The rapid advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming the way we work, interact, and make decisions. AI is integrated into applications and devices that are woven into our daily lives. How does AI work? What impact will AI have on individuals, communities, and our global society?
This course aims to provide students with the knowledge and skills to become informed digital citizens in the age of AI, ready to navigate the digital landscape. Students will gain fundamental technical understanding of how computers, the Web, and AI work, and will study three programming languages: HTML5, CSS, and JavaScript. Students will also examine and discuss societal and ethical issues related to the Web and AI technologies, and consider responsible and future use of these technologies.
Units: 1
Max Enrollment: 24
Crosslisted Courses: MAS 110
Prerequisites: Fulfillment of the Quantitative Reasoning (QR) component of the Quantitative Reasoning & Data Literacy requirement. No prior background with computers is expected.
Distribution Requirements: MM - Mathematical Modeling and Problem Solving
Typical Periods Offered: Fall
Semesters Offered this Academic Year: Fall
Notes: Mandatory Credit/Non Credit.
Video games are a popular form of interactive media that engage players in dynamic experiences through unprecedented combinations of storytelling, visualization, interactivity, and multi-sensory immersion. This course will introduce students to video game production and concepts. We will develop a framework for critically analyzing this medium, learn to identify effective strategies for creating games and describe what elements of design impact the final experience of a game. We’ll also identify the function of user agency in this medium to better understand how players are affected by representation in video games. Throughout the course, students will be asked to apply these concepts while building their own games and become familiar with the fundamentals of video game design.
Units: 1
Max Enrollment: 18
Crosslisted Courses: MAS 121
Prerequisites: None. Open to First-Years and Sophomores. Juniors and Seniors by permission of the instructor.
Distribution Requirements: MM - Mathematical Modeling and Problem Solving
Typical Periods Offered: Fall and Spring
Semesters Offered this Academic Year: Fall; Spring
Notes:
Time-Based Media I provides a focused introduction to the creation and analysis of video art within contemporary screen culture. The course bridges technical proficiency with creative theory by linking the history of the medium to modern media consumption, from traditional cinema to social media formats. Students explore themes of identity, performance, and social issues, learning to transform everyday experiences into meaningful artistic projects. A practical focus of this introductory class is building professional digital habits and understanding how the moving image fits into different worlds, including cinema, art galleries, and live performances. Through weekly screenings, student presentations, and discussions, students develop the creative and critical skills needed to navigate today’s visual landscape.
Units: 1
Max Enrollment: 14
Crosslisted Courses: MAS 164
Prerequisites: None
Distribution Requirements: ARS - Visual Arts, Music, Theater, Film and Video
Typical Periods Offered: Fall and Spring
Semesters Offered this Academic Year: Fall
Notes:
An intensive, intermediate studio course addressing a range of contemporary drawing approaches, with considerable attention put towards color, graphic production and mixed media pictorial strategies. Project work integrates print and digital design tools with freehand drawing in various media. Weekly assignments, readings, and studio discussions consider the graphic conventions inherent to reproducible media. Building on fundamental concepts introduced at the 100 level (particularly in ARTS 105 and ARTS 109), this course helps students strengthen and expand their personal drawing practice and connect it to a wider range of creative disciplines that integrate hand and machine.
Units: 1.25
Max Enrollment: 12
Crosslisted Courses: MAS 20 5
Prerequisites: At least one 100-level ARTS course taken at Wellesley.
Distribution Requirements: ARS - Visual Arts, Music, Theater, Film and Video
Typical Periods Offered: Spring
Semesters Offered this Academic Year: Fall
Notes:
Beginning in the nineteenth century, the practices of artists, craftsmen, and architects throughout Muslim-majority regions were transformed by industrialization, colonialism, and the emergence of the museum as an institution. Through the study of a variety of visual, spatial, and time-based media, students in this course investigate the local, national, and transnational concepts that shaped the production and reception of modern and contemporary visual cultures throughout the Islamic world. While the Middle East, North Africa, and Iran constitute the geographic focus of the course, case studies may also consider images, objects, and monuments produced in West Africa, Central Asia, and Southeast Asia. Key topics include visual responses to colonialism, engagements with global centers of modernism, popular visual cultures, articulations of national and secular identities, and the reuse of prototypes drawn from real or imagined Islamic pasts.
