In Liberal Arts and Sciences courses, students cultivate the critical tools they need to become well-informed, well-rounded artists and designers. The intellectually stimulating curriculum develops conscientious use of language, collaborative problem solving, and independent critical thinking skills. Students acquire the ability to locate, evaluate, and use print and online resources for research, and gain an understanding of and respect for the cultural and geographic diversity of people and ideas. The interdisciplinary nature of learning is the point of departure for developing the knowledge, skills, and attitudes students need to lead creative, literate, fulfilling lives as artists and citizens.

As a Foundation student at Otis College of Art and Design, you are encouraged to explore all facets of the creative world and develop critical skills through a variety of Liberal Studies courses.

Art History 120 Introduction to Visual Culture

Art History 121 Modern Art History

English 104 Critical Analysis and Semiotics

First Year Initiative

English 106 Composition and Critical Thinking

Social Science 130 Cultural Studies

Resources: click here to view the LAS Department Grading Criteria

You will be introduced in this course to issues that are critical to the field of Visual Culture and represntation if Fine Arts and Design.

You will investigate various historical and contemporary representational practices that societies have developed to define, maintain, and instituionalize different categories of visual culture and visual producers.

In this class you will explore the major modern artistic movements of Europe and North America for 1840 to 1960, covering Romanticism through Abstract Expressionism.

You will be challenged to investigate the crucial issues, arguments, artists and works of the avant-garde during the modern period.

Semiotics is the study of symbols and signs. Within this course you will be exposed to the world of semiotics (cultural signs) while developing a number of skills including critical and analytical reading, effective academic writing, evaluating information, and participating in college-level discussions.

The reading materials and the topics examined will concern popular culture with a special emphasis on gender studies, media literacy, the American national character, and issues of power and ideology. The course will build upon your knowledge of popular cultural already acquired to explore familiar phenomena within the context of the academic world of semiotics.

You will be challenged to "question everything" and see that "everything is connected."

Offered as part of Critical Analysis and Semiotics first semester,  FYI helps diverse art and design students successfully transition into the Otis community.

The activities of FYI are directly linked with the academic course work in English 104 and connects with activities in other First Year courses.

The theme for this course is “The Self and Others,” exploring issues of social responsibility in a world of globalization.

The intent of this course is to help you express ideas and convey information in writing with logical reasoning, critical reflection and adequate factual support with clarity of purpose, organization and language. In addition students will be critically exploring online writing including blogs and emails.

At the end of the semester, students will successfully submit a portfolio of essays written throughout the course.

Check Out These Class Blogs for a Real Look Inside:

Debra Ballard: ENGL 106

NeKeya Billingslea: ENG 106

Marsha Hopkins: ENGL 106

Jean-Marie Venturini: ENGL 106

Resources: Composition Handbook, ENGL 106

                            Sample MLA Essay

                            Sample Portfolio (pending)

Here is a course in a new field where you will learn a new way to study culture! Cultural studies has emerged as an exciting discipline as it seeks to view cultures using an interdisciplinary approach which sheds further light upon the human condition and its behaviors.

You will enter into this interdiscursive space in order to view the fluid world of cultures, both singular and multiple, in a new and less traditional manner.

contact us at las@otis.edu or (310) 665-6920