Courses of Study 2011-2012 
    
    Mar 28, 2024  
Courses of Study 2011-2012 [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

Computing in the Arts


In the College of Arts and Sciences .

 

Undergraduate Minor

The computer plays a role in almost every aspect of human life, and its influence and potential now extend routinely not only to technical and commercial pursuits but also into the realms of the imaginative and the aesthetic. The Computing in the Arts minor offers students opportunities to use computers to realize works of art, to study the perception of artistic phenomena, and to think about new, computer-influenced paradigms and metaphors for the experiences of making and appreciating art. Faculty from several departments in the college offer courses toward the minor, drawing on disciplines in the arts, the social sciences, the humanities, and the physical sciences. Currently, the minor is offered in six tracks: computer science, dance, film, music, art, and psychology, each described in more detail below. Students may minor in the same area as their major, or in a different area.

It is likely that additional tracks in other disciplines will be added to the minor, indeed possible that this will have occurred after the publication deadline for this year’s Courses of Study but in time to take effect in the 2011–2012 academic year. The director and area representatives listed below will always have the latest information.

Website: www.cis.cornell.edu/ComputingArts/

Director: Graeme Bailey

Applying for the Minor and Choosing Courses:


Students should meet with the track representative in their chosen discipline for initial advising about the minor. For 2011–2012, these representatives are Graeme Bailey (computer science track), Kevin Ernste (music track), Allen Fogelsanger (dance track), Stephanie Owens (art track), Marilyn Rivchin (film track), and Carol Krumhansl (psychology track).

Regardless of which track they choose, all students in the minor are required to take the core course, Computing in the Arts (CS 1610 , cross-listed as CIS 1610 , DANCE 1540 , ENGRI 1610 , FILM 1750  , MUSIC 1465 , and PSYCH 1650 ). This course combines fundamental background in cognitive modeling, statistics, programming, and algorithmic thinking, as preparation for more specialized work; hence, though it is not a formal prerequisite to other courses, it should be taken as early as possible in the student’s program. For students who have already gained an equivalent background through other courses, however, it may be waived by permission of the director.

In addition to the core course, each student chooses another five courses satisfying the following requirements:

  1. At least one must entail a significant computing component, regardless of its home department (marked * in the lists below).
  2. At least two must entail a significant artistic component (marked † in the lists below).
  3. For students majoring in a field offering a track, none of the courses from that track may be double-counted as also satisfying major requirements.

The goal is to encourage the development of reasonable depth within one area, without neglecting the interdisciplinary nature of the field. Hence, rather than choosing courses at random from the lists below or focusing too narrowly on one particular corner of the field, each student should work actively with an advisor from his or her minor in building an appropriate program. If a course within a track is crosslisted with another department, any of the crosslistings will satisfy that track’s requirements equally well.

Course Lists:


Dance track:


In addition to the core course, DANCE 1540  (for description, see CS 1610 ), any five of the following. Note that some of these courses have DANCE pre- and/or corequisites. Note also that for this track, two courses marked * should be taken, and they should not be I and II of any one series for the purposes of satisfying the * requirement.

Psychology track:


In addition to the core course, PSYCH 1650 , any five of the following. Note that some of these courses have PSYCH prerequisites.