Spring 2026 Course Search

Historical Dress: The Park-McCullough Project Spring ‘26

Dance, Musicals, Opera - a costume studio practice

The class will consist of three elements-

1) Designing a produced piece in drama or dance

2) A paper project designing costumes for a music based narrative piece (ie:opera, musical theatre, dance)

This class will focus on the essentials of Adobe InDesign. Students will learn fundamental skills such as interface navigation, document setup, text and image manipulation, advanced features, and best practices for both print and digital publications.

This discussion-animated, readings-based seminar provides art historical, cultural, and critical contexts for the Visual Arts Lecture Series (VALS). In addition to our ongoing interrogation of the public lecture as such, students present their own work (in any field) and analyze the technical and stylistic aspects of structuring an effective and engaging ‘talk.’ The course provides unique opportunities for interaction with visiting artists, curators, critics, and historians.

Each term, Bennington Visual Arts offers a program of 4-5 lectures by visiting arts professionals: artists, curators, historians and critics, selected to showcase the diversity of contemporary art practices. Designed to enhance a broader and deeper knowledge of various disciplines and issues in the Visual Arts and to stimulate campus dialogue around topical issues in contemporary art and culture, these thematically curated presentations offer students the opportunity to engage with art by emerging and internationally-known artists from underrepresented backgrounds.

Historical Dress: The Park-McCullough Project Spring '26

Working in collaboration with the local Park-McCullough Historic Governor’s Mansion, students will create a new archive of the historic dress collection.

Digital Realities: Rhino 8 and the Art of Making is an introductory course in Digital Fabrication using Computer-Aided Design (CAD) and Computer Numerically Controlled (CNC) equipment. This course will explore the use of 3D Printers, CNC Laser Cutters, and CNC Routers to create custom objects modeled in Rhino 8. The course will cover the necessary workflows and parameters used for each machine, as well as general maintenance, material management, and best practices. This course aims to build technical skills and consider aesthetics, functionality, and design concepts.

This course enables students to undertake the research essential for composing their thesis or completing a project within their field of study or area of interest. Enrollment requires the submission of a comprehensive project proposal to Ikuko Yoshida, which must include a project title, a brief description, a list of relevant preparatory courses, and clearly articulated objectives and goals. 

This fourth-term Japanese course is purposefully designed to enable students to create digital books that promote cultural understanding among Japanese children. The curriculum begins with students engaging with short stories and Japanese animations to analyze expected behaviors and communication styles among Japanese children. Additionally, students examine social and cultural values in Japan—focusing on how these values are conveyed and how gender roles are represented in children’s literature and media.

Borrowed from the subtitle of Lois Ellfeldt & Edwin Carne's seminal 1971 Dance Production Handbook, "Later is Too Late" became a mantra for the course instructor after finding a well-worn copy of the paperback in his roadbox for the Merce Cunningham Dance Company.  In this course we will examine the specific technical challenges and design opportunities presented in the production of dance performance, including the role that planning and management can play in overcoming the structural inequities and lack of resources endemic to the form.  Through readings,

Conducted through research focusing on the development of Japanese subcultures in the Post World War II period, this course poses various critical inquiries about the effects of the nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on contemporary global consumer society, visual culture and the production of art.

This class will investigate various pedagogical approaches to food studies by examining curriculums, topics and discourses being taught at some academic institutions. More importantly, we will put focus on researching art collectives, contemporary civic engagement practices, and other non-institutional models developed by creative practitioners and activists, which engage with food as a conduit to undertake social, political and cultural identity issues and to enhance their community cohesion.

In this second-term Japanese course, students will explore Japanese cultural values and create digital books that reflect Japanese values. Students will read Japanese children’s books and watch children’s TV shows to examine how social and cultural values are portrayed and taught. Based on their analysis and understanding of Japan's social and cultural values, students will write their own digital storybooks, which aim to teach children about embracing cultural differences as a final project.

In this sixth-term Japanese course, students will examine how Buddhism influenced Japanese thought on the afterlife and analyze how Japanese views on the relationship between life and death are depicted in Japanese films.  In the first seven weeks of the course, students will examine and discuss the history, beliefs, and deities of Buddhism, as well as their influences on society.  In the second half of the term, students will analyze how death and the common theme of reincarnation are depicted in different genres of Japanese films, such as love stories and

What forces and individuals contribute to shaping an artist’s legacy? What happens to all of the objects, materials, and correspondence that artists create during their lifetime? What is a catalogue raisonné? This one-credit remote module will introduce students to legacy work and to the nascent field of artist-endowed foundations, inviting the consideration of philosophical and creative questions, while simultaneously offering practical knowledge applicable to future professional opportunities.

This course is an introduction to the magic of copper plate Intaglio. We will explore various techniques to prepare our plates including hand working and acid etching with materials such as rosin resists and sugar lifts. By the end of term, we will be printing in color. Ultimately, the overall goal of our endeavors will be to begin a dialog about artistic production in a contemporary context while also exploring the unique history of the intaglio process.