Academics an important part of Skidmore's rich summer programming

A wide range of courses, a new course in documentary filmmaking, and the return of a vibrant studio art program top the Summer 2015 academic agenda at Skidmore. It is a great time of the year to get ahead on your academic program or to pursue tempting new course options.

More than 80 courses taught by approximately 50 faculty members will be offered over three summer sessions this year, starting Monday, June 1. Highlights include a team-taught, interdisciplinary course—“Kinetic Anatomy:  Moving Body”—taught by Karen Arciero of the Department of Health and Exercise Science and Sarah DiPasquale of the Department of Dance. In addition, Elementary French (FF101) will be taught entirely online this summer by Cindy Evans using the Open Learning Initiative platform developed and hosted at Carnegie Mellon University. Click here to learn more about academic opportunities this summer.

Another offering emphasizes new and traditional methods of producing documentary films. “DS-251D: Making the Documentary Film: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow,” will be taught by Christopher Moore. In this introductory survey, which blends theory and practice, questions of form and content will be explored. The goal is to give students the necessary skills with which to make documentary films while ensuring that they approach their first projects with a deep historical understanding of the issues that documentarians have dealt with. Students will watch a variety of films, read broadly, and from day one, begin practicing and experimenting as documentarians. Topics for discussion will include the ways that social media, the increasingly powerful cell-phone camera, and the emergence of interactive or immersive online documentaries are introducing new possibilities and also concerns to the craft. As the course will take place during Summer Session I, alongside Skidmore's inaugural Summer Storyteller's Institute, course participants will have the opportunity to attend Institute events and engage with visiting artists.

A returning favorite is Skidmore’s Summer Studio Art Program, which brings together a diverse and multifaceted group of talent and focused students with accomplished and nationally recognized visiting artists and faculty. Exceptional studio art courses, workshops, lectures, and special events typically combine to enhance creative energy and artistic production.

Featured visiting artist Paula Wilson will be in residence on campus July 20 to 24. Her work is in the collections of the Studio Museum Harlem, Yale University Art Gallery, Moore College of Art and Design, Saatchi Gallery, and the Fabric Workshop and Museum.

Additionally, visiting artist Jane Fine will be in residence on campus from June 8 to 12. She will be working on special projects in the painting and experimental drawing courses, visiting classes, and talking with students. Jane's quirky abstract paintings are a wonderful riot of color, gesture, and strange imagery. She has shown nationally and abroad with recent shows at Colgate University and in New Orleans. Jane graduated from Harvard University and then attended the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. 

Courses unique to summer at Skidmore include Collage, 100 Views of Summer and printmaking courses “From Scratch” and “Big Relief.” Click here for course descriptions.

In addition to the summer academic offerings, Skidmore’s rich summer program includes such programs as the summer Jazz Institute, the New York State Summer Writers Institute, SITI, the Summer Dance Institute and the Skidmore Decoda Chamber Music Institute, all of which draw students and appreciative audiences.

And there’s Saratoga Springs, too! It’s no secret that summer is Saratoga’s best season, offering music and dance at SPAC, Thoroughbreds competing at the Saratoga Race Course, and multiple opportunities to enjoy the outdoors at the nearby State Park or National Battlefield. Even a walk downtown—where sidewalks bustle with people and entertainment, as well as cafes and merchandise from numerous shops—can be a sensory experience.

Summer comes just once a year. This year, why not spend your summer at Skidmore?