Courses

Since Walter Benjamin’s concept of “work of art in the age of mechanical reproduction” (1935), photography has been continuously changed by mechanical, and then digital, means of image capture and processing. This class explores the history of the image, as a global phenomenon that accompanied industrialization, conflict, racial reckonings, and decolonization. Students will study case studies, read critical essays, and get hands-on training in capture, workflow, editing, output, and display formats using digital equipment (e.g., DSLR camera) and software (e.g., Lightroom, Photoshop, Scanning Software). Students will complete weekly assignments, a midterm project, and a final project based on research and shooting assignments. No Prerequisites and no equipment needed. All enrolled students will be able to check out Canon EOS 5D DSLR Camera; receive an Adobe Creative Cloud license; and get access to Large Format Print service.

Introduction to the fundamentals of silkscreen techniques. Students gain familiarity with the technical processes of silkscreen and are encouraged to use the processes to develop their visual language. Students are involved in a great deal of drawing for assigned projects. Portfolio required at end.

Prerequisites: Must have a BA, BFA or equivalent. Apply directly to the School of the Arts. Access the application here: http://arts.columbia.edu/summer/visual-arts/course/advanced-painting-intensive-nyc. The Advanced Painting Intensive mentors a group of up to twelve students through individual and group critique, technical tutorials, exposure to the New York gallery and museum worlds, and lectures and critiques by nationally known visiting artists. The six-week, six-credit workshop is based on the elements and structure of Columbia's MFA degree program and is tailored to those who are interested in challenging and advancing their work in an immersive and nurturing environment. Additionally, the workshop is geared to those who desire to develop both a strong visual portfolio and a written package appropriate for applications to MFA programs. The Advanced Painting Intensive is led by Professor Gregory Amenoff, the Chair of Visual Arts at Columbia University. Professor Amenoff has exhibited his paintings nationally and internationally for four decades and was one of the founders of Columbia University's prestigious MFA visual arts program.

The Fiction Writing Workshop is designed for students who have little or no experience writing imaginative prose. Students are introduced to a range of craft concerns through exercises and discussions, and eventually produce their own writing for the critical analysis of the class. Outside readings supplement and inform the exercises and longer written projects. Enrollment limited to 15.

The Poetry Writing Workshop is designed for all students with a serious interest in poetry writing, from those who lack significant workshop experience or training in the craft of poetry to seasoned workshop participants looking for new challenges and perspectives on their work. Students will be assigned writing exercises emphasizing such aspects of verse composition as the poetic line, the image, rhyme and other sound devices, verse forms, repetition, collage, and others. Students will also read an variety of exemplary work in verse, submit brief critical analyses of poems, and critique each others original work.

How does the traveler become the travel writer? What makes good travel writing? Why does it matter today? This course examines and breaks down the very specific craft of travel writing. Simply because we like to travel, does it qualify us to write about it? Everywhere has been written about, so how do we find something fresh to say about… Paris, or even Patagonia? In this course, we both dispel, and prove, some of the myths of travel writing. Students learn to find an angle in order to uncover destinations anew and make them personal— it’s in the personal that the universal is revealed. From crafting a compelling lede and understanding the need for a strong “nut graph,” to knowing the value of dialogue in propelling the story forward, and then finding the ideal kicker to send the reader away satisfied, students dissect published stories and are sent out into “the field” (of New York City) to craft their own. Travel writing is more than, “I went here, I did this, I ate that.” From front-of-book and service pieces, to destination features, we discuss magazine and newspaper travel writing in depth, as well as touch on longer form travel writing. Finally, through exercises and assignments, students learn to craft a compelling pitch in order to approach editors.

The Young Adult (YA) publishing boom has changed the way we read—and write—coming-of-age stories. This course will introduce students to the elements that shape YA novels, and explore the fiction writing techniques needed for long projects, including narrative arcs, character construction, worldbuilding, and scene work. We’ll study work from a wide range of YA genres and authors, including Angie Thomas, Elana K. Arnold, Leigh Bardugo, Jason Reynolds, A.S. King, Elizabeth Acevedo, and more.

Students will begin to write and outline their own YA novel, and a variety of in-class writing exercises will support the development of each project. All students will workshop their own writing and respond to the work of others. By the end of class, students will have a portfolio of materials to draw from, and a richer understanding of the YA landscape and its possibilities.

People like to be liked. And writers obsess about likability in fiction. But is it that important? What about visionaries, iconoclasts, stragglers, strangers, weirdos, and cringe-inducers? What happens when there is friction between a person and their surroundings? Between people? What if a character throws aside motivations to be liked and impulses to comply?

At its heart, this is a class focused on analyzing and crafting characters. We’ll look at loners and lonely hearts, articulate big mouths, and introverted self-imploders. We’ll observe their circumstances and question how their desires encourage them to think and act. Students will regularly respond to prompts and workshop their own writing.

Our discussions will consider what choices writers make to render, shape, define, and refine characters. We’ll take on craft-oriented concerns such as: How is dialogue used to differentiate characters? How does a writer demonstrate a character’s compassion, even if their attitude stinks? How do the story's events affect the reader’s understanding of character? What elements in the narrative change—or don’t—over time to signal to the reader that a character is developing?

Throughout, students will investigate how emerging writers move from maintaining characters’ status quo and progress to allowing characters to do the unexpected. With every question, we will advance our comprehension of building dynamic representations of people in the world, how they act out, and what it takes to fit in.

Readings may include:

Nights at the Circus by Angela Carter, Geek Love by Katherine Dunn, “Speech Sounds” by Octavia Butler, McGlue by Ottessa Moshfegh, True Grit by Charles Portis, Distant Star by Roberto Bolaño, Homeland by Sam Lipsyte, CivilWarLand in Bad Decline by George Saunders, “Friday Black” by Nana Kwame Adje Brenya, “Emergency” by Denis Johnson, “Tall Tales from the Mekong Delta” by Kate Braverman, “Me and Miss Mandible” by Donald Barthelme, Mezzanine by Nicholson Baker, Wittgenstein's Mistress by David Markson, No Longer Human by Osamu Dazai

In this class we will consider the various forms and functions of humor in written prose, discussing techniques and approaches to humor writing. Students will write their own humorous stories and essays which we will read and discuss in class, focusing not only on what is or isn't funny, but on how humor can be advantageously used to increase the power of an overall piece. The class will also break down stories, novels, and essays from a variety of authors-Bill Hicks' political satire; the darkly comedic fiction of Barry Hannah and Paul Beatty; the absurd humor of Tina Fey and Baratunde Thurston; Anthony Lane's charming British snarkiness; Spy Magazine's sharply parodic voice; Woody Allen's one-liners; Lena Dunham's zeitgeist comedy-in an effort to better understand what makes their humor work. Students will be asked to write stories inspired and influenced by these authors. As we critique each other's work, we will investigate strategies related to the craft of humor writing, including self-deprecation, political satire, humor and the other, going blue, dark comedy, schtick, humor as a means vs. humor as an end, crossing the line, and how to write funny without sacrificing substance.