Category Archives: IMA Electives (Legacy Structure – Art & Design)

Courses that count in IMA’s Art and Design category

The Meme: Images and Words Make Ideas (ARTS-UG 1664)

This course explores image making, writing and their juxtaposition, as a method of thinking through and evoking ideas. At times, images lead, and text follows, providing descriptions of images, and at other times, text leads and images illustrate that text. In the realm of the contemporary American meme, just about every time images and words are present they have an effect upon each other in the mind of the viewer, which changes the meaning of both, producing something which is more than what is present in both image and text. That third and phantasmic image exists in the mind. The examples of Chinese Literati painting, and Surrealism will provide a historical point of departure, from which we to engage 21st century examples of image and word juxtapositions that create new ideas. This course will provide students with a general history of the relationship between the image and word, and a critical understanding of the composition and decomposition of image-word printed and digital matter. Along with skills in Lino-cut printmaking, Risograph printmaking, and publication design, students will also write poetry, short essays, and art criticism. Students will participate in the content production, design, and publishing of a book and magazine, zine and poster.

Arts Workshops (Undergraduate)
4 credits – 14 Weeks

Sections (Fall 2025)

ARTS-UG 1664-000 (9704)09/02/2025 – 12/11/2025 Tue3:00 PM – 6:00 PM (Late afternoon)at Washington SquareInstructed by Bryant, Ernest

Fall 2025 IMA Electives IMA Electives (Legacy Structure - Art & Design) Liberal Arts & Sciences - Electives Undergraduate

Designing Health (CADT-UH 1053)

What constitutes innovation in medical technology? Is it always necessary? How is its value determined? How would we know if innovation has peaked, or reached a point of diminishing returns? What do global perspectives reveal about medical devices and healthcare in general? In what ways are cultural contexts important to consider? How can the med-tech innovation process address issues of diversity, inclusion, and accessibility? This course takes up the above questions through several case studies and examples, including bioprinting and COVID-19 vaccines — two topics with current relevance — as well as two of the most important historical med-tech innovations that have gone wrong in the past: The Malaria Project and The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. How can current design and innovation avoid repeating past mistakes? Working in cross-disciplinary teams, students will engage in design projects that will apply what we have learned from this course and address some of the paradoxes present in our ongoing quest to design healthier bodies and societies.

Core: Arts, Design and Technology (Undergraduate)
4 credits – 15 Weeks

Sections (Fall 2025)

CADT-UH 1053-000 (13185)08/25/2025 – 12/10/2025 Mon,Wed9:00 AM – 11:00 AM (Morning)at Abu DhabiInstructed by Sanjairaj, Vijayavenkataraman

Fall 2025 IMA Electives IMA Electives (Legacy Structure - Art & Design) Undergraduate
Fall 2023 Spring 2023

Utilitas, Venustas, Firmitas (CADT-UH 1016)

Design seems to be omnipresent, but what is it? This course (whose title is Latin for usage, beauty, and stability) explores how design influences our life and investigates the fundamentals of “good design.” It takes a look at the status quo of the use of design in media, objects, and architecture, and observe its influence on art and technology from past to present. Design tools and processes will be highlighted. Based on the fusion of readings, study, discussion, and experiences, over the course of the semester students will develop an understanding of how mutually reinforcing and beneficiary a mix of Arts, Design, and Technology can be. Lecture and discussion will help develop the design of a bricolage: Every student will realize a product prototype to be displayed in an exhibition and a personal philosophy of about Arts, Design, and Technology.

Core: Arts, Design and Technology (Undergraduate)
4 credits – 15 Weeks

Sections (Fall 2023)

CADT-UH 1016-000 (17217)08/29/2023 – 12/15/2023 Tue2:00 PM – 3:00 PM (Early afternoon)at Abu DhabiInstructed by Alawadi, Khulood

CADT-UH 1016-000 (17243)08/29/2023 – 12/15/2023 Thu2:00 PM – 4:00 PM (Early afternoon)at Abu DhabiInstructed by Alawadi, Khulood

IMA Electives IMA Electives (Legacy Structure - Art & Design) Undergraduate

Bioinspiration (CADT-UH 1033)

Credits: 4
Duration: 15 Weeks
Dates: Mon,Wed

In the 3.8 billion years since life began on Earth, nature has evolved. Inspired by this process, humans have replicated key design features to develop novel materials, devices, and structures in fields such as the arts, design, engineering, and the social sciences by replicating key design principles and features. This course asks how biology has inspired human design and thinking across different cultures and fields. Students will examine various examples in engineering, art, architecture, music, and social science to discuss how the human capacity for analogical reasoning has enabled the transfer of properties, mechanisms, and ideas from biology to design principles such as shape, surface, structure, making, information-processing, and social behavior. Using bio-inspired products such as gecko tape, Velcro, self-cleaning surfaces, and neuromorphic chips for inspiration, students will develop their own designs to address some of the 21st century’s most pressing issues, such as energy, water, environment, food, and health.

