It’s no surprise that artists worldwide look to address modern challenges and adopt the newest technology. Art and the avant-garde have always gone hand in hand. Here are shining examples of successful U.S. programs for students of digital arts, conservation, and arts and crafts.
全球各地的艺术家都希望表现现代挑战并运用最新技术，这不足以为奇。艺术与前卫一向协手并进。以下是为数码艺术、艺术保护、工艺美术专业学生提供的美国一些优秀学业项目中的代表。
Digital Arts
数码艺术
When it comes to new technology, art departments are early adopters. Digital arts ― such as animation, video game development, graphic design and visual effects ― are attracting more students each year, many of them international.
艺术系是采用新技术的先行者。数码艺术――例如动画、视频游戏开发、平面设计和视觉效果――每年都在吸引越来越多的学生，其中很多人是国际学生。
The School of Visual Arts in New York, which admits students based on their portfolios as well as grades and test scores, has made a name for itself as a premier digital arts program.
位于纽约的视觉艺术学院(School of Visual Arts)以数码艺术专业闻名，它的录取标准不仅基于成绩和考试分数，而且取决于学生自身的作品。
John McIntosh, chair of the Computer Art, Computer Animation and Visual Effects Department, said, “We offer a program that only hires working professionals as faculty, that has the highest academic rigor, and that allows students to excel by concentrating on the practice of being an artist for each of their four years.”
电脑艺术、电脑动画及视觉效果专业(Computer Art, Computer Animation and Visual Effects Department)系主任约翰•麦金托什(John McIntosh)说：“我们的专业只聘请在职专业人士当教师，学术要求极其严格，使得学生在大学四年的每一年通过注重实践的学习而成为出类拔萃的艺术家。”
Anne Yang, an animation student, said she has gained practical, hands-on experience. She and five classmates collaborated on making a film at the end of their junior year. “Students don’t typically get that experience, ” Yang said. Their two-minute animated short, Fright Shift, about a ghost hunter afraid of ghosts, was a hit with audiences.
动画专业学生杨安妮(Anne Yang)说，她获得了实际动手经验。她和五名同学在大三结束前合作制作了一部影片。她说：“学生一般得不到这种经验。”他们的20分钟动画短片《惊吓转移》(Fright Shift)讲述了一个怕鬼的找鬼人故事，很博观众喜爱。
Art Conservation
艺术保护
Most conservation programs in the U.S. have catered to advanced-degree students, but a growing number now reach out to undergraduates as well. New Mexico State University in Albuquerque began offering a bachelor’s degree in museum conservation in 2005. Director Silvia Marinas-Feliner said interest in art conservation may have something to do with the popularity of forensic science on such television shows as CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. Museum conservationists are investigators too, said Marinas-Feliner, only instead of autopsying bodies, they try to uncover the history of the object.
美国大部分艺术保护专业面向研究生。然而现在向本科生开放的课程日渐增多。新墨西哥州立大学阿尔伯克基分校(New Mexico State University in Albuquerque)从2005年开始提供博物馆保护专业本科学位。该专业主任西尔维娅•玛丽娜丝-费利纳(Silvia Marinas-Feliner)说，对艺术保护的兴趣可能与诸如《犯罪现场调查》(CSI: Crime Scene Investigation)等电视剧让法医学变得广为人知有关。玛丽娜丝-费利纳说，博物馆保护者也是侦探，只不过他们不是检验尸体，而是要揭示具体实物的历史。
“Things deteriorate and need to be preserved, especially with natural disasters, ” she said.
她说：“物品会损毁而需要保护，尤其当发生自然灾难时。”
One of her former students, Lyndy Bush, works at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History in Washington. “I’m conserving botanical specimens that were damaged [by Hurricane Sandy] while they were out on loan, ” Bush said. “The idea of a career in art that incorporates science and skill was what made me fall in love with the field.”
