The minor in Interdisciplinary Arts (IART) contextualizes interdisciplinary practice and its history in IART 3300, (an introductory lecture/ seminar course), and culminates in IART 4300, a “hands on” exploration of collaborative projects that integrate visual art, creative writing, music, and theater.

Interdisciplinarity is characterized by an innate permeability between disciplines and media, and the resulting evolution of new forms of creative expression. In this spirit, the minor (like the practice) is open to students from across the university who have an interest in the study and practice of intersections in the visual and performing arts, writing and beyond.

The minor in Interdisciplinary Arts requires a minimum of 15 semester hours, 9 of which must be advanced. Nine of the 15 hours must be in residence, of which six must be at the 3000/4000 level. Students may fulfill the IART 3395 requirement with approved courses in Art, Art History, Music, Theatre & Dance, and Creative Writing in the English Department. A minimum 2.00 grade point average on all courses applied to the minor is required.

Visual Performing Arts Core
IART 3300: Introduction to Interdisciplinary Arts (3 hours)
IART 4300: Collaboration Among the Arts (3 hours)

6 hours of courses from the following:
IART 3395: Special Topics in Interdisciplinary Arts
And/or approved courses in: Art, Art History, Music, Theatre & Dance, and Creative Writing in the English Department

SPRING 2013
IART 3300
INTRODUCTION TO IART
Mary Magsamen
Monday, 2:30pm – 5:30pm
FA 204A
This introductory seminar provides an overview of modern and contemporary interdisciplinary art practices and their history within the experimental avant garde. Exploring the crossovers between theatre, dance, fine art, music and film/video, the course will consider strategies such as performance, installation, new media and social practice, and how they have affected the production and perception of art today. Intro to IART is the first step for all students interested in an IART Minor.

IART 4300/6300
COLLABORATION AMONG THE ARTS
Nick Flynn
Tuesday, 5:30pm–8:30pm
FA 204A
The capstone course for an IART Minor. Prerequisite: IART 3395 or consent of the instructor. Innovative collaborative projects that integrate visual art, creative writing, music, theatre & dance.

IART 3395/6395
PERFORMANCE ART & FEMINISM
Lynne McCabe
Wednesday, 8:00am-11:00am
FA 204A
Students co-create a site for the exploration and understanding of the embodied and sensual knowledge generated through performance/installation and time based art works. Tracing a history of performance art with an emphasis on feminist practices, this class is a site for rigorous experimentation and theoretical exploration. Performance Art & Feminism includes lectures, performances, critiques and workshops in collaboration with visiting artists. Students will produce a day of performance and installations. Drawing from historical practices this course examines strategies for documentation, dissemination and reflection in considering the afterlife of these ephemeral art works.

ENG 35977/6323-3
GRAPHIC NOVEL (fiction workshop)
Mat Johnson
Tuesday, 2:30pm-5:30pm
Graphic Novel is comprised of seminar discussion of major graphic novels, and a workshop of student graphic writing and (if able) art. Working in tandem with both national and local comic book artists, students will create visual stories that will be presented to the community in an art show at the culmination of term.

FALL 2012
IART 3300
INTRODUCTION TO IART
Mary Magsamen
Monday, 2:30pm – 5:30pm
FA 204
This introductory seminar provides an overview of modern and contemporary interdisciplinary art practices and their history within the experimental avant garde. Exploring the crossovers between theatre, dance, fine art, music and film/video, the course will consider strategies such as performance, installation, new media and social practice, and how they have affected the production and perception of art today. Intro to IART is the first step for all students interested in an IART Minor.

IART 3395/6395
PARTICIPATION AND FEMINIST STRATEGIES
Lynne McCabe
Tuesday, 5:30pm – 8:30pm
FA 204A
Students will participate in the construction of an exhibition at the Blaffer Art Museum, with an emphasis on process, collaboration and conversation. The course will trace the origins of the contemporary, socially engaged art, as well as the history of feminist art, writing and performance. This class will take place inside the Blaffer Art Museum and will involve lectures, performances and workshops.

IART 4300/6300
COLLABORATION AMONG THE ARTS
Kelly Sears & Gabriel Martinez
Thursday, 5:30pm – 8:30pm
FA 106
This course is focused on the development of original projects, working collaboratively with others. Teams work together to integrate visual art, creative writing, music, theatre & dance. Past projects have included the creation of an internet radio station, interactive installations, artist focused dinner parties, guided walking tours, temporary alternative spaces and multi-media performances. Project conceptualization, management and budgeting are part of this course. This is the final course required for an IART Minor.

