An in-depth investigation of the principles and possibilities of graphic design. Through a series of experimental exercises incorporating drawing, collage, and the computer, students will learn the fundamentals of graphic form, sequencing, image making, communicating visually, and integration of type. Slide presentations and lectures will introduce students to both the history of graphic design and contemporary designers.

Elective

An in-depth investigation of the principles and possibilities of graphic design. Through a series of experimental exercises incorporating drawing, collage, and the computer, students will learn the fundamentals of graphic form, sequencing, image making, communicating visually, and integration of type. Slide presentations and lectures will introduce students to both the history of graphic design and contemporary designers.

Elective

This immersive interdisciplinary Wintersession course offered by RISD Global is for art and design students interested in exploring past and current efforts to conserve biodiversity in Southern Africa while also developing their communication and documentation skills.

On location for two weeks in South Africa and one in Namibia, this course will be co-taught by longtime RISD faculty member, scientist Dr. Lucy Spelman (Senior Lecturer/HPSS) and Nellie Geraghty, Visiting Critic, Illustration. Students will study the local biodiversity, how local people and visitors interact with nature, and how art, science, and traditional ecological knowledge influence and inform conservation decisions. They will also have the opportunity to create/make new works of art, design, and writing while on location as well as upon return. Once back on campus, students spend two weeks on a final art/design project that explores the concept of conservation based on their African experience. In addition to a completed work of art or design, the final project will include:

1) an artist statement that describes the student’s artistic aim/inspiration/process

2) an annotated essay/summary of the scientific references and literary influences that informed their art.

Registration is not available in Workday. All students are required to remain in good academic standing in order to participate in the Wintersession travel course/studio. A minimum GPA of 2.50 is required. Failure to remain in good academic standing can lead to removal from the course, either before or during the course. Also in cases where Wintersession travel courses and studios do not reach student capacity, the course may be cancelled after the last day of Wintersession travel course registration. As such, all students are advised not to purchase flights for participation in Wintersession travel courses until the course is confirmed to run, which happens within the week after the final Wintersession travel course registration period.

Elective

Sacred Architecture has always been distinct from secular and vernacular architecture and is associated with a variety of belief systems, sacred texts and iconography. From forest groves, caves, and other natural habitats barely transformed by the human hand, to monumental constructions, such as pyramids, cathedrals and mosques, human beings have devoted their creativity and immense resources to spaces where spiritual forces can be revered, housed, appealed to and placated. This course will focus on sacred indigenous architecture in the Americas, with a few comparative examples drawn from other parts of the world, particularly in the introduction segment of the class. Whether it be a pilgrimage site in Mexico, a Hopi kiva or a Plains ceremonial "lodge", various cultural expressions of the sacred in its architectural manifestations will be presented and contextualized.

Elective

Sacred Architecture has always been distinct from secular and vernacular architecture and is associated with a variety of belief systems, sacred texts and iconography. From forest groves, caves, and other natural habitats barely transformed by the human hand, to monumental constructions, such as pyramids, cathedrals and mosques, human beings have devoted their creativity and immense resources to spaces where spiritual forces can be revered, housed, appealed to and placated. This course will focus on sacred indigenous architecture in the Americas, with a few comparative examples drawn from other parts of the world, particularly in the introduction segment of the class. Whether it be a pilgrimage site in Mexico, a Hopi kiva or a Plains ceremonial "lodge", various cultural expressions of the sacred in its architectural manifestations will be presented and contextualized.

Elective

Human society evolves through our interactions with the natural environment. Many of the environmental challenges today derive from the industrialization and urbanization process around the globe in the past three millennia. Focusing on the region of East Asia, this course examines key environmental issues in both historical and contemporary contexts. We will start with discussing people's perception of nature in pre-industry East Asia and its relevance today. Then we will take a closer look at major disasters in recent history, such as draught, flood, earthquake, and plague, and examine how civil societies and state powers responded to those challenges. On infrastructure enthusiasm, we will study the proliferation of mega concrete dams and their environmental and human tolls. On industrial pollution and health, we will focus on the tragedies of mercury poisoning and black lung cancer. In the rapid urbanization process, how the changes of land use and our life style have reshaped our relations with the environment. In the battle with climate change and environmental injustice, how do we evaluate the role of bottom-up environmental activism and authoritarian environmentalism? Exploring those issues would help us contextualize the intimate connections between nature, culture, economy, and political powers in East Asia and thus deepen our understanding of this region's role in global sustainability. This course requires students to do weekly assigned readings, engaging in class discussions, writing short reflection essays, and doing a final research project.

Elective

Violence threatens and impedes human civilization. As the world becomes more connected through high-speed internet, artificial intelligence, and the global economy, people's peace of mind and inner connection may get less attention. Someone who lacks the understanding and practice of peace and nonviolence may resort to violence when conflict arises in our competitive world. Above all, even a single act of violence may cause long-lasting harm to society. But, as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said, we can choose: nonviolent coexistence or violent co-annihilation." Unlike outbursts of violence, peace and nonviolence require creative study, practice, effort, and courage. Thus, the study of nonviolence and peace is emerging as a critically important field of scholarship, research, and training in both academic and non-academic settings. This course aims to provide introductory but crucial knowledge in the field of Nonviolence and Peace Studies. The course focuses on philosophical, social, and psychological factors contributing to violence and the creation of peace and nonviolence, particularly relevant to personal, interpersonal, and global mental health and well-being. Students will learn about ancient and modern nonviolence and peace philosophies and well-known thinkers, including Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., the Dalai Lama, Maha Ghosananda, and Aung San Suu Kyi. We will also explore nonviolent strategies and tactics applied to social change movements, and contemporary research studies on nonviolence and peace. Course assignments will include applied learning opportunities to personal and community settings of violence and peacebuilding. Students must demonstrate comprehension of fundamental philosophy and practice perspectives of nonviolence and peace. This course employs a cooperative group study format focused on a problem-based learning approach to peacebuilding. The semester will conclude with a group presentation by the students on a selected personal or social issue and its remedy through nonviolent interventions.

