For first-years at RISD, the academic year is all planned out. While students entering Brown are overwhelmed by the freedom of having no requirements and being able to choose among hundreds of classes, incoming RISD students are assigned to six design courses as a part of the Foundations Program for first-years.
Although the Foundations classes have a reputation for assigning lots of work, they also are known for promoting a sense of community among first-years, professors and undergraduates say. Some students emphasize, however, that the Foundations experience differs greatly depending on which professors teach the classes.
The Foundations Program places students in three studio courses in two-dimensional and three-dimensional design in the fall and three more advanced studio classes in the spring. First-years also take two liberal arts courses in English and architectural history.
The Foundations Program is intended to provide various approaches to fine art and design problems, said Dean of the Foundations Program Joanne Stryker. "We don't get them ready for a particular major, but we get them all to the point where they can choose any major they want to and do well with the issues they face there," she said.
Through the Foundations Program, first-years are exposed to six different approaches to design. "The real value is the multiplicity of perspectives and ideas," said Mark Milloff, associate professor of foundation studies, digital media and painting. "The students are getting six different knowledge bases."
They are also benefiting from a variety of teaching styles. Most Foundations professors teach Foundations courses exclusively and are given a lot of freedom to approach the course in different ways, Stryker said, adding that the college has made an effort to hire faculty with diverse specialties to round out the Foundations program and provide first-years with a range of styles and experiences.
"Some faculty are more directive and some want their students to be more intuitive. The students are having different kinds of experiences and they are finding that there is not one way to do art or approach design, but rather that they have to find their own way," she said.
This flexible structure allows teachers to emphasize their own interests and passions while also giving students a chance to explore art forms that might be new to them and challenge them in new ways, Stryker said. "They have to break out from what they know and what they're comfortable with," she added.
According to Associate Professor Todd Moore, the Foundations Program allows students to become familiar with a range of art and design problems and helps them discover where their interests lie. This can be crucial in helping students to decide their major, he said. "A lot of students are torn between two (majors)," he said. "There's usually a conflict between the head, the heart and the parents."
Foundations classes also begin to prepare students for their chosen major, Moore said. "I wish someone had given me this information in such a concentrated way. These students are much better prepared than I know I was," he said.
This preparation involves long hours spent in the studio and working on outside assignments, Stryker said. "It's really intense. There are lots of hours of work and it's very hands-on."
Moore gave a similar account. "My students are saying to me, 'The weekends are for getting work done.' They spend lots of time in the classroom and lots of time doing assignments."
Students have three seven-and-a-half-hour studio classes each week and may receive assignments that take them as long as 30 or 40 hours, Milloff said. "I tell them, 'The time you need to put into an assignment is however long it takes to make it right,'" he said.
Gabriela Garza RISD '07, a textiles major, recalled, "Everyone had so much work the first year." She said she was one of the lucky few who managed to escape with a relatively light workload. "Lucky bastard," murmured one student as she walked by.
Only in his first few weeks at the school, Sam Gray RISD '08 is having a similar experience. "It's a lot of work. We work all evening," he said.
But with all this work comes a sense of camaraderie. "Even though they're overwhelmed by it, everyone knows it's something valuable and that we're all going through it together," Gray said.
According to Moore, the program is meant to bring students together. "Foundations is the starting point for the community," he said. "Everyone is making connections with everyone else. Once they get into their majors, the world becomes more focused."
Students may not always appreciate the Foundations Program when they are swamped by work, but many look back on it fondly later, Stryker said. "Once they're through it they say, 'It's the best year at RISD.' They come back and say, 'Foundations studies was great. That's where I learned to think,'" she said.
Moore has also noticed what he calls "nostalgia for Foundations" among his students. "It represents a time when the possibilities were more open, before they had to make these adult decisions," he said.
Garza said she misses Foundations already. As a sophomore, her classes are much more focused toward her major and she has less time to explore new art forms than she did as a first-year. "I wish we could do more Foundations stuff," she said. "Suddenly you have to choose your major and then you don't get to do anything else."
Garza said the Foundations Program also allowed her the opportunity to learn about herself. "It helped me learn what I would be able to handle and it gave me more of a general feeling about my abilities," she said. "I give it two thumbs up, especially in retrospect."
