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.

ART 106 FYS: Selfie: Identity in the New Millennium  (3)
An exploration of the self investigated through contemporary forms of imaging and visualization. This course will ask how images shape our perceptions of who we are, how they help to define the enduring contours of each generation and establish a sense of personal and communal place in the historical continuum. Exploratory activities may include work with digital and analog photography, video, holography and other imaging methodologies. Journals, and other observational writings are included.  Requirements: Phone with camera and a willingness to view the world through varied lenses. 

ART 110 FYS: By Hand- Bookbinding and the Analog (3)
An artist's book is an art work in which the book's form and/or content is used as inspiration for the work. During the course, students will utilize the techniques of hand bookbinding, as well as explore analog (physical, tactile) processes, including a brief introduction to letterpress (type set by hand), as well as more extensive work with transfers, collage, and stamp making. For their final project, the students will choose a theme to explore utilizing any of the bookbinding techniques and analog processes we have covered. 

This FYS course is supported by several engagements centered on achieving 'slowness' in our everyday lives as an act of resistance to the pressures of social media and 24-hour news cycles. Along with the FYS dialogic questions, students will visit both the Hesburgh Library's Rare Book Archive as well as the Raclin Museum of Art, where they will participate in the museum's ART180 project. Gen Ed: Creative & Artistic Expression

ART 112  Earth Art (3)
Earth artists have been exploring the fragility of nature in a changing world, but the body's place and its relationship to earth, ephemerality, and human values in relation to humanity's future for many years.  Whether you are an artist or not, the COVID pandemic has forced us to reconsider all the above.  This course will explore works by Earth Artists:  Joan Jonas, Ana Mendieta, Andy Goldsworthy, and Agnes Denes, to name a few.  Researching the work that Earth Artists have made in the past, students will then create works of their own while reflecting on their own current situation, utilizing the outside grounds of the Saint Mary's campus.

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. 
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 221 Photography I (3)
Introductory black and white photography. Students study the basic elements necessary for control in the exposure, development, and printing of photographic materials. Initial exploration of the medium stresses consideration of its visual and aesthetic dimensions through a creative problem­ solving approach. (Variable shutter/aperture camera required)

Multiple dance courses may be used to satisfy the Creative & Artistic Expression 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 144 Modern Dance Technique: Beginning (1 or 2)
An introduction to movement concepts of modern dance. Designed for students with no previous movement training. May be repeated for one credit. 1.000 OR 2.000 Credit hours

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.

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 Basic Writing Proficiency requirement.

ENWR 202  Introduction to Creative Writing (3) 
Introduction to Creative Writing will teach you the basics of writing poetry, fiction and creative nonfiction. Every student will write original, creative work in all three genres. Class time will be split between discussing published works of poetry, fiction and nonfiction, writing exercises designed to teach you the basics of creative writing, and full-class workshops where you will receive constructive feedback on your writing in a supportive and encouraging environment. This class will help you strengthen your writing skills at large, learn about the arts, and practice creatively-focused, imaginative problem solving."
 

MUS 160 FYS: Finding Your Voice – Using Music to Express Your Creative Side (3)
Creative problem solving is one of the skills most valued by employers in today’s world. Creativity is inside all of us, and is a proficiency that can be developed through creating in the arts. In this course, students will work with music to exercise creativity, self-expression, and critical thinking. Students will learn vocabulary and strategies to listen to music on a deeper level and to analyze how music can be a force for social justice, play simple instruments like guitar or ukulele, and use computer software to create music of their own. The focus of this class is how to make learning in the creative arts more equitable by exploring how tools like technology can empower students with or without a background in music to make creative choices. This course is a First Year Seminar. 

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 $415 per semester for a half-hour lesson a week (one semester hour of credit), and $620 per semester for a 50-minute lesson a week (two semester hours of credit).

MUSIC ENSEMBLE (Choir)

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 140 The Joy of Exploring the Broadway Musical (3)
The Broadway Musical is a unique, influential, and popular art form that has come into being only in the last half of the 20th century. Students in this course will discover the range of the Broadway Musical from 1940 to the present and will develop a deeper understanding of the components which make the musical function as a unique art form. They will study the place of female characters and performers in the genre. And they will become familiar with the ways that the musical has both reflected, hindered and advanced the place of women, heteronormativity and queer consciousness in the larger US and world society. Students will deepen their enjoyment of the musical by developing a deeper understanding of how the musical developed, how it interacts with society now, and what makes this powerful art form unique.

THTR 175 FYS: Can I Be Both Fashionable and Ethical? (3)
This course, via a focus on experimentation with mending and upcycling, will help students explore their aesthetic identities while sustaining a commitment to fashion ethics. Students will be asked to think empathetically about stakeholders- people, plants, and animals, affected by our consumption. A hybrid of studio and lecture sessions, the course will include fashion, material culture, and environmental ethics literature discussing concepts such as longevity of use and sustainability, as well as makers' sessions for practicing mending and upcycling. 

Academic projects will include a social concern investigation informed by values assessments and impact calculators and a call-to-action presentation. Creative projects include the creation of a mending and upcycling sample portfolio and development of a full-scale upcycled project. 

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. 
 

THTR 245 Stagecraft (3)
An introduction to the techniques of the backstage world. Areas of study include scenic and property construction, scenic painting, stage lighting, theatre safety, and special effects. This course is an introduction to theatrical design and technical production techniques.