Exciting changes coming soon to our BA in Critical and Visual Studies!
8:00 AM
The B. A. in Critical and Visual Studies
Pratt’s Interdisciplinary Liberal
Arts major
The faculty in the Department of Social Science & Cultural Studies has been working diligently over the last two years to revise our major and now we can begin to tell you about the truly exciting changes we making starting this Fall!
Critical and Visual Studies is Pratt's Liberal Arts B. A. major and we are revising it to be even more in keeping with the intellectual openness and creativity of our students and faculty.
In the coming weeks we will be announcing the many of the details here, but here in short is what you can expect in the coming year:
A.
Reduction
of the required credits for the degree from 133 to 121, giving our students more time to reflect or to go deeper into their subjects.
B.
Clustering the fundamental Liberal Arts courses in the first year of
study so that our students have a broad and deep foundation for their studies.
C.
The introduction of 4th
semester Moderation or Sophomore Review. Our students will work closely with faculty to develop their course of study and choice of minors.
Moderation gives students the ability to structure and focus their
studies through guided advisement in their 3rd
and 4th
years, leading to their 3-credit Senior Project or 6-credit Honors Thesis. With the introduction of Moderation
and Thesis advisement, you will now have an organic link between your
studies and your project or thesis.
D. Our "Praxis" courses, always a mainstay of student and faculty interest,
combined into a suite of Theory and Practice courses intended to
introduce you to a specific cultural institution both academically
and practically. Each course culminates in a group production
of a cultural event. An important objective is to offer you
courses taught by professors who are themselves academically trained
practitioners.
CST. 110 Praxis I: From Work to Text
CST. 210 Praxis II: Siting Culture
CST. 310 Praxis III: Culture in Motion
CST. 410 Praxis IV: Cultural Contexts
SS.490 The Art Museum: Theory and Practice
SS.470 Film Festival: Practice and Theory in conjunction with the WALLABOUT Film Festival
TheWallabout Film Festival: produced and curated by an interdisciplinary group of students from Pratt Institute. Showcasing films by innovative student filmmakers from around the world, Wallabout is a platform for students to screen their work to a diverse community of peers, artists and industry professionals. It has become an important platform for student filmmaking and an addition to the vibrant creative culture of Brooklyn.)
E. Five new courses:
CST. 190 Beyond Google I: Basic Information Literacy (1credit) Beyond Google examines the central issues in Information Literacy (the ability to critically retrieve, use, and evaluate information). Topics include an introduction to information literacy best practices, research strategies, search engine limitations, online and print resources, and citation styles. Students will gain an understanding of copyright, fair use, plagiarism, and information ethics. The culture and theory of contemporary information-related issues will be covered as well.
SS.225 Symposium ( 3 credits) The Symposium allows students to become acquainted with the range of fields covered by the department. Students will gain knowledge of the methods and approaches available to them as they prepare for Moderation, as well as deeper insights into the work and subjects pursued by faculty and other scholars in their fields. Students in the Critical and Visual Studies are required to take this course the semester before their advancement to Moderation.
SS.299 Moderation (2 credits) “Moderation” provides students with the opportunity to reflect on their studies during semesters 1-3, identify their interests and begin to focus on the concentration that will structure the final two years of their program. Moderation requires students to examine their initial experiences in the program, their goals, and their interests, to evaluate their performance and their commitment to a course of study and to chart their final two years of college with the help of a faculty committee.
CST. 390 Beyond Google II: Thesis and Project Research (1 credit) Beyond Google II provides a review of research techniques, resources, and ethics. This is an advanced course focused on identifying and using information sources relevant to project and thesis research. This course will use the research topics of the students as its focus, with the goal of advanced Information Literacy in general and in their areas of research. Topics include an introduction to information literacy best practices, research strategies, search engine limitations, online and print resources, and citation styles. Students will gain an understanding of copyright, fair use, plagiarism, and information ethics. The culture and theory of contemporary information-related issues will be covered as well.
CST.9400.01, CST.9401.01, CST.9402.01 Internship This course provides students with a structure for experiential learning through internships with local arts organizations, governmental and non-governmental agencies, non-profits and elsewhere in the culture industry. The internship provides an opportunity to acquire knowledge of these sites and to analyze the strengths and weaknesses of existing institutions as well as their possibilities. Students may register for 1 credit (CST.9401.01) or 2 credits (CST.9402.01) or, during summer term(s), for 0 credits (CST.9400.01).
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