SPRING 2012
IART 3300
INTRODUCTION TO IART
Mary Magsamen
Monday, 2:30pm–5:30pm
FA 204
An introductory seminar to the history, theory and context of modern and contemporary interdisciplinary art practices, Intro to IART is the first step for all students interested in an IART Minor. This survey will trace the development of interdisciplinary approaches to experimental avanté garde art exploring the crossovers between theater, dance, fine art, music and film/video.  Addressing strategies such as appropriation, performance, installation, new media and social practices, we will critically consider the artists and institutions that have worked across and beyond mediums and how this affects the practice and perception of art today.

IART 4300/6300
COLLABORATION AMONG THE ARTS
Nick Flynn
Tuesday, 5:30pm–8:30pm
FA106
The capstone course for an IART Minor. Prerequisite: IART 3395 or consent of the instructor. Innovative collaborative projects that integrate visual art, creative writing, music, theatre & dance.

FALL 2011
IART 3300
INTRODUCTION TO IART
Mary Magsamen
Monday, 2:30pm–5:30pm
An introductory seminar to the history, theory and context of modern and contemporary interdisciplinary art practices, Intro to IART is the first step for all students interested in an IART Minor. This seminar will trace the development of interdisciplinary art from the early twentieth century to the contemporary era. Addressing strategies such as appropriation, Conceptualism, performance, installation, new media and social practices, we will critically consider the artists and institutions that have worked across and beyond mediums and how this affects the practice and perception of art today.

IART 3395/ 6395
COMMUNITY BASED ART
J. Hill
Monday, 11:30am–2:30pm
A workshop-based course focused on art making and curating that is engaged with various local communities. Working within the context of existing community arts projects such as Houston’s Third Ward Project Row Houses as well as with Mitchell Center Artists in Residence including Ashley Hunt and Marc Bamuthi Joseph, this course will explore issues directly relevant to local communities. Students will examine architecture, local politics, economic sustainability, race, education and history through an artistic lens.

This course will require working on-site, actively listening, documenting, reading, interviewing and directly engaging with members of the public. Students will develop artwork and/or an exhibition that is an outgrowth of their experience.

IART 3395/6395
RIPPED, RECYCLED AND REMADE MEDIA
Kelly Sears
Wednesday, 2:30pm–5:30pm
A studio course in which participants will make a series of videos from ripped and recycled media sources, and, in the process, investigate how appropriation critiques and reframes public, private, social and political conversation. This course will examine these student driven works in relation to fair-using, hijacking, bootlegging, open sourcing, recycling, archiving, faking, authorized copying and blatant stealing.

IART 3395/ 6395
RESPONDING TO GALVESTON BAY WITH SHRIMP BOAT PROJECTS
J. Kastely
Friday, All Day
Offered in conjunction with an ongoing Mitchell Center residency, the point of departure for this course is a working shrimp boat on Galveston Bay.  Visiting artists Zach Moser and Eric Leshinsky will lead participants through site visits, and readings. Participants will come to a deep understanding of the Houston region as well as investigate contemporary art making strategies used to respond to an existing place, routine or context. Students will be expected to create a project proposal and presentation and realize a public art project around (or in response to) Galveston Bay.  Class will meet on Fridays and include five six-hour site visits, discussion time, and studio time; depending on the schedule.

ENGL 6322
POETRY WORKSHOP: SHRIMP BOAT PROJECTS
Martha Serpas
Friday, All Day
Do you know where you are? Our art and writing are affected by the environment in which we work. If a poem or painting does not engage a landscape directly, it changes because of the elements—even if overlooked—surrounding its composition.

As part of the interdisciplinary Shrimp Boat Projects, students will have a working shrimp boat as the base for explorations of the marshes, refineries, bays, and beaches that make up the Galveston Bay Estuary.

Through cooperation between creative writing and the visual arts, students will engage in an experiential workshop outside the classroom and writing immersion within the classroom. Gulf Coast poets will be read along with the discussion of student writing and collaborative projects. Fieldwork will include a trip on a trawler, a walk through Armand Nature Center, field experience planting cord grass, a kayaking outing, and a refinery tour.

Interdisciplinary Art Archive