This course focuses on advanced composition in Graphic Design and Typography using an array of materials, techniques and formats. Form remains an area of study in graphic design that does not need an application, only a surface. Emphasis will be placed on experimental form-making/image-making using generative and iterative approaches. Form need not follow function. Studio assignments are supported by lectures showing contemporary graphic form, from historical to contemporary work, that are effective and evocative. This elective aims to build a collection of work that can be shared with the larger graphic design community.

Elective

Graduate Typography I through III (GRAPH-332G/342G/352G) are a sequence of courses that focus on the subject of typography. This sequence covers the fundamentals of typography, its theory, practice, technology and history. Studies range from introductory through advanced levels. Grad Typography I includes: the study of letterforms, type design, proportion, hierarchy, legibility, and structures for composition of multiple type elements. Aspects of contemporary practice and theory are integrated into research and discussion.

Majors are pre-registered for this course by the department. Enrollment is limited to Graduate Graphic Design Students.

Major Requirement | MFA Graphic Design (3yr)

Typography III is the culmination of RISD's typography sequence, with an emphasis on typography and contemporary display platforms. Advances in software and hardware have created new opportunities for how language is written, sequenced and accessed. Projects in this semester depend on altered states, where the content, composition, and context all are potentially at play. Students will continue to develop proficiency in designing for static compositions while extending the meaning and voice of that work across multiple platforms. Students will have ample opportunity to further shape their perspective and individual voice in relation to contemporary typography. This is a studio course, so some class time will be used for discussions, most of the time we will be working in class, often on a computer. There is an expectation that students work both individually and in groups and be prepared to speak about their own work and the work of their peers in supportive and respectful ways. A laptop and relevant software are required.

Please contact the department for permission to register; registration is not available in Workday. 

Major Requirement | MFA Graphic Design (3yr)

This elective is an opportunity for students to immerse themselves in the process of designing a serif text typeface; to consider all the design decisions that are a part of this creative exercise, and to learn the finer points of bezier wrangling, serif and sans, spacing, kerning, and all the other details of execution which turn a roughly-formed idea into a more complete, rigorous and polished type design. This course will provide a fundamental understanding of how typefaces work in addition to accessing a new design tool that can find practical use. This is a Mac only course.

Elective

This course is designed to introduce students to the major historical and intellectual developments in the field of Chinese archaeology, from its inception in the 10th century as antiquarianism, to the latest scientific achievements. The course will provide a general overview of key discoveries relating to the period of time spanning from the Paleolithic to the Han period, concentrating on crucial research issues on such topics as (among others), the origin of man in Asia (an alternative to the Out of Africa theory), the earliest settled societies and the beginning of rice and millet agriculture, the origins and impact of Chinese writing, the Chinese urban revolution of the late Neolithic and early Bronze Age, the political use of bronze and jade in the dynastic period, and the burial customs and religious beliefs of the early imperial period.

Elective

Topics in History, Philosophy, and the Social Sciences is an introductory course in which students are encouraged to develop the skills in critical thinking, reading, and writing that are common to the disciplines represented in the Department of History, Philosophy, and the Social Sciences (HPSS). Sections focus on the topics typically addressed within the department's disciplines; through discussion about key texts and issues, students are introduced to important disciplinary methodologies and controversies. All sections have frequent writing assignments, which, combined with substantial feedback from HPSS faculty, afford students the opportunity to develop the strategies and techniques of effective writing. There are no waivers for HPSS-S101 except for transfer students who have taken an equivalent college course.


Major Requirement | BFA

Topics in History, Philosophy, and the Social Sciences is an introductory course in which students are encouraged to develop the skills in critical thinking, reading, and writing that are common to the disciplines represented in the Department of History, Philosophy, and the Social Sciences (HPSS). Sections focus on the topics typically addressed within the department's disciplines; through discussion about key texts and issues, students are introduced to important disciplinary methodologies and controversies. All sections have frequent writing assignments, which, combined with substantial feedback from HPSS faculty, afford students the opportunity to develop the strategies and techniques of effective writing. There are no waivers for HPSS-S101 except for transfer students who have taken an equivalent college course.

