The creative professions require innovative individuals with clear vision. Freshmen at The Art Institute of Philadelphia will work together to develop the vision of what makes a successful student and professional. The course begins by welcoming students into The Art Institute of Philadelphia community and helping them integrate into this student environment. Students will become acquainted with college and community resources, explore their goals for success, and work on establishing a visionary course for the development of their professional portfolio. The course concludes with attending the portfolio show of the graduating class. (0 quarter credits, 2 hours per week)
Prerequisites: None
Students will be introduced to all major retailing topics involving both large and small retailers, brick and mortar retailers and their combinations, and direct marketers. Topics to be discussed will include consumer behavior, information systems, store locations, operations, human resource management, customer communications, computerization, and integrating and controlling the retail strategy in the twenty–first century. Careers in retailing will also be discussed. (3 quarter credits, 4 hours per week)
Prerequisites: FS10312
A course designed to give career-oriented students a comprehensive understanding of the mathematical factors involved in profitable merchandising. It covers profit and loss statements and retail pricing as well as relationship of mark up to profit. (3 quarter credits, 4 hours per week)
Prerequisites: GE10220
This course is designed for fashion marketing students to evaluate the equation between quality and cost in garments. Students will be able to identify and analyze quality of trims, fabrics and construction in relationship to price point. Included will be women’s sportswear, childrenswear and menswear in a range of price points from high end to discounted. (3 quarter credits, 4 hours per week)
Prerequisites: FS10112
Develops the student’s understanding of operational objectives in a retail structure. An emphasis will be placed on planning, control, profitability, and staffing in a retail environment. The use of technology in the industry and the responsibilities of retail executives will be examined as well. Also, career opportunities and ethical behavior of those individuals who choose to enter the retail arena will be discussed. Articles pertaining to current issues (found in trade publications and newspapers) will be reviewed and discussed, in order to understand methods that have been created to expedite and increase profitability for the retailer. (3 quarter credits, 4 hours per week)
Prerequisites: FM10412
Students continue to learn mathematical tools essential for merchandising and buying at a retail level. Students produce a six month plan, study shortages, open-to-buy, and terms of sale. (3 quarter credits, 4 hours per week)
Prerequisites: FM10422
The student will be introduced to a range of skills needed to produce a successful fashion show. During this course, the student will gain insight into the role of creative and technical experts involved with the runway, backdrop, special effects and lighting, music, models and choreography, hair and make-up and video teams. (3 quarter credits, 4 hours per week)
Prerequisites: FM10432
Students study the categorizations of stores, organizational components, and the characteristics of various wholesale and retail markets. They will explore the Private Label and Brand Name businesses, develop customer profiles and look at franchising as a means of entering the retail world. Students will become familiar with merchandise accounting as it relates to the various retail formats. (3 quarter credits, 4 hours per week)
Prerequisites: FM20522
Students plan the foundation for opening and management of a small store: sales, budgets, market research, and staffing. This course is a workshop in which students design and prepare the beginning business plans necessary to open a retail store. The instructor acts as facilitator and advisor to the student, but all decisions and choices will be made solely by the student. Upon completion of the course, the student will have a foundation for a business plan that can be developed into a model for actually opening a business. Final preparation of the plan will be completed in Business Ownership II. (3 quarter credits, 4 hours per week)
Prerequisites: FS20622
Students complete the planning of a small retail store: financing, budgets, market research, and inventory. This course is a final workshop in which students design and prepare all business plans necessary to open a retail store. Students will base all plans for this course on initial sales plans completed in Business Ownership I. The instructor acts as facilitator and advisor to the student, but all decisions and choices will be made solely by the student. Upon completion of the course, the student will have a comprehensive business plan that can be used as a model for actually opening a business sometime in the future and can be used as a portfolio piece to show prospective employers. (3 quarter credits, 4 hours per week)
Prerequisites: FM20622
Students will learn computer applications as they apply to the ownership and operation of a retail store. Emphasis is placed on actual usage of spreadsheets and databases for employee scheduling, inventory plans, vendor lists and other real-world retail applications. (3 quarter credits, 4 hours per week)
This course is designed to change on a regular basis. It will look at a specific area of fashion marketing and will give students an opportunity to look at this area in-depth. Students will learn through lecture, field trips, hands-on experience and experimentation and will create a final project in this specific area. (3 quarter credits, 4 hours per week)
