Paris College of Art
Spring Semester Elective 2023
12 - 19 credits
Spend a semester immersed in the lively creative scene of Paris! The SAI semester program at PCA is geared toward students interested in art and design, and is open to students both with and without previous experience. Visiting students select from a variety of art and design concentrations, usually aligned with their major, and select any elective courses from the array of art, design, management, and humanities offerings for a total of 12 - 19 US credits.
Application: closed Oct 1
Apps accepted on a rolling basis, and after deadline as space permits
Application Requirements
Complete online application
Personal statement (300-500 words)
Official transcript
Portfolio (see Academics)
Passport scan (photo page)
Digital photo (passport style)
EU privacy consent form
Updates
- Design your ideal schedule
- Take part in art and design events around Paris
- Study alongside some of the most creative young artists in Europe
Program Dates
January 8, 2023 – May 13, 2023
Eligibility Requirements
Age: 18+
Academic Year: Sophomore (2nd year) or above.
Cumulative GPA:* 2.75 (on a 4.0 scale)
* contact SAI if you don’t meet requirements
Art History
Communication Design
Fashion Design
Film Art
Fine Arts
Foundation
Interior Design
Language
Liberal Studies
Photography
Communication Design
Fashion Design
Film Art
Fine Arts
Foundation
Interior Design
Language
Liberal Studies
Photography
Going beyond modernist categories, a new type of artwork was developed in the second half of the 20th century - defined by the ways in which places, spaces and materials are used. Site-specific art intersected with land art, process art, performance art, conceptual art, installation art and public art. These various artistic practices can be seen as variations on the concept of Gesamtkunstwerk - a ‘total work of art’. Marcel Duchamp’s ready-mades and Kurt Schwitters’ Merzbau drew attention to the space in which the work was shown, while Minimalism established space as the work in itself. Since then, stimulating considerable controversy, installations have been challenging perceptions of the ephemeral and of the surrounding space. They have provided material for reflection on the relationships between the space and the work of art, as well as on the mechanisms of the art world. The organization of space is based on the artist's choice. It determines the dialectical relationship between the artist and the spectator. The interactive relationship between art and life - established through an appropriate transformation and articulation of space - began an artistic mode that was something entirely apart. This course will address historic and contemporary installations by considering the role of space. We will discuss space, materials and site, focusing on several themes: enclosure of space; sculpture in the expanded field; public/private space; overloaded space; interactive space; immersive space; and construction/deconstruction.
Contact Hours: 45
This course will explore, analyze and compare Japanese, Scandinavian, North American, South American and Mediterranean architectures. Students will work toward the more focused goal of situating design and architecture practices within larger intellectual frameworks by exploring the indissoluble connections linking ideas and the products of human culture. This is achieved by introducing students to texts representing and describing various and critical methodologies applicable to architecture and design, which will be used to critique and analyze visual materials. Students will learn to understand the inner argument and logic of a text, to think more systematically and critically and to write more effectively.
Contact Hours: 45
“The history of photography has been less a journey than a growth. Its movement has not been linear and consecutive, but centrifugal. Photography, and our understanding of it, has spread from a center; it has, by infusion, penetrated our consciousness. Like an organism, photography was born whole. It is in our progressive discovery of it that its history lies.” John Szarkoswki, who directed the New York MOMA photography department from 1962 until 1991, concluded in 1966 his introduction to “The Photographers’ Eye” with this paragraph. Confirmed by time in its forward looking accuracy, it also hints at the ambition involved in any survey of photography since 1960. This course will nonetheless take on the challenge, using an approach combining chronology and themes. Extensive focus will be placed on looking at photographs. The course will proceed chronologically and each class will explore a specific theme in depth. Themes are chosen for their general interest. To complete the perspective, works extending beyond the period alongside which they are introduced will be discussed as well.
Contact Hours: 45
This course will present the works of those artists who have, at different moments, and for diverse reasons, sought to shock and anger the general public, the art establishment, and even the media. How and why is an artistâs work declared obscene? Who makes the decision? Specific incidents will be examined to see how they developed by exploring the different factors involved. How they concluded will also be scrutinized. This series of lectures is concerned with the interfaces between art and the public, and art and the art establishment. It will evoke the often mutual lack of comprehension that can exist between artists and the mass media, as well as the problematic and troubled interfaces between art and society.
Contact Hours: 45
This course will present works by artists who have – at different times and for diverse reasons –shocked and angered the general public, the art establishment and the mass media. Specific incidents will be examined in order to understand how these incidents occurred, with attention given to the different factions involved. For example, why have some works of art been considered obscene? Who made that decision? The way these incidents concluded (and any subsequent impacts) will also be scrutinized. The course will focus on controversies about individual works that have ‘violated’ moral norms and taboos; challenged generally accepted art standards; or criticized the established social, economic or political order. Interfaces between artists and the public, and between artists and the art establishment, will be analysed. We will also look at the mutual lack of comprehension that often exists between artists and the mass media and how their relationship has evolved. This series of lectures will examine how the concepts of acceptable or unacceptable are developed and maintained, , focusing on several themes: transgressing aesthetic norms; conceptual ruptures; sex, nudity and pornography; destabilization of social and political order; subversive photography; destruction and vandalism.
Contact Hours: 45
Coming soon.
Contact Hours: 60
2.0 Credits
Communication Design | Course #: FCMD 0204 | Open
Pre-requisite: Typography I or equivalent course.
The second part of this yearlong course builds on the fundamental typographical forms and functions acquired during Typography 1. The course extends the vocabulary and approaches more complex problems related to typographic hierarchy, context, sequence and scale. A deeper exploration of typography behaves across media will be the opportunity for students to experiment on complex typographical systems, implementing applications in private or public space, environment, or digital time-based projects.
Contact Hours: 45
2.0 Credits
Communication Design | Course #: FCMD 0221 | Open
Pre-requisite: Graphic Design I, or equivalent course.
This course is the second part of year long course for sophomore students studying Communication Design.
Contact Hours: 45
2.0 Credits
Communication Design | Course #: FCMD 0236 | Open
Pre-requisite: Digital Imaging and Multimedia or equivalent
This studio course requires a basic knowledge of computer graphics and is centered on multimedia authoring software. The focus is authorship, in that more so than a formgiver, the designer acts as a content creator familiar with advanced concepts in interactive multimedia. Students are encouraged to conceptualize, design, prepare and program a multimedia project for eventual publication on the internet.
Contact Hours: 45
3.0 Credits
Communication Design | Course #: FCMD 0301 | Open
Pre-requisite: Sophomore Core studios. Semester 1 or equivalent are prerequisite for semester 2.
This junior level studio course builds on sophomore year's curriculum by contextualizing general design theory and practice to each student's areas of interest. Social responsibility, sustainability, intellectual property, ethics and business practices are introduced into the design process. Research and ideation are integral components of this class, as it prepares students for their senior thesis project. Students apply this to projects for an industry sponsor, NGO/non-profit organization, or competition.
Contact Hours: 45
This course will explore the large format printed media, studying, more specifically, typographical composition in Graphic Design. Traditional and experimental printing techniques are employed. A deeper reflection on how the combination of different scales and printing techniques impacts the Design choices will be the center of the class.
Contact Hours: 45
This studio course explores the use of type and image in spatial contexts: retail design, exhibition design, signage or way-finding systems. It considers the tools and skills of typography, color, images and composition in relation to the human experience of three-dimensional space.
Contact Hours: 45
This course provides a basic understanding of how to conceptualize and execute sound design across a variety of media including Web Sites, Installation Art, Games, Advertising, and Film. Students will be required to learn techniques in order to create original sound design elements at an intermediate level. This course addresses basic concepts pertaining to sound and digital audio; while also exploring how sound impacts human perception. Emphasis will be placed on learning practical techniques in creating original sound assets for integration with other media.
