Arts

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Head: Kathy High

Director of Graduate Studies: Mary Anne Staniszewski

Director of iEAR Studios: Curtis Bahn

Department Home Page: http://www.arts.rpi.edu/

The Department of the Arts is dedicated to interdisciplinary creative research in electronic arts.  We offer a unique environment to develop and realize innovative art within a technological university. The department offers three degree programs in Electronic Arts: a Bachelor of Science, a Master of Fine Arts, and a Doctor of Philosophy. Also offered jointly with the Department of Language, Literature, and Communication is a B.S. in Electronic Media, Arts, and Communication. These programs provide students with an opportunity to pursue a degree with a particular emphasis on the use of technology and an interdisciplinary approach to electronic arts.

Within this department, studio courses engage students in hands-on activities that stress creative and expressive development. They also encourage students to develop their perceptual sensitivity, as well as build the confidence to apply creative exploration and problem-solving skills to a wide range of aesthetic challenges. In addition to a full complement of traditional disciplines such as drawing, painting, sculpture, music, and acting, the department offers courses in electronic media including digital video, computer imaging and animation, interactivity, multimedia installation, and computer music.

Research Innovations and Initiatives

Arts department faculty members take varying approaches to the use of electronic media in artistic creation and performance. All are active artists/theoreticians whose works are represented internationally in museums, galleries, and performances.

Arts students are required to become familiar with creative tools in a variety of electronic media and are encouraged to work with combinations of media. The center of such creative work is the Integrated Electronic Arts at Rensselaer (iEAR) Studios, which include professional quality facilities in electronic and computer music, digital video production and post production, computer imaging and animation, interactive media, installation art, and performance art. In addition, qualified students in the M.F.A. and Ph.D. program may use elective credits to explore Rensselaer’s extensive technological resources. Opportunities to engage in creative or research projects with students or faculty from other departments or schools within the Institute are also available.

Undergraduate Programs

At Rensselaer, the Department of the Arts offers bachelor’s degree programs in Electronic Arts, Information Technology-Arts, and Electronic Media, Arts, and Communication (EMAC). Information and requirements specific to each program are described below.

Baccalaureate Programs

As explained in the Humanities and Social Sciences introduction, all baccalaureate students take 24 credit hours of core courses. The Institute also requires all students to complete a 24-credit-hour math/science requirement. Required courses in mathematics and sciences are: MATH  1500 Calculus I for Humanities and Social Science, MATH 1620 Contemporary Ideas in Math, CSCI 1100 Computer Science or CSCI  1010 Introduction to Computer Programming, and BIOL 1010, Introduction to Biology. MATH 1010 Calculus I and MATH 1020 Calculus II may be substituted for MATH 1500 and MATH 1620, respectively. For more information, see a departmental adviser.

Special Undergraduate Opportunities

Visiting Artists Series
The Department of the Arts supports the iEAR Presents! series which brings leading composers, performers, and media artists to campus for performances, exhibitions, lectures, and workshops. All students are encouraged to attend the rich variety of events both on campus and in the Troy area.

Ensembles
Many noncredit ensembles, dictated by student interest, are available on campus. Typical examples have included symphonic band, pep band, swing band, and vocal groups such as the Rensselyrics and the Rusty Pipes. The department offers one-credit ensembles that may be applied toward the music minor: Rensselaer Orchestra, Rensselaer Concert Choir, Jazz Ensemble, Percussion Ensemble, and Ghanaian Drumming Ensemble.

Course Descriptions

Courses related to all Arts curricula are described in the Course Descriptions section of this catalog under the department code ARTS.

Faculty*

Professors

Canier, C.—M.F.A. (Boston University); painting, drawing.

Century, M.—M.A. (University of California, Berkeley); musicology, music composition, improvisation and performance.

Goebel, J.—M.A. (Staaliche Hochschule für Music und Theater); music composition and performance.

Kagan, L.—M.A. (University at Albany); studio arts.

Miller, B.—M.F.A. (New York University Graduate Film and Television Program); video art, media art.

Rolnick. N.—Ph.D. (University of California, Berkeley); music composition, electronic and computer music, electronic arts.

Distinguished Research Professor of Music

Oliveros, P.—Honorary Dr. of Music (University of Maryland, Baltimore County); music composition, electronic music, improvisation.

Associate Professors

Bahn, C.—Ph.D. (Princeton University); computer music and interactive performance.

Bustamante, N.—M.F.A. (San Francisco Art Institute); new genres, performance art, video, installation.

Hahn, T.—Ph.D. (Wesleyan University); ethnomusicology, Japanese & contemporary music and dance, choreography.

High, K.—M.A. (SUNY-Buffalo, Center for Media Study): video, film production and theory, bioart.

Ruiz, K.—M.A. (New York University); interactive simulation, game studies, digital photography, and emerging multidisciplinary genres.

Staniszewski, M.—Ph.D. (Graduate School and University Center, City University of New York); art history and critical theory.

Vamos, I.—M.F.A. (University of California at San Diego); tactical media, video, film production and theory.

Assistant Professors

Lawson, S.—M.F.A.(School of the Art Institute of Chicago); animation, virtual reality, interactive installation.

Pell, R.—M.F.A ((rensselaer Polytechnic Institute); robotics, bioart, animation.

Clinical Professors

Gibson, D.—M.M. (Yale School of Music); music history and theory, orchestra performance, cello.

Shur, P.—Ph.D. (St. Petersburg Institute of Theatre, Music and Film); theatre.

* Departmental faculty listings are accurate as of the date generated for inclusion in this catalog. For the most up-to-date listing of faculty positions, including end-of-year promotions, please refer to the Faculty Roster section of this catalog, which is current as of the May 2008 Board of Trustees meeting.

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