intro 2 CS

Course Description

Introduction to Critical Studies is a dynamic BFA1 cohort class designed to introduce you to the practices of inquiry and critique that shape key debates in the visual, performing, and literary arts, to prepare you to enter into the larger Critical Studies curriculum with confidence, and to establish awareness of foundational skills that are central to working as a critically informed artist today. As part of this course, each week you will attend a large lecture presented by Faculty and a small group discussion led by Teaching Assistants.

The course is unique to the Institute because it brings students together from all our Schools to participate in a shared conversation around some of the most urgent questions facing our collective communities, whilst providing a focused development of the writing, information literacy, cultural inclusivity, and critical thinking learning goals core to the Critical Studies BFA curriculum. Specific topics for the course change yearly, responding to contemporary issues in the arts and society at large, but all support an inquiry into our understanding of art-making, and the circulation of cultural, economic, and political power, with special attention to intersecting issues of history, technology, race, gender, class, and cultural difference. As this course immerses you in timely, relevant critical conversations, it also asks you to generate your own unique responses across a series of innovative writing assignments, designed to help you to hone writing as a mode of critical thinking and self-expression.

Course Specific Outcomes

• Identify and contribute to critical conversations in an interdisciplinary arts context using foundational critical language and methods

• Create written works that demonstrate the two defining traits of critical writing: the use of evidence-based reasoning and dialog with other thinkers

• Identify and marshal relevant evidence within different academic disciplines, methodological approaches, or discourse communities

• Deepen understanding of writing as an intentional process, with an emphasis on drafting and revision in order to produce polished written works

Learning Goals (from the Critical Studies BFA Rubric)

• Engage in class discussions and communicate ideas, demonstrating course preparation

• Respond to a range of ideas to demonstrate an introductory understanding of criticism and how it relates to métier practice

• Write using an inquiring approach to course content through the use of critical thinking and evidence-based reasoning (claim/evidence/analysis) in writing that is clearly communicated

• Research using a variety of sources ethically and according to academic citation protocols, and demonstrating familiarity with different research methodologies (including surveys, experiments, interviews, site visits, case studies, data analysis, etc.)