Units: 1
Max Enrollment: 25
Crosslisted Courses: MAS 212
Prerequisites: None. ARTH 100 recommended.
Distribution Requirements: ARS - Visual Arts, Music, Theater, Film and Video
Typical Periods Offered: Every three years
Semesters Offered this Academic Year: Not Offered
Notes:
Digital games visualize compelling worlds that can resemble real-life environments and imagine other-worldly spaces. These virtual realms frame our experience of games and their design dramatically impacts our interpretation of their narratives and mechanics. Designers code environments to shape player agency and weave complex relationships between game characters. This course will teach students to create digital worlds and critically assess them as politically rich spaces that convey meaning. Students will build both 2D and 3D digital environments, coding elements such as interactivity and non-player entities, crafting game experiences that tell meaningful stories. CS 221 continues to explore the Unity Game Engine and topics introduced by CS 121, but enrollment is suitable for any student with 100-level coding experience and an interest in game design.
Units: 1
Max Enrollment: 18
Crosslisted Courses: MAS 221
Prerequisites: Any 100-level CS course.
Distribution Requirements: MM - Mathematical Modeling and Problem Solving
Typical Periods Offered: Spring
Semesters Offered this Academic Year: Not Offered
Notes:
In the past decade, historians of art have increasingly turned to network analysis as a tool to investigate the production and reception of visual and material culture. Combining analytical readings with hands-on tutorials, this course introduces students to the conceptual and technical frameworks of network analysis as they apply to artifacts, works of art, and popular visual culture, as well as the people who made and experienced these images, objects, and monuments. Students will learn to model and analyze networks through the lens of art historical and material culture case studies. Topics may include social networks, geospatial networks, similarity networks, and dynamic networks. Case studies will range from arts of the Ancient Americas to manuscript workshops in Mughal India and Medieval France.
Units: 1
Max Enrollment: 25
Crosslisted Courses: MAS 222
Prerequisites: Fulfillment of the Quantitative Reasoning (QR) component of the Quantitative Reasoning & Data Literacy requirement. ARTH 100 recommended.
Distribution Requirements: ARS - Visual Arts, Music, Theater, Film and Video
Degree Requirements: DL - Data Literacy (Formerly QRDL)
Semesters Offered this Academic Year: Fall
Notes:
How can the complexities of Cultural Heritage be captured in digital form? Can advanced media visualizations, such as Augmented and Virtual Reality, give new insights on diverse global cultures? Can public dissemination of research using gamification positively impact our lives in the present? What ethical responsibilities do scholars have when digitizing material from ancient and contemporary communities? How can we ensure that our digital cultural achievements last as long as pyramids built in stone? This course will pair readings on the theory, practice, and ethics of visual and public digital humanities cultural heritage projects. Online archival resources for cultural heritage are at the forefront of developing public digital humanities. The digital archive resources used in class will be used to critique current trends in digital data capture and open access resources. The final project will be the creation of a new digital cultural heritage resource, presenting content created by students through a digital platform: an interactive archive, augmented or virtual reality, immersive narrative, location-based games, or a combination thereof. Students will be offered a choice of visual and textual cultural heritage archive data from Wellesley College, UC Berkeley Hearst Museum of Anthropology, and the Bade Museum of Biblical Archaeology, or can identify their own open-access cultural heritage archival source of interest.
Units: 1
Max Enrollment: 25
Crosslisted Courses: MAS 246
Prerequisites: None
Distribution Requirements: SBA - Social and Behavioral Analysis
Semesters Offered this Academic Year: Not Offered
Notes:
Units: 1
Max Enrollment: 25
Prerequisites: Permission of the instructor.
Typical Periods Offered: Spring; Fall
Semesters Offered this Academic Year: Spring; Fall
Notes:
Units: 0.5
Max Enrollment: 25
Prerequisites: Permission of the instructor.
Typical Periods Offered: Spring; Fall
Semesters Offered this Academic Year: Fall; Spring
Notes:
This intermediate course focuses on the creation of film and video projects that combine performance, installation, and analog media. Students examine interdisciplinary approaches to working with the moving image by linking contemporary digital tools to their historical and analogue foundations. By experimenting with different genres such as narrative, documentary and experimental and techniques such as looping, physical interventions on film, and the body in space, students learn to manipulate sound and image both technically and conceptually. Through assignments, production exercises, readings and lectures, this class encourages students to approach their projects considering how the moving image occupies space as much as it occupies a screen and to think about their work with film and video as a deliberate construction of space and experience.
