Search Course Listings
HPSS W157-101
YOU MUST BE JOKING! THE PHILOSOPHY OF LAUGHTER
SECTION DESCRIPTION
Explain a joke; kill it? We'll keep it alive on life support in this short philosophical survey of what's funny. We will consider a range of theories of laughter and humor, from both analytic and practical perspective. To evaluate these theories, we will apply them to various types of humor, such as comedies, jokes, and especially in visual illustration such as cartoons, and the like. The serious business of analysis will share the stage with our engagement with funny business as well as creating our own. Throughout, we will consider the ethical issues of humor and laughter as they arise in the theories and the practices of humor. Course requires a sense of humor and will involve active participation, even performing humor. Several papers and a project of either analyzing something comedic or developing your own.
Elective
HPSS W195-101
HORROR, FEAR, & HUMAN CONDITION
SECTION DESCRIPTION
How and why does fear motivate human action? In what ways do we try to address the effects of fear, both individually and collectively? How do things like morality and religion inform our solutions to the problem(s) of fear? To what extent do concepts such as virtue or ethics hold up in the face of fear? In this class we will use literature from the horror genre as well as excerpts from select philosophers, to address these questions. In addressing these questions, this course speaks to how both the horror genre specifically and literature more generally aid philosophy in its attempt to help us understand important aspects of the human experience.
Elective
HPSS W241-101
FROM THE MODEL T AND THE SUV TO THE TESLA MODEL 3: THE CAR AND THE WORLD IT MADE
SECTION DESCRIPTION
It was an American automobile maker, Henry Ford, who invented the assembly line. When he decided to pay his workers a five-dollar-a-day wage, he also invented America's middle class, by providing a wage that allowed autoworkers to enter the ranks of the nation's consumers. Cars have come a long way since those first Model T's rolled off of Ford's assembly line. Through their ever-changing styles, from the streamlined interwar years to the tailfins of the postwar years, we can trace both the evolution of American modernism and its connection to Cold War politics and ambivalence towards the Atomic Age. More compact designs and an emphasis on fuel economy heralded an era of increased foreign competition. For more than a century, the auto industry's need for petroleum and rubber has fueled American imperialism in Latin America, Asia, and the Middle East. From coast to coast cars created a new cultural landscape, one filled with highways, suburbs, shopping malls, police, and roadside oddities. Throughout its long history, the car has been a shifting symbol of innovation, prosperity, consumerism, and the American Dream; youth culture, rebellion, and sex; both liberation and oppression for women, people of color, and immigrants; and, more recently, environmental degradation, deindustrialization, the decline of labor unions, and America's struggle to compete in an increasingly globalized economy. Now, in the twenty-first century, the rise of Uber and ride-sharing, the advent of self-driving vehicles, a renewed emphasis on public transportation and walkability, and an entire generation that appears uninterested in driving, one cannot help but wonder whether we are witnessing the end of America's long love affair with the open road.
Elective
HPSS W267-101
REFLECTING AND QUIETING IN WINTER
SECTION DESCRIPTION
Winter is a time of reflection, rest, and quieting. In this course, we will explore ways of embracing this season by considering various practices related to the qualities of wintering. This will include topics related to mindfulness/meditation, self-compassion, reflection, and the stage of growth that comes through pause. Throughout the course, we will visit these topics through the lens of psychological theory and research with readings and in-class discussion. We will also allow for time to engage in practices of wintering.
Elective
HPSS W269-101 / THAD W269-101
VISUAL COMMUNICATION
SECTION DESCRIPTION
The course is designed to focus on the range of visual means that people use to convey ideas and stories, non-literary forms that make ideas accessible to a wide audience. Textiles, puppets and masquerades, when viewed within their cultural matrix, are powerful tools for capturing the less visible aspects of communities in which the written word may not be the primary mode of information sharing. Graffiti, tagging, and muralling, which move in the direction of public art, are more contemporary means of visual communication in our own communities. Likewise, sketching, electronic imagery and graphic novels are powerful tools for documentation and story-telling for contemporary artists. From a simple symbol placed on a wall or a parchment to the more complex structure of masquerades and electronic moving images, human communities have sought to tell their own - and others' stories - and to convey opinions and messages in endless evocative and creative ways. What can we learn from these various forms of visual communication? This course is not a “making” class per se, but proposes to explore some of these means of visual communication, both historically and currently, in a variety of cultural contexts.