Contact Hours: 45
This course will question the designer's position in contemporary society. How can design provide methodologies that foster positive change and tackle environmental, social, and political issues? In order to address these questions, Design must move beyond consumer demands, towards a more holistic and responsible approach, embracing ethical, cultural, and humanitarian values. Within this framework, students will undertake research as well as develop projects so as to investigate topics such as (but not limited to) improving health and wellbeing, promoting gender equality and radical inclusivity, developing more sustainable cities and communities, encouraging more responsible consumption and production, and tackling climate change.
Contact Hours: 45
2.0 Credits
Communication Design | Course #: FCMD 0342 | Open
Pre-requisite: "Type: Core Concept and Design," or equivalent.
This course is aimed to equip students with a deeper understanding of typography, from its design to its composition. Typography is everywhere: publications (printed or digital), packaging, wayfinding systems, advertising etc. The class will focus on how handling, in detail, typographical compositions applied to these different media and in different sizes (from the very small to the very big). The line, the paragraph, the page and the multi-page product will be studied. A specific vocabulary related to deep typographical concept will be acquired: (not exhaustively) leading, kerning, tracking, hyphenation, white spaces, break characters etc. An historical overview of the evolution of the typography will be also covered, supported by lectures on case studies.
Contact Hours: 45
3.0 Credits
Communication Design | Course #: FCMD 0350 | Open
Pre-requisite: Type: Core Concept and Design or equivalent
The course studies how brands establish their territory, how they grow, prosper, adapt, evolve, stumble and bounce back. Topics we will explore include: naming, logo design, corporate identity, advertising, marketing, merchandising. During the course, students will approach and discuss how to support the online presence of a brand. At the end of the course students will be able to analyse existing brands, evaluate their performance, and propose repositioning strategies that take into account the latest trends.
Contact Hours: 45
For high end brands, printed material, and in particular books, are extremely valuable. These books are not sold, most of the time they are sent, given to business partners, journalists, publicists, in order to advertise or re-position the brand, and to offer a renewed and creative vision. The purpose is to spark interest. These objects stay with the brand over time, marking a moment, but also looking into the future of the brand itself. They will be published on the occasion of an anniversary or the launch of a new series of products, or a seasonal collection⦠Starting from the analysis of a brand and its values, the students will be asked to create a book-object in coherence with the values of the brand and translating the brand concept into a printed product. The layout and the materiality of the book will exist through a tight dialogue: typography and image editing will be as important as the choice of the paper or the binding, in order to create an innovative and surprising concept for a book. Basic knowledge of InDesign and basic skills in typography and layout composition are needed.
Contact Hours: 45
This class is an initiation to the techniques of traditional printmaking, specifically, press related techniques. In this course students will learn about the printing press and its multiple possibilities of image making, learning how to be autonomous in the studio and gain confidence with the use of the printing press. This semester we cover the following techniques: Monotypes, Linoleum Printmaking, Embossing, and Intaglio Acetate Etching.
Contact Hours: 45
2.0 Credits
Fashion Design | Course #: FFAS 0206 | Open
Pre-requisite: foundation core studios - semester 1 is prerequisite for semester 2.
This course teaches fashion hand drawing techniques mainly from live fashion models; first it will focus on body proportions, body details and body movement to later concentrate on the stylized fashion figure, allowing students to synthesize and create their own ideas. Students will analyze the behavior of the fabric on the body, how different types of clothing hangs and reacts to movement. Volume and perspective will be a subject of study through lights-shadow and forth-shortening techniques, which help students to situate their fashion figures in the space and prepare them to design clothes as soft sculpturesÂÂ, a bridge from 2D to 3D.
Contact Hours: 45
2.0 Credits
Fashion Design | Course #: FFAS 0211 | Open
Pre-requisite: Foundation core studios - Semester 1 is prerequisite for semester 2.
Students are trained to fully explore and exploit various multi- and interdisciplinary sources in order to creatively apply investigative research to a conceptual design process. Students use sketchbooks as documentary tools and through market research gain awareness of fashion and design products and market categories as well as with current issues in international fashion. The second semester includes different methods and conceptual techniques for implementing effective design directions.
Contact Hours: 45
This course increases students knowledge of natural and synthetic fibers, fabrics, and materials as well as the range and application of textiles to the special requirements of clothing production. Students will learn the basics of hand and machine sewing, understanding how to properly manipulate the textiles to create proper garments and accessories with proper finishing methods. Students are given an overview of the textile and fiber markets, including fiber identification, knowledge of yarns, and fabric constructions. The historical background of different textiles is examined as well as contemporary developments and the changing values assigned to different textiles.
Contact Hours: 45
3.0 Credits
Fashion Design | Course #: FFAS 0241 | Open
Pre-requisite: Foundation core studios - Semester 1 is prerequisite for semester 2.
This course introduces the 3D form, fabrics and basic garment construction. Through the practice of draping muslin on the mannequin, fabrics workshops and analysis students learn how 2D materials become 3D forms. The foundation of pattern shapes: bodices, skirts, sleeves, and collars are covered as are essential technical skills and garment assembly techniques. Weekly briefs encourage intensive 3D research and exploration of a variety of methods and techniques. The course initiates a flexible, experimental and critical approach towards materials, volumes, and shapes from which design concepts emanate in an individual, personal, problem-solving process.
Contact Hours: 45
3.0 Credits
Fashion Design | Course #: FFAS 0298 | Open
Pre-requisite: Foundation core studios - Semester 1 is prerequisite for semester 2.
Students develop an understanding of professional pattern making, metric pattern cutting, and drafting skills. They learn about the architecture of garments and the technical implications of flat construction for the fit and construct basic patterns for skirts, trousers, bodices, dresses, shirts, sleeves, hoods and collars. In the second semester, more advanced methods and techniques are explored. Individual design projects encourage students to experiment with patterns and construct the garments.
Contact Hours: 45
This course is a series of workshop to build necessary skills for any student wishing to work in the fashion industry, from developing a business plan, to building a collection, to forecasting trends, etc. Different professionals will come in to deliver intensive workshop format sessions over the course of a semester. This course is open to any student who is interested in the fashion industry but do not have technical sewing, patterning, etc. skills.
Contact Hours: 45
3.0 Credits
Fashion Design | Course #: FFAS 0321 | Open
Pre-requisite: Sophomore core studios - Semester 1 is prerequisite for semester 2.
Junior Design Studio integrates draping and pattern making as a means of achieving the students own designs and realizing them as finished garments. Focus is on the process of executing a design concept from its 2D form, including layout, cutting, construction, fitting, and finishes. Through technical projects, students continue to develop their skills. In the second semester students follow professional sample procedures to develop a garment from an original design under the direction of the instructor and a external designer critic. At the end of the semester they produce a 3 look collection that serves as preparation and practice for collection line-up and time management.
Contact Hours: 45
2.0 Credits
Fashion Design | Course #: FFAS 0331 | Open
Pre-requisite: Sophomore core studios - Semester 1 is prerequisite for semester 2.
This class focuses on digital tools for fashion design and fashion illustration. Students use Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign to prepare concept boards and collection concepts completed with scanned sources and original artwork. Exploring a variety of digital design and presentation methods, students will focus on developing new design concepts for defined niche markets; project briefs will involve research and style analysis of a French couture house or a European luxury brand. Applying digital communication and presentation skills, students will develop a new contemporary vision for an innovative product range and their own graphic identity presented in a professional PowerPoint presentation.
Contact Hours: 45
2.0 Credits
Fashion Design | Course #: FFAS 0333 | Open
Pre-requisite: Semester 1 is prerequisite for semester 2.