林迪•布什(Lyndy Bush)曾经是她的学生，目前就职于位于华盛顿的史密森尼学会(Smithsonian Institution)国家自然历史博物馆(National Museum of Natural History)。布什说：“我正在修复出借时被[桑迪飓风(Sandy)]损坏的植物标本。让我热爱这个职业的原因是，它是一个融合了科学与技巧的艺术专业。”
Students learn conservation techniques in small classes (no more than 12 students). The cross-disciplinary curriculum requires study in art history, fine arts, archaeology and hard science. The program even encourages students to study entomology so they become familiar with the bugs they might find in an artifact that needs restoring.
学生在小班课堂上(不超过12名学生)学习保护技巧。由于是跨专业学科，学生需要修艺术史、美术、考古学及自然科学。这个专业甚至鼓励学生学习昆虫学，从而使他们对可能会在某件需要修复的艺术品中碰到的昆虫有所了解。
Arts and Crafts
工艺美术
American arts and crafts schools offer traditional disciplines such as glassblowing, metalworking, ceramics and woodworking. Curricula can reflect local art traditions, according to Christine Havice, director of the School of Art at Kent State University, pointing to basketweaving and rug-making in the Southwest and industrialized arts at her own school in Ohio.
美国工艺美术学院提供玻璃吹制、金属工艺、陶瓷工艺以及木制工艺等传统专业。据肯特州立大学(Kent State University)艺术学院院长克里斯蒂娜•哈维斯(Christine Havice)说，课程设置可以体现当地艺术传统，例如西南地区的编篮和织毯以及位于俄亥俄州的她所在学校的工业化艺术。
Some schools may shy away from adapting technology in deference to “the old ways” of preserving the past, but that is not the case at the Appalachian Center for Craft, a satellite campus of Tennessee Tech University in Cookeville, Tennessee. Jeff Adams, the center’s director, said his students employ computer-aided design, 3-D printers and computerized looms to preserve and advance the treasures of that mountain region.
有些学校可能出于尊重保护历史的“传统方法”而不使用新技术，但阿帕拉契亚工艺中心(Appalachian Center for Craft)不在此列，这个中心是位于田纳西州库克维尔(Cookeville)的田纳西技术大学(Tennessee Tech University)的一个分校。中心主任杰夫•亚当斯(Jeff Adams)说，他的学生借助电脑辅助设计、3D打印机以及电脑化织布机来保存和发展那个山区的宝贵财富。
The center teaches new ways to apply skills. Engineering and ceramics students work hand in hand on one project in sub-Saharan Africa, with the engineers designing water-filtration systems and the ceramics students making clay water-filtration devices.
该中心向学生传授运用技术的新方法。工程与陶瓷专业学生在非洲撒哈拉以南地区(sub-Saharan Africa)携手展开一个项目，其中工程专业学生负责设计水过滤系统，陶瓷专业学生负责制作陶土水过滤设备。
“It’s about what they want to do with the skills they’re learning here, not just about how to produce things for sale, ” Adams said.
亚当斯说： “最根本的是，他们想用在这儿学到的技能去成就什么，而不仅是如何制作东西去出售。”
Huge Geek Moment
怪杰云集的时刻
The Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) trade show is the World Cup, Olympics and Super Bowl rolled into one for the 50, 000 video gamers, designers, programmers and marketers from 120 countries who throng to Los Angeles each year. But the excitement isn’t confined to the convention hall. Global gamers tune in breathlessly online to await word of the newest gaming advances.
每年有来自120个国家的5万名电子游戏玩家、设计师、编程员和营销商云集洛杉矶，参加电子娱乐博览会(Electronic Entertainment Expo，简称E3)――对他们来说，这是犹如集世界杯(World Cup)、奥运会(Olympics)和超级碗(Super Bowl)于一体的盛事。但是这种兴奋感并不局限于会展大厅中。全世界玩家都在屏住呼吸，在线等待有关最新游戏发展的讯息。
Eight students at Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) were no exception this June, but they had a special reason for excitement. A video game they developed not only was exhibited at the trade show, but also shared top honors at E3’s inaugural College Game Competition. “It was a huge geek moment and an amazing opportunity for them, ” said Tina O’Hailey, dean of SCAD’s School of Digital Media.