Elective
HPSS W270-101 / THAD W270-101
MEXICAN ART: THEN AND NOW
SECTION DESCRIPTION
The course is designed to give students an overview of Mexico’s historic and contemporary art, from the cultural legacy of the pre-columbian states (the Olmecs to the Aztecs) to the Spanish conquest of Tenochtitlan (Mexico City). It will explore the political, economic and cultural contexts which gave rise to the Mexican revolution and its cultural impact on the development of such movements as the estridentismo and on the muralist period; we will look at the impact of Indigenous styles on the history of Mexican art and beyond, and the continuous role of regional traditional creativity on modern art and architecture in Mexico. The course will use both an ethnographic perspective, and an aesthetics approach to explore the complex trajectory of Mexican art.
Elective
HPSS W351-101
AMERICAN WAR FILMS IN HISTORICAL CONTEXT
SECTION DESCRIPTION
Films have shaped popular perceptions of war in the United States arguably more than historians have. This raises questions such as: What is the relationship between the history presented in these films and the history as interpreted by academic historians? How do the positionalities of movie creators shape the product? How do they portray soldiers and civilians, allies and enemies? How might these movies serve as cultural artifacts offering insight into political discourses at the time of their production? Is Francois Truffaut correct that the appeals of battle make a true anti-war film virtually impossible? Prominent directors spotlighted include Stanley Kubrick, F. F. Coppola, Clint Eastwood, Spike Lee, and Kathryn Bigelow. Work involves brief lectures, screenings, discussions, a film journal, and a final project.
Elective
HPSS W351-102
AMERICAN WAR FILMS IN HISTORICAL CONTEXT
SECTION DESCRIPTION
Films have shaped popular perceptions of war in the United States arguably more than historians have. This raises questions such as: What is the relationship between the history presented in these films and the history as interpreted by academic historians? How do the positionalities of movie creators shape the product? How do they portray soldiers and civilians, allies and enemies? How might these movies serve as cultural artifacts offering insight into political discourses at the time of their production? Is Francois Truffaut correct that the appeals of battle make a true anti-war film virtually impossible? Prominent directors spotlighted include Stanley Kubrick, F. F. Coppola, Clint Eastwood, Spike Lee, and Kathryn Bigelow. Work involves brief lectures, screenings, discussions, a film journal, and a final project.
Elective
HPSS W466-101
THE SOCIOLOGY OF BUSINESS, ORGANIZATION AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP
SECTION DESCRIPTION
While many tend to think about bureaucracies in emotionally charged terms (for example, Kafka and Orwell) or treat them with sarcastic derision (e.g., Parkinson), bureaucratic organizations are specific social structures possessing well-defined characteristics and following certain logic of behavior and development. They are present in government and business, as well as non-government organizations. Individual entrepreneurs and small businesses have to deal with bureaucracies to survive and thrive. This course will tell you how to behave around bureaucratic organizations. There are four major themes: organizational behavior, organizational boundaries, organizational environment, and interaction between organizations. Each theme will be looked at from the point of view of various types of bureaucracies: government, private, and non-profit. We will have a specific discussion of social entrepreneurship and its ability to navigate bureaucratic structures. Special attention will be paid to interaction between government and private bureaucracies. The course relies on a combination of lectures and in-class discussion. Students will be asked to write four short papers based on case studies and present them in class. There will be a final exam.
Elective
HPSS W466-102
THE SOCIOLOGY OF BUSINESS, ORGANIZATION AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP
SECTION DESCRIPTION
While many tend to think about bureaucracies in emotionally charged terms (for example, Kafka and Orwell) or treat them with sarcastic derision (e.g., Parkinson), bureaucratic organizations are specific social structures possessing well-defined characteristics and following certain logic of behavior and development. They are present in government and business, as well as non-government organizations. Individual entrepreneurs and small businesses have to deal with bureaucracies to survive and thrive. This course will tell you how to behave around bureaucratic organizations. There are four major themes: organizational behavior, organizational boundaries, organizational environment, and interaction between organizations. Each theme will be looked at from the point of view of various types of bureaucracies: government, private, and non-profit. We will have a specific discussion of social entrepreneurship and its ability to navigate bureaucratic structures. Special attention will be paid to interaction between government and private bureaucracies. The course relies on a combination of lectures and in-class discussion. Students will be asked to write four short papers based on case studies and present them in class. There will be a final exam.
