Category: Undergraduate Courses

Students engage in a series of personal and,collaborative projects requiring them to invent,new rules and processes for research, testing, and,making through the acts of inquiry, observation,,play, material exploration, testing, and,fabrication. This course functions an introduction,to an interdisciplinary studio practice as well as,to the various disciplines that make up the,College. Students gain an understanding of the,facilities, opportunities, and course offerings,that each department has to offer them, which will,help with direction and course selection in the,coming semesters. This studio incorporates,reading, writing, and critical thinking as vital,components of a holistic studio practice,,instilling a fundamental approach to the program.

Credits: 3

Prerequisites:

Narrative structures and strategies are present in,all disciplines and cultures, though the form,,language, intentions, and motives may vary.,Examples of these structures include storytelling,,brand messaging, gameplay, wayfinding, and signs,and symbols. This course looks at traditional and,experimental narratives across disciplines and at,their intersections. Students will develop,language, voice, and integrative methods for,execution and delivery within and without the,context of their chosen fields of study.

Credits: 3

Prerequisites: IAD 105

Students will identify, examine, and react to,matters of socio-cultural relevance through a,creative media-blind lens, viewing social practice,in a broad sense. The goal is to develop,innovative work employing the students’ unique,individual and/or combined skill sets utilizing,skills gained across the College. Students will,have opportunities to use proven research methods,and invent new ones as they develop a body of work,over the course of the semester.

Credits: 3

Prerequisites: IAD 305

Taken in the semester prior to Interdisciplinary,Thesis I, students utilize this course to,research, identify, and develop potential thesis,projects in consideration of their specific skill,sets. Research methods will be reinforced and new,strategies for discovery will be developed, where,possible. The course will also include career,research, relevant to the individual student’s,particular path of study, with an eye toward,potential internship opportunities. Students end,the semester with a persuasive presentation,focused on their thesis concept, and are prepared,to apply for internships.

Credits: 3

Prerequisites: IAD 305

The Interdisciplinary Thesis is a two-semester,studio course affording students the time and,space to undertake major independent,interdisciplinary art and design projects.,Students may propose a body of related works, a,series of individual pieces, or major stand-alone,projects with the goal of producing them over the,course of two semesters alongside their peers,,capitalizing on their diverse skill sets,,professional goals, and regular critiques.

Credits: 3

Prerequisites: IAD 310

This second semester thesis course completes the,work begun in Interdisciplinary Thesis I. The,course includes regular critiques as students work,towards their individual and collective project,goals, including relevant publications and public,exhibition by the end of the semester.

Credits: 3

Prerequisites: IAD 407

Participation in an internship experience allows,junior or senior status students to use,classroom-learned skills in a related employment,experience. Students must work a minimum of 135,hours over the course of the entire semester.,Students must have a minimum cumulative GPA of,2.8. Seniors may not be eligible to participate,in an internship during their final semester.,Transfer students must have attended one semester,at CCS in addition to meeting the other,eligibility criteria.

Credits: 6

Prerequisites:

The Special Project class is offered on an,occasional basis, with course content specific to,the area being explored.,

,FALL 2026,

,PERFORMANCE: HOME/HOUSE/CITY ,,

,PERFORMANCE STUDIO (or, at Home in the House & the,City) is a studio-based investigation of,performance, broadly considered alongside,contemporary practices in performance art,,time-based art, and performing arts. Theoretically,grounded in performance studies, including,theories of performativity and performance of,everyday life, students will research and create,performance-solo, collaborative, and ensemble,work-that culminates in a public-facing event at,the Jam Handy in Detroit. The course follows a,critical framework for performance-as-research led,by a progression based on context: the home,(personal, private, phantasmagoric, domestic) to,”house” (denoting disciplinary specificity of the,black box/white cube and its trappings), to the,city (public, site-specific, participatory,,social). Part physical practice, part personal,research, part choreographic experimentation, part,collective experience, the rhythms, archetypes,,worldings, and non-sequiturs of everyday life will,provide the fodder for this performance studio.,Open to all majors

Credits: 3

Prerequisites: