Niagara University Art Courses

CMS 440— Photography
Instructor  Donald Scheller, Communication Studies Dept.  
Prerequisite: CMS 100 (for majors and minors)

This is a course in the fundamentals of black and white photography, designed for students with little or no experience in photography. Students will learn basic photographic skills including manual camera operation, film exposure and processing, and printing. Photographic history, and visual theory and criticism will be addressed in class discussions and critiques. This course explores the use of photography as a tool of communication and self-expression. We will discover how to see photographically, construct and interpret images, and examine their relationships with current issues.

- three semester hour

FAA 170 Painting Workshop

This course is a workshop in painting for beginning students. Lectures, course projects, and individual critiques in the studio class­room are provided by the instructor. Students undertake a variety of thematic and stylistic approaches using acrylic paints. Available for reference are art works in the Castellani Art Museum.

-three semester hours

FAA 171 Advanced Painting Workshop

Prerequisite: FAA 170

This course is an intermediate workshop for students who have successfully completed FAA 170. Each student pursues one theme, creating a series of acrylic paintings in the studio classroom under the instructor’s supervision.

-three semester hours

FAA 190 Hand Papermaking: History and Art Form (H)

A studio course in the history of hand papermaking and its use as an art form for beginning and advanced students. Lecture, slides, and examination of handmade papers illustrate and explain the history and methods of paper production. Demonstration and hands-on experience facilitate the exploration of the nature and techniques of making paper by hand. Basic vocabulary and art/design principles are stressed.

-three semester hours

FAA 201 19th Century Art (H)

This course deals with the complex art scene following the French Revolution of 1789. Styles examined are neo-classicism, romanticism, realism at mid-century, and impressionism at the close. Students learn about major painters and sculptors while developing visual literacy. Videos, slides, lecture-discussion and museum visiting are included.

-three semester hours

FAA 202 20th Century Art (H)

This course studies the aesthetic and social revolutions of modern art which are grounded in the 19th century but erupted in Fauvism in 1905 Paris. Cubism, futurism and surrealism are examined, as well as the art scene in America up to midcentury. Videos, slides, lecture-discussion and visits to the Castellani Art Museum are included.

-three semester hours