Courses

All first-year seminars share an emphasis on navigating the Berklee experience, building a foundation for success as a student and an artist, and creating a sense of community among students and faculty. This seminar challenges students to examine and redefine the way we view artistic space. Students will explore various definitions of art, investigate the presence and role of art in the community, and discover where art is created and performed. In the 21st century, artistic spaces have been redefined and expanded beyond the studio or concert hall. Public art, collaborative projects and spaces, and accessibility to art will be explored. Students will look at ways that art can be used beyond traditional boundaries. This course helps students discover and advocate for issues facing artists and creates a safe, reflective space for discourse and debate. It gives students tools to understand the role of art in society, to put their own and their classmates’ beliefs and values in context, and expose their own biases. Students will draw upon their skills and concerns as artists to reach for a more informed, nuanced, and open-minded grasp of the role of art in society. 

All first-year seminars share an emphasis on navigating the Berklee experience, building a foundation for success as a student and an artist, and creating a sense of community among students and faculty. This seminar’s unique focus is on the city and institutions that we call home. Students will explore Boston including their immediate surroundings, and will learn how historical and contemporary issues inform the city and its citizens. In addition, students will learn about the history of Berklee College of Music and the Boston Conservatory at Berklee, so that they can better appreciate the institutions and how they weave into the city’s fabric. This course helps students discover the city in which they are living and advocate for issues facing students, residents, and artists. It creates a safe, reflective space for discourse and debate. It gives students tools to put their own and their classmates’ beliefs and values in context, and expose their own biases. Students will draw upon their skills and concerns as artists to reach for a more informed, nuanced, and open-minded grasp of connections between a city, its people, history, and culture. 

All first-year seminars share an emphasis on navigating the Berklee experience, building a foundation for success as a student and an artist, and creating a sense of community among students and faculty. This seminar’s unique focus is on the artist’s engagement with and response to the social and political world. Students will develop habits of mind that help them evaluate media as sources of information, analyze issues, and persuasively support their views. The course helps students discover and advocate for the issues they care most about and creates a safe, reflective space for discourse and debate. It gives them tools to put their own and their classmates’ beliefs and values in context, expose their own biases, and examine emergent events, ideas, and trends through multiple lenses. Students will engage collaboratively in weekly responses to events and draw upon their skills and concerns as artists to reach for a more informed, nuanced, and open-minded grasp of the world. 

All first-year seminars share an emphasis on navigating the Berklee experience, building a foundation for success as a student and an artist, and creating a sense of community among students and faculty. This seminar’s unique focus is on the artist’s engagement with the community. Through in-class and service activities, students will learn about the connections between cultural, political, and social conditions and the needs of specific populations within the community. This course helps students discover and advocate for issues facing our community and creates a safe, reflective space for discourse and debate. It gives students tools to approach situations, to put their own and their classmates’ beliefs and values in context, expose their own biases, and examine the issues surrounding their service assignment through multiple lenses. Students will engage in weekly reflections activities and draw upon their skills and concerns as artists to reach for a more informed, nuanced, and open-minded grasp of the world. 

All first-year seminars share an emphasis on navigating the Berklee experience, building a foundation for success as a student and an artist, and creating a sense of community among students and faculty. This seminar’s unique focus is on the city of Valencia and on the experience of studying abroad. Students explore Valencia including their immediate surroundings, and learn how historical and contemporary issues inform the city and its citizens. In addition, students learn about Berklee and the Boston Conservatory at Berklee. Students engage in activities with the goal of reflecting on the study abroad experience in order to increase their intercultural and interpersonal skills and foster personal growth. This course creates a safe, reflective space for discourse and debate. It gives students tools to put their own and their classmates’ beliefs and values in context, and explore their own biases. Students draw upon their skills and concerns as artists to reach for an informed, nuanced, and open-minded grasp of connections among a city, its people, history, and culture.