ART 101 Drawing I (3)
This is a broad foundation course that introduces a variety of drawing techniques, approaches and subject matter. A focus on observational drawing improves the student's ability to "see" (visual perception) and develops technical drawing skills. Projects are designed to enhance the understanding and use of formal elements, principles and composition while exploring drawing's creative and expressive potential. subject matter includes still life, landscape, interiors, and the figure. Studio projects are augmented by critiques, visual presentations and discussion. Sketchbook/journal required.

ART 103 Design Lab (3)
The main goal of Design Lab I is to solve design (world?) problems through creative design solutions. In learning how to visually communicate in imaginative ways, you’re seeking to radically alter how people look at and perceive the world around them. You will become an effective and imaginative cultural producer. For this course, students will use some of the digital creative software found in the Adobe Creative Suite, as well as other digital software. Other techniques include collage, drawing, photography, printmaking, and videography.

As a Critical Thinking Seminar-designated course (or CTS), students will critically analyze and discuss the power of design solutions (images, objects, interactivity) in light of design components (form, composition, balance, shape, space, color, for example). This course foregrounds the process of design in a variety of ways, namely through creative projects. You’ll create your design solutions through a combination of form and content, and in a variety of contexts. In other words, you will integrate visual information with meaning or message, in a presentation method. Your creative work will always be discussed in light of, and at times be presented to, the general public or an audience. What can your audience learn about the world through your design work? How do they learn it? What can (or will) they do as a result of what they’re learning? This course also satisfies the LO2 Critical Thinking Seminar.

ART 125 Silkscreen (3)
Introduction to the various methods of screen printing, with exploration of color, tone, and texture as the natural result of the process. This course also satisfies an LO2 Women’s Voices. This course also satisfies an LO2 Women’s Voices.

ART 216 Introduction to Furniture Design (3)
Introduction to Furniture Design focuses on the design and construction of furniture and functional objects within the context of contemporary culture. It integrates creative problem solving with technical and material processes in order to build objects that are ergonomic and interactive. Students will learn a process of design that evolves from sketch, to model -or- prototype, and finally to a finished, usable object. Design for social good and sustainability will also be a departure point for creative projects. Creative projects and technical demonstrations will be augmented by lectures on the history of furniture design and contemporary approaches to functional object-making.

ART 266 Introduction to New Media (3)
An introduction to the new visual technologies and basic concepts (mechanical, visual, and aesthetic) for their creative use in the visual arts. Those fields may include photography, film, video, computer imagery, holography and other contemporary media. Students will be introduced to these media through lectures, direct laboratory experience, discussion, and creative problem-solving projects.

COMM 103 Introduction to Communication (3)
Students develop an increased competency in communicating with precision and style, and also have the opportunity to think critically and creatively about the process of communication. Major topics in communication theory and practice are surveyed in addition to a focus on public speaking. Section 72232 also satisfies an LO2 Critical Thinking Seminar and LO2 Women’s Voices.

COMM 103W Introduction to Communication (4)
Essentially, students in COMM 103W Introduction to Communications explore one central question: What is human communication? While it is true that humans use verbal “message-and-response” interchanges, we will discover that communication is a sophisticated, ongoing process. This will lead us to other questions: When and where does human communication occur? How has it shaped centuries of human development? What makes us choose one form of communication — email, text messages, etc. — over another? What are the effects of each medium of communication on the quality of our messages? This course also provides students the opportunity to earn the W. Section 71869 also satisfies an LO2 Women’s Voices.

Multiple dance courses may be used to satisfy the Creative and Performing Arts requirement as long as they add up to at least three credit hours. Students receive two credits for technique courses taken for the first time and one credit for subsequent enrollment in the same level technique course.

DANC 145 Ballet Technique: Beginning (2)
An introduction to basic ballet technique and terminology. Designed for students with no previous movement training. May be repeated for one credit.

DANC 148 Jazz Technique: Beginning (2)
A practical course in contemporary jazz technique hip hop and lyrical styles. May be repeated for one credit.

DANC 245 Ballet Technique: Intermediate (2)
A technique course with an emphasis on correct alignment and proper execution of barre and center exercises. May be repeated for one credit.

DANC 345 Ballet Technique: Advanced (2)
A continuation of ballet technique with an emphasis on accuracy, style, intricate combinations, strength, endurance, and a more extensive vocabulary; may be repeated for one credit.

