Expressive Arts and Human Development

The Expressive Arts in Human Development program will provide students with skills needed for careers related to family and social services.

It combines psychology and the creative process to promote emotional growth. This approach uses the inborn desire to create—be it music, theater, visual art, dance, or other artistic form—as a tool to help initiate change.

Through this sequence students will understand the major stages of human development — physical, social, emotional, and psychological; demonstrate understanding of and sensitivity to individual, ethnic, and cultural differences among individuals and families; explore a variety of community-based human service agencies and careers; be prepared to enter undergraduate programs in the expressive arts and related fields and demonstrate effective communication skills, decision making strategies, and problem solving techniques.

Program Requirements

All students accepted in the Expressive Arts & Human Development program are required to take 6.0 Core Credits that include: Expressive Arts in Human Development I -Integrated lab: The Art of Wellness: Visual Arts, Expressive Arts in Human Development II -Integrated lab: Responding to Sound: Music and Voice, Expressive Arts in Human Development III -Integrated lab: The Act of Health: Drama and Performance, Expressive Arts in Human Development IV -Integrated lab: Health in Motion: Dance and Movement, Crafting Health: Craft and Creative Media, Inspired by Nature: Outdoor Environments, Healing Spaces: Indoor Environments, Creative Expressions: Story Writing, Poetry and Journaling, and Oral Interpretation of Children’s Literature.

Expressive Arts in Human Development I: Integrated Lab - The Art of Wellness: Visual Arts

Prenatal growth and development provide the foundation for overall human growth and development. Through this content students will gain understanding of various factors that influence prenatal growth and development. This class will provide opportunities for students to apply communication, leadership, management, and thinking skills to prenatal development and early human development.

Lab Component:

The aim of the creative arts lab in this course will be to introduce students to the applied use of creative visual practices including drawing and painting, photography and sculpture. Students will examine theories and models of art in a human development context from an international and cross-cultural perspective. Through sharing of experiences, group work, and art activities, students will increase their understanding of the history, theory, practice, and applications of art in various settings. Central to the learning will be many hands-on visual arts activities including contour drawing, mandala making, photography exercises, clay sculpture and assemblage, aimed at introducing the key principles of visual arts-based practices in human development. Students will examine the visual arts from a developmental perspective and as a culminating project, students will develop a proposal for a visual arts project for the very young child and their caregiver.

1.0
Fall & Spring

Expressive Arts in Human Development II: Integrated Lab - Responding to Sound: Music and Voice

The purpose of this class is to identify the developmental needs of children. Students will explore methods of meeting these developmental needs by providing a nurturing environment for children. Students will put into effect strategies that promote children’s optimal growth and development. This content topic will provide opportunities for students to apply communication, leadership, management and thinking skills to the study of childhood. 

Lab Component:

In this applied lab students will have the opportunity to learn about interactive drama and performance from both a viewer’s perspective and as a participant. Topics covered will include role-play for healthy relationship building and self-expression, and practices of ritual and celebration. Students will use play, embodiment, projection, role, story, metaphor, empathy, distancing, witnessing, performance, and improvisation to learn how to make meaningful change. Students will learn creative drama techniques that teach improvisational acting skills used in drama therapy. Creative dramatic activities will include theatre games, storytelling, story drama, puppetry, and educational drama. A final project will be required and will target a school aged population.

This course is eligible for three credits through Molloy College in Creative Dramatics.

1.0
Fall & Spring

Expressive Arts in Human Development III: Integrated Lab - The Act of Health: Drama and Performance

This class will identify the developmental changes that take place during the adult years. The developmental milestones of adulthood include the establishment of independence, personal and professional relationships, and adapting to changing lifestyles. This class will provide opportunities for students to apply communication, leadership, management and thinking skills to the study of adulthood. 

Lab Component: 

Students in this lab will explore instrumental, vocal and recorded sound as creative mediums used in expressive arts in community health contexts. A wide variety of topics will be covered including ambient music and meditative sound, individual and choral singing and rhythm-based practices such as drumming. Students will examine some of the health benefits of music-based practices such as listening, breathing and singing and be introduced to a selection of artists who create music within therapeutic contexts.

A final project informed by the healing dimensions/beliefs drawn from Native American music will be required.

1.0
Fall & Spring

Expressive Arts in Human Development IV: Integrated Lab - Health in Motion: Dance and Movement

The population of aging adults is greater than ever before and is expected to increase. Many individuals in this period of life continue to be healthy and actively engaged in family, workplace, and community activities. Complex issues influence the overall health and well-being of those in the elder years. This class will provide opportunities for students to apply communication, leadership, management, and thinking skills to the understanding the choices and challenges of individuals during the elder years. 