This course teaches students how to generate and develop various highly individual design concepts related to specific, identified market levels and product segments. Different principles of collection work and collection concepts are applied to set project briefs. Methods of presentation in relation to the fashion design portfolio enhance appropriate visuals for the fashion design process. Observational fashion, design, and trend research sketchbooks form part of this course, as well as external project briefs, which are reviewed and assessed by professionals from the French fashion and clothing industry (e.g. Designer Critic Project).
Contact Hours: 45
3.0 Credits
Film Art | Course #: FILM 0130 | Open
Pre-requisite: Foundations of Media Production, or by permission of department Chair
This course builds on the students foundational skills and practices acquired with DSLR camera operations, Adobe Premiere editing, sound mixing, and software for image manipulating. Additional training in sound-pickup is reinforced and expanded, with the use of lavalieres, shotgun microphones and wireless mics under a variety of real-world conditions. Using these expanded skills and training, students will have the opportunity to use their own diverse artistic voices to produce creative visions and compelling narratives that could include fiction, non-fiction and animated productions. Students also learn how audio-visual production is a collaborative art form while understanding the importance of individual work. This is a required course for Film Art majors, and is an elective for other majors.
Contact Hours: 45
3.0 Credits
Film Art | Course #: FILM 0140 | Open
Pre-requisite: Required materials include an SD card and a portable hard drive.
This is an introductory course on lighting techniques for video and film productions. Students create practical lighting scenarios in studio and outdoor environments, using lights, filters, in-camera special effects and mood setting techniques to improve shot composition and camera movement. Via assigned projects, hands-on practice, class discussions, lectures, readings and screenings, students learn how to develop a cinematic look / mood and use lights and colors to help tell stories. This is a required course for Film Art majors, and an elective for other majors.
Contact Hours: 45
Students are introduced to basic photography using color materials. Through a year-long study, they learn to master camera controls and film exposure in the format of their choice. Ambient and artificial lighting as well as their impact on various emulsions are examined with an eye towards producing high quality digital color prints, color C-prints and transparencies. Emphasis will be on developing a personal approach and vision using color materials. Exposure to historical antecedents, contemporary readings and criticism are integrated into the course.
Contact Hours: 45
This production class will explore the film-essay. Film critic Alexandre Astruc created the term camera-stylo in 1948 to suggest a new means of writing through cinema, in which the camera would serve as a pen, creating arguments, meditation and inquiries. Film essays are neither straight documentaries nor fictional narratives but are usually a hybrid of different forms and tend to be driven by theme rather than plot. Students will propose and produce three short film essays due the 7th, 10th and 15th weeks of the semester. Students will also pitch to the class and will engage in class critiques. Film essay screenings will be paired with written essays in order for students to consider how these media can inform each other.
Contact Hours: 45
4.0 Credits
Film Art | Course #: FILM 0250 | Open
Pre-requisite: Prerequisite: Cinema Lighting
Cinematography literally means to record movement. This course will introduce students to the basic craft of recording movement, from a theoretical and aesthetical perspective. Through studio-led assignments, students will gain knowledge of mid-range video cameras and light meters. Class screenings, discussions and readings will ensure that students are developing an understanding of how to evoke emotions through the use of composition, colour, texture, lighting and camera movements. Focusing on the contributions of outstanding cinematographers, students will gain a deeper understanding of the visual styles and techniques that can be used to create meaning. The class assumes no prior knowledge about this craft but will ensure that students master the basic technical aspects of the job whilst also developing an eye for creating compelling images. In so doing, students will begin to appreciate the power of images and how they can be used to guide audiences in a desired direction. Students are encouraged to shoot as much as possible outside of class time to begin honing their craft and start developing a distinct style.
Contact Hours: 60
This class will take students beyond what was covered in Media Production I. Focusing on two personal projects, the class will be divided between lectures, lab time and field trips. Part of the class will be dedicated to working on how to present and thereafter pitch a project. Whether developing a narrative fiction film, an installation piece, or anything in-between, students will learn how to put together a compelling artistic dossier whilst understanding the importance of creating a 'narrative' in order to better present their work to potential producers and/or collaborators. The class will also focus on the importance of location and architecture in film. Tracing their use in the history of film, students will begin to understand how they can be used creatively to convey meaning about a situation while also giving crucial contextual information to the viewer.
Contact Hours: 45
This class will introduce students to the craft of 2D animation. Students will write, design and produce a short animated film whilst getting to grips with the various steps needed to successfully complete a short animated film. Beginning with the creation of flip-books, students will be encouraged to mix medias and incorporate live action, stop motion and any other skill acquired in their studio classes.
Contact Hours: 45
In this course, students research and develop a personal three dimensional language while gaining fundamental skills and learning how to use basic materials (plaster, clay, wood, plastic, metal, cardboard etc). Through assignments, students develop an understanding of volume, structure, form, and space. They will explore the relationships of ideas to materials and assembling techniques. With this knowledge, students gain the confidence necessary to develop their ideas and personal projects.
Contact Hours: 45
3.0 Credits
Fine Arts | Course #: FFAR 0202 | Open
Pre-requisite: Foundation Core studios/2D Studio I
Working away from the stretched canvas to different structures and surfaces, exploring scale and more site-specific projects, introducing the notion of space within a 2D context, this course will address in class systematically formal painting issues, i.e.; texture, mark, scale, color, composition etc. These issues will accompany important themes in Contemporary Art without replacing them.
This undergraduate painting course aims to enable each student to pursue their ideas in and around painting in all its forms in the most committed, imaginative and experimental way. Work may manifest itself in a wide variety of different mediums and materials. This course engages with and contributes to the change and development in the expanded field of art. Although its core concern is with practice, it promotes the hybrid nature of current art practices by exploring the boundaries of, and the interface between, art and critical ideas. Furthermore this class aims to develop the individualization of the students' pictorial language.
Contact Hours: 45
3.0 Credits
Fine Arts | Course #: FFAR 0206 | Open
Pre-requisite: Foundation Core studios/Sophomore Sculpture 1
Following the first semesters discussions on independent practice, the spring semester will focus on strengthening students personal artistic language and ability to locate and isolate relevant research topics either through intuitive, logical or thematic thinking. Sculpture will be approached as a process of materializing and actualizing connection to Spaces and Objects (including politics, humans, histories...) and will reassess classical connotations of sculptural form by opening them to a wider range of issues coming from video, architecture, document and research approaches to art-making.
Contact Hours: 45
3.0 Credits
Fine Arts | Course #: FFAR 0208 | Open
Pre-requisite: Foundation Core studios/Sophomore Drawing I
This course is designed to build on existing technical knowledge and skills, facilitating a more focused approach to the relationship between creative technology and practice. The course seeks to explore drawing within contemporary fine art practice. The workshops will focus on the process of drawing as concept, drawing as subject matter, drawing to create or define context, drawing as source and resource to develop a personal expressive language.
The aims of the course are to extend advanced and technical knowledge, to encourage a broad range of unfamiliar materials, process and to facilitate experimentation. Research methods will be introduced to support your projects and to encourage a critical approach/response to ideas. Instruction is delivered through studio sessions, site work, teaching events and demonstrations, and coordinates thematically with other coursework in the sophomore year curriculum.