Core: Arts, Design and Technology (Undergraduate)
4 credits – 15 Weeks

Fall 2025 IMA Electives IMA Electives (Legacy Structure - Art & Design) Spring 2026 Undergraduate

Creativity and Innovation (CADT-UH 1005)

Credits: 4
Duration: 15 Weeks
Dates: Tue,Thu

Is creativity a gift or a skill? Can creativity be learned? Because creativity is deeply personal, this course will address these questions through individual and collective experiences. The heart of this course is the Personal Creativity Project – an opportunity for students to practice creativity by designing and executing a project of their choice. The project may be on any topic, from art and music to computer programs and business model development. The project will be complemented by reading assignments (completed prior to class), class discussions, and one-on-one meetings with the instructor. Students will leave the course with a completed project and a personal philosophy of creativity, based on the fusion of readings, study, discussion, and experience. The course provides a great deal of freedom for learning and does not provide step-by-step instructions. As a result, the successful completion of this course will require a significant amount of self-motivation.

Core: Arts, Design and Technology (Undergraduate)
4 credits – 15 Weeks

Fall 2025 IMA Electives IMA Electives (Legacy Structure - Art & Design) IMA Electives (Legacy Structure - Seminar/Studies) Spring 2026 Undergraduate
Spring 2019

Temporary Expert: Developing a Research-based Art Practice (IM-UH 1513)

What does it mean to become a “temporary expert?” How does one develop one’s own creative research-based practice? This course will address these questions by engaging with Abu Dhabi’s environmental and social dimensions as a subject for research, context and imaginative art and design opportunities. Students will adopt a wide variety of tools and strategies in order to lay the foundations for a research-based art practice that considers materials, media, context, and audience, as well as one’s personal strengths and desires. Over the course of the semester, students will develop art and design projects that interface with a multiplicity of other disciplines, and engage in idea exchange with experts in the field. Through hands-on practice, case studies, and readings on systems thinking, communication, and the idea of “the public,” we will explore method, documentation and presentation of research, as well as the merits of both success and failure.

Interactive Media (Undergraduate)
4 credits – 15 Weeks

Sections (Spring 2019)

IM-UH 1513-000 (24971)01/29/2019 – 05/16/2019 Tue2:00 PM – 3:00 PM (Early afternoon)at Abu DhabiInstructed by

IM-UH 1513-000 (18534)at Abu DhabiInstructed by

IM-UH 1513-000 (24972)01/29/2019 – 05/16/2019 Thu2:00 PM – 5:00 PM (Early afternoon)at Abu DhabiInstructed by

IM-UH 1513-000 (18535)at Abu DhabiInstructed by

IMA Electives IMA Electives (Legacy Structure - Art & Design) Undergraduate

Desert Media Art (IM-UH 3315)

How does bringing an artwork outside change its interaction with people and the environment? What new possibilities exist if we create an electronic artwork that can travel with us and be installed anywhere? Desert Media Art is a production-based course where students research, propose, produce, install, and document an electronic artwork designed for Abu Dhabi’s desert. The desert is an iconic landscape with a rich history of use by artists as an alternative to the white box of the gallery. We will study historical and contemporary outdoor art practices as well as local ecology and culture. Students will work in groups to create an Arduino-based project that is battery powered and ready to be taken into the field. The project will be installed in the desert, documented, and then presented in an indoor exhibition. Technologies used will include Arduino, 3D printing for enclosure design, rapid prototyping using laser cutting, battery power, and video production. Students will not just build a project and install it in the field, but also learn how to communicate their work to the public using video documentation and indoor exhibition.

Interactive Media (Undergraduate)
4 credits – 15 Weeks

Sections (Fall 2025)

IM-UH 3315-000 (13628)

Fall 2025 IMA Electives IMA Electives (Legacy Structure - Art & Design) Undergraduate
Spring 2022

Advanced Lab: Open Project (INTM-SHU 301)

This course offers students the opportunity to develop a self-initiated project with close mentorship from a faculty member. Projects undertaken can span the areas of conceptual research, business development, creative practice, and media production. The course includes structured weekly workshop and critique times with peers and special guests. It is expected that students will be invested in the work of their peers by providing feedback and carefully consider the feedback they receive during critiques. In addition to weekly meeting times, students are expected to also participate in regular one-on-one meetings with faculty, peers, and guests. A formal project proposal, weekly assignments and documentation, a final project presentation, and participation in the IMA End of Semester show are all required. Although students are encouraged to continue work they may have initiated in a prior class, they may not combine or in any way double count work from this class in another class taken in the same semester. Group work is allowed assuming all group members are enrolled in this class. Students may take this course in either the first or second 7 weeks for 2 credits or repeated across 14 weeks for 4 credits. Prerequisite: Sophomore standing. Fulfilment: IMA/IMB elective; IMA advanced elective.

