Spring ’21 – Syllabus
Long Beach State University
College of the Arts
School of Art
Art 490: Special Topics in Studio Art: Artist’s Websites
Spring Semester 2021
Instructor: Glenn Zucman
Syllabus
Artist’s Websites
Art 490 section 1 – Artist’s Websites – Spring 2021
Course in designing, critiquing, and maintaining an Artist’s ePortfolio (website). Students will explore a range of platform, aesthetic, and content options. Students will learn online & documentation tools, develop & refine their websites, and interact with classmate websites.
- Semester: Spring 2021
- Hybrid Course: Section 1: Mondays 12:00 – 12:50 Synchronous + Asynchronous
- Room: Zoom: https://csulb.zoom.us/my/glennz
- Prerequisite: None
- Units: 1
- Work Estimate: 3 hours / week (1 F2F + 2 OL)
- Course: January 19-May 7 2021
- Final: Friday, May 14, 2021, 12:30 – 2:30
- Instructor: Glenn Zucman
- email: glenn.zucman@csulb.edu
- Office Hours: M 12:50-1:50 pm PDT
- Office: https://csulb.zoom.us/my/glennz
- or by appointment
Schedule
The first half of the semester we will build our online portfolios, and the second half of the semester we will critique them.
- Goals
- Viewer Profiles
- Photograph Your Work
- Photograph Yourself
- Write About Yourself
- Write About Your Work
- Choose a Platform & Domain Name
- Build Website
- Critiques
Prerequisites
- None
Objectives
The purpose of this course is to design & implement your own ePortfolio. To learn skills and methods that will allow the artist to maintain a current, and contemporary presence online.
Learning Outcomes
Upon completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Create their own ePortfolio
- Easily & Quickly Update the content of their ePortfolio
- Change the aesthetics of their ePortfolio presentation
- Discuss the aesthetics of many different Artist’s ePortfolios
- Prepare Images & Videos for their ePortfolio
- Create an online CV (curriculum vitae) or Resume
- Create an online Artist’s Statement
- Exchange links with other artists
Format of the Course
- Hybrid course: F2F + Online.
Each week students will meet F2F to critique each other’s work, discuss new activities, and to learn new techniques. Most of the artist’s website production will be done online outside of our 1 weekly F2F hour. The class Slack team will be a central discussion space between students and with the instructor. The class website will provide information on many ePortfolio parameters.
Materials
Textbook
- None
Required Materials
- Computer – laptop or desktop. Can use computers in the Horn Center or Spidel Center
- Camera – Phone, DSLR, Mirrorless, or Film
- Cloud Storage – Dropbox, Google Drive, iCloud, OneDrive, etc (free version)
- Web Platform – Wix, Squarespace, WordPress, HTML, or anything else you prefer
Online Resources
In addition to whatever Hosting and Cloud Storage platforms you choose, this class will use these online resources:
- Course website – glenn.zucman.com/websites
- Content Posting & Discussion Space – glenn.zucman.com/websites/discuss
- Live Websites – we will view each other’s websites, many other artists websites, and various other resources online.
Technology
Technical Competence Required
You should have the ability to use a phone and a laptop. The ability to view websites, to navigate to different locations online, to download and install software on your devices.
Minimum Hardware Requirements
Any smartphone and laptop made in the last few years should be sufficient. You can also use the computers in the Spidell Center or the Horn Center.
Minimum Software Requirements
- A modern web browser like Chrome, Firefox, Opera, Safari, etcetera
- Support software, like Photoshop or Adobe Creative Cloud, and perhaps a text editor like Brackets, Notepad++, or Sublime Text.
Safety
I hope you become obsessed with building a great ePrtfolio. But don’t forget the other people in your life, the need for fresh air and exercise, etcetera. If you’ve been staring at a screen for 20 minutes, it’s a good idea to look at something further away for a minute. If you’ve been working for 2 hours, it’s nice to take a walk around the block before continuing. Long term: get a treadmill desk!
Grading & Attendance
Points
- Attendance: 130
- Online Critiques: 11 x 13 = 141
- Weekly Activities: 7 projects x 20 points = 140
- Website 1st Draft – Wk 9 – 50
- Website Presentation – Wk 9-15 – 50
- Website Final Draft – Final – 50
- Participate in Final – 39
Total points possible = 600
##Grades
- 540 points = A
- 480 points = B
- 420 points = C
- 360 points = D
- 359 & below = F
Attendance
- Attendance at the F2F meeting is required.
- “Attendance” (participation) online is also required.
Cheating & Plagiarism
I don’t know how you can “cheat” in designing your own web portfolio! But it’d be really dumb. This class is all about helping you present your work to your audience(s). The more time & effort you put in, the better your work will be presented. And, hopefully, you’ll have a better life!
General Policies & Regulations
- CSULB Catalog: General Policies & Regulations
Other Details
Your Preferred Name
The University now allows you to set your “preferred” name. So if the name on your birth certificate is “Andrew,” but you go by “Drew”, now the university can refer to you as Drew. This makes it easier for me to find you on the roster, and better for your classmates who can refer to you by the name you choose.
- Please set your University “Preferred Name” to be the same name that you’d like to use on our Roster, Email, Your Website, etc.
- You can set your name on MyCSULB. Here’s How!
The right to be forgotten
Sometimes I will feature your website or your work here on the course website. I will never show your work and say this is what not to do. I will only show your work and say Look at what a beautiful job Maddy did last week. I hope you feel good about this. But even if you do, it’s possible that you don’t want your photo or name on this website. If I ever post a photo of you, or your work, or list your name, or a link to your website, and you’d rather not have that here, just LMK. You can ask me to take something down today, tomorrow, next week, next year, or next decade. You never have to give me a reason. You only have to give me the URL where the item you’d like taken down is. It’s always up to you.
Be Kind
Remember that you are posting to the live web. You’ve surfed the web, right? So you know that every day you’ll find the most sublime acts of kindness and generosity right next to crazy, unwarranted rage. The good news about your website is that it’s yours. You always have the ability to modify or delete content as you see fit. But remember also that when you write about other artists you are publicly posting about a real person. You can be honest. But you can also be kind. If the golden rule is do unto others as you would have them do unto you, then perhaps the golden rule of blogging should be blog about others as you would have them blog about you.
Incompletes
The School of Art grants “incompletes” rarely and only for the most extreme conditions.
Withdrawal Deadlines
- CSULB Enrollment Services: Key Dates & Deadlines
- CSULB Dropping & Withdrawing Policies
Accommodation
CSULB will make reasonable accommodations for any student who has different needs. It is the student’s responsibility to notify me in advance of the need for special accommodations.
Basic Needs
Any student who is facing academic or personal challenges due to difficulty in affording groceries/food and/or lacking a safe and stable living environment is urged to contact the CSULB Student Emergency Intervention & Wellness Program. The website outlining the resources available is csulb.edu/basicneeds. Students can also e-mail supportingstudents@csulb.edu or call 562/985.2038. You can also reach out to me if I can help identify additional resources.
Have a great class!
Is making websites fun?
It is for me! And I hope it is for you too! But even if it’s not your favorite thing in the world, let’s have a useful & relevant semester!
- Set a clear focus for your website
- Create persuasive writing
- Produce exciting images
- Assemble it all in a compelling website
- Critique, Revise, Improve, Repeat!
Reference: CSULB Curriculum Handbook, Section 4: Courses & Curricula > Course Syllabi & Standard Course Outlines