Contact Hours: 45
2.0 Credits
Fine Arts | Course #: FFAR 0210 | Open
Pre-requisite: Foundation Core studios/Sophomore Video 1
The video course is organized as a creative workshop, where students are encouraged to engage quickly in a personal research. A strong involvement is necessary to achieve any 4D project including in class tutorials and independent work. Based on the acquired technical skills from the fall semester, this course will continue to develop filming, recording and editing tools, based on the students personal research and accumulated images. Interactive software such as Max/ msp /jitter or Isadora will be introduced allowing temporal modifications and arrangements. Prerequisites : Foundation Core studios/Moving Image 1
Contact Hours: 45
3.0 Credits
Fine Arts | Course #: FFAR 0306 | Open
Pre-requisite: Sophomore year sculpture/Junior Sculpture 1
This course aims make aware students of certain issues in contemporary sculpture and gives them the technical and conceptual means to develop a more personal language and identity. Students are encouraged to experiment with different approaches, media and concepts and continue to explore technical skills necessary to conceiving and executing sculptural work. Over the course of the semester students are encouraged to develop and pursue a personal sensibility within their artistic research.
Contact Hours: 45
3.0 Credits
Fine Arts | Course #: FFAR 0310 | Open
Pre-requisite: Sophomore Core Studios/Studio Concepts 1
The Studio Concepts course challenges and encourages the students to explore the different creative processes and contemporary artistic practices. Open to research all media ranging from painting, drawing to photography and video, from objects, sculpture to installations and any un-familiar propositions, the students may experience and develop their ideas that emerge spontaneously out of experimentation and process. Through research and reference the students need to justify and document their ideas and proposals. The projects will include concepts and process; develop context and ideas.
The aim of the studio concept course is to encourage and enable students to create an individual and critical approach/response to ideas and tasks, spanning all disciplines and to assure an underlying connection to the student's construction and deconstruction of their chosen areas and personal practice.
Contact Hours: 45
3.0 Credits
Fine Arts | Course #: FFAR 0314 | Open
Pre-requisite: Sophomore Core Studios & Digital skills
The spring course will introduce students on the various concepts, methodologies and tools within the context of live video production, live performance and interactive installations. Students will approach the different possible temporal modalities of broadcast image: real time, deferred, linear or disruptive continuity and the influence of these temporal modalities on the space and place of the audience. Students will be introduced to the reference software max/msp/jitter, a graphical programming environment dedicated to the processing of media images, sounds and data.
Contact Hours: 45
Today, textiles are being used in a greater measure on the art scene: the embroidered canvases of Ghada Amer, the installations of Annette Messager, the knitted rock from Andy Holden or the patchworks of Tracey Emin, are a few examples of this innovative use of textiles. This course proposes to explore textiles as a medium to translate fine arts or design projects. Whether your field of interest is surface pattern, imagery, construction in space, mass, volume, sculpture, you will be taken through experimentation and technical instructions, such as hand and machine knitting, weaving, dyeing and various treatments, to develop a strong personal project. Individual assessment throughout your research will lead you to propose daring textile solutions as an alternative means of expression or design.
Contact Hours: 45
3.0 Credits
Fine Arts | Course #: FFAR 0318 | Open
Pre-requisite: Sophomore year painting/Painting Interactions 1
In order to evolve and discover new pictorial horizons painting today must remain open to the possibility of a dialogue with the wide range of multidisciplinary influences that are available. Where once the field of exploration was defined by the rigueur and strict dictates of a formal training, the strength of painting today lies in its flexibility to use such a training and adapt to the influences of other 2D and 3D disciplines and the pictorial possibilities that they offer as art experience. The possibility to create an art experience through research, experimentation and interaction are the key components in the junior year in painting. With this as a core component the dynamics of painting are explored through a variety of set projects designed to stimulate the individual imagination.
Contact Hours: 45
3.0 Credits
Fine Arts | Course #: FFAR 0322 | Open
Pre-requisite: Print Matters: Introduction
Print Matters: Advanced is a experimental laboratory destined for advanced students working in any field of art and design. The aim of this studio is to develop concept by the manipulation of technicals tools. Students will be able to work on personal projects while discovering new techniques and mixing media. Printmaking is a vast field in fine art limited only by our own imagination. From Intaglio printing (as etching, engraving, drypoint...) passing from relief techniques (woodcut, linocut...), to planographic ones (as monotype, silkscreen), alternative processes (carborundum, printing on fabric), all the combinations are possible. Students will be encouraged to mix digital and mechanical process too. With this aim in mind, initiations to photo-emulsion silkscreen or photoengraving will be given.
Contact Hours: 45
This course aims to develop collaboration and visual conversation between the students and their living spaces outside the school’s studios. In direct resonance with their practices and center of interest, the students will be encouraged to find particular places in the city. Between a simple street, a park, a supermarket, a hairdresser, a bakery, or any public space around the school, they need to develop creative communication between themselves, the city, and the people. The outcomes will be presented on-site and in situ. Projects can take the form of a performance, dance, posters, drawings, or interventions in space, such as videos.
Contact Hours: 45
What is performance art? Exploring the body and live-media in art. What is the meaning of the term performance today? For many artists, it's attitude is an integral part of their working process, with a range of expressive means: from painting to installation, video to text. This course will investigate ideas related to performance in the context of art. Together, we will experiment and delimit thinking around âperformativityâ, technology, and subjectivity via presentations, games, exercises and visits to live events. The aim of this course is to explore and understand how the body (human and non-human) can be used as a tool for investigation, improvisation, and documentation. Students on the course are active in their learning. You will be introduced to key subjects and issues with examples of performances, followed by practical workshops where you will work together to develop and experiment through themes of music, movement, language, technology, liveness and collectiveness. You will then be invited to test your own ideas with practical and conceptual support from the group. You will develop critical, creative and producing skills in order to challenge what performance can be, what it can do in the world, and how it might connect ideas, practices and communities.
Contact Hours: 45
This course is designed to explore multiple facets of the art of collage within contemporary fine arts practice. Through a series of workshops, the student will be led to focus on different aspects of collage, and the act of creating and experimenting with ordinary, everyday elements taken out of context and used artistically. The aim of the course is to encourage experimentation over a broad range of materials and processes, exploring a multitude of expressive possibilities in the medium of collage. This course will be developed by a series of project assignments, each focusing on one or several aspects of collage. The assignments will propose specific concepts that the students will be asked to assimilate and develop through their work. These concepts will provide the artistic and theoretical framework thus serving to guide the students’ experimentation. Subject matter, choice of material, as well as aspects of process (2D, 3D, computer-generated…) will often remain open, so as to foster the student’s personal expression and the development of her or his own visual language.
Contact Hours: 45
2.0 Credits
Fine Arts | Course #: FFAR 0335 | Open
Pre-requisite: Sophomore year sculpture
This course will focus on the making of sculptural form and installation work with clay, in the art context, and shall encourage the use of varied mediums and materials to combine with clay. It is based on the exploration of different subject matters and the acquisitions of technical skills. This second semester will be focusing on production of sculptural or installation works
The program is set up to help each student to develop a personal vision through sculpture and installation in clay: - By discussing their motivations and contextualizing their work. - By developing their abilities to choose the most suitable technique and the most appropriate medium to use for a project.
Contact Hours: 30
This Painting Studio course is meant as an experimentation beyond the traditional framework associated with painting (canvas, paint, exhibition). The studio course builds upon painting skills but above all encourages experimentation and improvisation with other forms and techniques: collage/assemblage, installation, video, performance, sound, etc... Emphasis will be on developing a personal direction. Through group and individual discussions around works as well as museum and gallery visits and presentations, we will consider painting in contemporary fine arts practices.
Contact Hours: 45
3.0 Credits
Fine Arts | Course #: FFAR 0418 | Open
Pre-requisite: Painting at Large I
Painting at Large is meant to build upon diverse knowledge(s) and skills and to encourage using a broad range of unfamiliar materials and processes. Emphasis is on experimenting with myriad media and formats - collage/assemblage, installation, video, performance, sound, etc. - and developing a personal direction. Through group and individual discussions around works and museum and gallery visits, we will consider painting in contemporary fine arts practices. Research methods will be introduced progressively to encourage critical approaches to ideas.
