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The Department of Arts is staffed by a community of professional artists with national reputations. The mission of the faculty is to nurture and encourage students' individual growth, development, and expression while preparing them to pursue a professional career. After a firm grounding in the foundations, students are mentored in the development of an original body of work in their preferred medium.

The Department of Arts offers a bachelor of arts in Art and Design Media.

The Art and Design Media course of study develops intellectual curiosity and critical thinking skills through an active hands-on curriculum taught by professional scholars and artists. While imparting foundational expressive skills in traditional art media, the program encourages students to expand their conceptual and perceptual capabilities and receive training in current technological media that both support the traditional arts and are essential tools in contemporary society.

Developing connections between their personal experience and art, science, social science, and the environment is an important part of the program and is emphasized in a year-long concentration seminar experience (required of all majors) where students choose an area of focus ranging from traditional arts such as painting and ceramics to video production. Majors will gain a strong understanding of the creative process and their own expressive capabilities culminating in an exhibition of their personal creative work. Whether planning a career in the arts or developing innovative interdisciplinary work in a double major, the Art and Design Media program will build diverse strengths and skills for the 21st century student.

Program Description

The Art and Design Media program stresses students' acquisition of skills that represent appropriate professional practices and a clear understanding of how to evaluate their own work for accuracy, expression and clarity. Among these skills students will develop experience in and knowledge of:

• Creative and compositional methods across media.
• The creative process starting from initial sketches and outlines to the finished work. Problem solving is intrinsic to this process.
• The development of their personal voice through intensive study in the senior capstone year.
• The link between concept and media.
• Art history with an emphasis on contemporary practice in Western and Non-Western worlds.
• Critical thinking and aesthetic assessment both verbal and written.

The program provides students with hands on experience with the tools and latest technologies used in the arts professions in which they will work. They study and learn to:

• Appreciate, understand and utilize methods of craftsmanship in a variety of media.
• Develop their knowledge and abilities in graphic and web design, commercially viable skills with broad applicability.
• Develop working knowledge of the gallery and museum world.

Students are encouraged to link their study of art with other disciplines and have the opportunity to create work that expresses their personal backgrounds and interests. The 36 credits required of an art media major allows them the possibility to double major in English, History, Liberal Studies, Political Science, Math and Psychology.

Students can also take (3 credit) internships in art and/or communications organizations as part of their course of study. Faculty will work with interested students to facilitate this option.

No course grade below C (2.0) in a content area will be accepted towards degree completion. If a grade below C is attained in a required arts course, that course must be retaken until at least a C is received for degree credit. 

Suggested Progression for Art and Media Majors

Students in this major can participate in the pre-health graduate school preparation tracks.

Through directed and experiential learning, courses in the creative arts introduce understanding of methods, materials, processes and their application. Students learn to think concretely and intuitively through hands-on experiences. Instructors provide historical and contemporary models to convey these concepts. Learning through the arts allows students to acquire a variety of separate but interrelated concepts and skills to demonstrate knowledge of the creative process, craftsmanship, and personal voice. Students successfully completing arts study will:

1. Be able to determine and demonstrate concrete methods and processes for research and creation, or performance, in the arts. Accordingly, they will be able to demonstrate skill in graphic and/or symbolic communication.
2. Be able to assemble or perform work that demonstrates standards of craftsmanship in the discipline. Accordingly, they will learn methods of writing, discussion and critique of creative works of art or music.
3. Develop skills that expand their expressive capabilities, with the goal of developing a distinct personal voice that emphasizes their interests and experiences.

We offer qualified students the option of graduating with Honors. This includes significant research, scholarship or creative activity under the direction of a faculty member. Interested students should consult with their advisor. 

See Undergraduate Admissions.

See Undergraduate Admissions.

Tuition and Fees

Tuition and fees for subsequent years may vary. Other expenses include books and housing. For more information regarding tuition and fees, please consult the Financial Information section of this catalog.