Prerequisites: FS20832
This course is designed to expose the student to the many aspects of the menswear business. The student will understand issues of relevance to the consumer, retailer, designer and manufacturer. The student will gain a heightened awareness of the impact menswear has always had on the entire fashion industry and gain a strong understanding of quality. (3 quarter credits, 4 hours per week)
Prerequisites: FS20822
This course is designed to focus on the role and function of retail advertising by analyzing the various effective methods of promotion utilized by the fashion industry. These include: apparel and accessory print ads, catalogues, direct mail, enclosures, TV commercials, radio spots, videos and press kits/releases. (3 quarter credits, 4 hours per week)
Prerequisites: FS30912
The goal of this course is to provide fashion drawing experience to Fashion Marketing students. The students will experiment with different mediums and techniques. This will enable the student to express fashion ideas in a professional way. (3 quarter credits, 4 hours per week)
Prerequisites: FM31012
Groups plan the opening and management of a non-traditional business (e-tailing, catalog, direct mail, etc.): financing, budgets, market research, inventory and staffing. This course is a workshop in which groups of students design and prepare all business plans necessary to open a non-traditional retail business. The instructor acts as facilitator and advisor to the student, but all decisions and choices will be made solely by the student. Upon completion of the course, the student will have a comprehensive business plan that can be used as a model for actually opening a business sometime in the future and can be used as a portfolio piece to show prospective employers. (3 quarter credits, 4 hours per week)
Students will study the decisions that need to be made regarding techniques used to solve a marketing problem. Marketing research helps managers by providing accurate and useful information in order to make better decisions. This course requires the analysis of data from both a qualitative and quantitative perspective. (3 quarter credits, 4 hours per week)
Prerequisites: FM41122
This course investigates the opportunities provided by new technologies and the ways in which these technologies are changing the field of marketing. Attention will focus on communications between companies and consumers, as well as between companies and their suppliers. (3 quarter credits, 4 hours per week)
Students will learn computer applications as they apply to the ownership and operation of a non-traditional retail store. Emphasis is placed on actual usage of spreadsheets and databases for employee scheduling, inventory plans, vendor lists and other real-world retail applications. (3 quarter credits, 4 hours per week)
Students study the development of clothing from the earliest time to the Renaissance and the silhouette reflected through the eyes of the designer. (3 quarter credits, 4 hours per week)
An overview of the fashion industry including design, production, and marketing of women’s, men’s, and children’s fashions, from the developing of fibers and fabrics to the strategies of fashion merchandisers and retailers. (3 quarter credits, 4 hours per week)
An in-depth continuation of FS10111 Fashion History I from the Renaissance to Modern. (3 quarter credits, 4 hours per week)
Prerequisites: FS10111
A comprehensive study of textiles with an emphasis on fiber classification, yarns, fabric construction, finishes and color applications. The use and care of textiles is studied for understanding the fiber-to-product cycle. (3 quarter credits, 4 hours per week)
Students learn the importance of eye appeal and consumer buying habits. Students create their own displays using the latest principles and techniques in the visual organization of merchandise. (3 quarter credits, 4 hours per week)
Introduces students to the world of modern management; the knowledge and skills needed, the requirements for effectively selecting and managing people and the constant “adjusting to change” techniques necessary in 21st century business. (3 quarter credits, 4 hours per week)
Overview of the fashion industries including the terminology of fashion and an explanation of the three levels of the industry; design, production and sales. Careers and the organization, structure, and problems of the garment industry are studied. (3 quarter credits, 4 hours per week)
This course is a workshop in which students design and prepare a sales and promotion package. The instructor acts as a facilitator and guide to ensure that upon completion of this course students will have thoroughly explored the process of crafting a marketing and sales promotion that is carefully targeted and positioned to reach the goal of generating sales. (3 quarter credits, 4 hours per week)
A study of the social and economic forces of the marketplace and the research and analysis techniques used to make marketing decisions. The course stresses the key role creative marketing specialists are expected to play in all decisions affecting planning and promotion of products, services, and ideas. (3 quarter credits, 4 hours per week)
Students explore and learn the elements that combine to make a successful store layout: traffic patterns, furnishings, fixtures and security. (3 quarter credits, 4 hours per week)
Prerequisites: FM10412 OR Academic Director Approval
