CCA Confidential

In an effort to help those who take these classes after me, I am going to give a full postmortem for each class, a score between 1-10, and who I think should take it.

Lets start with the good stuff.

3D Visual Dynamics with Christina Lee

I loved this class. 3D doesn’t have much to do with graphic design, but Chris made it fun and challenging. Everyone in the class definitely worked hard, and put in the additional 6 hours a week in the studio the school suggests to complete the projects. For my part I put in a bit more than 6 hours, probably closer to 8 or 10, but I received an A on every project.

Overall I give this class a 10 out or 10, and I would recommend it to anyone of any major. You’ll learn a lot and have fun doing it.

Intro To The Modern Arts with Dr. Celeste Connor

This class was tough, but I walked away with a superior understanding of modern art. I really feel that I learned more than other students with other professors. But this class isn’t for everyone. Dr. Connor herself states at the beginning of each semester that architecture students should not take her class because she will not lecture at all on the topic. Her specialty is on American painting and photography, but her knowledge of all things modern is vast and deep. Expect to read large amounts and study hard in her class. I never was able to catch up fully on the reading. My best estimate is that a student would have to read 5-8 hours a week to keep up in her class.

I give this class a 9 out of 10. It isn’t for everyone, and is probably one of the most challenging academic classes you can take at CCA. If you don’t want to work hard take a different instructor. If you want to learn, take Dr. Connor.

Intro to the Arts with Lynn Robinson

Can a class be too easy? At first I thought this one was, but by the end of the term, with so many other challenging class, I was relieved by its simplistic nature. I don’t blame the lack of academic vigor on the professor, the curriculum set out by the school for this class is overly simplistic. After the midterm, I stopped reading the book and was able to keep my A in the class with about 4 hours of studying total for the term.

With a small shrug I give this class a 6 out of 10. This class is good for anyone looking to add one more class to a heavy load.

4D Visual Dynamics with Bayete Smith

This class was just awful. For starters the curriculum is a joke. Why would I want to pay $2,000 for someone to teach me how to use iMovie and Garage Band? But don’t think you can wiggle out of it, the class is required. The whole thing was only exacerbated by Mr. Smith who had never taught a college class before and seemed ill equipped to be teaching anyone anything. This class left me feeling robbed of my hard earned tuition and my valuable time at a good art school. In case you think I may be bias, I received an A on all my projects in this class. The amount of work I put into each project didn’t seem to affect my final grade. On one assignment I put in exactly 1 hour, on another I put in 20+.

I give this class a score of 1 out of 10, the lowest score possible. This class is not suitable for anyone of any major at anytime.