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ARTS 340: Improvisation This laboratory course stresses basic improvisation performance skills such as focus, teamwork, mime, character development, status work, story development and scene work. You will develop a number of practical skills that can be applied in almost any real-life situation, including creative problem-solving, quick-thinking skills, spontaneity, interpreting non-verbal communication, resolving conflict respectfully with others, and holding your place while working within a group dynamic. 3 credits ARTS 345: Voice and Diction A practical examination of the voice as a communicative tool. Emphasis on vocal flexibility, breathing, vocal expansion, and a working understanding of the phonetic alphabet. 3 credits ARTS 350: Advanced Acting The course focuses on character development and script analysis for theatrical performance focusing on, but not limited to, American realism. 3 credits Prerequisite: ARTS 140 or ARTS 340 ARTS 360-376: Production and Performance in the Arts A laboratory course investigating the creation/rehearsal and production/performance process of artistic product. Students work independently and/or assume various roles, both on production crew and cast, and are evaluated on the quality of their productivity and participation in the work. The course culminates in public exhibit or show performance and post-performance evaluation, by students and advisors/mentors. 3 credits ARTS 380: Art and the Sacred This course invites students to explore the historic relationship between aesthetic and spiritual experience. While the course focuses primarily on artistic expression in the Judeo-Christian tradition, students are encouraged to examine the ways in which other world religions give rise to sacred image-making, music, dance, drama, sculpture and architecture. A fundamental premise of the course is that the arts are, in the Christian sense, both “incarnational” and “sacramental” in that they mimic Jesus Christ’s own enfleshment as “the visible image of the invisible God” (Col. 1:15) and serve as means by which people of faith make contact with the sacred, the transcendent, the divine. The course relies heavily on group discussion of ideas and images related to the topic. As often as possible, students are introduced to the work of local artists, theologians and persons involved in religious ministries and receive firsthand experience of sacred artworks. 3 credits ARTS 385: American Architecture A broad survey of the American architectural tradition. The entire range of American building practices is examined, from the earliest colonial experiments to the latest Postmodern skyscrapers. 3 credits ARTS 390-394: Special Topics
1-3 credits
ARTS 395-399: Independent Study
1-3 credits
ARTS 400: Senior Seminar and Thesis (prerequisite: ARTS 421) Prerequisite: ARTS 421
3 credits
ARTS 421: Arts Criticism A capstone course focusing on ethical, moral, and aesthetic issues. Emphasis on both written and oral application of the principles of criticism to specific problems. 3 credits FINE ARTS MINOR The Fine Arts Minor is intended to serve those students who, while not necessarily choosing to pursue professional involvement in the fine arts, nevertheless wish to learn more about the history, theory and practice of the various modes of human creativity. The minor is conceived as a broad, interdisciplinary survey of the expressive arts that places heavy emphasis on the