Lab Component: 

Students in this class will explore the power of using their bodies as vehicles of expression and the many physical benefits of dance and movement. Participants will examine human movement that includes the historical development of movement from ancient through contemporary cultures. Physiological, sociological, and psychological principles affecting human movement are also included. Analysis of movements, prevention of injuries, conditioning and relaxation techniques will be examined. Topics covered will include the histories and concepts behind dance movement therapies, the role of traditional and modern dance forms in clinical and psychotherapeutic contexts. Amongst the many topics explored will be new practices in contemporary dance that explore non-traditional approaches.

Students in this class will be exposed to a rigorous Dance for Parkinson’s Teacher training with the acclaimed Mark Morris Dance Company which may yield a certification for those who complete all the requirements. 

This course is eligible for three credits through LIU Post.

1.5
Fall & Spring

Crafting Health: Craft and Creative Media

This course will focus on the application of traditional crafts practices for wellbeing. Techniques covered include paper crafting, collage and origami, textile-based practices, and manual arts such as wood carving and metal work. The class will examine how the repetitive or structured processes of craft activities make them ideal for community-based projects and blend creative expression with functional outcomes. The class will include a range of hands-on activities designed to introduce key principles of craft practices in community projects.

Fall & Spring

Inspired by Nature: Outdoor Environments

This class will explore how natural and urban spaces can be used to create and/or experience health and wellness opportunities. A wide variety of topics will be covered including environmental design for mental and physical health, creative interventions such as ‘popups’ in civic spaces, the value of parks and playgrounds for adult and child health. Practical activities will be designed to facilitate a connection and/or reconnection to the natural and built environments that surround us in personal and community contexts.

.125
Fall & Spring

Healing Spaces: Indoor Environments

This course will explore the concepts of “place-making” and sensory connection to enhance health and wellbeing. Classes will cover the relationship between light and space in architecture, the creation of sensory and immersive environments and the benefits of viewing and being surrounded by art in clinical and other institutional settings.

.125
Fall & Spring

Creative Expressions: Story Writing, Poetry and Journaling

This course will provide an introduction to the key forms of writing and reading such as expressive writing, poetry, journaling and bibliotherapy. It also explores a range of community arts/writing projects that harness the power of writing for the purposes of political and social expression and explores how collaborative writing can create awareness of social health and opportunities for connecting to others.

.125
Fall & Spring

Oral Interpretation of Children’s Literature

This class will explore and interpret various types of children’s literature from a variety of sources and cultures including picture books, folk literature, modern tales, poetry and original work. Published children’s theater plays will be analyzed for their strengths and weaknesses, several Equity Children’s Theater companies will be researched, and numerous forms of performance will be explored. 

This course is eligible for three credits through Molloy College.

.5
Fall & Spring

Careers in the Arts

Students in this course will engage in an exploration of options available to artists after high school, matching industry requirements with pathways, including, college admissions and cost associated with it. Students will complete portfolios, engage in mock interviewing and develop resume related material. Students will also research related trends in the creative arts sector, types of jobs available and professional organizations affiliated with different sectors. Traits that are valuable for artists to possess will explored and students will learn about advocacy and networking in the professional arts world.

.125
Fall Semester

Artist Management

This course explores the role and importance of an artist manager, what they do, and how they impact the career of the artist and their brand. The course begins with the basics: why an artist needs a manager, the keys to finding the right partner, and a typical management contract. From there, students will cover the details of planning an artist’s career, money management and what to do when things go wrong.

.125
Spring semester

Arts Entrepreneurship

Introduction to Arts Entrepreneurship is a survey of a business strategies, including money management, investing, insurance, taxes and all the other details behind a successful career in the arts. This course also emphasizes the importance of entrepreneurial thinking, engages students with the fundamentals of the arts “business”, and explores ways to influence and shape the industry’s future. The course will explore the inner workings of the arts industry, using creative problem-solving exercises, discussion questions, collaborative projects, case studies, and hands-on activities. Students will have firsthand experience with guest experts in the fields of promotion, management, and artist representatives, and thus begin creating their own networks and a path to their future activities in the arts.

.125
Fall Semester

Creative Promotion in the Arts

This class offers a comprehensive study of media options available for the promotion of artists, products, and services. It includes a brief discussion of marketing plans, followed by a detailed look at both old and new media. Concepts such as integrated marketing communication are melded with creative tools for branding. Students will analyze an existing promotion plan, as well as create one of their own for a new product. Particular attention is given to the use of the internet for communication and the location and retrieval of business-related data.

.125
Spring semester
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