Courses Taught
2010 - Present
Senior Project Research
Liberal Arts & Sciences Department
17 Sections
2 Units, 3 hours
Students define, analyze, and develop a comprehensive design proposal and creative brief for their senior projects. The course emphasizes critical thinking and writing, and the role of the citizen designer in the 21st century. Required for Communication Arts major
History of Advertising, Graphic Design, and Illustration
Liberal Arts & Sciences Department
13 Sections
2 Units, 3 hours
Provides a critical and contextualized chronological survey of graphic design, illustration, and advertising, and how these disciplines responded to and affected political, cultural, and social changes. Required for all Communication Arts Majors and Advertising, Graphic Design, and Illustration Minors.
Senior Project Studio
Communication Arts Department
6 Sections
3 Units, 6 hours
Students explore conceptual, theoretical, experimental communications problems offering them the opportunity to integrate personal vision with professional goals. In cross-disciplinary teams facilitated by faculty advisors, students define the scope and objectives of their inquiry and outline research and production methodologies. Required for all Communication Arts Majors
Rome: Real & Imagined Study Abroad Rome, Italy
7 sections
Liberal Arts & Sciences Department
3 Units, Travel Study Course (A Blended Learning Class)
This course asks students to inhabit the role of the self-reflective, critically-aware tourist, paying close attention to how Rome functions historically and contemporarily as a destination for diverse, peripatetic, and transient populations with equally heterogeneous motivations for their travels. This course is designed for Sophomores, Juniors, and Seniors from all Otis disciplines to experienc first-hand study on location in Rome, Italy in a manner that suits their various majors and interests. The course will include on-campus sessions prior to departure, online assignments and discussions, travel to the city of Rome, student-led tours in Rome, and a final reflection due after the completion of this trip.
Advancing Your Practice: Study Abroad Rome, Italy
Communication Arts Department
2 Sections
2 Units, Travel Study Course
This course is designed for Sophomores, Juniors and Seniors and Grads of all departments to experience study on location. The course will include on-campus sessions, prior to departure, travel to the city of Rome (9 days) and a class presentation to the Otis Student Body. Studying the ancient city as well as the modern and contemporary manifestations of culture and society as they reveal themselves through literature, film, architecture, objects, and people we will devise a course of action and revelation based on tours, lectures, studio visits and other encounters (Specific areas of study will be devised for individual projects. This may include topics such as street graphics, mapping, urbanism, ‘sound’, etc.)
Capstone
Liberal Arts & Sciences Department
6 Sections
3 Units, 3 hours (A Blended Learning Class)
LAS capstone courses offer seniors the opportunity to reflect upon, discuss, critique and write about a topic of interest related to their major and/or design practice or their experience of higher education in art and design: in relation to their general education, their major fields, their senior projects, their vocational aspirations, and compelling questions in practice and community. Thus, the capstone is a unique opportunity to reflect on one’s studio practice and artistic direction Through discussion and reflection, students will identify, articulate, research, write about and discuss specific issues and concerns that they believe are the most critical in understanding and evaluating their chosen roles as artists and designers or to explore an engaging an important question/issue within their chosen field.
Professional Practices
Communication Arts Department
6 Sections
2 Units, 3 hours
This course prepares students to enter the expansive and ever-changing world of professional Illustration. Students leave the class having completed a professional website, resume, business card, letterhead, cover letter, invoice, promotional leave-behind, and a product available for sale in a real-world marketplace. Students develop and improve interview and networking techniques vital to engaging in the professional world. At the end of this class students will be able to locate, research, and secure internships and employment that aligns with their interests, ambitions, and professional goals.
Practicum (Sophomore I/II, Junior III/IV, Senior IV/V)
Communication Arts Department
16 Sections
2 Units (2010 - Spring 2015), 1 Unit (Spring 2015 - Present), 3 hours
Practicum is a dedicated studio time for Communication Arts students. The studio environment cultivated in Practicum is critical to the community and fosters bonds between students and faculty. In addition to one-on-one critiquers, students participate in visiting artist lectures, workshops, and off-campus field trips to important cultural institutions in Los Angeles.
Considering Final Project / Research & Writing
Graduate Graphic Design Department
7 Sections
3 Units, 3 hours
This course is aimed at helping students define, analyze, and develop research skills. The course emphasizes critical thinking and writing, and the role of the citizen designer in the 21st century. Visiting Lecturers and Visiting Scholars who offer unique perspectives will be asked to design this special topics course to meet the need of the candidates who are in their final stages to the program.
