First Year Curriculum

“Visual Culture 1: Gateways to Art and Culture” will address the history of visual communication and the changes that visual culture has undergone up until the 18th century across geographical boundaries, while providing students with the tools to understand the visual culture of the present. The class will address formal analysis, the study and history of materials, techniques, and genres. Students will also learn the semiotic language of visual culture and the socio-cultural contexts framing the history of art, past and present.
This course will help students understand how visual objects reflect the cultural context in which they were originally produced and consumed, and how the meaning assigned to them changes over time. This will create bridges for the students to connect to the present visual culture while understanding that images are fluid signs which help create and maintain cultural, social, and political discourse.

Planned as a continuation of Visual Culture 1,” Visual Culture 2: Unpacking Art, Power & Modernity” offers a transparent chronology to continue but deepen an investigation of art, design and world perspectives from roughly 1800 to 1960.
These are years loosely associated with “modernisms.” It explores Western and non-Western, dominant, and marginalized histories during this proposed 160-year time frame, broadening and reinforcing first-year students’ historical awareness, while de-centering dominant canons.
Visual Culture 2 uses multi-cultural artifacts, readings, seminar-like discussions and experiential collaborations to explore and critically analyze key works and key themes like colonialism, structural racism, xenophobia, industrialization, technology, capitalism and consumerism from multiple perspectives.
By the end of the semester, students should have the necessary critical tools to become empathic citizen-artists who can engage an equitable, transglobal, diasporic, technically creative and environmentally demanding present and future.

Developmental English I is a for-credit, non-degree applicable course designed to support native and non-native speakers of the English language in developing the basic Standard English language skills needed for reading, analyzing, writing, and discussing college-level material. The class focuses on organizing ideas into unified and coherent sentences and paragraphs and developing these into a portfolio of drafted, revised, and edited essays. Students are required to work with an SLC tutor on a weekly basis. A minimum grade of “C” (2.0) is required to pass this course. Prerequisite: Successful completion of ENGL020 English for English Language Learners or placement through the Writing Placement Assessment. 

Developmental English II is a for-credit, non-degree applicable course in developing the Standard English skills needed for reading, analyzing, writing, and discussing college-level material. The class focuses on critical thinking, exploring the writing process, and organizing information and ideas, culminating into a portfolio of drafted, revised, and edited essays. A minimum grade of “C-” is required to pass this course. Students who earn a “C-“ must also enroll in the English 103 Writing Lab when satisfying Writing in the Digital Age ENGL 107. Prerequisite: Successful completion of ENGL050 Developmental English I or placement through the Writing Placement Assessment. Students receiving a C- may continue on to ENGL 107 if enrolled in ENGL 103.

In the fall, ENGL 090 Developmental English II may be linked to AHCS 122 Visual Culture 1: Gateways to Culture or LIBS 115  Writing as Discovery: Thought Lab 1 courses.

How does the world influence you, and how do you influence the world? In this class, you will discover narratives and other texts that reveal the complexity of your identity. You will apply that understanding to a broader exploration of the necessity of empathy in navigating difference in today’s global society. You’ll be invited to turn your awareness into advocacy  by posing a research question about a topic that captures your interest and fuels your curiosity. By the end of the semester, you will have completed a personal narrative, learned how to critically analyze diverse texts, and developed research techniques that will be valuable during your academic career and beyond. You will continue to hone these skills in a specialized Thought Lab II course of your choosing during your second semester.

Where do your curiosities in the world lead you? How can you transform general interest in a subject into specific knowledge that can fuel a creative practice? Building on concepts from Thought Lab I, Thought Lab II will allow you to take a deep dive into a themed seminar of your choosing. Seminar themes may range from environmental and social justice to narrative to technology. These courses will invite you to explore a special topic through a variety of media to deepen your understanding of key events that have shaped its history. By the end of the semester, you will complete assignments which may include an exploratory essay or a research paper, and ultimately, a creative translation of course themes. 

The ENGL 102 Writing Lab focuses on oral communication, reading in context, and critical thinking to support you in your Developmental II English course and beyond as an artist and designer in the world. Through small-group instruction and discussion, each week, you will learn tools that you can apply to your ongoing reading and writing assignments as well as complete activities tailored to meet your individual needs. All coursework is assigned and completed during lab hours, underscoring the importance of regularly attending to benefit from 1:1 support. This course is Pass/Fail. If you complete the course at the C or better level, you will receive a “Pass (P)” on your transcript. If you finish the course at the C-, D, or F level, you will receive a “No Pass (NP)” on your transcript.

The ENGL 103 Writing Lab focuses on building written communication, content development, and critical thinking skills and competencies to support you in your Writing in the Digital Age course and beyond as an artist and designer in the world. Through small-group instruction and discussion, each week, you will learn tools that you can apply to your ongoing reading and writing assignments as well as complete activities tailored to meet your individual needs. All coursework is assigned and completed during lab hours, underscoring the importance of regularly attending to benefit from 1:1 support. This course is Pass/Fail. If you complete the course at the C or better level, you will receive a “Pass (P)” on your transcript. If you finish the course at the C-, D, or F level, you will receive a “No Pass (NP)” on your transcript.