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Academic Catalog 2021-2022

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Art, BA

2021-2022 Edition

  • Undergraduate
    • Admission
    • Information for Entering Students
    • College Expenses
    • Academic Policies and Procedures
    • University Academics
    • College of Arts, Media and Design
      • School of Architecture
      • Art + Design
        • Art, BA
        • Design, BFA
        • Game Design, BFA
        • Media Arts, BFA
        • Studio Art, BFA
        • Behavioral Neuroscience and Design, BS
        • Business Administration and Design, BS
        • Computer Science and Design, BS
        • Computer Science and Game Development, BS
        • Computer Science and Media Arts, BS
        • Communication Studies and Graphic and Information Design, BA
        • English and Graphic and Information Design, BA
        • Game Art and Animation, BFA
        • Architectural Studies and Design, BS
        • Game Design and Music with Concentration in Music Technology, BS
        • Graphic and Information Design and Mathematics, BS
        • Journalism and Interaction Design, BS
        • Media and Screen Studies and Media Arts, BA
        • Media Arts and Communication Studies, BA
        • Theatre and Interaction Design, BA
        • Theatre and Interaction Design, BS
        • Mechanical Engineering and Design, BSME
        • Animation, Minor
        • Art, Minor
        • Art History, Minor
        • Creative Fabrication, Minor
        • Experience Design, Minor
        • Game Art, Minor
        • Game Design, Minor
        • Graphic and Information Design, Minor
        • Immersive Media, Minor
        • Interaction Design, Minor
        • Photography, Minor
        • Photojournalism, Minor
        • Video Arts, Minor
      • Communication Studies
      • School of Journalism
      • Music
      • Theatre
      • Interdisciplinary
      • Accelerated Bachelor/​Graduate Degree Programs
    • D'Amore-​McKim School of Business
    • Khoury College of Computer Sciences
    • College of Engineering
    • Bouvé College of Health Sciences
    • College of Science
    • College of Social Sciences and Humanities
    • Faculty
    • Appendix
  • College of Professional Studies Undergraduate
  • Graduate
  • Course Descriptions
  • Catalog Archives
  • Overview
  • Program Requirements
  • Plan of Study

The Bachelor of  Arts is a studio-based fine art program that offers an investigation into visual studies and various cultures, giving students a way of developing their own vision of creative practice as well as an understanding of the relationship between form and meaning. To achieve this level of consciousness around arts practice, students are offered a balance between studio courses in drawing/painting and digital media with visual studies courses that focus on the historical, theoretical, and critical interpretation of visual art. This exploration of art methods creates a more visually and conceptually astute student through making. Students’ education, experience, and training in understanding creative practices takes full advantage of the remarkable scope of the College of Arts, Media and Design. Some courses in this program are offered in locations abroad including Iceland, Ireland, Japan, and Galapagos, where students have an intensive and immersive creative experience during five-week summer sessions. Additionally, students may opt to enroll in select courses at the University of the Arts London (UAL), fine art at Central Saint Martins campus. This unique opportunity allows students to spend a semester in London while discovering a new culture. 

The visual studies concentration examines both the production and public reception of art across regions, contexts, periods, and media, foregrounding arts’ status as both a material artifact and an act of social communication. Courses reflect the active research profiles and professional experience of its distinguished faculty who all prioritize accessibility, collaboration, and cutting-edge research. Lectures and seminars take advantage of Northeastern’s proximity to area museums and cultural centers—including the Institute of Contemporary Art and the Museum of Fine Arts—and campus facilities and initiatives like Gallery 360 and the Center for the Arts. Other dynamic resources include Northeastern’s own renowned archives offering tangible case studies to consider how criticism coalesces into the historical record. Visual studies introduces students to a broad range of creative careers endemic to the fields of design, publishing, curation, conservation, and scholarship.

The Department of Art + Design uses communal studio space to train students in painting and drawing processes. The department also hosts a fabrication lab that supports a wide range of material-based research for the CAMD community. Beyond the foundation-level courses required for all students, the makerspace provides the resources for prototyping processes ranging from model making, woodworking, CAD, as well as digital fabrication through laser cutting, 3D scanning, and 3D printing.

Complete all courses listed below unless otherwise indicated. Also complete any corequisite labs, recitations, clinicals, or tools courses where specified and complete any additional courses needed beyond specific college and major requirements to satisfy graduation credit requirements.

University-Wide Requirements

All undergraduate students are required to complete the University-Wide Requirements.

BA Language Requirements

All BA students are required to complete the BA language requirements.

NUpath Requirements

All undergraduate students are required to complete the NUpath Requirements.

NUpath requirements Creative Expression/Innovation (EI), Interpreting Culture (IC), and Societies and Institutions (SI) are met through the major course requirements.

NUpath requirements Natural and Designed World (ND), Formal and Quantitative Reasoning (FQ), Analyzing and Using Data (AD), Difference and Diversity (DD), and Ethical Reasoning (ER) must be met through general electives.

Art and Design Core

Course List
Code Title Hours
Introduction
ARTF 1000Art and Design at Northeastern1
Fundamentals
ARTF 1122Color and Composition (with optional ARTF 1123)4
ARTF 1124
and ARTF 1125
Form and Structure
and Form and Structure Tools
5
ARTF 2220Movement and Time (with optional ARTF 2221)4
ARTF 2223Experience and Interaction (with optional ARTF 2224)4
Drawing Elective
ARTF 1120Observational Drawing4
or ARTF 1121 Conceptual Drawing
Art History Required
ARTH 1110Global Art and Design History: Ancient to Medieval4
ARTH 1111Global Art and Design History: Renaissance to Modern4
ARTH 2210Modern Art and Design History4
ARTH 2211Contemporary Art and Design History4
Capstone
ARTD 4530Media Arts Degree Project 14

Concentration or Electives

Complete the following concentration or the electives linked below:

  • Concentration in Visual Studies
  • Electives

Major GPA Requirement

A major GPA of 2.500 is required.

