Spark your creativity this summer
In the College of the Arts, summer is a perfect time to jumpstart your creativity, hone your craft, learn new artistic skills and make progress toward your degree. Deepen your educational experience and gain new perspectives on art and culture through a variety of courses in art practice, design, music, film and so much more.
Featured Courses
School of Art + Design
ART 399/410/510: CITYLAB Florence
Instructor: M. Michelle Illuminato
The course welcomes any student with a creative practice including, but not limited to, art, design, film, music, creative writing, and performance. This course is also open to transfer students to the School of Art + Design in Art Practice; for those at the beginning of their art education, they can take this as a replacement for one studio CORE course (ART 101, 102, 103). It is also open to CORE students who have not completed their three required studios (ART101, 102, 103) can take this course to replace one of those studios. This allows them to begin the fall with their sophomore studio courses. Portland Public School art teachers or other creatives who would like to take a graduate level studio course but not enroll in one of our graduate MFA programs may take this course as well. This course requires instructor approval. Email M. Michelle Illuminato (illumin@pdx.edu) with questions. Sign up for this course at the Vikings Abroad website.
Art History
ARH 426U: African Art
Instructor: Gitti Salami
Start Date: 06/21/2021 End Date: 07/15/2021
Examination of selected African art forms, styles, and traditions. Emphasis on the context of the art and artist and their relationship to politics and society in African history. May be taken only once for credit. Open to non-majors. Prerequisite: upper-division standing.
Art Practice
ART 282: Intro to Painting Topics: Mural Painting A-Z
ART 393 Intermediate Painting Topics: Mural Painting A-Z
Instructor: Una Kim
Start Date: 06/21/2021 End Date: 07/15/2021
This course investigates a wide range of hands-on experiences involved in mural, investigating the mural as a vehicle for artistic expression and practicing the components of public art. Emphasizes on awareness of art and visual culture in public through experience. Includes from site exploration to budget building as well as executing a mural as a group. Materials provided and Audit available
ART 399 SPST: Upcycled Fashion
Instructor: Ophir El-Boher
Start Date: 06/21/2021 End Date: 07/16/2021
The course will cover the why, what, who, where, and how of Upcycled Fashion, basic skills for sewing and construction, and a dive into the design-process for reclaimed textiles. Starting with personal closet cast-offs, students will develop an original upcycled design to be replicated by others.
ART 399 SPST: Drawing Nature
Instructor: Rachel Hibbard
Start Date: 06/21/2021 End Date: 07/15/2021
How will drawing nature develop your relationship with the world and your art? Cultivating a relationship with art and the world through a variety of drawing techniques and world perspectives. Rooting in our place and moment, each participant will map their own set of approaches to nature, defining terminology and a set of practices for their own exploration, sharing these results with their colleagues. By the end of the session each student will have a log of their experiments, observational sketchbook, an activity for another entity (human or not) to participate in, and a series of 10 to 20 finished drawings. Each student will build a digital portfolio in Google sites for the class to share. Class time will be spent both in the field and in synchronous zoom sessions, where project discussion, presentations and demos can take place.
ART 410 Topics: The Artist Studio
Instructor: Kendra Larson
Start Date: 07/19/2021 End Date: 08/12/2021
What will my studio practice look like after school?" This class discusses and aims to answer this challenging question. Through a series of virtual studio visits, artist talks, and exercises students will have the chance to look at some workspace options. Artists will share their unique paths and help answer questions. A reading and reflective writing project will help students set goals for themselves. As a class we will research, share, make plans, and, inevitably, build community in the process. Access to the internet will be required this term.
ART 510 Topics: This Moment Now - A Creative Studio
Instructor: M. Michelle Illuminato
Start Date: 06/21/2021 End Date: 07/15/2021
Breath in. Breath out. Notice and pay attention to where you are. Reflect on the ‘year like none other’ and begin to imagine reemergence. How might this attention, this pause, help recharge your creativity? As artists and teachers, we have challenged ourselves to hold space for our students in a “year like no other.” We have expanded our understandings, we’ve shifted and supported, we’ve wrangled new technologies, and discovered small and large ways to shape more inclusive, caring spaces for our students. We will think of the class as a pause. We will take this moment to reflect and recharge! We will give time and focus on “this moment now” and ways to use what we are experiencing to foster new ideas and jumpstart a personal body of work. We will work on feeding our own creativity. We will start where we are and deepen our own creative practice in whatever medium we use from painting to performance or from sculpture to social practice. Students will bring their knowledge into the classroom and help shape the conversations, critique, activities and growth of the class community. This may lead us to developing support materials for group use or simply a forum to discuss how we welcome students in the fall. The class will divide the class-time between meetings on Zoom, smaller discussions, studio visits, and independent studio work in your own studios. While this is a remote course, there may be an opportunity to have face-to-face studio visits during the term. Participation in this course requires instructor approval. Please contact Michelle Illuminato at illumin@pdx.edu to gain approval.