Contact Hours: 45
3.0 Credits
Fine Arts | Course #: FFAR 0442 | Open
Pre-requisite: Print Matters: Introduction and Print Matters: Advanced
This printmaking course is reserved to students with a strong background in printmaking who wish to develop a personal project, but still need the workshop environment for technical and academic support. The student will have to submit a project based research proposal to the faculty and should be able to work independently during the scheduled classes alongside his peers. As you develop your project, with guidance, the actual outcome can embrace any format and form of printmaking techniques and should reflect its relationship to your personal practice. In addition, you will be supported through individual tutorials and group critiques which are aimed at encouraging a useful reflective practice.
Contact Hours: 45
TBA
Contact Hours: 30
Every artist and designer started their work with a pencil. This course will cover basic drawing skills with an approach that is unintimidating, demystifying and relevant to art, design and photography in 2023. Students who are beginners and those with lots of experience are welcome. It is important to the ethos of the course that students from different majors take part, as the finding of common ground in such a context is what makes things unpredictable and interesting. We will cover techniques for using different drawing tools and materials, using the city of Paris’s resources as our inspiration. The aim of the class is to integrate drawing into the student’s already established practice as a way of: thinking, observing, communicating, and articulating their creativity.
Contact Hours: 45
The course offers an introduction to the history of digital art from the 1950s to the present. Students will be introduced to the first experimental works with computers in the early 1950s and then learn about the role played by the EAT group (Experiments in Art & Technology), Bell Labs and the Slade School of Art in London in the 1970s in shaping contemporary digital art. The work of historical figures (Robert Rauschenberg, Nam June Paik, Paul Brown, David Hockeney, James Faure Walker) and that of contemporary international artists as Han Yajuan (China) and Pilar Torcal (Spain) amongst others will be examined. The course format will include a mixture of lectures, screenings and artwork analysis, practice-based research and field trips to Atelier des Lumières, and digital art galleries.
Contact Hours: 45
Building on the practical knowledge acquired in Materials and Dimensions I students develop their ideas with more autonomy whilst being supported by the technical expertise of their instructors. With a specific focus on âÂÂThe Bodyâ students are introduced to the many ways that the human form is central to art and design practices, whether it is in the design of clothes, products, buildings, or furniture. Students gain an understanding of the different possibilities for 3D Design (architecture, fashion, product design, furniture, fine art sculpture) Projects are based on investigations into how the physical structure, dimensions, and the functions of the human body inspire and direct the design of forms. The influence of context and environment on the generation and development of ideas will be essential to the work. Students experiment with the potential and limitations of materials and different material combinations.
Contact Hours: 45
Building on the practical knowledge acquired in Materials and Dimensions, students develop their ideas with more autonomy, through more personal projects, whilst being supported by the technical expertise of their instructor. The course focuses on the relationship between design, process and final outcome in two dimensions through color. Students are taught to search for the most effective and pertinent way to communicate their ideas. Through printmaking explorations students investigate image-making as a multi-layered creative process that enables them to transform and push their work forward in all areas of 2-dimensional image-making.
Contact Hours: 45
Building on the practical knowledge acquired in Materials and Dimensions I, students develop their ideas with more autonomy, through more personal projects, whilst being supported by the technical expertise of their instructors. The course focuses on the relationship between design, process and final outcome in two dimensions in photography. Students are taught to search for the most effective and pertinent way to communicate their ideas. Explorations of analog and digital techniques encourage students to investigate image-making as a multi-layered creative process which will enable them to transform and push their work forward in all areas of 2-dimensional image-making.
Contact Hours: 45
Students develop projects with a growing complexity, employing the computer less as a tool and more as a medium to be manipulated with greater confidence and control. The aim of the course is to create an awareness of the potential for digital techniques to solve visual and communication problems. Advanced skills are taught during the Semester that support and encourage an ambitious approach to the digital field. Students integrate digital and non-digital practice and explore mixing different software and media. All projects are contextualized with examples of work by contemporary artists and designers who are working with digital media. By the end of the course all students are confident to use digital tools as part of their creative work.
Contact Hours: 45
Students require the fluency and confidence in the act of drawing developed in Drawing I in order to engage in more ambitious work. Professional drawing classes are designed to relate directly to art and design specialisms (Fine Art, Illustration, Fashion, Interior Design, Communication Design and Photography). Students are encouraged to take a self-motivated and questioning approach to drawing; equipped with the basic skills they become increasingly open to experimentation and the potential to communicate in many forms. Through a series of workshops stereotypical ways of thinking and seeing are challenged so that students understand drawing as an activity that continues to be relevant and re-invented.
Contact Hours: 45
These first project courses (P.F. 1 and 2) aim at providing students with the cultural and technical tools needed to understand inhabited spaces. Exemplary projects drawn from housing, workplace, leisure and retail environments are investigated. Space elements are analyzed on published architectural projects and within real locations: urban context, masses, negative and positive spaces, lighting, furniture functions. The ability to generate design solutions, select images, color and finishes are emphasized. Building codes and barrier-free design compliance will also be studied.
Contact Hours: 45
This course aims to introduce and explore the basic components and systems that define the built environment: structure, envelope, floors, walls, roof, stairs, windows, doors, environmental systems (including plumbing, electricity, ventilation, telecommunications, lighting, etc). Over the semester, each session is to address a particular component or system in detail (from exemplary references to technical aspects to graphic representational codes). Sustainability issues and energy-saving systems will also be studied.
The course as a whole intends to provide students with a comprehensive and thorough overview of the numerous aspects and characteristics which need to be considered when developing an interior design project. Bridging with Project Fundamentals 1 and 2, the course will allow students to understand how these components and systems co-exist and interface within the built environment.
Contact Hours: 45
These courses (P.C. 1&2) are meant to provide students with the necessary practical skills to describe and represent space. The first semester is dedicated to 2D technical drawing (dimensions, scale, plan, section, elevation views, and axonometric projections) by hand as well as in AutoCAD and the illustration of interior design proposals in Illustrator and Photoshop. In the second semester, students learn the systematic use of perspective sketches and are introduced to digital techniques.
Contact Hours: 45
In Project 2, students will focus on the design of temporary retail and exhibition spaces, including trade show exhibits, pop-up stores or corporate / public events. The art of display, lighting, visual and sound communication, color schemes, and materials selection to generate a complete sensory experience for the customers / visitors will be emphasized. Guest experts and suppliers will introduce professional reality in this studio course.
Contact Hours: 45
3.0 Credits
French Language | Course #: FLIB 3400 | Open
Pre-requisite: Course taught in French - intermediate level required.
Ce cours a pour objectif de fournir aux etudiants les connaissances necessaires pour comprendre la culture francaise mais egalement d’approfondir leurs connaissances linguistiques. Le cours portera sur differents aspects de la culture francaise : faits historiques et politiques marquants, courants intellectuels, economie, mouvements artistiques et vie quotidienne. Les etudiants auront l’opportunite grace a des visites de se familiariser avec l’architecture et les monuments de la ville, mais ils pourront egalement decouvrir les institutions culturelles et artistiques ainsi que la vie professionnelle a Paris. Les discussions seront nourries par la lecture d’articles de journaux, par des analyses litteraires, des documents audio-visuels ainsi que grace a des rencontres avec des professionnels et historiens de l'art. Une partie du cours sera consacree a des revisions de grammaire et des exercices de composition. Le cours est dispense en francais. Pre-requisite: Placement
Contact Hours: 45
Paris Inside/Out is a one-credit course consisting of visits to art and design exhibits, as well as meetings with artists, artisans and designers in Paris. The course will use a wide approach by including a variety of artistic fields, thus allowing students to draw inspiration from any discipline. The course will be held every week in a different location in Paris.
