PUIL
3300

Topics

Parsons School of Design: School of Art, Media, and Tech

Non-Liberal Arts
Undergraduate Course
Degree Students (with Restrictions)
Topics: Stories Real/imagined
Spring 2026
Taught By: Lauren Redniss and Nora Krug
Section: A

CRN: 2052

Credits: 6

Using research techniques from the fields of science, art, and journalism, students in Topics: Stories Real/Imagined will push the boundaries of familiar narrative forms and experiment with new possibilities. We will explore visual reportage, graphic memoir, illuminated interviews, narrative in sculpture, and forms that may not yet have names or categories. We will consider questions around objectivity, neutrality, positionality, and perspective. In an age of AI, we’ll create work that avoids algorithms and data scraped from the internet and instead draws upon original reporting and primary sources. Students will hone skills of observation and invention, pose questions about hidden-in-plain sight dimensions of the modern world, and develop projects that combine text and image, static and moving pictures, 2-, 3- and 4-dimensions. The course is designed to support the development of each student as a unique thinker and creator.

Open to: Bachelors degree in Illustration juniors only, pre-requisite PUIL 3115.
Prerequisites:
Co-Requisites: No Co-requisites

College: Parsons School of Design (PS)

Department: School of Art, Media, and Tech (AMT)

Campus: New York City (GV)

Course Format: Studio (S)

Modality: In-Person

Max Enrollment: 15

Repeat Limit: N/A

Add/Drop Deadline: February 3, 2026 (Tuesday)

Online Withdrawal Deadline: April 14, 2026 (Tuesday)

Seats Available: Yes

Status: Open*

* Status information is updated every few minutes. The status of this course may have changed since the last update. Open seats may have restrictions that will prevent some students from registering. Updated: 5:24am EDT 10/16/2025

Meeting Info:
Days: Wednesday, Friday
Times: 9:00am - 11:40am
Building: TBD
Room: TBD
Date Range: 1/21/2026 - 5/12/2026
Topics: Utopia/Dystopia
Spring 2026
Taught By: Hazel Santino and Katherine Mukai
Section: B

CRN: 5232

Credits: 6

This section is a space for students with an interest in sci-fi, fantasy and folklore to explore the aesthetic and narrative possibilities of other realities through lectures, readings, films, exercises, and individual projects. The intertwined concepts of utopia and dystopia are a grounding point as we consider the way in which sci-fi and fantasy are used to comment on contemporary life or to propose alternative ways of living. Issues to discuss include the transhumanist implications of the cyborg and the play space of digital games, as well as changing visions of dystopia/utopia and how to draw utopian practice into everyday life. Through exercises in object invention, character creation, and map-making, students are encouraged to develop their own worlds as the foundations for strong visual narratives.

Open to: Bachelors degree in Illustration juniors only, pre-requisite PUIL 3115.
Prerequisites:
Co-Requisites: No Co-requisites

College: Parsons School of Design (PS)

Department: School of Art, Media, and Tech (AMT)

Campus: New York City (GV)

Course Format: Studio (S)

Modality: In-Person

Max Enrollment: 15

Repeat Limit: N/A

Add/Drop Deadline: February 3, 2026 (Tuesday)

Online Withdrawal Deadline: April 14, 2026 (Tuesday)

Seats Available: Yes

Status: Open*

* Status information is updated every few minutes. The status of this course may have changed since the last update. Open seats may have restrictions that will prevent some students from registering. Updated: 5:24am EDT 10/16/2025

Meeting Info:
Days: Tuesday, Friday
Times: 4:00pm - 6:40pm
Building: TBD
Room: TBD
Date Range: 1/21/2026 - 5/12/2026
Topics: Cute/Kitsch/Horror
Spring 2026
Taught By: Qiaoyi Shi and Paul Andrejco
Section: C

CRN: 8460

Credits: 6

This section will explore the juxtaposition and inter-relation of cute, kitsch, and horror in the service of storytelling through lectures, readings, exercises, and individual projects. It will consider the origins of cute--including cultural, biological, and psychological understandings of cuteness--and look at the history of Kawaii and its increasing global dominance. In contrast, we will also lift the veil to expose “horror,” the shadow of cute, or the underlying tragedy that engenders the vulnerabilities that evoke “cuteness.” Students will be encouraged to think about their visual guilty pleasures and to examine the value of kitsch and its relationship to folk art and may discuss camp and the re-use of aesthetic in non-normative gender roles. We will also look at sentimentality and notions of worth and value associated with particular images. Students should take this section if: They want to explore the origins and contemporary meaning(s) of what is cute or what is absolutely not, they want to make work exploring appeal and the affect of objects or characters.

