claim and idea development are explored. Students should expect to write 15-20 pages of formal, revisable writing across the course of the semester. A significant amount of time may be devoted to re-writing essays, so as to develop first drafts into final versions. In-class writing, short homework exercises, and workshopping of student work may be included. Individual meetings to discuss each student's papers should be expected.