Students are free to participate in as many visits as they wish, however a minimum of 5 visits are required to pass the course. A 1-page essay will be written for each visit, and must be submitted within two days of the visit, along with either a photo or an illustration. The professor will regularly select an essay that will be published in LOOP. At the end of the semester, students will be asked to present in class a personal work inspired by one of the visits during the semester.
This is a pass/fail course.
Contact Hours: 15
This year-long course is designed to improve critical thinking, reading, and writing skills. Students learn to understand the inherent argument and logic of a text, to think more systematically and critically, and to write more effectively by developing skills in the structure, grammar, and mechanics of writing. Students also work toward the more focused goal of situating design and art practices within larger intellectual, historical and philosophical frameworks by exploring the indissoluble connection between ideas and the products of human culture. This is achieved by introducing students to texts representing and describing various methodologies applicable to art and design, which can then be used to critique and analyze visual and material artifacts.
Contact Hours: 45
This course acquaints students with the neighborhoods, cultures, people, customs, institutions and organizations in Paris through a thematic approach based on three main modules: the city and its history; the literary and artistic representations of the city; the city, its citizens, and its future. Students will learn about key moments in French history, from the Romans on, via the Middle Ages, the Revolution, Haussmannization, and May 1968; they will be introduced to such themes as political migrations and colonialism, and will explore the city from a variety of points of views including literary and artistic exchanges, urban history, architecture, and ecology. Active exploration of the environment is strongly encouraged and learning is accomplished through a variety of means: site visits, the examination of texts and images, and first-hand encounters with museums, galleries, and libraries, as well as other art and design-related resources in the city.
Contact Hours: 45
French for Paris is a course open to beginners who would like to expand their knowledge of French culture and develop their listening & speaking skills. The course will cover specific themes relating to everyday life in Paris, its history, its culture and the arts. Emphasis will be placed on phonetics (rhythm, intonation, liaisons, silent letters & some specific French sounds) as well as everyday vocabulary and exchanges. Different subjects will be developed over the semester: cultural life in Paris, French cinema, French and Francophone cuisine, as well as music. Students will be able to engage in short conversations, and will practice describing themselves and their environment along with their studies and artistic practice. Visits in French will be organized. Conscientious completion of homework and class participation is emphasized; a website has been specially designed to accompany students throughout the semester (readings, targeted grammatical exercises, podcasts, phonetics, etc.) Class will be conducted in French.
Contact Hours: 45
3.0 Credits
Liberal Studies | Course #: FLIB 1500 | Open
Pre-requisite: FLIB-1150 French for Paris OR per Placement test results
This course is open to students who have already had some exposure to the French language because they have taken short courses, or because they have interacted with French speakers. However, these false beginners still need to master the basics. Students will start their study with topics and grammar necessary for successful daily interactions with a strong emphasis on oral production. As the course progresses, they will delve into themes dealing with French culture and life in Paris.
Contact Hours: 45
This course provides students with a complete introduction to the history of musical theater, with an overview of 19th century music hall and melodrama and a primary focus on the form that developed in the first half of the twentieth century in England and the United States. The emphasis will be on the broad themes that have influenced the genre, as well as the continuing importance of cultural diversity and ethnic influences on the genre--from English popular culture, Southern US Aftrican-American traditions and the Yiddish culture from the Lower East Side of New York. Students will begin with a solid foundation in historically significant works and canonical authors such as George Bernard Shaw, then progress towards contemporary shows, and how the tradition continues in contemporary theatre and film. The focus of the course will be on discussing the themes of works and the inter-relatinship between genres while at the same time developing students abilities to write argumentative and analytical essays. Class sessions will include staged readings and a trip to the theatre as well as the viewing of one movie-musical will be included. Learning objectives of the course will be both to analyze works of musical theatre, compare them to non-musical theatrical works, and a foundation for those wishing to eventually perform in the genre.
Contact Hours: 45
This course focuses on how design processes, design products, and design discourse are interrelated. It encourages students to reflect and write critically about design and provides them with a foundation in research methods that impact design practice. Readings from leading designers, theorists and historians lead students to situate their own approaches to design within a swiftly changing contemporary context, while visual materials and visits to design-related exhibitions allow them to broaden their base of design references.
Contact Hours: 45
3.0 Credits
Liberal Studies | Course #: FLIB 2250 | Open
Pre-requisite: Intermediate level French required.
French Language and Culture is a course open to anyone who has some knowledge of French and would like to improve their listening & speaking skills. The course will cover specific themes such as Paris and its architecture, French cinema, French artists and artistic movements, as well as professional life in Paris. Students will develop key vocabulary in order to be able to communicate orally in French in everyday life situations, as well as in professional settings. Using a variety of materials, students will learn how to tell a story, make a description of their work and practice, talk about a personal experience or project, and give their opinion. Four museum guided tours in French will be organized during the semester. Conscientious completion of homework and class participation is emphasized; a website has been specially designed to accompany students throughout the semester (readings, targeted grammatical exercises, podcasts, phonetics, etc.) Class will be conducted in French.
Contact Hours: 45
3.0 Credits
Liberal Studies | Course #: FLIB 3022 | Open
Pre-requisite: FLIB-2250 French Language and Culture OR per Placement test results OR by approval of the Coordinator
This course is designed to provide students that have already studied French with the remainder of the fundamentals of the French language. This course is tailored to help students learn vocabulary, idiomatic expressions, as well as improve fluency and pronunciation. To improve oral comprehension, students will work on authentic documents such as radio and television interviews, documentaries and French films. The emphasis will also be on speaking contemporary French thanks to spontaneous oral productions. Visits will be organized in Paris. The course is taught in French.
Contact Hours: 45
Sociology of Arts offers theoretical and methodological tools to understand the development of artistic and cultural values and practices. How is the cultural production articulated to social issues? Is the aesthetic experience universal? How far does our social path influence our artistic taste? What about artistic freedom? This course presents a global approach, from the origins of the discipline to the current questions, raising issues of cultural hierarchy, social distinction, legitimate and mass cultures. A synthesis of the many research areas and debates, including the role of institutions, the reception of works of art, aesthetic experience and emancipation through art, will allow us to examine the major trends that have emerged during the last decades. The objective is double: to provide a theoretical background, essential to every professional working in arts and culture, and to empower students by developing their skills to question, objectify, argue and value their professional identity, posture, and choices.
Contact Hours: 45
This course is a general introduction to the fundamentals of photographic practice and theory. In this course, students acquire the core studio skills essential to any creative photographic practice. Through hands on assignments, in class exercises, and regular group critiques, students gain a functional competence in essential photographic practices, principles, and processes, color theory, and its applications, as well as essential hand skills. Structured progressively, the Freshman Seminar familiarizes students with the wide-ranging world of photography through a thematic approach of the medium (documentary, photojournalism, street photography, editorial, fashion, portraiture, still life, photo 2.0 as well as abstract and landscape photography). Every two weeks, a new theme is introduced, and students will explore related visual and theoretical issues through research, texts, shooting & writing assignments, in-class presentations, films, etc. Every other week, a portion of the class is dedicated to visiting Parisian museums and galleries showing photography, further contextualizing the investigation of a given theme. Additionally, a short assignment explores each new theme in either a historical or current context. This is an assignment-based class that requires a serious time commitment. Emphasis is placed on photographic experimentation, exploration, and the synthesis of skills and knowledge. Through in class critiques, students learn the appropriate vocabulary to talk about photography and are also encouraged to develop a personal photographic style and language. Students will learn to make photographs rather than take photographs.
