FACULTY OF DESIGN
FUNCTIONAL DESIGN
MA1 - spring semester
code	subject name	ECTS	Description	type of class	type of examination	lecturer	additional info
THE DEPARTMENT'S SPECIALTY SUBJECTS
Specialty subjects in the student's chosen subfield. These subjects account for a significant part of the total semester or study year programme percentage.
MākZ6847	Service Design	6	Compulsory course. The students learn skills in creative problem-setting and problem-solving relevant to the product, spatial or service design and in design research. They also learn skills in gathering and analyzing information and applying it to design and research. In study process tutorials, workshops, critics, group debates and technical instruction take place. Students are also trained to develop technical, aesthetic and research skills to support the design process. Projects will vary in length and format, and the content will explore a whole range of issues related to the Themes of the Program. Some projects may be ‘real world’ projects giving the opportunity to locate work in a specific context. Projects may be carried out with social, commercial and industrial organizations who are ‘friends’ of Design department. Projects may be individual or in groups.	Lecture, group work, discussion	Assesment show	Ilze Kundziņa
MākZ6850	Experience Design	3	Throughout the course, product, process, service, event, environment design focuses on the quality of user experience and experimental approach to human, object, environment interaction. The course aims to create a new experience. Students use and master an interdisciplinary approach to creating a user experience. The course is based on the development of a practical project, working in groups and individually.	Lecture, group work, discussion	Assesment show	Holgers Elers	The lecture is given in a group partly in Latvian, partly in English with individual consultation.
MākZ6A81	Graphic design	3	Compulsory course. Principles of graphic design, techniques of visual problem solving, exploring the interrelationship between form, function, content and meaning in the same time. Creation of awareness about the interaction between the image and typography, typeface importance in graphic design, hierarchy and creation of visual language through practical exercises.	Lectures, workshop	Assesment show	Matīss Zvaigzne or Maija Rozenfelde
THE DEPARTMENT'S ELECTIVE SUBJECTS
Specialty subjects that can be taken in addition to the basic study programme.
MākZ6D10	Protoyping	1,5	Supportive course for the main study module of semester, within which students have the opportunity to develop and test a product prototype. Throughout the course, students study the process of prototyping specific materials and equipment, as well as learn product testing methods.	Practical work	Assesment show	Māris Mortukāns or Ervins Pastors	The lecture is given in a group partly in Latvian, partly in English with individual consultation.
MākZ6D06	Digital Protoyping	1,5	Supportive course for the main study module of semester, within which students have the opportunity to develop and/ or test a digital prototype. Depending on the students' academic knowledge, during the course, they can learn the basics of digital prototyping or build a more in-depth knowledge base.	Lecture, consultation	Assesment show	Gita Straustiņa	The lecture is given in a group partly in Latvian, partly in English with individual consultation.
HUMANITIES SUBJECTS
As theoretical lectures are delivered to the students of the Art Academy of Latvia in Latvian, some theoretical subjects in English are offered separately to the visiting students.
MākZ2961	Art History of Latvia	6	The lecture course "Art History of Latvia" is taught to Erasmus+ students, and its purpose is to give an insight into and a general idea of the development of Latvian art history in a cultural and historical context. Alongside art history, the course provides basic knowledge of Latvian history, ethnography, and architectural history. In the first semester the lecture course chronologically covers the period from prehistory to the 1950ties. The course continues in the second semester, providing the students with the basic knowledge about events of the second half of the 20th century. Visits to exhibitions and museums are organized as part of the course to broaden and improve students' knowledge and to promote connection with contemporary cultural progress.	Lecture, visits to exhibitions and cultural sites	Written course paper, seminar	Ieva Rosne	Special course for Erasmus+ students / The course takes place online in two groups: 1. Visiting students from the 1st semester, 2. New visiting students.
MākZ2960	History of Contemporary Art	3	The academic course deals with all the significant events in recent art history, starting from the international conceptual tendencies in the 60s, like land art, minimalism, Art Povera, Nouveaux Réalisme, Fluxus, and others, the postmodern narratives in the 80s and the 90s. The final part will be dedicated to the actual debates in the global contemporary art scene. Each lecture will be accompanied by rich visual materials, including films originating from museums. After finishing the course, the students will be able to recognize the most prominent personalities and their most iconic artworks.	Lecture, discussion	Presentation	Raimonds Kalējs	Special course for Erasmus+ students / The course takes place online and is intended only for new visiting students.
MākZ1261	Anatomy	1,5	Digitalized and interactive anatomy for art and design students to improve their drawing, painting, and sketching skills in anatomy. Based on Anatomy Next — anatomy learning tools for students and teachers. Anatomy Next is a very successful, world-known educational technology start-up to help students learn anatomy faster and more efficiently.	Lecture	Test	Uldis Zariņš	Special course for Erasmus+ students / The course takes place online and have one common group for new visiting students together with the students from the 1st semester.
MākZ5125	Creative Methods in Art Pedagogy	3	The course "Creative Methods in Art Pedagogy" prepares students for planning and conducting art-based visual arts classes for school age children. Such an experience can be useful in teaching for both - formal and non-formal education. Graduates will gain theoretical knowledge and practical experience in transforming an idea based on creative practice (art or design) into a teaching practice.	Practical work, seminar or discussion	Presentation	Ilze Vītola	Special course for Erasmus+ students / The course takes place online and have one common group for new visiting students together with the students from the 1st semester.
			ELECTIVE SUBJECTS OFFERED TO ERASMUS+ VISITING STUDENTS
			Elective subjects for Erasmus+ visiting students offered by different departments in different specialties. The list of available elective subjects will be published shortly before the start of the semester with online registration. The number of elective subjects depends on the number of remaining ECTS required for the student after the student's basic curriculum of the department's specialty subjects, general art subjects, and humanities subjects has been approved by the department.