ENVS 232 The Shape of the City (3)
The course covers topics in the design and planning of the American metropolis – towns, cities, and suburbs. The fundamentals of urban design are explored at varied scales and within varied contexts of the built environment – from the individual building to the city block to the neighborhood to the community and larger region – in order to establish the basic principles of livable community design and planning. This course surveys the history of urban form and the socioeconomic, cultural, historical, and environmental forces that have shaped the city. Topics include public architecture and art, landscape architecture, open space and parks, multi-modal transportation, community health and safety, land use policy and regulations, real estate, and the impact of climate change. The process of urban design is explored including the role of multiple stakeholders - government, private sector, non-profit organizations, schools, neighborhoods, and the public. The neighborhood as human ecosystem is featured as a fundamental building block of cities and regions. Through the completion of a series of projects, students develop an understanding of urban design principles through engagement with a real-life neighborhood in the South Bend area. Sustainable design including connectivity, density, green infrastructure, and health receives special emphasis. This course also satisfies LO3 Social Responsibility.

ENWR 202 Introduction to Creative Writing (3)
In Introduction to Creative Writing, you will learn to write poetry, literary short fiction, and creative nonfiction, as well as to critically read works in all three genres.  This will be accomplished through reading assignments, in-class writing assignments, full-class workshops, and class discussions of assigned readings and craft techniques.  Class time will be split between discussion, in-class writing exercises, and full-class workshops.

ENWR 202W Introduction to Creative Writing (4) 
This special section of Introduction to Creative Writing will teach you the basics of writing poetry, fiction and creative nonfiction, while also fulfilling the "W" requirement. Every student will write original, creative work in all three genres, and we'll use the fourth hour to write a series of thesis-driven papers related to creative writing that will help fulfill the requirements of the "W" portfolio. Class time will be split between reading published works of poetry, fiction and nonfiction, writing exercises designed to teach you the basics of creative writing, and full-class workshops. This class will help you strengthen your writing skills at large, learn about the arts, and practice creatively-focused, imaginative problem solving. This course provides students the opportunity to earn the W.

MUS 111–131 Applied Music: Private Lessons — Instrumental or Voice (1–2 credits)
Multiple courses may be used to satisfy the Creative and Performing Arts requirement as long as they add up to at least three credit hours. Lessons are offered for voice, piano, and all brass, string, woodwind and percussion instruments. Fees are $400 per semester for a half-hour lesson a week (one semester hour of credit), and $600 per semester for a 50-minute lesson a week (two semester hours of credit).

MUS 150 Voices in Time: A Critical Thinking Seminar (3)
This course will study the contributions women have made to the field of human knowledge and art by composing and performing music. We will consider the genesis and creation of a work, the historical/political climate in which it was created, the personal story of the composer or performing artist at the center of the work, the reception of the work and its influence on society; all facets of a critical understanding of an informed reading or performance. This course also satisfies LO2 Critical Thinking Seminar and an LO2 Women's Voices.

MUS 181 Patterns in Music 1 Beginning Music Theory (3)
For students with little or no previous training in music. A study of the organizational principles inherent in pitch and rhythm systems, with emphasis on the notation of these in written symbols. Such concepts as tonality, transposition, modulation, harmonic motion, and simple forms are introduced. Aural skills, keyboard applications, and the development of fluency in notation are stressed. One half-hour of computer drill per week is required. First semester of the theory sequence for majors and minors.

MUSIC ENSEMBLE

Students may enroll for ensemble courses that offer one hour of credit per semester. Auditions are required before acceptance into any of the choral ensembles. After you arrive on campus, sign up for an audition appointment in Moreau Hall, Room 309. If you are selected for one of the groups, you may add the course to your schedule through PRISM or at Student Academic Services (166 Le Mans Hall).

MUS 201 Collegiate Choir (1)
A treble choir that performs primarily on campus. Goals include developing excellent individual and group tone quality, working toward clear and proper diction, and strengthening aural and music reading abilities. Performs quality treble repertoire, both sacred and secular, in 2–4 parts. Membership by audition only. Auditions will take place during August orientation through the first week of classes.

MUS 203 Belles Voix (1)
This is the College’s select treble ensemble which performs music of all periods with an emphasis on new music. The choir regularly commissions and records new works, takes national concert tours every other year, and makes regular Carnegie Hall appearances. The ensemble performs biennially with the South Bend Symphony Orchestra and hosts the annual High School Treble Choir Festival. Membership is by audition only which will take place during August orientation through the first week of classes. 

THTR 135 Introduction to Theatre (3)
This course is designed to introduce students to the art, practice, and enjoyment of theatre. Participants will learn through lecture, assigned readings, hands-on exercises, and demonstrations about the elements of a theatrical production. As often as possible, students will be invited to learn about the theatre by “doing” (i.e. acting in a scene rather than simply talking about it). The course structure assumes that while the student may never choose to participate in a play she will, hopefully, enjoy attending the theatre long after the course ends.

THTR 205 Introduction to Acting (3)
Exploration of the elements of a realistic acting technique using games, improvisations and exercises, culminating in two-character scenes later in the semester. This course also satisfies an LO2 Women’s Voices.