Major Requirement | BFA

This course provides a framework for understanding how and why digital technology came to define the modern world. We will first explore the history of “reasoning machines” from ancient robots to analogue computers, before turning to modern digital media. Readings will contextualize the past 100 years of digital history, introducing students to the cultural legacy of the personal computer, the internet, and artificial intelligence. We’ll ask: How are computers unlike other technologies? How does digital media shape our perceptions? And how much of culture can we capture in data. Students will write weekly reading responses, give oral presentations, and complete a final research project.

Elective

The question, What is the meaning of life? is unclear in large measure because the word "meaning" is ambiguous. The various ways "meaning" can be construed, both objectively and subjectively, in everyday life and in the philosophical arena will be explored. Literature, film, and philosophical texts will be used as vehicles to illuminate how reflection, experience, and transitions through life's stages influence assignment of value to one's existence.

Elective

This course examines the historical, social, and cultural interrelationships between cities, regions, and food systems.  How have urban regions produced, processed, and distributed food across space and time?  How have foodways influenced public and private life?  Major course topics will include the meanings of food in human societies; the role of science and technology in nutrition and diet; food security and sovereignty; sustainability and resilience in food systems; and community-based food planning and policy governance.

Elective

East Asia has the largest population and one of the most vital economies in the world today. While serving as an economic powerhouse, the region also faces persistent social, cultural, and political challenges. Many of those challenges, such as the tension on the Korean peninsula and across the Taiwan strait, could be traced to the earlier history. This course provides an introduction to the histories of East Asia over the last four centuries. It would examine significant events in the region's history, including the encounter with the West, colonialism and imperialism, the rise of nationalism and Communist revolution, decolonization, World War Two, and the impact of the Cold War. We will explore the historical forces behind the changes of East Asian politics, society and cultures. Furthermore, through analyzing the historical complexity of East Asian affairs, we hope to contribute to the fostering of a peaceful, rational, and dynamic mechanism in the region.

Elective

East Asia has the largest population and one of the most vital economies in the world today. While serving as an economic powerhouse, the region also faces persistent social, cultural, and political challenges. Many of those challenges, such as the tension on the Korean peninsula and across the Taiwan strait, could be traced to the earlier history. This course provides an introduction to the histories of East Asia over the last four centuries. It would examine significant events in the region's history, including the encounter with the West, colonialism and imperialism, the rise of nationalism and Communist revolution, decolonization, World War Two, and the impact of the Cold War. We will explore the historical forces behind the changes of East Asian politics, society and cultures. Furthermore, through analyzing the historical complexity of East Asian affairs, we hope to contribute to the fostering of a peaceful, rational, and dynamic mechanism in the region.

Elective

Welcome to The Art of Healing.  We will begin with a general overview and introduction to counseling techniques, with specific attention to the therapeutic applications of art making. Students will be introduced to the foundational aspects of art therapy, creative expression and the use of art media to treat both emotional and physical illness.  

This is an experiential course that will emphasize practice as well as didactic information. This course will review how the creative arts can be used in the counseling process, focusing on music, dance and movement, imagery, visual arts, literature and writing.   Students will be provided information on the history, rationale, and benefits of using artistic methods, as well as trends in the use of the arts in counseling. Course meetings include lectures, class discussions, films, and peer exchanges. 

Elective

Tradwives, alpha males, clean girls, femboys, bimbos…There is a seemingly endless supply of labels for contemporary versions of femininity and masculinity, all with their own norms, aesthetics, and critics. This course acts as an introduction to gender studies through the modern internet’s taxonomy of gendered labels. We will learn about the systems of power that led these trendy genders to emerge, how they relate to race, economy, and sexuality, and how they challenge and uphold structures of domination. Using feminist and queer theory, we'll analyze digital objects like TikToks and memes as we think critically about the present and future of gender.

