New York State
College of Human Ecology
Cornell
FSAD 1250 Art,
Design and Visual Thinking
12:20-1:10 MWF
Charlotte
Jirousek --T37 HEB; ( 255-8064
Listserve: fsad125-L@cornell.edu
email:
caj7@cornell.edu
TA: Susanne Gruening sjg239@cornell.edu
TA Office hours Thursday 12:00-1:00 4110 MVR
Professor’s Office hours: Monday and Wednesday 10:00-11:00;
Thursday 11:00-12:00 in T37 HEB
An
introduction to visual arts and design which stresses the components of visual
thinking and visual language that underlie design and the fine arts.
Required
readings and supplies: The readings are online (See information
below). Additional materials will be
placed on reserve later at Mann Library for specific assignments. Some
materials will need to be purchased for some projects, estimated cost $35
maximum.
Course
Objectives:
At the end of this course, students should:
1. have enhanced their ability to think visually, and
communicate ideas in visual ways.
2. be familiar
with the components of design and fine arts, and be able to use design language
to discuss and evaluate designed objects.
3. understand major developments in fine arts, decorative arts,
and design as they have occurred since the beginnings of modern design in the
later 19th century.
4. be familiar
with the most important media of fine arts and design, and understand the
limitations and opportunities offered to the designer by various materials and
techniques.
Course grade: Your grade will be based on the following:
Assignments (5) 25%
Paper 25%
Prelim 25% October
27, 7:30-9:00 PM Room G71 MVR
Final exam 25% Tues.. December13, 2:00-4:30 pm Room TBA
Please note
these exam dates. Makeup exams will be
available only in the event of University-created scheduling conflicts. Airline
reservations do not constitute a valid excuse. If you cannot meet this
exam schedule, you should not take this class. Persons taking this course
S/U must achieve a final average of 70%
to pass the course. Assignments
will be graded as received and may not be revised after grading. Following instructions and meeting deadlines
is expected professional behavior that has a bearing on your grade. However, the instructor and TAs will be happy
to consult with you on your assignments before they are due.
Attendance: Since this
course is heavily dependent on visual material, attendance is essential if
assignments are to be understood and completed correctly. Slides and other
visual materials shown in class will be incorporated in the exams. The visual
materials (slides and other visual examples) presented in class are not
available at any other time. Images available for study via the Web Textbook are not
necessarily the images you will see in class. The outside readings are not
substitutes for the lectures, and you are responsible for information presented
in both lectures and readings. The exercises are opportunities to demonstrate
that you have grasped concepts presented in class by means of lecture and
visual examples.
The Web
Textbook:
An online textbook has been created for this course. It includes the basic
textbook, study guides for the exams, and will have all assignments posted, as
they are announced. The first assignment is now on line.
The URL for the online
textbook is: http://char.txa.cornell.edu/
If you don't
have the URL handy, you can also reach the Web Textbook through a series of
mouse clicks, via the Cornell Home page which can link you to the FSAD Department Home page/ FSAD
course web sites.
Electronic
mailing list:
An electronic mailing list
will be established for this course.
The purpose of this mailing list is to answer course-related questions and make
announcements important to the whole class. Essential course information
may be distributed via the electronic mailing list, and you will be held
responsible for that information. The list will be activated at the end of
the course add period, in about two weeks.
Once the list is set up, a message will be sent out to you. To send a
message to the instructor or everyone on the list, you can send a message to
fsad125-L@cornell.edu.
Keep in mind
that any posting may be read (and may be responded to) by all subscribers. The mailing list is intended for course
related discussion and questions. If you
wish to discuss a matter of a personal nature, to maintain confidentiality you should
contact the professor at her personal email address (above), in person, or by phone.
In addition to posted office hours, you may call or stop by at other times. Mornings, or right after this class are likely times.
Assignments: Half of the
grade is dependent on five individually graded exercises and a paper. The other
half will be dependent on two machine scored exams. The paper and the two exams
will each cover roughly a third of the material in the course-- that is, the
final is NOT cumulative. The exams involve slides.
All assignments in this course are designed to
test directly your ability to handle visual material. You will be asked to
select images, visual components, and style features and/or manipulate,
compare, and/or analyze them. You do not need to have any previous
experience or special skills to complete these assignments well. Much of
the course material is devoted to the language of design and the fine arts; demonstration
of your understanding of the terms and concepts presented in class is crucial
to success in any assignment.
Late work: THIS IS
IMPORTANT! All work is due at the beginning
of class (ie. 12:20 PM) on the day stipulated. Work turned in to the
teacher after class has ended for the
day is late. This includes work brought to the classroom at
the end of class by persons not attending class, and work simply not
handed in by attending students until the class is over.
Remember that getting work in on
time is YOUR responsibility. Please keep in mind that if you ask a friend to
turn in work for you and they fail to do so on time, it will be counted as
late.
Work
turned in to the office after the class begins on the day stipulated (ie. 12:20 PM) is late. Work turned in
to the office must be turned in to the administrative
assistants in in T57 HEB to be dated.
Do
NOT slide work under the professor's door or put it directly in her mailbox! Any work left
in the instructors mailbox or office will be considered received at
the time found by the
instructor. Assignments
may not be
submitted electronically, only in the format described in each assignment.
The exercises
will be accepted up to
two weeks late, but not thereafter. No exceptions will be made.
The
mid term paper
will be accepted up to the last day of class.
In any case, lateness will affect
the grade.
Exams: Exams will be
multiple choice, machine scored, and will involve slides. Sample questions and a detailed study
guide are available on the web site (see table of contents at left).
A makeup exam may only be arranged for
students with a University-generated conflict (another prelim or a course-related
field trip, for example). Permission of the instructor is needed to take the makeup. In the
event of a dire medical emergency, an exception may be made, provided that the instructor is notified in a
timely manner- that is, in most cases, BEFORE the exam occurs. Airline
schedules and the like are not an acceptable excuse for missing an exam. If you
know at the beginning of the semester that you will be unable to meet exam
dates, you should not take this course.
Each student in
this course is expected to abide by the Cornell University Code of Academic
Integrity. Any work submitted by a student in this course for academic credit
will be the student’s own work.
FOR FIRST
ASSIGNMENT- BRING TO CLASS
FRIDAY AUGUST 27:
Bring the
enlargement to class on Monday. Do not do this on a scanner! as this will not give the desired result.
To complete this
project, you will also need a pencil with an unused eraser on it, and a rubber stamp pad
in any color, available at the campus store or any office supply store.