Contact Hours: 45
Students are introduced to basic photography using color materials. Through a year-long study, they learn to master camera controls and film exposure in the format of their choice. Ambient and artificial lighting as well as their impact on various emulsions are examined with an eye towards producing high quality digital color prints, color C-prints and transparencies. Emphasis will be on developing a personal approach and vision using color materials. Exposure to historical antecedents, contemporary readings and criticism are integrated into the course.
Contact Hours: 45
This course deals with different practices in image-making, both digital and physical, and explores how these methods can be applied in a conceptual way and influence an image. This class includes hands-on lessons, readings, critiques and general discussions on the state of technology in photography and image-making. This course will look at alternative darkroom processes and digital technologies/techniques that can make an image. Instead of studying how a content can best fit a format, this class will look at how certain formats, processes and techniques can influence the content. Alternative Image Making will apply critical thinking to different digital and physical image processes. The course aims at developing a more analytical look to the technology that makes an image. While some points of view on photography praise content over technology/process and how they can be applied to a project, this course intends to go the other way around and look at how processes and technologies can influence and inspire the creation of a new work. This course is organized as a split theory/ hands-on exploration of the photographic image and image-making. Topics of discussion will vary from public/private photography, image sequencing, the role of technology, digital vs. physical exhibitions and current trends.
Contact Hours: 45
The medium of photography is largely defined by its history of black and white pictures. The course will cover camera operation, principles of exposure and photographic composition concepts. The goal of this class is to provide a solid foundation of photographic black and white photography skills and techniques. It provides an overview of classic black and white photography while discussing camera techniques that apply to both traditional film and digital cameras. Students will learn how to effectively use their cameras in manual mode and make good quality negatives. The class includes camera and exposure meter instruction, technical lectures, effective scanning methods and instruction on film/digital crossover techniques.
Contact Hours: 45
3.0 Credits
Photography | Course #: FHOT 0231 | Open
Pre-requisite: Semester 1 or equivalent are prerequisites for semester 2.
This seminar addresses the creative process as well as the technique and critique. Throughout the semester students will work in the studio and field in order to create a personal project (16 images total) with the theme of " ", "Fine Art Photography inspired by science" or " " (the student can select one or more these themes as long as there is a total of 16 photographs produced for this class). I will be inviting the students to ‘make connections’- by exploring books, films, exhibitions, and discovering emerging talent in today’s fine art photography, mixed with appropriation and science inspired works. By semester’s end an elegant and cohesive 16 image photographic portfolio will have been produced. What is essential will be to deepen visual sensibilities and discover new ways of seeing. Prerequisites: Semester 1 or equivalent are prerequisites for semester 2.
Contact Hours: 45
2.0 Credits
Photography | Course #: FHOT 0233 | Open
Pre-requisite: Lighting Techniques 1
Part two of a year long course of learning and mastering the fundamental techniques of studio lighting. The students become familiar with how to create traditional, practical lighting scenarios in a studio and also in an outdoor environment using multiple light sources while mixing studio electronic flash with outdoor light. Electronic flashes and tungsten lights will be used to achieve control of color, contrast and reflection. Emphasis is placed on understanding light and of mastering the technical aspects of the lighting equipment. Lighting techniques are demonstrated and applied in class to various assignments. The class is project based. The students will choose their projects from several themes: headshot/ portraits, nudes, outdoor flash portraits, and in-class still lifes.
Contact Hours: 30
2.0 Credits
Photography | Course #: FHOT 0258 | Open
Pre-requisite: Black & White Photography (or equivalent), Introduction to Digital Photography (or equivalent), Digital Skills & Composition (or equivalent)
This year-long course introduces students to the creative and technical possibilities of digital photography. Through demonstrations and hands-on sessions, students learn the fundamentals of Adobe Photoshop to produce effective digital photographs. Students are taken through all the basic processes encountered in digital workflow, from basic scanning and retouching, image enhancement, and printing fundamentals, to RAW file processing and photographic post-production methods.
Contact Hours: 30
The aim of this course is to give students the fundamental skills to execute professional magazine assignments. This practical course includes the most common editorial themes such as: Fashion, Portraiture, Accessory Still Life, Travel and Architecture. Students will work on various shooting projects; in-class fashion shootings with models, in collaboration with the Fashion Seniors, as well as a range of authentic editorial assignments on location in Paris. Thorough in-class critics will follow each photo shoot.
Contact Hours: 45
This is a year-long course building on the Freshman and Sophomore Seminars, serving as a critical and technical exploration of the language and theory of photography. Students will further develop their individual photographic statements while placing their work within conceptual and historical contexts. Students will work on only one project throughout the second semester, culminating in a body of work which will be presented at the end-of-the-term show.
Contact Hours: 45
Focusing on the application of photography and installation, this course will explore the uses of photography in space. The course will concentrate on the implications of the relationships among artist, object and image. Through the experimental and nontraditional approaches in installation, the student will explore the formal, spatial, conceptual and visual presentation of installation. The presentation of still and time-based media in screen-based and installation environments will also be covered.
Contact Hours: 45
The Large Format Photography course is devoted to both the technical and creative use of the view camera. Throughout the semester students will work in the studio and field to develop a personal project and perfect technical skills. I will be inviting the students to discover how the view camera is key to contemporary photographic practice by exploring books and exhibitions. By semesterâs end an elegant and cohesive portfolio will have been produced. What is essential will be to improve technical skills and find new ways of seeing through large format photography.
Contact Hours: 45
This creative advanced lighting course will built on Lighting Seminar I and II and introduce students to a broad range of advanced lighting situations. Students will also learn how to analyze light in contemporary photography (Phillip Llorca di Corcia, Roger Ballen, Gregory Crewdson, Jeff Wall) and in various other mediums such as cinema (David Lynch, Jean-Luc Godard, Henri-Georges Clouzot, Igmar Bergman, Wim Wenders, etc), cinetic art, amongst others. The students will then use these influences for their various assignments. They will learn how to be creative in using the techniques they have acquired in Lighting Techniques I and II. Through hands-on practice and creative assignments, students will become comfortable with the use of all commonly used professional lighting equipment and accessories. The students will be able to choose from a series of assignments or to create their own.
Contact Hours: 45
Applied Volunteer Opportunities
Visiting semester students at PCA have the opportunity to get involved in a wide range of short non-credit volunteer activities. This includes assisting at gallery events, fashion week, and working with individual artists in the city. Students return home with a unique and diverse resume of hands-on experience. Further details are provided to students upon arrival.
Course Concentrations & Portfolio Requirements
PCA offers the concentrations below. Students applying for Studio Concentrations should be able to demonstrate some prior experience in their chosen concentration.
Studio Concentrations – portfolio required at application: 10-20 images, submitted via dropbox/web link
- Communication Design
- Fashion Design
- Fine Arts
- Interior Design
- Photography
Other Concentrations – portfolio required at application (see detail):
- Critical Studies – portfolio: writing sample. This may be an assignment completed for a current or previous class; something that the student feels is a representative example of her/his current style and ability.
Courses & Schedule
PCA courses run Monday – Friday. SAI students are free to enroll in any combination of elective courses, but prerequisites for specific classes must be demonstrated through students’ transcripts.
