Creative Arts

The Department of Creative Arts cultivates creativity within a liberal arts environment. We place emphasis on developing professional skills in the areas of visual, sonic, and performing arts while also fostering skills in the areas of creative thinking, communication, and adaptability. Our mission is to prepare students to be engaged citizens with a profound understanding of the creative process and an appreciation for the impact the creative arts has on cultures.

The Department of Creative Arts is a hub for faculty and students engaged in the study, practice, and teaching of creative pursuits within the College of Arts and Sciences. The department serves as the administrative home for academic programs in Studio Art, Art History, Digital Arts, and Theatre Arts, and it fosters collaboration among those programs on curriculum offerings and event programming. See the Catalog entries listed alphabetically elsewhere for requirements specific to these individual majors and minors: Studio Art, Digital Arts, Museum and Curatorial Studies and Theatre Arts.

Although there is no academic major or minor named Creative Arts, the department does offer a limited number of courses under the CREA course prefix. These courses fall under one of the following broad descriptions:

Courses blending perspectives of multiple creative disciplines that therefore do not adequately fit into a single academic program.
Courses serving interests common to all creative disciplines.
Courses focusing on creative disciplines that we do not currently offer as a program of study.

More information can be found online at http://www2.stetson.edu/creative-arts/.

Student learning outcomes describe what students know, understand and are able to do as a result of completing a degree program. The learning outcomes for all majors in the Department of Creative Arts are:

Demonstrate the ability to critically analyze their own work and communicate that analysis effectively
Cultivate a broad understanding of creative work generated in different artistic disciplines or commercial applications
Develop a professional style portfolio showcasing their creative or academic scholarship

Chen, Dengke
Associate Professor of Digital Arts, 2015
BA, China Central Academy of Fine Arts
MFA, The Pennsylvania State University

Franco, Krista Marie
Associate Professor and Program Coordinator of Theatre Arts. 2013
BA, Clemson University
MFA, Florida State University

Kudryavtseva, Ekaterina
Associate Professor of Art History, 2011
BA, Russian State University for the Humanities, Moscow, Russia
MA, University of Oklahoma
PhD, University of Southern California

Marques da Silva, Natália
Director, Hand Art Center
BA, University of Central Florida
MA, University of Florida
PhD, Florida International University

McCoy, Kenneth W.
Chair of Creative Arts
Professor of Theatre Arts. 1994
BA, University of Alabama at Birmingham
MFA, Southern Illinois University at Carbondale
PhD, Bowling Green State University

Molnar, Luca
Assistant Professor of Studio Art. 2019
BA, Dartmouth College
MFA, New York University

Roberts, Matthew
Professor of Digital Arts, 2001
BFA, University of Florida
MFA, University of Illinois

Schmitt, Julia
Professor of Theatre Arts. 2004
BA, Stetson University
MA, PhD, Bowling Green State University

Underriner, Chaz
Associate Professor of Digital Arts. 2017
BA, University of North Texas
MFA, California Institute of the Arts
PhD, University of North Texas

Witek, Joseph P.
Professor of Creative Arts, 1989
BA, Franklin and Marshall College
MA, PhD, Vanderbilt University

Wolek, Nathan E.
Professor of Digital Arts, 2005
BM, Stetson University
PhD, Northwestern University

CREA 190. Special Topics in Creative Arts. 0.5 or 1 Units.

CREA 191A. Dance Appreciation. 1 Unit.

An introductory survey class designed for non-majors that examines dance within historical, cultural, social, and performative contexts. Course participants will gain a deeper understanding of dance, choreography, and diverse movement styles by studying influential choreographers, composers, dancers, and dance companies. Though physical movement is an essential component of the course, accommodations are readily made for students with varying physical limitations. No prerequisite.

CREA 250. Arts Entrepreneurship. 1 Unit.

Explores the application of an entrepreneurial mindset to artistic contexts, so that creative practices can be transformed into financially viable opportunities. Primary objective is equipping students with basic skills for artistic careers that are self-sustaining. Secondary consideration will be given to the value of applying common artistic practices such as experimentation, play, and reflection, within business contexts. No prerequisite. Offered once a year in the fall semester.

CREA 280. Creative Arts Colloquium. 0.0 Units.

Pass/Fail only. Designed to introduce students in the Creative Arts department to a variety of artists, professionals, and contemporary practices. The colloquium is structured as a lecture series that meets approximately five times per semester. Primary programmed with guest presentations, but additional topics may include professional development, graduate studies, and careers in the arts. Offered every semester and recommended for a student is enrolled full-time for all majors in Studio Art, Art History, Digital Arts, and Theatre Arts.