This course is a workshop in which students study the use of the computer as the tool of the designer. An overview of a vector based program and image manipulation gives the students a greater understanding of the immense power and control of computer hardware and software to create graphic / marketing materials and solutions. (3 quarter credits, 4 hours per week)
Prerequisites: FM20512 OR Academic Director Approval
Students will be introduced to the basic concepts of consumer behavior, which include the processes involved when individuals or groups buy or use products or services to satisfy needs or desires. A marketing perspective will be used to understand why consumers behave as they do and how to identify their needs with a company’s desire to maximize profits. Research projects will be developed to enhance the meaning of consumer behavior. (3 quarter credits, 4 hours per week)
Prerequisites: 105 earned credit hours
This course is a workshop in which students study the use of the computer as the tool of the designer. An overview of a pixel-based program and image manipulation gives the students a greater understanding of the immense power and control of computer hardware and software to create graphic / marketing materials and solutions. (3 quarter credits, 4 hours per week)
Prerequisites: FS20632
A comprehensive study of cultural and social issues that affect fashion and the emergence of trends. Students will analyze the meanings and importance of clothing and apply these concepts to contemporary society. (3 quarter credits, 4 hours per week)
Examines the processes and strategies involved in opening a new business enterprise of one’s own devising. Focuses on the personal commitment and financing required along with the realities of the marketplace in a highly competitive world. (3 quarter credits, 4 hours per week)
In this course students will review design concepts and technology and the development of merchandising in the modern market, analyze target markets and source, cost and develop a product for that market in presentation form including a prototype. (3 quarter credits, 4 hours per week)
Prerequisites: FS20812
Students will gain an understanding of global marketing opportunities, problems and strategies that impact the international environment. In addition, students will become knowledgeable about international marketing concepts, cross-cultural sensitivities, political and legal influences, and economic considerations and how these concepts relate to decision making in an international environment. (3 quarter credits, 4 hours per week)
Analyzing the dynamics of world-famous designers. (3 quarter credits, 4 hours per week)
This is a composition course that stresses the writing process. Students will write multi-paragraph essays using the following expository modes: description, narration, example, comparison/contrast, classification/division, process analysis, and causal analysis. Nonfiction readings will be covered to help illustrate writing structures and the organization of ideas. (3 quarter credits, 4 hours per week)
Prerequisites: ASSET placement OR successful completion (grade "C") of GE0011EN and/or GE0012RD
This course surveys Western art forms relative to political, social, religious, and economic movements from antiquity to the Mannerist period. Topics include painting, sculpture, decorative arts, and architecture. (3 quarter credits, 4 hours per week)
This is a composition course that focuses primarily on analytical and persuasive writing, as well as the research paper. Emphasis is also placed on critical reading and thinking. Cultural issues such as diversity, multiculturalism, tolerance, and effective communication will be discussed in connection with some writing assignments. (3 quarter credits, 4 hours per week)
Prerequisites: GE10110
This course covers algebraic techniques and problem-solving, such as algebraic and complex fractions, operations with real numbers, linear functions and systems, quadratic equations, radicals and radical expressions, factoring, polynomials, conic equations and applications, exponents and radicals. (3 quarter credits, 4 hours per week)
Prerequisites: ASSET placement OR successful completion (grade "C") of GE0013MA, GE0013MA
This course surveys Western art forms relative to political, social, religious, and economic movements from the Baroque to present day. Topics include painting, sculpture, decorative arts, architecture, photography, and conceptual art. (3 quarter credits, 4 hours per week)
In this course, students will learn professional methods of speaking and of communicating their ideas and experience to others. Students will prepare and deliver demonstration and persuasive speeches designed to be effective with a variety of audiences. Students will also participate in small group presentations. Topics include subject selection, audience analysis, research, organization, and the use of voice and body in speech delivery. (3 quarter credits, 4 hours per week)
This course focuses on a working knowledge of human sensory processes and their subsequent perceptual and behavioral manifestations. Topics include learning, memory, consciousness, and cognition. (3 quarter credits, 4 hours per week)
Prerequisites: GE10110, GE10210
This is course an introduction to the concepts, theory and practice of ethical decision-making in the personal and social realms. Concepts such as justice, mercy, responsibility, and morality are considered. Students will learn about a broad range of ethical theories and theorists, ancient to modern. These theories will be compared, contrasted, and applied to a variety of ethical problems, dilemmas, and controversies. (3 quarter credits, 4 hours per week)
