Proposal

Narrative

4.  Project Narrative: (Must be tied to what educational benefits will be received by the students, faculty; what goals are going to be achieved, etc.)

 

This proposal is of the highest priority for the Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College on the Jupiter/MacArthur campus. The primary objective is to bring urgently needed digital technology into the Hibel Arts building. To date there is a single teaching station with computer and overhead projector, with two 10+ year-old bulky televisions resting on an A/V cart with wheels. Receiving this grant for the development of the Interdisciplinary Multimedia Fine Art (Scientific/Medical Illustration) & Medical Humanities (iMFAMH) Labs will go a very long way towards bringing all of the instructional teaching spaces into alignment with the University’s technological goals, our ability to attract and maintain top-quality students, as well as, meet the current professional standards demanded by areas inside Scientific & Medical Illustration, and other areas in the Creative Industries.

 

Currently the traditional studio ‘callboratory’ spaces, located in the Hibel Arts Building, primarily employ traditional visual methods of study. The author of this proposal seeks funding to purchase digital equipment (projectors, scanners, printers, recorders, replicator, cameras, iMacs, iPads, etc), software (Photoshop, Illustrator, Logic, 3D studio Max, etc) as well as other forms of multimedia delivery systems to update, and enhance the classroom spaces essential to students’ art-centered engagement & learning.  Also, the introduction of an IMac with Logic software, and a few digital instruments will enhance tone of the students’ small practice rooms located in the Hibel Arts building.

 

The updated modification introduced by Apple’s digital mobility Learning Lab carts, narrow mobile A/V projector stations, Wacom digital drawing tablets, small though powerful sound systems, and various digital capture equipment will contemporize these tightly-design compact unique ‘callboratory’ spaces. The ease of use provided by these mobile digital technologies provide faculty, who instruct in these spaces, the opportunity to transition throughout various locations.

 

A second and equally exciting component of this application is to transform, one or more of these spaces into E-Classrooms. This will help to expand access to our growing program as instructors will then, via on-line, be able to introduce and share multi-media content with students in the classroom and in other locations.  The electronic digital equipment requested shall be used in (though not limited to) the instruction of students pursuing such fields of study as, Scientific & Medical Illustration, Sound & Visual Narrative Research, Contemporary Fine Art & Critical Theory as well as the burgeoning diverse field of Medical Humanities.

 

The Wilkes Honors College serves approximately 400 undergraduate majors, and the MacArthur campus supports approximately 2000 students. The iMFAMH Labs will directly serve the student and faculty body of the entire MacArthur Campus, in part by supporting various existing programs offered in the Honors College, particularly art, anthropology, literature and film, media studies, natural science, sociology and women studies. The iMFAMH Labs would directly support, in addition, the concentration in Honors Transdisciplinary Visual Arts’ Bio-Art, Scientific & Medical Illustration (TVA), plus the Honors Medical Humanities (MH), which like Honors Interdisciplinary Critical Studies (iCS) draws from a multitude of disciplines including: Art (criticism, theory, history, design), Anthropology (physical, cultural, linguistic, archaeological), Biology, Earth Science, Area Studies (African, American, Asian, Middle Eastern), Film Studies, Gender/Women Studies, GLBT/Queer Studies, History, International Studies, Literature, Media Studies, Philosophy (ethics, logic, political philosophy, philosophy of science), Political Science, Psychology, Religious Studies, and Sociology. Courses containing an interdisciplinary visual art & technology component instructed at the Harriet L. Wilkes Honor College of FAU, since 2011 are: Fine Art, Studio-based art criticism (ARH), and Interdisciplinary Studies (IDS) (Art & Biology; Art & Environmental Science; Art & Creative Writing; Art & Philosophy). Below provides a general idea of the course enrollment:

 

Phase I In this phase the purchase of specialized hardware (HD camera projectors, HD digital cameras, digital Tablets, scanners, printers, audio recorders), mobile instructors’ lecterns, projector screens, mobile and stationary carts/units, collaborative external learning spaces, as well as, traditional equipment will be obtained and incorporated into these areas. Ceiling mounted or/and mobile digital projection units, sound components, and multiple moveable projection screens for these spaces are key elements required for the pedagogical restructuring and design of these intelligent classroom spaces.  The facility will be open through out the day for students to work on creative visual assignments, DIS visual projects, and multimedia research. During the evening, if there is a lecture or screening, this space has the possibility to be reconfigured for presentations and lectures by invited art scholars, faculty, and art professionals.