CREA 290. Special Topics in Creative Arts. 0.5 or 1 Units.

CREA 291. Textile Design. 1 Unit.

This studio course will provide advanced instruction in surface design techniques, focusing on screen printed and digitally printed fabric. The class will be structured with demonstrations, lectures/slides, individual progress reviews, and group and individual critiques.

CREA 292. Magnificent Venice: Art and. 1 Unit.

CREA 292A. Magnificent Venice: Art and Mu. 1 Unit.

CREA 343V. The Culture and Aesthetics of Japanese Animation. 1 Unit.

This course focuses on Stetson's Human Diversity Value. Students will learn about the history, culture, and aesthetics of Japanese animation ranging from its origins in the late 1950s to its relationship with other artistic forms such as film and literature. As a result, students in this course will develop skills in viewing, analyzing, interpreting, and evaluating the art of anime as well as its cultural impact in Japan and around the world. Japan enjoys a reputation as one of the most vibrant and distinctive cultures of our increasingly globalized world and is often relevant to discussions of technology and new media, aesthetics, disaster and nuclear war, historical imperialism and geopolitics. By engaging with Japanese anime, students will consider the interrelationships between culture, art, and literature in multiple cultures through writing and creative projects. Students will also learn about the technical production of animation as a digital art form. Junior Seminar.

CREA 370V. Blues People: African American Popular Music. 1 Unit.

This course focuses on Stetson's Human Diversity Value. Blues People is an interdisciplinary examination of the contributions of vernacular African American culture to American popular music from around the turn of the nineteenth century to the 1970s. Students extend the time period discussed up to the present day in a capstone final project. The course traces how the music of a socially marginalized group became central to American culture. Junior Seminar.

CREA 371V. Music and Social Injustice. 1 Unit.

This course focuses on Stetson's Social Justice Value. Throughout human history, music has served survivors of social injustice as a coping mechanism, a source of solidarity, an instrument of resistance and protest, a creative outlet for shared experiences, and a depository of collective memory. In this course we will encounter and critically engage with various social plights - inequality (gender, race, and class), colonialism, genocide, oppression, and war - using music as a contextual lens. Junior Seminar.

CREA 372V. Arts and Revolution: Music. 1 Unit.

This course focuses on Stetson's Social Justive Value. Can art change the world? This course traces how artists attempted to change society through visual arts over the threshold of the 1917 Russian Revolution, when political convulsions opened new possibilities for art and artists. We explore the possibilities of art as tool for social justice both in text and practice, focusing on Russia and Eastern Europe. Junior Seminar.

CREA 390. Special Topics in Creative Arts. 0.75 to 1 Units.

CREA 395. Teaching Apprenticeship. 0.5 Units.

CREA 396. Research/Creative Arts Apprenticeship. 0.5 Units.

Students apprentice on a project that directly supports the research or creative agenda of a faculty mentor. Prior to the start of the semester, faculty and student must submit a brief written plan to the department chair for the work to be completed. Pass/Fail only. By permission of the instructor. May be repeated once for a maximum credit of one unit, depending on workload.

CREA 397. Internship in Creative Arts. 0.5 or 1 Units.

This course provides students with an opportunity to apply their classroom and studio knowledge to an internship, where they will further develop their skills and gain practical experience.Students majoring or minoring in any of the Creative Arts Department's academic programs (Studio Art, Art History, Digital Arts, or Theatre Arts) should register to receive internship credit through this course. Students are expected to secure an internship position prior to registering for the course, and should seek help with this from their academic advisor or the department internship supervisor before adding the class. Depending on the hours required by the internship, students may register for either a half or full unit of credit. May be repeated for credit up to 2 units. Prerequisites: permission of the department internship supervisor. Enrollment in an internship course requires students to attend an orientation prior to beginning work at their internship site. For more information regarding internship orientations, please contact Career & Professional Development at career@stetson.edu or 386-822-7315.

CREA 400. Advanced Interdisciplinary Studio. 1 Unit.

A co-taught studio course structured to cover a wide variety of interdisciplinary topics in the creative arts. Students pursue projects producing a body of work that may include elements of Digital Arts, Creative Writing, Music, Art, Art History, Theatre Arts and/or other experimental artwork. May be repeated for credit. Prerequisite: Permission of Instructor.