Elective

This course presents Indigenous-produced, -directed, and -acted productions from all over the world. It provides a cultural and artistic framework for world Indigenous filmmaking and centers classic cinema and film pieces that are foundational works. Through lectures, screenings, discussion, project work, and guest speakers the students will learn how to identify various narratives, aesthetics, styles, approaches and delivery of story from indigenous groups from around the world.

Elective

Inflation is usually associated with retail price increases. While this is a commonly accepted indicator, it only reflects certain symptoms of inflation. The root causes of inflation are deeper and more complex. In this course we will unravel the complexity and examine the main components of the inflation pyramid, from the prices we pay at the store, to the cost of investment goods and labor, to monetary policies, to cultural perceptions, to social forces that use inflation as a vehicle to achieve their goals. We will investigate inflation as a phenomenon that spans economics, politics, and sociology. The purely quantitative aspects of inflation are not included in our discussion, we leave them to econometricians. Instead, we concentrate on social forces, political power, and economic exchange. 

Familiarity with formal economics, while useful, is not a prerequisite for this course. In the first three meetings we will discuss the basics of the economic frame of reference. The remaining time will be devoted to establishing connections between inflation (both visible and hidden), political power, collective action, and normative-value preferences of the social groups that are in position to benefit from inflation.  After taking this course, the students will be able to recognize socio-political changes that are likely to produce inflation or change the existing inflationary regime.

Elective

The Psychology of Aging provides an overview of human development from early adulthood through elderhood and death. Topics include behavior-biology interactions and perceptual, cognitive, and intellectual functioning. The goal of the course is to establish a basis for understanding the processes of change through which humans progress. We do this by reviewing the physical, cognitive, and psychosocial aspects of human development as it applies to others and ourselves.

Elective

This course will examine the ways that listening can be understood historically. Using North America as a context for study, we will explore changing listening practices and their meanings over the last three centuries, including ideologies of sound and hearing in settler-colonialism; the politics of attention in 19th-century church and theater; sectional reactions to Civil War soundscapes; the emergence of acoustic technologies, from telephony to radio; 20th-century noise abatement movements, and the manipulable auditory experiences of the digital age. Throughout, we will situate listening in culture, law, materiality, and the body. Work will include primary source research and short writing assignments.

Elective

This course will examine the ways that listening can be understood historically. Using North America as a context for study, we will explore changing listening practices and their meanings over the last three centuries, including ideologies of sound and hearing in settler-colonialism; the politics of attention in 19th-century church and theater; sectional reactions to Civil War soundscapes; the emergence of acoustic technologies, from telephony to radio; 20th-century noise abatement movements, and the manipulable auditory experiences of the digital age. Throughout, we will situate listening in culture, law, materiality, and the body. Work will include primary source research and short writing assignments.

Elective

How we die says as much about us as how we live. As a result, much can be learned by exploring America's changing attitudes toward death and dying, funeral rites, burial practices, and mourning rituals. Part personal tragedy, part communal experience, and part political event, our individual and collective responses to death should be treated as socially constructed artifacts, offering valuable insight into complex cultural, historical, and socio-economic forces. Buried within the American way of death are clues to understanding how this nation's physical, spiritual, economic, scientific, and political landscapes have changed over time. Rituals and practices surrounding death reflect the realities of class conflict, gender politics, race relations, and an increasingly diverse population. So often, deathcare has often been at the forefront of major cultural shifts and national debates over who belongs here, the role of government, the shape of our cities and towns, patterns of consumption, and, more recently, the future of our planet. Growing interest in green burials suggests not only a burgeoning concern with the carbon footprint of human remains, but shifting ideas about our individual legacies and what we leave behind. A discussion-based course, student engagement and active participation are key. Each student will be required to select a portion of the assigned reading to present to the class. In addition, students will work in small groups to craft a 20-minute oral presentation that examines and contextualizes the funeralization practices of a particular segment of the American people. Finally, each student will complete a 5 - 7 page research paper using a combination of primary and secondary sources (to be approved by the instructor) that elucidate and interrogate a specific aspect of the American way of death.

Elective