Interactive Media Arts (Undergraduate)
2 credits – 7 Weeks

Sections (Spring 2022)

INTM-SHU 301-000 (19667)at ShanghaiInstructed by

INTM-SHU 301-000 (25298)03/28/2022 – 05/13/2022 Tue9:00 AM – 12:00 AM (Morning)at ShanghaiInstructed by Parren, Eric

IMA Electives IMA Electives (Legacy Structure - Art & Design) Undergraduate

Design Project (CS-UY 4523)

Credits: 3
Duration: 15 Weeks
Dates: Tue,Thu
Credits: 3
Duration: 15 Weeks
Dates: Tue,Thu
Credits: 3
Duration: 15 Weeks
Dates: Tue,Thu

Students or several students work with a faculty member and/or graduate students on a current topic in computer science. Each term, a project course with a particular theme is offered by the Department of Computer and Information Science. A faculty member assigns individual or group projects. The project course is highly structured and supervised closely by faculty. Students are expected to use the design and project-management skills they learned in CS-UY 4513 Software Engineering. Alternatively, students may work with a faculty member on an individual project of mutual interest. A written report and oral presentation are required. | Prerequisite: CS-UY 4513 or CS-UY 3513.

Computer Science (Undergraduate)
3 credits – 15 Weeks

Fall 2025 IMA Electives IMA Electives (Legacy Structure - Art & Design) IMA Electives (Legacy Structure - Programming & Data) Spring 2026 Undergraduate

Design Projects (PHTI-UT 1020)

Prerequisite: Photography & Imaging: Multimedia or permission by the department. This is an intense design class for the crossover creature who yearns to design their own exhibit, create a street poster, develop an ad campaign, design titles for a film, invent a visual identity for a musical score, etc. This will be a hands-on process-driven class that will push you to imagine, create, and produce. Students must know InDesign.

Photography and Imaging (Undergraduate)
4 credits – 14 Weeks

Sections (Fall 2025)

PHTI-UT 1020-000 (16107)09/02/2025 – 12/11/2025 Mon2:00 PM – 5:00 PM (Early afternoon)at Washington SquareInstructed by Cuomo, Yolanda

Fall 2025 IMA Electives IMA Electives (Legacy Structure - Art & Design) Undergraduate
Spring 2023 Spring 2024

Aesthetics (PHIL-UA 60)

Introduces problems raised by the nature of art, artworks, and aesthetic judgment. Considers the expressive and representational properties of artworks, aesthetic attention, and appreciation, as well as the creation, interpretation, and criticism of artworks. Readings from classical and contemporary sources.

Philosophy (Undergraduate)
4 credits – 15 Weeks

Sections (Spring 2024)

PHIL-UA 60-000 (10283)01/22/2024 – 05/06/2024 Tue,Thu3:00 PM – 4:00 PM (Late afternoon)at Washington SquareInstructed by Hopkins, Robert

Graduate IMA Electives IMA Electives (Legacy Structure - Art & Design) Liberal Arts & Sciences - Electives Texts and Ideas Undergraduate

Human Computer Interaction (CS-UY 4543)

Credits: 3
Duration: 15 Weeks
Dates: Wed
Credits: 3
Duration: 15 Weeks
Dates: Wed

Designing a successful interactive experience or software system takes more than technical savvy and vision–it also requires a deep understanding of how to serve people’s needs and desires through the experience of the system, and knowledge about how to weave this understanding into the development process. This course introduces key topics and methods for creating and evaluating human-computer interfaces/digital user experiences. Students apply these practices to a system of their choosing (I encourage application to prototype systems that students are currently working on in other contexts, at any stage of development). The course builds toward a final write-up and presentation in which students detail how they tackled HCI/user experience design and evaluation of their system, and results from their investigations. Some experience creating/participating in the production of interactive experiences/software is recommended.

Computer Science (Undergraduate)
3 credits – 15 Weeks

Fall 2025 IMA Electives IMA Electives (Legacy Structure - Art & Design) Spring 2026 Undergraduate
Spring 2022 Spring 2023

Paper Art: History & Practice (IMNY-UT 246)

Beginning with the invention of paper, the paper craft movement has roots on all continents. This course is divided into several subject areas: the history of paper and paper making, paper folding, paper cutting, paper engineering, paper automata, and the contemporary DIY electronics and paper craft moment. Each subject area has associated readings, a short research presentation on international traditions and forms, several hands-on mechanical exercises, and one individual creative exercise.