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

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

Life confronts us with difficult ethical predicaments. We want to do the right thing but to what authority or set of moral prescriptions can we look for guidance? We are criticized and praised for our values, intentions, and behaviors. We judge our own thoughts and actions and those of other people according to prevailing moral standards that are claimed to be objectively true and universal. Often these standards are internally inconsistent, incongruent with other established moral principles, clash with codes followed in cultures foreign to us, or are impossible to apply to the complex moral dilemmas we face in the modern world. At an ever increasing rate, new and unexplored ethical territory opens with advances in science and technology. This course will examine a variety of ethical theories that were designed to set us on a path of good conduct and evaluate how well they rise to the challenges of daily living in complex and socially varied contexts. The Socratic method will be the prevailing mode of instruction.

Elective

Life confronts us with difficult ethical predicaments. We want to do the right thing but to what authority or set of moral prescriptions can we look for guidance? We are criticized and praised for our values, intentions, and behaviors. We judge our own thoughts and actions and those of other people according to prevailing moral standards that are claimed to be objectively true and universal. Often these standards are internally inconsistent, incongruent with other established moral principles, clash with codes followed in cultures foreign to us, or are impossible to apply to the complex moral dilemmas we face in the modern world. At an ever increasing rate, new and unexplored ethical territory opens with advances in science and technology. This course will examine a variety of ethical theories that were designed to set us on a path of good conduct and evaluate how well they rise to the challenges of daily living in complex and socially varied contexts. The Socratic method will be the prevailing mode of instruction.

Elective

An interdisciplinary introductory course that explores how the intersections of gender, race, class, sexuality, and ability impact the normative roles and oppression(s) of women, queer, trans and non-binary people in our society and how they can be challenged through feminist critical practices.  We will read feminist scholarship from the past and present to learn key concepts. Students will engage with immersive activities that allow for embodied learning experiences and then write and/or present them visually and textually.

Note: This course was previously offered as an HPSS S101 topic. Students who took it during their foundation year should not enroll in this course.

Elective

An interdisciplinary introductory course that explores how the intersections of gender, race, class, sexuality, and ability impact the normative roles and oppression(s) of women, queer, trans and non-binary people in our society and how they can be challenged through feminist critical practices.  We will read feminist scholarship from the past and present to learn key concepts. Students will engage with immersive activities that allow for embodied learning experiences and then write and/or present them visually and textually.

Note: This course was previously offered as an HPSS S101 topic. Students who took it during their foundation year should not enroll in this course.

Elective

This course is designed to invite students on an exploratory journey to the basics of Buddhist history, culture, philosophy, psychology, ethics, and logic in the part of the world known as Tibet. Through the in-depth study, the students will acquire a more profound understanding of the Buddhist worldview. The course will examine Buddhism's origins, the chronology of its introduction into Tibet, and influential figures and events in its development over the past 1500 years. Students will be invited to explore fundamental Buddhist teachings and practices to achieve well-being, meditation, enlightenment, and happiness. Specific attention will be given to how Buddhist forms of compassion, meditation, and wisdom traditions can contribute to peace and happiness in a chaotic and politically conflicted world. The course will conclude with an analysis of the rapidly growing interest in Buddhism in the west, for example, its potential for neuroscientific research on mind-body connections. Note: Students should understand that this is a course exploring one of the world's great belief systems and should be viewed as a course in religious studies, not a religion course. Therefore, there will not be any form of proselytizing, and there is no expectation for students to adopt Buddhism as their belief system.

Elective

Ever feel sleepy or sleep deprived? Been to a city that never sleeps? As our immediate worlds speed faster and faster, and work becomes 24/7, this course asks what role do sleep, rest, and dreams play in our societies today? This course examines the social dimensions of resting or sleeping in different cultures across the world. It will introduce students to anthropological studies of sleep and dreaming. We will think through sleep science, psychologies related to sleep, religious stances on sleep, and the economics of sleep from a social science perspective.

As artists and designers we will also brainstorm about the ways in which sleep objects and environments affect sleep and rest. Students will produce comparative studies of sleep environments and practices across cultures. As with most anthropological courses, special attention will be paid to questions of equity, rights, and cross-cultural understandings. Contrary to popular expectation there will be no napping in this course.

Elective

Ever feel sleepy or sleep deprived? Been to a city that never sleeps? As our immediate worlds speed faster and faster, and work becomes 24/7, this course asks what role do sleep, rest, and dreams play in our societies today? This course examines the social dimensions of resting or sleeping in different cultures across the world. It will introduce students to anthropological studies of sleep and dreaming. We will think through sleep science, psychologies related to sleep, religious stances on sleep, and the economics of sleep from a social science perspective.

As artists and designers we will also brainstorm about the ways in which sleep objects and environments affect sleep and rest. Students will produce comparative studies of sleep environments and practices across cultures. As with most anthropological courses, special attention will be paid to questions of equity, rights, and cross-cultural understandings. Contrary to popular expectation there will be no napping in this course.

Elective