Elective
HPSS W505-101
PUPPETS IN MODERN AMERICAN CULTURE AND MEDIA
SECTION DESCRIPTION
For millennia, puppetry has been an artform used in everything from religious ritual to entertainment in cultures across the world. In this class students will encounter an idiosyncratic and episodic examination of puppetry with an emphasis on the late modern era and especially twentieth-century American media and culture. The course will consider puppetry’s historical importance as a signifier of childhood, a pioneer of theater, an artifact of the abject, a mystical technology, a cinematic special effect, a literary device, and a metaphor in politics, art, and life. The class with engage the majesty of puppetry through film and video screenings; close readings; poetry, song and art; student presentations; mini-lectures; and discussions.
Elective
HPSS W506-101
TEXT TRANSFORMED: WRITING IN THE AGE OF AI
SECTION DESCRIPTION
This hybrid seminar/studio considers the cultural impact of AI writing systems. Readings, discussion, and text experiments will explore how Large Language Models (LLMs) are complicating the future of authorship. How does GPT-4 work? What can it reveal about the nature of language? And what skills will be lost when machines do our writing for us? Topics include: Plato and the oral tradition, chance operations, Turing tests, and the emergence of computational linguistics. In-class workshops will apply machine learning tools to the practices of translation, revision, group writing, and spoken word (using AI voice clones). Students will submit weekly reading responses and a final research essay on a topic of their choice.
Elective
ID 1511-01 / IDISC 1511-01
*MAINE: AGRILITERACY + ECOLOGY FOR THE FUTURE
SECTION DESCRIPTION
Agriculture is a problem-solving endeavor and a fundamental system design challenge. How and why have farmers sought to mimic natural systems while simplifying production? What are the dominant modes that have led to industrial farming and what problems do alternatives address? Most importantly, how will we engage in food production in a changing climate and increasing demand, while respecting our nearly universal need for cultural connection to this, our most intimate relationship to the natural world?
This summer course will introduce students to a broad spectrum of agricultural traditions from first principles and long-held practices to unconventional regenerative farming and digital precision technologies. Through farm-visits we will see the ecology of farms in Maine. Tours and interviews with farmers develop our line of inquiry as we take in a wide variety of production, from no-till organic to oyster ocean farming and vertical urban farming. We will develop a working understanding of soil, plants, animals, and the physical and conceptual labor which a farmer brings to the landscape.
Summer in Maine can be idyllic and we will spend time connecting the rigors of farm life to an aesthetic
experience of living close to nature. Every farmer must consider how their small business economy intersects with values of care and regeneration. We will explore cultural models which evolve from human engagement in natural ecology, delving into biodynamic farming, carbon farming, permaculture, precision, hydroponic and robotic agriculture. Each trend represents a designed solution to the on-going challenges of coaxing food from nature.
ID 1547-01
UI/UX DESIGN
SECTION DESCRIPTION
U/I - U/X interfaces are applied towards several digital graphic formats: smart phone ios/Android; tablet/watch; Windows OS/Mac OS; or custom sized interfaces for products like ATM machines or car dashboards. The instructor's professional design practice currently focuses on UI/UX design and future forecasting towards corporate strategies to best take advantage of the digital transformation many large corporations are being faced with at this time. Students learn methodologies and tools around smartphone app design development. Areas of design process include: research and app concept definition; conduct low-fidelity brainstorming and exploration around the users; future forecasting through speculation of user stories; journey mapping explorations; develop app aesthetic, develop navigation systems; develop app branding; and at the end build high-fidelity prototypes incorporating app navigation interaction. No prior knowledge of UI/UX development is required. Students build working prototypes of cellular interfaces that function and navigate. Coding experience is not necessary for this course and will not be taught. Students that have coding experience that may use those skills for app prototypes developed along with Adobe XD.
Requirements: a laptop running Adobe Creative Suite and a RISD student Adobe Cloud.
