FYS 101 - Beyond Words: Visual and Performing Arts in Action

Advisory:It is advised that students be able to engage in written composition at a college level and read college-level texts.
Transfers to:CSU

This seminar course is designed to introduce first-year students to the spirit of academic excellence and intellectual curiosity that lies at the heart of learning. All First-Year Seminar courses explore a common selected theme in depth. This seminar course will approach the selected theme as a conduit for understanding the visual and performing arts. FYS 101 will examine the artist’s use of an abstracted language that moves beyond words to the visual, aural, and kinesthetic. Students are invited to explore creativity, innovation, self-expression, imagination, close observation, introspection, and inquisitiveness as artistic responses to the world around us. This seminar will then examine how visual and performing artists give shape to these responses by applying skill and ingenuity. Through inquiry-based instruction and active learning, students develop into self-directed problem-solvers. Coursework will build throughout the semester toward a culminating project in a variety of media. Through presentations, guest speakers, and field trips, students will be exposed to professions and fields of study in dance, design, film, music, theater, and visual art.