今年六月，来自萨凡纳艺术与设计学院(Savannah College of Art and Design)的八名学生也不例外，但他们的兴奋有其特殊缘由一不仅他们开发的一款电子游戏在展会上展出，他们还在电子娱乐博览会开幕式上的大学生游戏竞赛(College Game Competition)中分获最高大奖。萨凡纳艺术与设计学院数码媒体学院(School of Digital Media)院长蒂娜•奥海利(Tina O’Hailey)说：“对他们来说，这是怪杰云集的重大时刻，是一个妙不可言的机会。”
Most game designers can expect to go their whole career without having the opportunity to showcase a game of their own at E3, said Luis Cataldi, head of SCAD’s game development program.
萨凡纳艺术与设计学院游戏开发专业负责人路易斯•卡塔尔迪(Luis Cataldi)说，大多数游戏设计人都不曾想过在他们的整个职业生涯中能有机会在电子娱乐博览会上展示自己设计的游戏。
The students’ visually stunning, side-scrolling PC game Lost in Thought follows a therapist as he travels through his patients’ minds to heal them.
这些学生设计的横向卷轴电脑游戏“迷失在思绪中”(Lost in Thought)有着令人震撼的视觉效果，游戏中玩家跟随一名治疗专家在病人大脑里穿梭以疗伤治愈。
More than 380 U.S. schools offer course work in computer and video game design. In 2013, SCAD’s program was ranked by The Princeton Review as one of the nation’s top programs. The college granted 85 degrees in interactive design and game development in 2012.
美国有380多所学校提供有关电脑和电子游戏的课程。2013年，《普林斯顿评论》(Princeton Review)将萨凡纳艺术与设计学院的相关专业评为全国一流。2012年，这所学院颁发了85个互动设计与游戏开发专业学位。
Band Camp Revisited
重访乐队夏令营
Some Columbia College Chicago students refer to it as “Band Camp.” Like Nashville, Tennessee; New Orleans; and Austin, Texas, the Windy City of Chicago is known for its vibrant music scene. The city is a playground for the nearly 11, 000 students at Columbia College Chicago, the country’s largest arts and media college.
正如田纳西州的纳什维尔(Nashville)，新奥尔良(New Orleans)以及得克萨斯州的奥斯汀市(Austin)一样，风城芝加哥(Windy City of Chicago)也以充满活力的音乐场景闻名于世。全国最大的艺术与媒体大学芝加哥哥伦比亚学院(Columbia College Chicago)是近11000名学生的乐园。
Come summertime, some Columbia musicians and aspiring record producers get to attend what they fondly call “Band Camp.” Others know it as the school’s selective Summer Music Immersion Program. Students from three Columbia departments ― music, arts management and acoustics ― join forces for an intensive week of beats, bass and branding. The result: a professional-quality, extended play (EP) record and a one-night-only showcase at a popular live music venue.
每年夏天，一些哥伦比亚学院的音乐家以及充满抱负的唱片制作人有机会参加被他们昵称为“乐队夏令营”(Band Camp)的选修课，也就是“夏季音乐浸润班”(Summer Music Immersion Program)。来自哥伦比亚学院三个院系――音乐、艺术管理与声学――的学生聚在一起，体验为期一周的紧张课程，学习鼓点、贝斯和乐队组合 。学习成果：一张具有专业水准的密纹唱片(EP)以及在一个广受欢迎的现场音乐会会场举办单场夜晚音乐会。
Nate Green, a recent graduate, was a repeat camper. “It’s a lot of fun, but extremely hard. It’s the most real-world experience in my field one can get while still being at school, ” he said.
刚刚毕业的奈特•格林(Nate Green)曾多次参加乐队夏令营。他说，“夏令营很有趣，但极其辛苦。在我的专业里，这是一个在校生所能获得的最接近真实世界的体验。”
A local music-industry veteran helps the students compose songs, mix them and market the resulting album.
