Every day the danger of human dependence on natural resources becomes more and more apparent. It manifests in systemic exploitation, socioeconomic inequality, and continued corruption in our systems of power, knowledge, economy, and culture. How can design be used to create small but powerful, lasting action that both raises awareness of pressing global issues and positively impacts our community? This course will work in conjunction with the Transition movement on campus to design and implement projects that lead Hampshire toward a more just and resilient future.

In this performance-based introductory class, students will begin to develop the skills and techniques of jazz performance, including ensemble playing and improvisation. Students will study the forms and concepts of jazz composition and theory and apply them in the composition and performance of repertoire. They will learn to compose elements of jazz pieces and will present their original work in a spring concert performance. There will be assigned readings and a short, final paper.

The intent of this course is to provide a supportive space for female students to acquire hands-on fabrication shop skills. Students will be introduced to the basic tools, equipment, machinery and resources available through the Lemelson Center. We will cover basic elements of design and project planning. Students will be expected to participate in discussions of their own and each other's work.

This class is a hands-on exploration of topics in Life Science and Physical Science through the Arts. We will investigate dynamic strategies for teaching biology, earth science, magnets, electricity, weather, and animal adaptations, in public school classrooms and in the community as a means to engage, enhance and inspire learning. Participants will explore theater games and visual arts explorations from the perspective of social and academic learning skills, as well as creative and critical thinking skills, for elementary and middle school youth (2-8 grade).

This is a production class for students interested in using narrative and fiction in experimental modes of film, video, sound, and performance. We will consider issues of scripting, acting, directing, shooting, and editing of experimental narrative work. The primary objective of this class is to get students to consider using fiction and non-fiction elements in their work in ways that are not currently supported in pop culture, and to experiment with form in a way that can transform our ideas about the world and ourselves.

The goal of this class is to introduce you to the basic technical skills you need to work in the video medium, including: cameras, tripods, microphones, lights, and Final Cut Pro. You will be expected to master these skills, and demonstrate this mastery through the in-class and out-of-class assignments. Additionally, you will be exposed to an abridged history of video art - marking video as a distinct medium from film - through screenings and selected readings.

This course is an examination of utopian plans in modern architecture and art, including the works of Claude-Nicolas Ledoux, William Morris, Bruno Taut, Frank Lloyd Wright, Walter Gropius, Le Corbusier, El Lissitzky, Kandinsky, Buckminster Fuller, and others. This class will consider the expression of utopia in architectural drawings, buildings, and plans in relationship to painting, sculpture, and the decorative arts.

What is lighting design? How can light shape the way an audience experiences a performance? In this course we will learn how to approach a play from the perspective of a lighting designer and explore the role light plays in the overall composition of the visual world of the stage. Students will learn the principles of lighting design, including equipment and control, interpretation of technical drawings, drafting, color theory, cueing, and hands on lab projects. Students in dance, music performance, photography, visual arts, or film may also find this course useful.

This course is a foundational art-making course, an update of a traditional optical color theory course or section in 2D foundations. In addition to the basics of color theory, we will consider the cultural and conceptual meanings of specific colors, and other seemingly neutral design elements such as stripes and patterns. Instead of approaching these subjects from a formal angle of relations, we will investigate how colors can be approached on the level of psychology, anthropology, literature, history, and art history. Projects will consist of physical and conceptual color theory exercises.

This studio art course explores the ethos of accident and planned-unplannedness in order to exploit aesthetics of damage, spontaneity, humanity, and fallibility, as opposed to perfection, order, and machine-produced elements. Questions of controlled destruction and authorial intention will be set against a backdrop of modernist practices (think Jackson Pollock) and more recent trends in taping, machining, and using fabricated elements in paintings and sculptures. Investigations into how fabrication and computational language can be corrupted or rendered imperfect will be considered.