Elective
ID 1547-01
UI/UX DESIGN
SECTION DESCRIPTION
U/I - U/X interfaces are applied towards several digital graphic formats: smart phone ios/Android; tablet/watch; Windows OS/Mac OS; or custom sized interfaces for products like ATM machines or car dashboards. The instructor's professional design practice currently focuses on UI/UX design and future forecasting towards corporate strategies to best take advantage of the digital transformation many large corporations are being faced with at this time. Students learn methodologies and tools around smartphone app design development. Areas of design process include: research and app concept definition; conduct low-fidelity brainstorming and exploration around the users; future forecasting through speculation of user stories; journey mapping explorations; develop app aesthetic, develop navigation systems; develop app branding; and at the end build high-fidelity prototypes incorporating app navigation interaction. No prior knowledge of UI/UX development is required. Students build working prototypes of cellular interfaces that function and navigate. Coding experience is not necessary for this course and will not be taught. Students that have coding experience that may use those skills for app prototypes developed along with Adobe XD.
Requirements: a laptop running Adobe Creative Suite and a RISD student Adobe Cloud.
Elective
ID 1547-102
UI/UX DESIGN
SECTION DESCRIPTION
U/I - U/X interfaces are applied towards several digital graphic formats: smart phone ios/Android; tablet/watch; Windows OS/Mac OS; or custom sized interfaces for products like ATM machines or car dashboards. The instructor's professional design practice currently focuses on UI/UX design and future forecasting towards corporate strategies to best take advantage of the digital transformation many large corporations are being faced with at this time. Students learn methodologies and tools around smartphone app design development. Areas of design process include: research and app concept definition; conduct low-fidelity brainstorming and exploration around the users; future forecasting through speculation of user stories; journey mapping explorations; develop app aesthetic, develop navigation systems; develop app branding; and at the end build high-fidelity prototypes incorporating app navigation interaction. No prior knowledge of UI/UX development is required. Students build working prototypes of cellular interfaces that function and navigate. Coding experience is not necessary for this course and will not be taught. Students that have coding experience that may use those skills for app prototypes developed along with Adobe XD.
Requirements: a laptop running Adobe Creative Suite and a RISD student Adobe Cloud.
Elective
ID 2022-101
OPEN SOURCE DESIGN
SECTION DESCRIPTION
Industrial design’s origins in the tech development and mass manufacturing of the Industrial Revolution has created problematic legacy design systems that have birthed issues such as overproduction/over-consumption, planned obsolescence, and broken intellectual property laws. Designers must consider the social, environmental, and economic consequences of these systems. Open Source Design offers an alternative design methodology that prioritizes design that is accessible, iterative, and community-mind-ed through the use of tools and resources that are available in the public domain.
Students will explore design that subverts the need for global supply chains and that operates through a community-oriented approach. Under the umbrella of open-source design (meaning works in and for public domain), students will explore principles of DIY, non-local community building, and designing without intellectual property as a constraint. Specifically, this will include an exploration of practical open work (Instructables, Open Design Now, Virgil Abloh’s FREE-GAME), exploration of discursive work (Bricolage, Pirate Bay, Assemblage Art) and a self-directed open-source design project.
Elective
ID 20ST-01
SPECIAL TOPIC DESIGN STUDIO
SECTION DESCRIPTION
Juniors take two 3-credit Special Topic Design Studios in the Fall semester. Juniors choose one 3-credit option from the Content category such as Packaging, Typography, Play, or UI/UX, and the other option from the "Process" category such as Casting, Soft Goods or Prototyping. Students will gain multiple competencies by utilizing techniques and methodologies through practice and process. Each studio meets once per week.
Please contact the department for permission to register; registration is not available in Workday.
Major Requirement | BFA Industrial Design
ID 20ST-02
SPECIAL TOPIC DESIGN STUDIO
SECTION DESCRIPTION
Juniors take two 3-credit Special Topic Design Studios in the Fall semester. Juniors choose one 3-credit option from the Content category such as Packaging, Typography, Play, or UI/UX, and the other option from the "Process" category such as Casting, Soft Goods or Prototyping. Students will gain multiple competencies by utilizing techniques and methodologies through practice and process. Each studio meets once per week.
Please contact the department for permission to register; registration is not available in Workday.
Major Requirement | BFA Industrial Design
ID 20ST-03
SPECIAL TOPIC DESIGN STUDIO
SECTION DESCRIPTION
Juniors take two 3-credit Special Topic Design Studios in the Fall semester. Juniors choose one 3-credit option from the Content category such as Packaging, Typography, Play, or UI/UX, and the other option from the "Process" category such as Casting, Soft Goods or Prototyping. Students will gain multiple competencies by utilizing techniques and methodologies through practice and process. Each studio meets once per week.
Please contact the department for permission to register; registration is not available in Workday.
Major Requirement | BFA Industrial Design