一位当地音乐产业资深人士帮助学生作曲、编曲，并且为由此制成的专辑进行市场推广。
Although music-technology programs have cropped up at colleges around the country, Columbia sets itself apart as the only undergraduate program to offer a bachelor of science degree in acoustics.
尽管音乐-技术专业已经在全国各大院校中出现，但哥伦比亚学院是唯一一所在本科设有声学理学士学位的学校。
Department chairman Pantelis Vassilakis said: “We’re at the intersection of sound as music, sound as business, sound as physics and sound as perception.”
系主任潘特里斯•瓦西拉基斯(Pantelis Vassilakis)说：“我们定位在声响是音乐、声响是商业、声响是物理、声响是感官的交汇点。”
Your 5 Steps to U.S. Study
赴美留学的五个步骤
1. Research. Eighteen months before your projected enrollment, begin your research. Why do you want to study in the U.S.? Where will you fit in? Will you need financial assistance? What are the application deadlines? Identify sources of financial aid and prepare for standardized tests such as the Scholastic Aptitude Test. You might be asked to take an English language proficiency test. To begin, go to your nearest EducationUSA Center ( www. EducationUSA.state.gov).
1. 了解信息。在计划入学18个月前开始了解信息。你为什么想来美国留学?哪里会适合你?你需要资助么?申请截止日期是哪天?列出资助来源并准备标准化测试，例如学习能力倾向测试(Scholastic Aptitude Test)。你可能会被要求参加一项英语能力测试。作为第一步，先去离你最近的美国教育咨询中心(EducationUSA Center)了解情况。
2. Apply. Include an original transcript or certified copy of your academic records sent by your secondary school, as well as your standardized test scores. Submit recommendation letters from people who know you well: your principal, counselor, tutor, teacher, coach or job supervisor. Your recommenders must assess your potential to do well in college. Include a personal essay; it’s often one of the most important parts of your application.
2. 申请。申请材料要包括一份你的成绩单原件或由你的中学提的经认证的学习成绩单和你的标准考试成绩。提交由对你很了解的人写的推荐信：你的校长，辅导员，家教，老师，教练或工作主管。你的推荐人必须对你能够成功从事大学学业的能力作出评估。申请材料还包括一篇你写的文章，它往往是你的申请最为重要的组成部分。
3. Finance. While the cost of living varies, studying in the U.S. can be affordable and yield high returns on your investment. Start your financial planning early. If you have good grades, think about applying for an international student scholarship. Applications for financial aid go together with applications for admission.
3. 费用。尽管生活开销各地不同，但留学美国的费用并非高不可攀，而且它会为你的投资带来巨大回报。尽早开始你的经济安排。如果你成绩优异，考虑申请国际学生奖学金。助学金申请与入学申请一起递交。
4. Student Visa. Become familiar with the student visa requirements in your country and allow time to prepare your application. You need an admission letter and a certificate of eligibility for nonimmigrant student status from a U.S. institution before you can apply for a visa. The U.S. Department of State issues visas in U.S. embassies and consulates. Visit www.travel.state.gov for information about visas for non-U.S. citizens who study in the U.S.
4. 学生签证。要在贵国熟悉有关学生签证的相关要求，并花时间悉心准备。你需要在收到录取通知书和来自一所美国学校的非移民学生身份合格证明后才可申请签证。美国国务院(U.S. Department of State)在美国大使馆及领事馆签发签证。有关非美国公民赴美留学的更多信息请访问www.travel.state.gov。
5. Prepare to Depart. In planning your move to the United States, get help from an EducationUSA Advising Center in your country and from the international student adviser at your chosen U.S. school. Advisers and students who have returned from the U.S. can prepare you for new experiences and challenges. Discuss changes from your home environment, academic systems and expectations, housing and coping in a new cultural setting.
5. 准备出国。在计划赴美留学时，从位于贵国的美国教育咨询中心以及你选择的美国学校的国际学生顾问那里寻求帮助。留学生顾问以及从美国留学归来的学生能帮你为迎接新体验与新挑战作准备。讨论可包括与本国环境的差异，学术体制及期许，住宿及如何适应一个新的文化氛围等问题。
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