Courses

This course focuses on developing financing strategies that accelerate the decarbonization of affordable housing in compliance with state and city climate laws. Developing affordable housing that is energy efficient involves a blend of conventional and specialized financing tools like federal tax credits, government grants and subsidies, and private capital from mission-driven lenders. Through a structured hierarchy of debt and equity, called a capital stack, students will explore the ways in which expanding energy investments in affordable housing reduce the energy burden of tenants by lowering utility costs, contribute to tenant comfort through operational autonomy, and ensure long-term affordability through improved building performance.

Moment Work explores the theatrical potential of all the elements of the stage (props, sound, architecture, lights, costume, etc.) in order to create strong theatrical and dramatic narratives. In this class, students will foster an appreciation for the reexamination and exploration of theatrical form and theatrical and dramatic narratives. The semester will culminate with an in-class showcase of short, devised pieces created by the students. 

Students will be empowered to tell stories from history through engaging with special collections and primary historical sources. We will spark students' curiosity as we explore one specific historical event and work together over the course of six weeks to devise moments of theater. By the end of the course, we will create a short presentation of “Moments” by investigating the themes and dramatic throughlines that the material offers. This is much like what a first presentation might look like at Tectonic Theater Project, a proof of dramatic and theatrical concept.

Each session will begin with a quiet and reflective writing prompt, associated with the historical event that we are researching. Responses will be used over the course of the class to spark devised moments.

This course examines the rich legacy of theater in New York, from Broadway to Off- Broadway, encompassing the writers, directors, actors, institutions, and artists who laid the foundations of American theater and continue to shape the contemporary theatrical landscape. We will commence with an exploration of the roots of theater in NYC and how the city's growth is mirrored in the historic innovations of the art form. Each week will delve into theatrical forms and disciplines, examples of seminal texts, and current productions throughout the city. These investigations offer insights into the ways theater evolves into a quintessential New York event, guided by a producer who has shepherded award-winning shows from initial idea to Broadway for over three decades. Performances will include productions both on and off Broadway. Course fee covers tickets for up to 6 performances during the session. Shows for summer 2025 will be selected at the beginning of the course based on enrollment (shows currently under consideration include: Pirates: The Penzance Musical, John Proctor is the Villain, The Jonathan Larson Project, Trophy Boys, among others pending both availability and final course registration).

Please note: more Summer Theatre courses will be posted by the end of March

Fundamentals of visual vocabulary. Students work from observation using still-life objects and the human figure. Emphasizes the relationship of lines and forms to each other and to the picture format. Materials used: vine charcoal, compressed charcoal, pencil, pen, ink, and brushes. Class assignments, discussions, and critiques.

Introductory course to analog photographic tools, techniques, and photo criticism. This class explores black & white, analog camera photography and darkroom processing and printing.  Areascovered include camera operations, black and white darkroom work, 8x10 print production, and critique. With an emphasis on the student’s own creative practice, this course will explore the basics of photography and its history through regular shooting assignments, demonstrations, critique, lectures, and readings. No prior photography experience is required.

Introductory course to analog photographic tools, techniques, and photo criticism. This class explores black & white, analog camera photography and darkroom processing and printing.  Areascovered include camera operations, black and white darkroom work, 8x10 print production, and critique. With an emphasis on the student’s own creative practice, this course will explore the basics of photography and its history through regular shooting assignments, demonstrations, critique, lectures, and readings. No prior photography experience is required.

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.

A photography exhibition is a form of “show and tell” that combines a photographer’s creativity with the audience’s interaction (applause, excitement, boredom, learning). This course explores historic and modern photography exhibitions designed by curators, organizations, and artists. We explore the ways a photograph breathes in the “living” world as compared to the “static” world of newspapers, magazines, or photobooks. Making use of New York’s vast cultural network, we will go on field trips to public museums, commercial galleries, and independent spaces in Chelsea, Downtown, Long Island City, Bronx, etc. Students will design a mini-exhibition as their final project. Students will maintain a daily Reflection Journal to document their experiences at each location, capturing the ideas discussed and materials presented. The journal serves as a creative space for exploring the topics covered in the course and for developing concepts for the final project. The Final Project will be a collectively curated one-day exhibition on campus.

This course explores the photobook as a central medium of lens-based contemporary art practice and bookmaking. You will be exposed to a variety of geographies (Japan, USA, Europe, Latin America, Africa), approaches (formal book, luxury volume, grassroots zine, national archive, art object), subject matters (autobiography, fiction, historical, journalism, epic events), and materials. Using Columbia’s world-famous library holdings, many photo and art books and a diverse range of viewpoints will be studied through historical lectures and New York City field trips. Students will learn hands-on processes of photobook and fanzine making.

This is an intensive, six-week class moving from the basics of paint materials, techniques, issues of color, light, narrative and most of all representation. Students will begin working from still life set-ups in the studio and gradually move towards more ambitious approaches including figure painting from a model. Towards the end of the class students will be encouraged to work on a project or projects that more closely reflect their personal ideas.