 

Phase II continues with the process of development of these multimedia visual research laboratories and the acquisition of additional equipment needed to fine-tune these facilities. This includes, though not limited to the enhancement of the three-dimensional space and design applications currently instructed.

 

5. How is this project aligned with the Strategic Plan? Please cite specific goals and strategies. University Goals 2, 3, 5, 6

 

Goal 2:  Meeting Statewide Professional and Workforce Needs

In today’s market Scientific & Medical Illustrators, fine & performance visual artists and other professionals, who work in diverse art-related fields in the Creative Industries, heavily rely on, and innovate with digital technology.  Creating this facilitate will not only help to meet the professional industry standards, but to become the space for the exchange and flow of creative ideas, support collaborative academic and community engagement, as well as, foster the establishment of multiple professional (local/regional/national/global) networks. If we are to provide an education that supports the Florida workforce, then this deficit must be remedied.

 

 

Goal 3:  Building World-Class Academic Programs and Research Capacity

By increasing access to high speed and high definition internet connections alongside new media digital technologies, the Interdisciplinary Multimedia Fine Art & Medical Humanities (iMFAMH) Labs will help to build a dynamic program to complement the growing interest in Arts intersection with Sciences in areas, such as, Health, Psychology, Healing & Narrative Medicine. The Interdisciplinary Multimedia Fine Art & Medical Humanities (iMFAMH) Labs will help to bring about a new and engaging learning environment that fosters innovative & creative academic research in partnerships. Furthermore, the iMFAMH for students focusing on a fine art career in the Creative Industries can successfully be supported in this endeavor. Having the facilities to create such projects in the Hibel Arts Building will be exciting for students and faculty alike. This infusion of funds in these spaces could dramatically and swiftly increase, and potentially assist these programs to competitively attract strong undergraduate candidates to the Jupiter campus of FAU. Support for this grant will help us to build an academically sound and world-class program.

 

Goal 5: Building a State-of-the-Art Information Technology Environment

The Interdisciplinary Multimedia Fine Art (Scientific & Medical Illustration) & Medical Humanities (iMFAMH) Labs are to be located on the MacArthur Campus and integrated into the existing instructional spaces in the Hibel Arts (HA) building. These vital learning spaces are designed to work in concert with cross-, inter-, intra-disciplinary student engagement with the integration of both traditional studio-based practices along side new media technologies occur. This type of interactive experimentation involves the hybridity of the plastic arts with delivery systems present within current digital technologies. Therefore, receiving this infusion of desperately needed funds will allow these spaces to be successfully transformed into technology-rich learning spaces for visual theoretical research and artistic process production.  For all areas of the arts and visual media, Mac computers are the industry standard. The Interdisciplinary Multimedia Fine Art (Scientific & Medical Illustration) & Medical Humanities (iMFAMH) Labs provide art centered educational programming, the opportunity to engage in networking, and professional training directly relevant to the arts’ industry. Unfortunately, as things currently stand these extended collaborative external learning spaces are not full realized.

 

Goal 6: Enhancing the Physical Environment

The Honors College is in dire need of funding to enhance the iMFAMH labs along with the inclusion of a digital gallery wall space in the HA foyer. These additions will go a very long way towards enhancing these spaces.

 

Facilities

Hardware Requirements

Software Requirements

Personnel Costs

None

Other Costs

Installation required from Northern Technology Services (NTS) (electric, mounting, conduit, etc)  $2,000.00

Timeline

If approved, the project would begin immediately with a proposed start-up date of 

Phase 1: Mid-June, 2015, with final project completion in July 2016.

Phase 2: Mid-June, 2016, with final project completion in July 2017. 

Sustainability

Resource Matching

None

Implementing Organization

 

The Harriett L. Wilkes Honors College will implement the project. Support will be required from Northern Technology Services and Building Maintenance for regular maintenance, upgrade of software, tech support or support for other physical and technical issues that arise. Project management, on-site installation and wiring, coordination and supervision, owner training, etc., plus fabrication, modification, assembly, programming, warranties, etc. Electrical as contracted through WHC – FAU facilities.