This course utilizes general and specific topoi to critically analyze the field of contemporary jewelry. Students will develop the ability to write and speak with precision and complexity regarding their own work and that of others. In the process, we will create a communal topography generated by a network of inquiry to aid in locating ourselves and objects. Students have significant latitude to incorporate individual interests in written assignments. Themes addressed include but are not limited to: cultural identity, material history, marginalization, and exhibition strategies.

Students are pre-registered for this course by the department; registration is not available in Workday. Enrollment is limited to Graduate Jewelry + Metalsmithing Students.

Major Requirement | MFA Jewelry + Metalsmithing

This course is devoted to developing one's abilities to write and speak with precision and complexity, about one's own work and the work of others. We will examine trends and movements in contemporary art through the lens of critical theory. We will investigate what contemporary art can tell us about the relationships between history, images, and visual culture, subsequently developing the skills necessary to write about your work, what it articulates and argues, and the ideas and traditions from which it emerges. Each term will identify and address a new set of themes relevant to course content.

Students are pre-registered for this course by the department; registration is not available in Workday. Enrollment is limited to Graduate Jewelry + Metalsmithing Students.

Major Requirement | MFA Jewelry + Metalsmithing

J+M Senior Seminar serves as a continuum to J+M Junior Seminar. This course focuses on ideas and theories that relate to a professional studio practice in a craft based media or methodology. The information presented in the course will reflect the historical and contemporary development specific to Jewelry + Metalsmithing and its relationship to the field of crafts at large as well as contemporary visual culture. Readings and class discussion will explore critical issues such as the role and responsibility of the artist in today's society, artistic authorship, context and representation, the relationship between the wearer and the audience experience, the body as content and site, etc.

Majors are pre-registered for this course by the department. Enrollment is limited to Senior Jewelry + Metalsmithing Students.

Major Requirement | BFA Jewelry + Metalsmithing

Spring seminar focuses on research, writing, and presentation as essential skills for both studio and professional practices. Emphasis is placed on the students' ability to locate, examine, and discuss their work within contemporary and historical contexts. Jewelry, along with objects of our discipline, will be considered through a variety of theoretical frameworks and cross-cultural and historical perspectives. Research, and the language that evidences it, is the foundation of this seminar. Various modes of writing are employed to mine, develop, and articulate ideas, and to further refine this information into artist statements, grant proposals, and presentations. Reflective writing will be practiced throughout the term in order to make sense of past work, clarify current work, and to formulate questions and ideas for work in the future. The term builds towards and culminates with a formal artist presentation. This is an opportunity to carefully consider and craft the language and the photographic representation that supports your work. The goal is to bring all of these things into alignment and to explore the symbiotic and poetic relationships between them.

Majors are pre-registered for this course by the department. Enrollment is limited to Graduate Jewelry + Metalsmithing Students.

Major Requirement | MFA Jewelry + Metalsmithing

The fall seminar concentrates on critical reading as an opportunity to locate, examine, and discuss your work within a broader field of inquiry. The additional objectives are to increase critical thinking, hone reading and writing skills, expand vocabulary, and build presentation skills. Woven into all of this is the understanding that research can be a valuable, if not essential, component of making - each informing and enriching the other. The focus of the spring seminar shifts to writing and presentation as an integral part of both studio and professional practice. Each spring brings a new team of guest instructors who introduce various modes of writing as a means to mine, develop and articulate ideas in a concise and authentic manner, and, to further hone that information into artist statements, written theses, and public presentations. Throughout the term writing will be the vehicle in which to move between private and public realms. This journey will begin with 'automatic writings' and culminate with your public artist presentations.

Majors are pre-registered for this course by the department. Enrollment is limited to Graduate Jewelry + Metalsmithing Students.

Major Requirement | MFA Jewelry + Metalsmithing