Curriculum

Courses
  The making of an object used to include the planning of it. The individual who wished to make an object would have to think about the reason for making it, what to make, how to make it, and which materials to use. With the pursuit of efficiency and mass production in modern society, the process of making an object has become divided into discrete steps. The result is that in contemporary society, people often have no interest in making something themselves, and pay no attention to how an object is made. In addition, the 20th century saw the development of technologically advanced societies, in which progress in electronic communications and virtual reality began to challenge our sense of the real.
The Department of Ceramic, Glass, and Metal Works objects to such a situation and seeks to promote the production of individually-crafted objects in ceramic, glass, and metal. In order to do this, we must help our students consider carefully the needs of individuals in contemporary life, and ways in which these needs can be satisfied.
One of our major aims is to encourage a new and truly international approach to three-dimensional work; not simply the traditional Japanese approach, nor the accepted attitudes of western-style aesthetics. The department enjoys a worldwide reputation, and has produced artists of major stature in the fields of ceramic, glass, and metal design. Graduates have become creators of fine art, craftspeople working out of their own studios and workshops, members of design workshops and companies, and educators.


Courses

Top

Curriculum

In the Department of Ceramic, Glass, and Metal Works, these three fields are approached from the perspective of their relationship to the environment and to the times, the value of art and applied arts, the choice and purpose of creative production within contemporary culture, and other relevant issues. From these three fields, the student freely chooses courses to learn their respective theories and techniques and to acquire technical expertise. By gaining a deeper understanding of individually-crafted work through an integrated mastery of ceramics, glasswork, and metalwork, the student acquires a closely interwoven motivation and conceptual approach to artisanship, learns the features of each material and the significance of their treatment, and can express the combined result of theory, practice, and technique in the form of finished works.

Ceramics
Clay is an extremely plastic material capable of expressing a diverse range of qualities. Clay modeling has been practiced in Japan since the ancient Jomon era.

Glass
Due to technological advances in melting furnaces, glass offers numerous possibilities as a transparent material that can be freely modeled.

Metals
Metals possess great potential that can be harnessed for precise yet creative modeling, and a variety of unique and traditional surface treatment techniques have been developed in Japan. Based on a foundation of beaten metalwork techniques, the student learns approaches to modeling metal.


Curriculum

Top

Courses

Ceramic, Glass, and Metal Works Program
Modeling Theory, Clay Modeling Theory, Glass Modeling Theory, Metal Modeling Theory, Modeling Practice, Technical Training, Clay Modeling Practice, Technical Training in Ceramics, Glass Modeling Practice, Technical Training in Glass, Metal Modeling Practice, Technical Training in Metal, Graduation Project

General Education Program
Materials Science for Ceramics, Landscape Architecture, Ceramic Kilns and Tools, Anatomy for Artists, Theory of Twentieth Century Art, Survey of Aesthetics, Formative Psychology, Color Theory, Modern Philosophy, Literature, Cultural Anthropology, Descriptive Geometry, Theory of Contemporary Applied Arts, Conceptual History of Modern and Contemporary Applied Arts, History of Japanese Culture, Ethnology, Survey of Asian Art History, Survey of Western Art History, Survey of Environmental Design, Theory of Media Arts, Cognitive Science, Theory of Urban Design, Design Management, System Engineering, Foreign Languages, Physical Education, other courses
   
    Previous