Illustration Communication Studio IV
Communication Arts Department
2 Sections
3 Units, 6 hours
An increasingly sophisticated examination of illustration concepts and their applications; students broaden their understanding of illustration as visual language in projects that involve research and analysis, focusing on image-making, aesthetics, message, audience, and intent with a refined use of media and technique.
Final Projects
Graduate Graphic Design Department
3 Sections
3 Units, 6 hours
This course focuses on assisting students as they research, produce, and complete their final project. Guided by faculty, classmates, and visiting artists, all candidates seek to solidify their place in the field of graphic design by initiating a project that redirects, re-establishes, and challenges the practice as it is today.
Graduate Seminar
Graduate Graphic Design Department
3 Sections
6 Units, 8hours
Students discuss issues pertaining to being an active designer in the world. Led by guests invited from various disciplines, students look at design from philosophic, historical, and theoretical positions. The course provides an opportunity to speak at length about the value of inquiry, research, and engagement in issues and disciplines outside graphic design. On occasion, students will have the opportunity to engage with Visiting Artists in special events or meetings.
Special Topics: Gender & Sexuality In Communication Strategies
Communication Arts Department
1 Section
2 Units, 2 hours
This course explores how depictions of gender and sexuality contribute to varied communication strategies. Through extensive studio work, lectures, research, and writing, students will explore how sexually charged and gendered imagery shapes the way we understand and consume goods, information, and pleasure. The class involves short assignments and a longer final project where students work individually to research and produce visuals (books, posters, video, paintings, products, etc) addressing issues raised in class.
Queer Art
Liberal Arts & Sciences Department
1 Section
3 Units, 3 hours
This course explores the various, and often contradictory, construction/s of gay and lesbian and queer studies in art history, visual culture, and life—as well as examining specific artists who ‘embody’ queerness. Throughout, we will employ feminist, queer, and post-structural interventions, interpretations, and critiques of gay and lesbian studies as a modernist mentality that fails on many levels. In the end, we will see how queer studies and theories can be an embodied practice and theory—and one worth working on and in (for the future/s, for [our] life).
2010 - Present
Senior Project Research
Liberal Arts & Sciences Department
17 Sections
2 Units, 3 hours
Students define, analyze, and develop a comprehensive design proposal and creative brief for their senior projects. The course emphasizes critical thinking and writing, and the role of the citizen designer in the 21st century. Required for Communication Arts major
History of Advertising, Graphic Design, and Illustration
Liberal Arts & Sciences Department
13 Sections
2 Units, 3 hours
Provides a critical and contextualized chronological survey of graphic design, illustration, and advertising, and how these disciplines responded to and affected political, cultural, and social changes. Required for all Communication Arts Majors and Advertising, Graphic Design, and Illustration Minors.
Senior Project Studio
Communication Arts Department
6 Sections
3 Units, 6 hours
Students explore conceptual, theoretical, experimental communications problems offering them the opportunity to integrate personal vision with professional goals. In cross-disciplinary teams facilitated by faculty advisors, students define the scope and objectives of their inquiry and outline research and production methodologies. Required for all Communication Arts Majors
Rome: Real & Imagined Study Abroad Rome, Italy
7 sections
Liberal Arts & Sciences Department
3 Units, Travel Study Course (A Blended Learning Class)
This course asks students to inhabit the role of the self-reflective, critically-aware tourist, paying close attention to how Rome functions historically and contemporarily as a destination for diverse, peripatetic, and transient populations with equally heterogeneous motivations for their travels. This course is designed for Sophomores, Juniors, and Seniors from all Otis disciplines to experienc first-hand study on location in Rome, Italy in a manner that suits their various majors and interests. The course will include on-campus sessions prior to departure, online assignments and discussions, travel to the city of Rome, student-led tours in Rome, and a final reflection due after the completion of this trip.
Advancing Your Practice: Study Abroad Rome, Italy
Communication Arts Department
2 Sections
2 Units, Travel Study Course
This course is designed for Sophomores, Juniors and Seniors and Grads of all departments to experience study on location. The course will include on-campus sessions, prior to departure, travel to the city of Rome (9 days) and a class presentation to the Otis Student Body. Studying the ancient city as well as the modern and contemporary manifestations of culture and society as they reveal themselves through literature, film, architecture, objects, and people we will devise a course of action and revelation based on tours, lectures, studio visits and other encounters (Specific areas of study will be devised for individual projects. This may include topics such as street graphics, mapping, urbanism, ‘sound’, etc.)