Units: 1
Max Enrollment: 12
Crosslisted Courses: MAS 264
Prerequisites: Any ARTS 100 class or permission of the instructor.
Distribution Requirements: ARS - Visual Arts, Music, Theater, Film and Video
Typical Periods Offered: Fall
Semesters Offered this Academic Year: Spring
Notes:
In the medieval Islamic world, creating scientific instruments wasn't just practical—it was an art form. Artists and builders used their knowledge of chemistry, metallurgy, geometry, astronomy, and anatomy to produce objects and monuments that were both beautiful and crucial to the discovery of new phenomena. In this class, we'll analyze the intertwined practices of artistic creation and scientific exploration, spanning the seventh to the fifteenth centuries. You'll investigate the discoveries behind objects, images, and monuments, such as astrolabes and zoological manuscripts. We'll cover fascinating topics like the secrets of constructing robotic automata, the alchemy of turning plants into vibrant textile dyes, and the geometric principles guiding the design of astronomical observatories and tile patterns. Our field trips to Special Collections and hands-on activities will bring these concepts to life. You'll learn to see the world through both an artist's and a scientist's eyes, gaining insights into how medieval Islamic innovations continue to influence our modern world.
Units: 1
Max Enrollment: 25
Crosslisted Courses: MAS 278
Prerequisites: None. Not open to students who have taken ARTH 348/MAS 348.
Distribution Requirements: ARS - Visual Arts, Music, Theater, Film and Video
Typical Periods Offered: Every other year
Semesters Offered this Academic Year: Fall
Notes: This course is also offered at the 300 level as ARTH 348/MAS 348.
In the medieval Islamic world, crafting scientific tools wasn't just practical—it was an art form. Artists and builders used their knowledge of chemistry, metallurgy, geometry, astronomy, and anatomy to produce objects and monuments that were both beautiful and crucial to the discovery of new phenomena. In this seminar, we'll dive into the intertwined practices of artistic creation and scientific exploration, spanning the seventh to the fifteenth centuries. You'll investigate the discoveries behind objects, images, and monuments, such as astrolabes and zoological manuscripts. We'll cover fascinating topics like the secrets of constructing robotic automata, the alchemy of turning plants into vibrant textile dyes, and the geometric principles guiding the design of astronomical observatories and tile patterns. Our field trips to Special Collections and other exhibits will bring these concepts to life. You'll learn to see the world through both an artist's and a scientist's eyes, gaining insights into how medieval Islamic innovations continue to influence our modern world.
Units: 1
Max Enrollment: 15
Crosslisted Courses: MAS 348
Prerequisites: Previous course in Art History, Middle Eastern Studies, or Medieval and Renaissance Studies required. Not open to students who have taken ARTH 278/MAS 278.
Distribution Requirements: ARS - Visual Arts, Music, Theater, Film and Video
Typical Periods Offered: Every three years
Semesters Offered this Academic Year: Fall
Notes: This course is also offered at the 200 level as ARTH 278/MAS 278.
Units: 1
Max Enrollment: 25
Prerequisites: Permission of the instructor. Open to juniors and seniors.
Typical Periods Offered: Spring; Fall
Semesters Offered this Academic Year: Spring; Fall
Notes:
Units: 0.5
Max Enrollment: 25
Prerequisites: Permission of the instructor.
Typical Periods Offered: Spring; Fall
Semesters Offered this Academic Year: Fall; Spring
Units: 1
Max Enrollment: 15
Prerequisites: Permission of the department.
Typical Periods Offered: Spring; Fall
Semesters Offered this Academic Year: Spring; Fall
Notes: Students enroll in Senior Thesis Research (360) in the first semester and carry out independent work under the supervision of a faculty member. If sufficient progress is made, students may continue with Senior Thesis (370) in the second semester.