Open to: Bachelors degree in Illustration juniors only, pre-requisite PUIL 3115.
Prerequisites:
Co-Requisites: No Co-requisites

College: Parsons School of Design (PS)

Department: School of Art, Media, and Tech (AMT)

Campus: New York City (GV)

Course Format: Studio (S)

Modality: In-Person

Max Enrollment: 15

Repeat Limit: N/A

Add/Drop Deadline: February 3, 2026 (Tuesday)

Online Withdrawal Deadline: April 14, 2026 (Tuesday)

Seats Available: Yes

Status: Open*

* Status information is updated every few minutes. The status of this course may have changed since the last update. Open seats may have restrictions that will prevent some students from registering. Updated: 5:24am EDT 10/16/2025

Meeting Info:
Days: Tuesday, Friday
Times: 12:10pm - 2:50pm
Building: TBD
Room: TBD
Date Range: 1/21/2026 - 5/12/2026
Topics: Messages & Multiples
Spring 2026
Taught By: Lale Westvind and Ella Desmond
Section: D

CRN: 14433

Credits: 6

This course explores printmaking without relying on access to presses or other large print studio facilities. Students will experiment with a variety of printmaking techniques including monotypes, cyanotypes, lino and woodcuts, and Risograph. Thematically, the course will encourage students to explore ideas of multiplicity and accessibility, affordability, community building, the role of print in protest movements and underground information dissemination. We will look at type and text, as well as coded and symbolic language.

Open to: Bachelors degree in Illustration juniors only, pre-requisite PUIL 3115.
Prerequisites:
Co-Requisites: No Co-requisites

College: Parsons School of Design (PS)

Department: School of Art, Media, and Tech (AMT)

Campus: New York City (GV)

Course Format: Studio (S)

Modality: In-Person

Max Enrollment: 15

Repeat Limit: N/A

Add/Drop Deadline: February 3, 2026 (Tuesday)

Online Withdrawal Deadline: April 14, 2026 (Tuesday)

Seats Available: Yes

Status: Open*

* Status information is updated every few minutes. The status of this course may have changed since the last update. Open seats may have restrictions that will prevent some students from registering. Updated: 5:24am EDT 10/16/2025

Meeting Info:
Days: Tuesday, Friday
Times: 4:00pm - 6:40pm
Building: TBD
Room: TBD
Date Range: 1/21/2026 - 5/12/2026
Topics: Animated Forms
Spring 2026
Taught By: Carrie Hawks and Amanda Bonaiuto
Section: E

CRN: 14821

Credits: 6

This course explores animation in relation to the natural world and the laws of nature. Students will explore existing environments and interrogate their relationship to light, trash, sound, condensation, deterioration, and nature inside and outside of the body. Students will work with materials that elude finite control and challenge the idea of authorship. Investigation and research will play a vital role in the creation of animated forms. The course welcomes students who consider themselves animators but wish to expand their practice in more experimental directions as well as students who do not focus on animation but would like to develop new perspectives and time-based work.

Open to: Bachelors degree in Illustration juniors only, pre-requisite PUIL 3115.
Prerequisites:
Co-Requisites: No Co-requisites

College: Parsons School of Design (PS)

Department: School of Art, Media, and Tech (AMT)

Campus: New York City (GV)

Course Format: Studio (S)

Modality: In-Person

Max Enrollment: 15

Repeat Limit: N/A

Add/Drop Deadline: February 3, 2026 (Tuesday)

Online Withdrawal Deadline: April 14, 2026 (Tuesday)

Seats Available: Yes

Status: Open*

* Status information is updated every few minutes. The status of this course may have changed since the last update. Open seats may have restrictions that will prevent some students from registering. Updated: 5:24am EDT 10/16/2025

Meeting Info:
Days: Wednesday
Times: 9:00am - 11:40am
Building: TBD
Room: TBD
Date Range: 1/21/2026 - 5/12/2026
Days: Friday
Times: 9:00am - 11:40am
Building: TBD
Room: TBD
Date Range: 1/21/2026 - 5/12/2026