| Core Studio Practice I |
Contemporary Practices |
1010 (003) |
Fall 2026 |
|
Description
In this course we will focus on disciplinary and interdisciplinary art and design practices of contemporary art production. This team-taught, year-long class explores the materials and techniques of surface, space, and time (2D, 3D, and 4D), as well as the connections and interplay of these areas. Core Studio integrates the formal with the conceptual, traditional with the contemporary, and makes visible a variety of approaches in current cultural production in order to foster the development of students? emerging practices as makers and thinkers.
In this interdisciplinary studio course students will be authorized to use a variety of school shops, materials and equipment; including the woodshop, plaster studio, digital lab, sewing machine, hand tools, sound and video production, digital workflows and principles of visual fundamentals. This is a hands-on making class, faculty present artists and content related to a particular toolkit and, or project theme. Every section of Core Studio has shared learning outcomes which are uniquely realized by each Core faculty partnership.
Students should expect a fast-paced studio environment. In Core Studio students will complete short assignments as well as longer multi-week projects. Assignments are designed to help students develop their own ideas in relation to the materials, processes, and themes presented by faculty.
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Class Number
1368
Credits
3
|
| Core Studio Practice II |
Contemporary Practices |
1011 (003) |
Spring 2027 |
|
Description
In this course we will focus on disciplinary and interdisciplinary art and design practices of contemporary art production. This team-taught, year-long class explores the materials and techniques of surface, space, and time (2D, 3D, and 4D), as well as the connections and interplay of these areas. Core Studio integrates the formal with the conceptual, traditional with the contemporary, and makes visible a variety of approaches in current cultural production in order to foster the development of students? emerging practices as makers and thinkers.
In this interdisciplinary studio course students will be authorized to use a variety of school shops, materials and equipment; including the woodshop, plaster studio, digital lab, sewing machine, hand tools, sound and video production, digital workflows and principles of visual fundamentals. This is a hands-on making class, faculty present artists and content related to a particular toolkit and, or project theme. Every section of Core Studio has shared learning outcomes which are uniquely realized by each Core faculty partnership.
Students should expect a fast-paced studio environment. In Core Studio students will complete short assignments as well as longer multi-week projects. Assignments are designed to help students develop their own ideas in relation to the materials, processes, and themes presented by faculty.
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Class Number
1231
Credits
3
|
| Art and Technology Practices |
Art & Technology / Sound Practices |
2101 (001) |
Fall 2026 |
|
Description
This team-taught introductory studio provides a foundation for creative work across contemporary media practices. Students explore how systems, tools, and materials co-exist in an expansive ecosystem of technical possibility, to be mixed and used to create works that engage with technology as tool, medium, and terrain for playful exploration.
Through hands-on workshop modules, individual projects and possibilities for collaboration, the course introduces approaches drawn from creative coding, electronics, 3D, games, and related media to create responsive, time-based, and interactive audiovisual works. Creative misuse, tinkering, hacking, probing and breaking are strongly encouraged. Students gain a broad interdisciplinary grounding in the skills, concepts, histories, and key areas of inquiry necessary for informed artistic engagement with technology.
Weekly sessions combine technical instruction with conceptual framing, encouraging students to develop their own ideas while introducing the broader AT/SP curriculum, pathways, and areas of practice. No prior experience required.
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Class Number
1301
Credits
3
|
| Electronic Textiles and the Body |
Art & Technology / Sound Practices |
3026 (001) |
Spring 2027 |
|
Description
Through lectures, readings and demos this studio class will focus on the use of e-textiles in art, design and fashion, with a focus on user-centered design, fashion applications, and embodied, tactile and sensory e-textiles with the potential for therapeutic, stimulating and engaging applications. Topics will include different types of sensing systems for stretchable/flexible/soft textiles with compatible sensors and electronics, as well as the opportunities and challenges of e-textiles in the areas of fashion and interior design. The class will cover reliability, sustainability and future trends. Professional practice field trips within the Chicago region will cover developing ventures in technology, art or wearables.
Students will be introduced to techniques for building electronic components using non-traditional and soft materials and programming for Arduino to integrate sensors into expressive forms, expand their understanding of wearable technology history through readings and artists working at the intersection of technology and the body and improve their ability to synthesize ideas and to see a project through from research to final presentation and to consider the best form of presentation.
Readings, lectures and screenings will vary.
Example of suggested readings:
Haptics by Lynette Jones, 2018
Smart Textiles: fundamentals, design, and interaction by Stefan Schneegass (University of Stuttgart) and Oliver Amft (University of Passau), 2017
Crafting Wearables: blending technology with fashion by Sibel Deren Guler, et al., 2016
Wearing Embodied Emotions: a practice based design research on wearable technology by Secil Ugur, 2013
Course work includes weekly reading responses, a mid-term, and a final project. Students can expect to produce a body of work consisting of 3-5 finished pieces during the semester.
Departmental consent required: junior level and up preferred.
Please send brief paragraph why you wish to take this course, portfolio 5-10 images of work relevant to this class, and a list of classes you have taken in fashion and/ or art & technology.
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Class Number
2203
Credits
3
|
| Electronic Textiles and the Body |
Fashion Design |
3026 (001) |
Spring 2027 |
|
Description
Through lectures, readings and demos this studio class will focus on the use of e-textiles in art, design and fashion, with a focus on user-centered design, fashion applications, and embodied, tactile and sensory e-textiles with the potential for therapeutic, stimulating and engaging applications. Topics will include different types of sensing systems for stretchable/flexible/soft textiles with compatible sensors and electronics, as well as the opportunities and challenges of e-textiles in the areas of fashion and interior design. The class will cover reliability, sustainability and future trends. Professional practice field trips within the Chicago region will cover developing ventures in technology, art or wearables.
Students will be introduced to techniques for building electronic components using non-traditional and soft materials and programming for Arduino to integrate sensors into expressive forms, expand their understanding of wearable technology history through readings and artists working at the intersection of technology and the body and improve their ability to synthesize ideas and to see a project through from research to final presentation and to consider the best form of presentation.
Readings, lectures and screenings will vary.
Example of suggested readings:
Haptics by Lynette Jones, 2018
Smart Textiles: fundamentals, design, and interaction by Stefan Schneegass (University of Stuttgart) and Oliver Amft (University of Passau), 2017
Crafting Wearables: blending technology with fashion by Sibel Deren Guler, et al., 2016
Wearing Embodied Emotions: a practice based design research on wearable technology by Secil Ugur, 2013
Course work includes weekly reading responses, a mid-term, and a final project. Students can expect to produce a body of work consisting of 3-5 finished pieces during the semester.
Departmental consent required: junior level and up preferred.
Please send brief paragraph why you wish to take this course, portfolio 5-10 images of work relevant to this class, and a list of classes you have taken in fashion and/ or art & technology.
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Class Number
2219
Credits
3
|
