Research and persuasive argumentation are essential skills for artists and designers who seek to fully develop the imaginative and critical powers of their craft. In this course, students will enrich their creative practice by embarking on semester-long research projects that engage with visual analysis, history, and critical theory. Through the careful analysis of readings, objects, artworks and films relevant to Art, Media, and Technology, students will gain exposure to key debates in their field as they explore diverse methodologies and formulate individual research questions. Building on skills developed in Integrative Seminar 2, the Advanced Research Seminar explores the practicalities and potentialities of research. Over the course of the semester, students will compile and analyze historical and contemporary images, objects, materials, and data of all sorts to curate an “archive” or collection for their own use as researchers and practitioners. Other important topics include identifying research interests and methodologies, locating appropriate historical sources, posing critical questions, developing an artist/designer/project statement, and writing a formal academic research paper based on sustained research over the course of the semester. Ultimately, the identification, collection, and critical examination of historical, critical, and theoretical sources will provide a deeper and broader context for each student’s creative visual and material practice, and will serve to develop his or her Parsons thesis project.