Ok, so the dean of my school is a super cranky older woman (I’m a cranky middle-aged woman, just for perspective). My first semester at the school, I had to battle her tooth and nail to get the classes I wanted. She was NOT interested in cowtowing to me, at all. But, the department and the profs within the department have been really good, and very dedicated.
For the fall semester, I went and talked to two professors so I could decide which class (and which concentration) I wanted to look at. The textiles teacher was doing stuff I did with my kids for arts and crafts when they were toddlers; the ceramics teacher is doing all sorts of crazy new tech stuff that’s just really interesting.
Guess which class I signed up for in the fall? So, what I’m saying is, drill down and talk to the professors.