This advanced projects course combines the production and review of student projects with a regular schedule of screenings, readings, and discussions. We will explore how artists and directors manage the use of space on screen, treating it as a key part of both the visual structure and the story. A major part of the course involves discussions on the ethics of the gaze. This requires students to think carefully about their responsibility toward their subjects and the social impact of their visual choices. Inspired by poetry, film, and literature, the class introduces advanced techniques for image and sound manipulation that follow professional standards. Students will learn pre-production planning by creating director’s treatments, including mood boards, lookbooks, and scripts. The curriculum also covers the fine details of digital editing, visual effects, and layered sound design. Students work both on their own and in groups to build collaborative leadership skills. The course culminates with a formal public screening of finished student films in Collins Cinema coinciding with the opening of the senior art show. Students participate in a q&a with the audience after the screening.
Units: 1
Max Enrollment: 12
Crosslisted Courses: MAS 364
Prerequisites: ARTS 164/MAS 164 or ARTS 264/MAS 264, or permission of the instructor.
Distribution Requirements: ARS - Visual Arts, Music, Theater, Film and Video
Typical Periods Offered: Spring
Semesters Offered this Academic Year: Spring
Notes: Meets the Capstone requirement for MAS majors.
Students with a deep personal interest in digital game design and other forms of playable media will work in collaborative units to explore all aspects of the game development process while contributing to a semester-length project of their own devising. This course will require students to explore an ethical approach to game development that will introduce new practices for ideation, pitching, designing, playtesting, and versioning through an iterative process that will result in a finished game. This course is specifically designed for students who have moderate experience with game development through either curricular activities or by working on projects of their own. Students will be expected to have moderate levels of experience with the Unity Game Engine.
Units: 1
Max Enrollment: 18
Crosslisted Courses: MAS 365
Prerequisites: One of the following - CS 321, CS 221/MAS 221, CS 220, CS 320, or CS 121/MAS 121 and one of the following CS 230, CS 230P, or CS 230X, or permission of the instructor (portfolio must be able to demonstrate some previous experience with game development).
Distribution Requirements: MM - Mathematical Modeling and Problem Solving
Typical Periods Offered: Spring
Semesters Offered this Academic Year: Fall
Notes: This course may be used to fulfill the capstone requirement for the MAS major.
Students with deep interest in interactive media will drive cutting-edge research that shapes and examines novel user experiences with technology. Students will work in small groups to identify a direction of research, explore and iterate over designs, prototype at varying fidelities, build working systems, consider ethical implications, conduct evaluative studies, and report findings. This course is designed for students who have experience in designing and implementing interactive media through either curricular activities or by working on projects. Students will be expected to have moderate levels of experience with front-end web development.
Units: 1
Max Enrollment: 18
Crosslisted Courses: MAS 366
Prerequisites: One of the following - CS 220, CS 320 or CS 323.
Distribution Requirements: MM - Mathematical Modeling and Problem Solving
Typical Periods Offered: Fall
Semesters Offered this Academic Year: Fall
Notes: This course may be used to fulfill the capstone requirement for the MAS major.
This course is designed to provide theory- and evidence-based opportunities for active engagement in public-facing research-and-action programming related to positive adolescent development in the digital age. Each week, students will be assigned readings and activities that will prepare them to mentor adolescents about digital wellbeing within community settings. Readings/activities and written assignments will consist of academic articles, policy briefs, state and national educational standards, grant proposals, viewing webinars, program evaluation reports, student outreach plans, discussion facilitation techniques, and graphic design tutorials. Students will engage in whole class and small group work to provide constructive feedback to a) discuss readings about adolescent digital wellbeing and media literacy, including research briefs, and grant proposals related to the community engagement project, b) participate in community outreach and liaisoning for the project (e.g., email, website, flyers, social media), c) co-create workshop curricula about the digital wellbeing or media literacy topics tailored to the communities they will serve, and d) analyze evaluation data for quality improvement.
Units: 1
Max Enrollment: 12
Crosslisted Courses: MAS 367
Prerequisites: Any EDUC, MAS, or PSYC course with priority given for former EDUC 328/PSYC 322 Calderwood students.
Distribution Requirements: SBA - Social and Behavioral Analysis
Notes: The course is repeatable one time for additional credit.
Units: 1
Max Enrollment: 35
Prerequisites: MAS 360 and permission of the department.
Typical Periods Offered: Spring; Fall
Semesters Offered this Academic Year: Spring; Fall
Notes: Students enroll in Senior Thesis Research (360) in the first semester and carry out independent work under the supervision of a faculty member. If sufficient progress is made, students may continue with Senior Thesis (370) in the second semester.