Course Registration
Students choose their elective courses after they have been accepted into the program. As soon as the PCA semester schedule is confirmed, students are asked to complete a Course Approval form, which is used to specify first-choice and alternate-choice courses. Students are free to enroll in any available courses, but most should be within their determined concentration. All posted schedules of classes are tentative and subject to change unless otherwise noted. After registration is complete, any schedule changes must be made during the add/drop period at PCA, which is typically the first week of classes.
| Pre-Departure Calendar | |
|---|---|
| October 1 2022 |
Application Closes Applications accepted after closing as space permits. |
| Within 1 week of acceptance |
SAI Deposits Due $500 Confirmation Deposit (applied toward program fee) $300 Security Deposit (refundable) |
| October 1 2022 |
50% of Total Program Fee Due Students who are accepted and submit SAI deposits after this date will have an amended pay schedule. Either 50% or 100% of Program Fee will be due within 5 business days, based on the deposit payment date. |
| October 15 2022 |
SAI Scholarship Application Deadline Students wishing to apply for an SAI scholarship must have all application items submitted by 11:59pm Pacific Time on this date. |
| November 15 2022 |
SAI Financial Aid Verification Deadline Students wishing to defer payment until financial aid disbursement must submit the financial aid verification forms to SAI by this date. |
| December 1 2022 |
Balance of Total Program Fee Due |
| On-Site Calendar | |
|---|---|
| January 8 2023 |
Arrival & Housing Check-in Students arrive into Charles de Gaulle (CDG) airport. SAI airport pickup is provided between 9:00am and 12:00 noon, and students are transferred to SAI housing. |
| January 9 2023 |
SAI Orientation Mandatory SAI orientation is held at the SAI Paris office and introduces students to their city while covering safety, policies, housing, and culture. |
| January 10 – 12 2023 |
PCA Academic Orientation PCA orientation introduces students to their school and professors, and includes activities to get to know classmates. |
| January 16 2023 |
PCA Classes Begin |
| March 6 – 10 2023 |
Spring Break – no classes |
| May 12 2023 |
Final Exams End |
| May 13 2023 |
Program End & Housing Check-out Students must move out of SAI housing by 10:00am to return home or pursue independent travel. |
| SAI Program Fees* | USD |
|---|---|
| Application Fee | $120 |
| Security Deposit Refundable at the end of the term. |
$300 |
| Program Fee Includes tuition, standard housing and SAI 360° Services (see What’s Included). |
$23,750 |
| Optional / Additional Fees: | |
| Optional Private Room Housing Supplement Private room in a shared apartment, with a shared bathroom. |
$3,800 |
| Optional Homestay Housing Supplement Homestay housing in a private room. Includes daily breakfast and 3, 5 or 7 dinners/week. |
3 dinners – $700 5 dinners – $1,350 7 dinners – $1,975 |
| French Social Security enrollment (mandatory) Paid to PCA upon arrival |
Euro 230 |
| International Mailing Supplement When applicable, students are charged an international mailing supplement to ensure visa paperwork arrives in a timely manner. |
$90 |
*prices are subject to change
Note: certain SAI-affiliated US universities require specific payment arrangements. These may require that some fees are paid by the student directly to SAI, and other fees are paid to SAI by the affiliated university on behalf of the student. If you attend an SAI-affiliated university please contact your study abroad office or speak with your SAI Admissions Counselor for details.
| Budget | Low Est. | High Est. |
|---|---|---|
| Airfare to/from Paris |
$900 | $1,200 |
| Visa |
$350 | $450 |
| Books, Supplies & Course Fees |
$100 / course | $450 / course |
| Meals Includes groceries and eating out. |
$400 / month | $800 / month |
| Personal Expenses | $350 / month | $450 / month |
| Transportation within Paris Public transportation with some taxi rides. |
$125 / month | $150 / month |
| Weekend Travel Cost varies greatly by student. |
$300 / month | $1,000 / month |
This is a SAI 360° Services Program; it includes our full services!
- Program tuition and U.S. academic credit
- Accommodation in carefully selected student housing
- Airport pickup and transportation on arrival day
- Welcome reception and events
- SAI orientation to the host city and school
- SAI staff on-site dedicated to fostering a welcoming community for all students by providing assistance to diverse needs
- SAI Viva Experience: frequent cultural activities & trips outside host city
- Student health insurance providing full coverage and medical emergency evacuation
- 24-hour on-site emergency support
- Farewell event with all students
Pre-departure and Re-entry services
- US-based admissions counselor assigned to you, providing friendly assistance
- Helpful pre-departure tools and resources
- Online student groups to acquaint you with other SAI students
- Assistance with student visa application
- Assistance with financial aid processing
- Need-based SAI scholarships
- Paid registration fees for national re-entry conferences
- SAI Ambassador Program for SAI alumni, with paid internship opportunities
- SAI alumni network
SAI offers all students the Viva Experience: frequent cultural activities, at no extra cost, for participants to get to know their community, city and country. Following is a sample of the activities included in this program. Please note that actual activities may differ.
Welcome Activity: Visit to the Musee Quai Branley
Students are welcomed to their new city with a stroll up Rue Cler, one of the 7th Arrondissement’s most charming pedestrian streets. Turning left towards the Eiffel Tower, the group will then take the short walk to the Musee Quai Branley, which houses many of Paris’ treasures of non-Western art.
Montmartre Walking Tour
Students take a guided tour through the Montmartre district and glimpse the nooks and crannies of the most bohemian district of Paris, once home to artists such as Renoir, Picasso, Edith Piaf and others.
Cheese Tasting Workshop
Have you ever wondered what makes French cheese so extraordinary? Students take a two-hour tasting workshop with a cheese expert, during which they will receive an introduction to French cheese types and cheese-making regions. Cheeses will also be paired with a selection of wines for tasting.
Macaron Baking Course
Students get their hands dirty learning how to make macarons – one of France’s most famous cookies. Following the 90-minute course each participant will take home a box of their own macarons.
Tour of the Palais Garnier and a visit to the Galerie Lafayette
Students take a guided tour of the Palais Garnier, home to the Opera of Paris and the setting of Gaston Leroux’s 1909 novel, The Phantom of the Opera. After the tour, we’ll cross Blvd Haussmann to visit the main building of the Galerie Lafayette, one of Paris’ most iconic high-end department stores. We’ll take in the exquisite stained-glass dome as we ascend through the atrium to the seventh floor, where we’ll enjoy the view from the building’s outdoor terrace.
Farewell Dinner
Students celebrate the end of a successful semester abroad and say their goodbyes over a delicious French meal.
Standard Housing: Student apartment or residence
Standard housing includes a shared occupancy room in a shared student apartment or a student residence (option to upgrade to private bedroom, if available). All SAI housing in Paris is fully furnished and comes equipped with towels, bed linens, and wireless Internet. Students have access to kitchen facilities, comfortable common areas, and washing machines. SAI on-site staff is available to respond to any housing needs that may arise.
Optional Housing: Family homestay
Students choosing the homestay option will be placed with a local family, which could be an older couple or a family with children. SAI homestay families are thoroughly screened and are accustomed to welcoming visiting students into their homes. Homestays provide a private bedroom in the family home with basic furnishings. Wifi is included, as is access to laundry facilities. Students opting for this more immersive housing get breakfast included as well as the option of a certain number of dinners per week (cost varies).
Passports
Passports should be valid for 3 months after planned departure from France.
Student Visas
In accordance with French law students studying in France for 91 or more days are required to obtain a student visa. Those with French/EU citizenship are exempted. Non-US nationals should consult their local Consulate for information on student visa requirements.
Students must appear in person at a VFS Visa Processing Center to present their student visa application. Visa applicants living in the United States are able to set up their appointment at one of the nine visa centers regardless of their location. VFS Global Centers are located in Washington DC, Boston, New York, Atlanta, Houston, Miami, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco. In some cases the nearest processing center may be in a neighboring state, which might necessitate air travel. Please plan and budget accordingly. Our Student Visa Office is available to assist students in getting ready for their appointment; SAI provides student visa consulting for all our students at no cost.