Program Requirement

129 total semester hours required


Concentration in Visual Studies

Course List
Code Title Hours
Art and Design History Electives
Courses in architectural history and media and screen studies may also be used upon approval by the chair of the Department of Art + Design.
Complete five of the following courses as long as prerequisites have been met. At least one must be at least at the 4000 level:20
ARTE 2501
Art and Design Abroad: History
ARTH 1100
Interactive Media and Society
ARTH 2212
Survey of the Still and Moving Image
ARTH 2213
Nineteenth-Century Art
ARTH 2215
History of Graphic Design
ARTH 5100
Contemporary Art Theory and Criticism
ARTH 5902
Special Topics in Art and Design History

 Electives

Course List
Code Title Hours
Arts, Media and Design Electives
Complete any five courses from the following lists as long as prerequisites have been met. At least one must be at least at the 4000 level.20
Art + Design
ARTD 2100
Narrative Basics
ARTD 2360
and ARTD 2361
Introduction to Photography
and Photo Tools
ARTD 2370
Animation Basics (with optional ARTD 2371)
ARTD 2380
Video Basics (with optional ARTD 2381)
ARTD 3460
Photography: Concept + Process
ARTD 3470
Animation 1
ARTD 3471
Virtual Environment Design
ARTD 3472
Character Design for Animation
ARTD 3473
Animation for Games
ARTD 3480
Video: Sound and Image
ARTD 4565
Photography: Visual Strategies + Context
ARTD 4570
Animation 2
ARTD 4575
Animation 3
ARTD 4660
Studio Photography
ARTD 4661
Photography: Experimental Processes
ARTE 2301
The Graphic Novel
ARTE 2500
Art and Design Abroad: Studio
ARTE 2501
Art and Design Abroad: History
ARTE 3901
Art and Design Special Topics
ARTE 4901
Special Topics in Art and Design Studio
ARTG 1250
Design Process Context and Systems
ARTG 2250
Typography 1 (with optional ARTG 2251)
ARTG 2252
Graphic Design 1
ARTH 1100
Interactive Media and Society
ARTH 1400
The Science of Art, the Art of Science
ARTH 2213
Nineteenth-Century Art
ARTH 5100
Contemporary Art Theory and Criticism
ARTS 2341
Figure Drawing
ARTS 2340
Painting Basics
ARTS 3449
Drawing in Mixed Media
Architecture
ARCH 1310
and ARCH 1311
Buildings and Cities, A Global History
and Recitation for ARCH 1310
ARCH 1350
American Architecture
ARCH 1450
Understanding Design
ARCH 2330
Architecture and the City in the Nineteenth Century
ARCH 2340
Modern Architecture
Communication Studies
COMM 1101
Introduction to Communication Studies
Game Design
GAME 1110
Games and Society
Journalism
JRNL 1150
Understanding Today’s News
Media and Screen Studies
MSCR 1220
Media, Culture, and Society
MSCR 1230
Introduction to Film Production
MSCR 2220
Understanding Media
MSCR 2336
American Film and Culture
Music
MUSC 1113
Film Music
Theatre
THTR 1101
Introduction to Theatre
THTR 1270
Introduction to Theatrical Design
University of Arts London
Optional London study abroad for fine art at Central Saint Martins, University of Arts London. Complete the following: 16
ARTS 3510
Studio Practice and Exhibition
ARTS 3520
Critical Disclosures
ARTS 3530
Studio Practice, Cross-Pathway, and External Projects

Sample Four Years, Two Co-ops in Spring/Summer 1 Plan of Study Optional  

Year 1
FallHoursSpringHoursSummer 1HoursSummer 2Hours
ARTF 10001ARTF 1124 (and ARTF 1125)4Foreign language4Elective4
ARTF 1122 (with optional ARTF 1123)4ARTF 2223 (with optional 2224)4Elective4Elective4
ARTF 2220 (with optional 2221)4ARTH 11114  
ARTH 11104Foreign language4  
ENGW 11114   
 17 16 8 8
Year 2
FallHoursSpringHoursSummer 1HoursSummer 2Hours
ARTF 1120 or 11214Co-op0Co-op0Elective4
ARTH 22104  Elective 4
Arts, media and design elective4   
Foreign language4   
EEAM 20001   
 17 0 0 8
Year 3
FallHoursSpringHoursSummer 1HoursSummer 2Hours
ARTH 22114Co-op0Co-op0Elective4
Arts, media, and design elective4  Elective4
Elective4   
Elective4   
 16 0 0 8
Year 4
FallHoursSpringHoursSummer 1HoursSummer 2Hours
Arts, media, and design elective4ARTD 45304VacationVacation
Arts, media, and design elective4Arts, media and design elective4  
Elective4Elective4  
Elective4Elective4  
 16 16 0 0
Total Hours: 130

Notes: 

Optional study abroad with University of the Arts London, based in the heart of one of the world's creative capitals, London. Students from this program will have the opportunity to spend their second spring semester in London studying fine art at Central Saint Martins.

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