innovative classes

A group of George Mason University mechanical engineering students are building a motorized Vitruvian man for a Center for the Arts (CFA) performance of "Flying to the Stars," a choral concert dedicated to the beginnings of flight from the time of Leonardo da Vinci to the exploration of space. 

As a movement and concept, ecological art, or eco art, stretches back decades. And EcoArt has been a part of George Mason University’s School of Art since 2010, thanks to Mark Cooley, associate professor and director of new media.

When George Mason University students sign up for Video Production for Social Change, they won’t just learn in a traditional classroom setting, they’ll make an impact in their community.

The 15 students in the special topics class Facial Reconstruction started the semester with a generic plastic skull. Week by week, they sculpted different parts of their own faces, creating a portrait of themselves in clay and learning the forensic skills needed to put a face on a skull.

School of Art professor Christopher Kardambikis was determined to focus his operations and curriculum on printmaking processes that are nontoxic, energy efficient, and supportive of the repurposing of paper scraps into new usable sheets.

When George Mason University students returned for the fall semester in late August, things looked a little different, but the excitement of a new semester was the same. Students in John Aler’s opera class were happy to be back on campus, especially now that their classroom was in the Center for the Arts.