This course covers the period of U.S. history from early colonization to the Spanish/American War. Primary emphasis is on the English colonies and the period of nationhood. This course will examine U.S. history in terms of social, economic and political perspectives, and students will also trace the histories of various American populations, such as women, African-Americans, Native Americans, etc., throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. (3 quarter credits, 4 hours per week)
This course provides an introduction to the principles of economics emphasizing an analysis of the economy as a whole. Interrelationships among the consumer, business, and government sectors are explored from American and international economic perspectives. (3 quarter credits, 4 hours per week)
Prerequisites: GE10110, GE10210, AND GE10220 OR GE10450
This course focuses on aesthetics, which is alternately defined as philosophy of art, philosophy of beauty, and philosophy of taste. All three definitions point to the ways in which we create, experience, think about, and write about the fine arts. Through texts, lectures, videos, and discussions, students will learn about the variety of ways in which individuals generate their own critical voice and aesthetic theories. (3 quarter credits, 4 hours per week)
Prerequisites: GE10110, GE10210 AND GE10120 OR GE10230
This course is an introduction to theories about the process of communication, including key concepts and terms for human communication. Additionally, listening and feedback, nonverbal communication, intrapersonal and interpersonal communication, group and organizational communications will also be a focus. (3 quarter credits, 4 hours per week)
This course focuses on the development of critical reasoning skills, including the ability to evaluate a wide variety of information. Students will consider what an argument is, how arguments go wrong and what makes an argument valid. Students will study both informal and formal logical arguments and structures. (3 quarter credits, 4 hours per week)
This course will introduce the student to the historical development of music and the composers of different eras. Students will focus on the role that music plays in our lives today as well as examining the cultural influences that have determined the varied musical languages throughout the world. (3 quarter credits, 4 hours per week)
This course includes representing and analyzing data through such measures as central tendency, dispersion, probability theory, the binomial distributions, the normal curve and normal distributions, central limit theory, and sampling distributions. Graphing and using polynomial functions and systems of equations and inequalities in the interpretation and solution of problems will be examined. (3 quarter credits, 4 hours per week)
Prerequisites: GE10220 OR GE10450
This fundamental course provides an introduction to the principles of color and an exploration of color theory as it relates to graphic design. The psychological and cultural aspects of color will be examined in making appropriate design decisions. (3 quarter credits, 4 hours per week)
Students are given the opportunity to practice the skills and knowledge they have learned in a real world situation by working in an approved industry site. (3 quarter credits, 9 hours per week)
Prerequisites: 75 earned credit hours
Students are given the opportunity to practice the skills and knowledge they have learned in a real world situation by working in an approved industry internship site. (3 quarter credits, 9 hours per week)
Prerequisites: 150 earned credit hours
This course introduces the theories and applications of both the IBM and Macintosh computers. Topics include word processing, spreadsheets, databases, PowerPoint, computer graphics, file preparation for high-end output, file management, basic data storage and retrieval and the Internet. (3 quarter credits, 4 hours per week)
Students will gain exposure to real-world accounting situations faced by managers and how accounting information is used for management decision making (internal planning and control). (3 quarter credits, 4 hours per week)
This course provides a framework for considering critically significant photographers and their work. Students will be expected to describe, interpret, and evaluate the origins, stylistic changes, and artistic innovations in the history of photography from the nineteenth century through contemporary times. (3 quarter credits, 4 hours per week)
This course focuses on international literary selections. Topics include the critical evaluation of the literary genres: short story, poetry, and drama. (3 quarter credits, 4 hours per week)
This course is an introduction to the principles and practices of American Government. Concepts such as democracy, civil rights, civil liberties; public opinion; mass media, political parties, and the three branches of government will be discussed. Students will learn about the framework of government from colonialism to the present day. Government ideologies will be discussed and applied to various situations in an unbiased manner. Students will be able to see the importance of government and how decisions made by the government affect our everyday daily lives. (3 quarter credits, 4 hours per week)
This course will introduce the student to the physical, ecological, social and political principles of environmental science. The student should gain an understanding of scientific method and how it is used to analyze the relationship between humans and the natural environment. The course will help the student to develop an analytical framework that he/she can use to judge environmental issues and intelligently discuss environmental responsibility. (3 quarter credits, 4 hours per week)