Interactive Media Arts (Undergraduate)
2 credits – 7 Weeks

Sections (Spring 2023)

IMNY-UT 246-000 (21988)03/24/2023 – 05/05/2023 Fri9:00 AM – 12:00 AM (Morning)at Brooklyn CampusInstructed by Petit, Marianne

IMA Electives IMA Electives (Legacy Structure - Art & Design) IMA Electives (Legacy Structure - Physical Computing & Experimental Interfaces) Undergraduate
Spring 2022

UI/UX for Games (GAMES-UT 241)

This course explores the intersection of UI UX thinking and game experience/interface design. Students will be introduced to UI UX concepts and methods, and then supported in adapting them for game specific contexts. Game design – in fact all interactive design – is a conversational undertaking. Students will become better conversationalists both by adding to their store of experience design knowledge and by learning to focus on, empathize with, and draw out their conversation partners – the players.

Undergraduate

Class #
Section #
Meets

Class #: 17397
Section #: 001
Meets: W 2-4:45p

Fall 2026 IMA Electives IMA Electives (Legacy Structure - Art & Design) Undergraduate

Emerging Media Studio: (PHTI-UT 1018)

Credits: 4
Duration: 15 Weeks
Dates: Thu

The Emerging Media Studio courses explore methods to creatively think through and hybridize artistic photographic practice with emerging media technologies from medicine, the military, archaeology, urban planning, environmental science and other industries. Projects may take open-ended forms such as video, virtual reality environments, site-based performance, spatial imaging, 3D fabrication and photographic documentation. Critical readings and ideas drawn from artists as well as professionals in other fields are discussed. Our practice is learning how to adapt to and position ourselves as artists making unique contributions to the social dynamics of culture and a constantly shifting universe of media.

Photography and Imaging (Undergraduate)
4 credits – 15 Weeks

Fall 2025 IMA Electives IMA Electives (Legacy Structure - Art & Design) IMA Electives (Legacy Structure - Media & Entertainment) Spring 2026 Undergraduate
Fall 2021 Fall 2022 Fall 2023 Fall 2024

Contemporary Techniques in Sound Art (DM-UY 3113)

This course explores sound as an art form and technical practice in its own right. Topics include contemporary techniques in composition, sound art, and interactive installation. Students will produce sound with narrative elements that evoke social, cultural & critical-thinking. Their final projects can be experimental podcasts, music (performance and/or recordings), multi-channel audio installations, or multimedia projects. | Prerequisite: DM-UY 1113 or MPATE-UE 1001

Integrated Digital Media (Undergraduate)
3 credits – 14 Weeks

Sections (Fall 2024)

DM-UY 3113-000 (12650)09/03/2024 – 12/12/2024 Tue,Thu4:00 PM – 5:00 PM (Late afternoon)at Brooklyn CampusInstructed by O’Keefe, Timothy

IMA Electives IMA Electives (Legacy Structure - Art & Design) IMA Electives (Legacy Structure - Media & Entertainment) Undergraduate

Design Studio for Non-Majors (ART-UE 1421)

Credits: 4
Duration: 15 Weeks
Dates:
Credits: 4
Duration: 15 Weeks
Dates: Tue
Credits: 4
Duration: 15 Weeks
Dates: Tue,Thu

A continuing exploration of graphic design to help students refine their skills & develop more personally expressive ways to solving problems through visual communication. Assignments, readings, & research projects will allow students to consider the complex nature of graphic design. Both traditional & digital approaches to typography & layout will be incorporated with a wide range of assignment. A priority is placed on the use of concepts to dictate design techniques & on the pursuit of a genuinely creative vision.

Studio Art (Undergraduate)
4 credits – 15 Weeks

Fall 2025 IMA Electives IMA Electives (Legacy Structure - Art & Design) Spring 2026 Undergraduate
Fall 2021

Flash Frames (OART-GT 2147)

Flash Frames explores the moving image, the pixel, color, and composition, through two weekends of intensive, hands on image fabrication. Students gain a coherent understanding of the technicalities involved in producing artistic and professional quality videos. The workshop applies technical and creative approaches to capturing video, editing, and adding the finishing touches on short productions. Projects are focused on strengthening design and editing skills, understanding media management practices, applying video effects, color correction, motion graphics, and sound. Students broaden their understanding of digital design and video production, while learning the basics of video editing, animation, sound mixing, and motion graphics.

Open Arts Curriculum (Graduate)
1 credits – 16 Weeks

Sections (Fall 2021)

OART-GT 2147-000 (7451)

Graduate IMA Electives IMA Electives (Legacy Structure - Art & Design)