Design
DES 399 SPST: Independent Product Design
Instructor: Kristine Evans
Start Date: 06/22/2021 End Date: 08/12/2021
Combine your art, craft, D.I.Y. and design skills to create and launch your own collection of cohesive products. This course is an exploration of design markets, skill share, and making. Through presentations, discussions, and research, students will develop a deeper understanding of working as an independent designer, artist, and entrepreneur.
School of Film
Film 131: Film Analysis
Instructor: Ben Mendelsohn, Assistant Professor of Digital Cultures
Start Date: 07/19/2021 End Date: 08/15/2021
How do movies work? Why do they make us feel so good and cry so hard? Learn how in this introductory course! May be applied to the Arts and Letters distribution area and Fine and Performing Arts.
Film 370U: Film and Politics
Instructor: Jennifer Ruth, Professor of Film Studies
Start Date: 06/21/2021 End Date: 07/18/2021
May be applied to the Arts and Letters distribution area and Fine and Performing Arts; part of the Junior Popular Culture Cluster requirement.
FILM 370U: Contemporary Animation
Instructor: Rob Ribera, Adjunct Assistant Professor of Film
Start Date: 06/21/2021 End Date: 07/18/2021
Learn about Disney and Studio Ghibli! May be applied to the Arts and Letters distribution area and Fine and Performing Arts; part of the Junior Popular Culture Cluster requirement.
FILM 384U: Film Noir
Instructor: Kristin Hole, Associate Professor of Film Studies
Start Date: 07/19/2021 End Date: 08/15/2021
The dark, gritty side of classical Hollywood and all the neo-noir it spawned. May be applied to the Arts and Letters distribution area and Fine and Performing Arts; part of the Junior Popular Culture Cluster requirement.
School of Music & Theater
MUS 355: Jazz History
Instructor: George Colligan
Start Date: 06/21/2021 End Date: 08/15/2021
Examines the development of jazz from its African and European roots and its origins in New Orleans to its fluorescence in Chicago and New York. Covers period from about 1900 to 1960. Focuses on important musicians and major musical styles.
MUS 360: The Guitar: History & Music
Instructor: Jesse McCann
Start Date: 06/21/2021 End Date: 08/15/2021
Explores the origins of the guitar by examining its history, repertoire and performers. The course will look at all aspects of the guitar's history from the related ancient Sumerian stringed instruments to the modern-day electric guitar.
MUS 362: History of Rock Music II
Instructor: Joel Bluestone
Start Date: 06/21/2021 End Date: 08/15/2021
Traces the history and development of a popular music style in the United States, Great Britain, and other parts of the world since 1970.
MUS 363: The Music of the Beatles
Instructor: Jelena Schiff
Start Date: 06/21/2021 End Date: 08/15/2021
Study of the development of the Beatles’ music from the late 1950’s through the early 1970’s. Students will gain a deeper understanding of the music through elementary musical analysis of form, harmony, and recording studio techniques. The cultural context from which their music emerged and their significant influence on popular culture will be examined.
MUS 364: Modern Music Technology
Instructor: Anwyn Willette
Start Date: 06/21/2021 End Date: 08/15/2021
An in-depth examination of digital technologies used for creating and distributing music, and the social impact of these technologies.
MUS 369: Music & Social Change
Instructor: Ed Higgins
Start Date: 06/21/2021 End Date: 08/15/2021
Examines the connection between music and social/political movements in the United States, with special emphasis on the tumultuous social, economic, and political challenges of the 20th Century. Students will identify the music of social change, its relationship with history, diversity, and social justice, and its place in the broader context of American Studies.