In this course students will examine group interaction within human society. Through texts, lectures, videos, and discussions, students will learn about the variety of ways sociologists view human culture and society, as well as the sociological phenomena that affect the lives of individuals within the world-wide human family. (3 quarter credits, 4 hours per week)
This course covers the period of U.S. history from the turn of the century to the present. This course will examine U.S. history in terms of social, economic and political perspectives. (3 quarter credits, 4 hours per week)
This course covers Western civilizations from the Ancient Near East, through Greece and Rome, to the Middle Ages, the rise of Christianity, and the Renaissance. These civilizations will be examined in terms of social, economic, political and cultural perspectives. Major historical events, ideas, and developments will be discussed, and issues of race, class, and gender will be considered. (3 quarter credits, 4 hours per week)
This course covers European history from the Reformation/Counter-Reformation, through the Enlightenment and the Industrial Revolution, to the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, ending with World War II. This course will examine social, economic, political and cultural perspectives. Major historical events, ideas, and developments will be discussed, and issues of race, class, and gender will be considered. (3 quarter credits, 4 hours per week)
This course is designed for students who wish to study abroad. Students will travel between the spring and summer quarters and will return to campus to complete a final exhibition project during the summer quarter. The course will consist of lectures, activities, research, and discussions designed to examine the culture, history, and aesthetics of the city or cities chosen for the study abroad experience. Students will also be encouraged to explore issues of identity and place, ideology (values, norms, customs), society (conformity/autonomy, gender, class), and structure (religious, political, economic) as they share, analyze, and reflect upon their experiences throughout the course. (3 quarter credits, 44 hours over two week break)
Theatre Appreciation introduces students to the art, in theory and in practice, of live theatre and the many types of artists who collaborate to create a theatrical production. This course will enhance students’ appreciation of the nature and place of theatre in contemporary culture. Students will experience theatre in depth through reading scripts, analyzing productions, and completing a creative theatre project. (3 quarter credits, 4 hours per week)
This course introduces students to the aesthetic, technical, and historical principles of film and the artists who were instrumental in its development and growth. Students will examine the creative process and analyze the different genres of film. (3 quarter credits, 4 hours per week)
This course focuses on past and current social issues and political and economic trends that influence America and its people. Additionally, the course will focus on how political and economic trends impact world affairs. (3 quarter credits, 4 hours per week)
This course offers students the opportunity to explore the diversity of cultures through the reading and analysis of modern literary works. Included in the study will be historical and political influences, social trends, customs and values. (3 quarter credits, 4 hours per week)
This course will focus on the museum and its function in society. Topics will include the role of museums, their history and philosophy, and their structure and nature. (3 quarter credits, 4 hours per week)
Prerequisites: GE10110, GE10210, AND GE10120 OR GE10230
This course will cover the history of 20th Century art. It will explore the inter-relationship between historical, social, political, religious and technological developments in the 20th century and the art that was a reflection of these developments. The course will discuss the modern artist’s role in society as innovator, social activist, explorer, critic and prophet. (3 quarter credits, 4 hours per week)
This course is designed for students who wish to study abroad. Students will travel between the spring and summer quarters and will return to campus to complete a final exhibition project and an in-depth research paper during the summer quarter. The course will consist of lectures, activities, research, and discussions designed to examine the culture, history, and aesthetics of the city or cities chosen for the study abroad experience. Students will also be encouraged to explore issues of identity and place, ideology (values, norms, customs), society (conformity/ autonomy, gender, class), and structure (religious, political, economic) as they share, analyze, and reflect upon their experiences throughout the course. (3 quarter credits, 44 hours over two week break)
The Comparative Religions course is an introduction to the academic study of religion. The course objectively examines religious beliefs and practices across human history, with particular emphasis upon how the human past has shaped worldwide religious belief and experience in the present. Students learn about a broad range of religious traditions, and how particular beliefs might affect ritual behavior, interpersonal relationships and the practice of “community.” (3 quarter credits, 4 hours per week)
Prerequisites: GE20510 OR GE20530
In this course students will explore the different media theories and their impact upon society, ethics, and popular culture. Students will use this information to inform and enrich their own work and to critically evaluate media art. (3 quarter credits, 4 hours per week)