Capstone
Liberal Arts & Sciences Department
6 Sections
3 Units, 3 hours (A Blended Learning Class)
LAS capstone courses offer seniors the opportunity to reflect upon, discuss, critique and write about a topic of interest related to their major and/or design practice or their experience of higher education in art and design: in relation to their general education, their major fields, their senior projects, their vocational aspirations, and compelling questions in practice and community. Thus, the capstone is a unique opportunity to reflect on one’s studio practice and artistic direction Through discussion and reflection, students will identify, articulate, research, write about and discuss specific issues and concerns that they believe are the most critical in understanding and evaluating their chosen roles as artists and designers or to explore an engaging an important question/issue within their chosen field.
Professional Practices
Communication Arts Department
6 Sections
2 Units, 3 hours
This course prepares students to enter the expansive and ever-changing world of professional Illustration. Students leave the class having completed a professional website, resume, business card, letterhead, cover letter, invoice, promotional leave-behind, and a product available for sale in a real-world marketplace. Students develop and improve interview and networking techniques vital to engaging in the professional world. At the end of this class students will be able to locate, research, and secure internships and employment that aligns with their interests, ambitions, and professional goals.
Practicum (Sophomore I/II, Junior III/IV, Senior IV/V)
Communication Arts Department
16 Sections
2 Units (2010 - Spring 2015), 1 Unit (Spring 2015 - Present), 3 hours
Practicum is a dedicated studio time for Communication Arts students. The studio environment cultivated in Practicum is critical to the community and fosters bonds between students and faculty. In addition to one-on-one critiquers, students participate in visiting artist lectures, workshops, and off-campus field trips to important cultural institutions in Los Angeles.
Considering Final Project / Research & Writing
Graduate Graphic Design Department
7 Sections
3 Units, 3 hours
This course is aimed at helping students define, analyze, and develop research skills. The course emphasizes critical thinking and writing, and the role of the citizen designer in the 21st century. Visiting Lecturers and Visiting Scholars who offer unique perspectives will be asked to design this special topics course to meet the need of the candidates who are in their final stages to the program.
Illustration Communication Studio IV
Communication Arts Department
2 Sections
3 Units, 6 hours
An increasingly sophisticated examination of illustration concepts and their applications; students broaden their understanding of illustration as visual language in projects that involve research and analysis, focusing on image-making, aesthetics, message, audience, and intent with a refined use of media and technique.
Final Projects
Graduate Graphic Design Department
3 Sections
3 Units, 6 hours
This course focuses on assisting students as they research, produce, and complete their final project. Guided by faculty, classmates, and visiting artists, all candidates seek to solidify their place in the field of graphic design by initiating a project that redirects, re-establishes, and challenges the practice as it is today.
Graduate Seminar
Graduate Graphic Design Department
3 Sections
6 Units, 8hours
Students discuss issues pertaining to being an active designer in the world. Led by guests invited from various disciplines, students look at design from philosophic, historical, and theoretical positions. The course provides an opportunity to speak at length about the value of inquiry, research, and engagement in issues and disciplines outside graphic design. On occasion, students will have the opportunity to engage with Visiting Artists in special events or meetings.
Special Topics: Gender & Sexuality In Communication Strategies
Communication Arts Department
1 Section
2 Units, 2 hours
This course explores how depictions of gender and sexuality contribute to varied communication strategies. Through extensive studio work, lectures, research, and writing, students will explore how sexually charged and gendered imagery shapes the way we understand and consume goods, information, and pleasure. The class involves short assignments and a longer final project where students work individually to research and produce visuals (books, posters, video, paintings, products, etc) addressing issues raised in class.
Queer Art
Liberal Arts & Sciences Department
1 Section
3 Units, 3 hours
This course explores the various, and often contradictory, construction/s of gay and lesbian and queer studies in art history, visual culture, and life—as well as examining specific artists who ‘embody’ queerness. Throughout, we will employ feminist, queer, and post-structural interventions, interpretations, and critiques of gay and lesbian studies as a modernist mentality that fails on many levels. In the end, we will see how queer studies and theories can be an embodied practice and theory—and one worth working on and in (for the future/s, for [our] life).
Tucker Neel