Introduction to Critical Studies

Introduction to Critical Studies is a dynamic BFA
1 cohort class designed to introduce you to the
practices of inquiry and critique that shape key
debates in the visual, performing, and literary
arts, to prepare you to enter into the larger
Critical Studies curriculum with confidence, and
to establish awareness of foundational skills that
are central to working as a critically informed
artist today . As part of this course, each week
you attend a large lecture presented by faculty
and a small group discussion led by Teaching
Assistants.




The course is unique to the Institute because it
brings students together from all our Schools to
participate in a shared conversation around some
of the most urgent questions facing our collective
communities, whilst providing a focused
development of the writing, information literacy,
cultural inclusivity, and critical thinking
learning goals core to the Critical Studies BFA
curriculum. Specific topics for the course change
yearly, responding to contemporary issues in the
arts and society at large, but all support an
inquiry into our understanding of art-making, and
the circulation of cultural, economic, and
political power, with special attention to
intersecting issues of history, technology, race,
gender, class, and cultural difference. As this
course immerses you in timely, relevant critical
conversations, it also asks you to generate your
own unique responses across a series of innovative
writing assignments designed to help you to hone
writing as a mode of critical thinking and
self-expression.