Five core courses:

This introductory survey focuses on Western art from the Renaissance to today and the art of selected non-Western cultures (including Japan, Africa, and Islamic countries) after 1400. It concentrates on the stylistic, technical, and expressive evolution of painting, architecture, and sculpture within specific historical contexts, yet also explores the cross-influences and interaction of non-Western and Western art as defining characteristics of the modern world.

Visual Culture can be understood as the practice of scrutinizing visual items in both elite and popular culture; of determining how and what they mean to a variety of audiences; and of examining how those meanings might slip, change, or be changed according to both context and audience. Students examine a broad range of visual materials - from paintings to films - through the term of study.

In this course the student will be introduced to the major movements in European and American art since 1900. The first half will focus on 1900 to 1950 and the concept of modernism, who and what shaped it, and the shifting definitions of the artist. The second half will focus on recent trends in world art, focusing on new media and movements, including installation art, earth art, video art, postmodernism, and teh new theoretical and conceptual approaches to art and art history.

Through various drawing media, this studio course explores the basic principles of creating a work of visual art, including figure studies from the model, studies from nature, and techniques of composition. Additional Fee(s): Applied art fee.

This course is an introduction to the visual grammar of dynamic composition and form. In this studio course the student will study design with an emphasis on gaining an understanding of organizing principles that contribute to visual engaging and visual arrangements.

Additional Major Requirements

In addition to the core courses listed above, students must complete the requirements for one of the following concentrations.

Studio Arts Concentration

Six courses:

This course introduces the student to basic principles of painting and two-dimensional thinking and expression. Drawing skills, color theory, stretcher construction, and a general understanding of visual art concepts accompany each assignment. Additional Fee(s): Applied art fee.

This studio course provides students with an introduction to ceramic processes and materials. Instruction in beginning wheel-throwing methods augments competency in basic construction and surface application techniques. Projects focus on development of form and surface in ceramics, as well as exposure to historical and contemporary issues specific to the medium. Additional Fee(s): Applied art fee.

This course is an introduction to the techniques and aesthetics of graphic media, including dry point, engraving, mezzotint, etching, and aquatint. Additional Fee(s): Applied art fee.

This beginning course explores the basic concepts, materials, and techniques of sculpture, including carving, casting, and construction. Conceptual and critical approaches are introduced in their relation to specific projects. Additional Fee(s): Applied art fee.

One Advanced Studio in Painting or Printmaking

One Advanced Studio in Ceramics or Sculpture

Art History Concentration

Six Courses:

This course traces the rise of the humanistic spirit in the art of Italy between 1300 and 1550. Equal emphasis is placed on the achievements of Early Renaissance artists and architects (Ghiberti, Alberti, Donatello, Masaccio, Botticelli), and the masters of the High Renaissance (Leonardo, Raphael, Michelangelo, Bramante, Titian).

This course introduces students to the themes and issues addressed in the Art Museum Studies program, including an overview of the history and function of art museums, their role in society, the interpretation of objects for museum audiences, and other issues central to the museum profession such as censorship and repatriation.

This course surveys the art of India, China, Southeast Asia, Korea, and Japan from the earliest civilizations to the modern period. Since much Asian artistic production was inspired by religious belief, students also will be introduced to the major currents of Asian religion and philosophy, including Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism, Islam, Confucianism, Daoism, and Shintoism.

This course examines the major movements, artists, and cultural issues of American painting, sculpture, and photography from its beginnings to 1900. Special attention is given to works that address definitions of American "identity" and cultural interaction and conflict between races. Prerequisite(s): Art 132 or ART 131 or permission of the instructor.

Studio Arts Concentration

Five Courses:

Visual Culture can be understood as the practice of scrutinizing visual items in both elite and popular culture; of determining how and what they mean to a variety of audiences; and of examining how those meanings might slip, change, or be changed according to both context and audience. Students examine a broad range of visual materials - from paintings to films - through the term of study.

In this course the student will be introduced to the major movements in European and American art since 1900. The first half will focus on 1900 to 1950 and the concept of modernism, who and what shaped it, and the shifting definitions of the artist. The second half will focus on recent trends in world art, focusing on new media and movements, including installation art, earth art, video art, postmodernism, and teh new theoretical and conceptual approaches to art and art history.

This course is an introduction to the visual grammar of dynamic composition and form. In this studio course the student will study design with an emphasis on gaining an understanding of organizing principles that contribute to visual engaging and visual arrangements.

Through various drawing media, this studio course explores the basic principles of creating a work of visual art, including figure studies from the model, studies from nature, and techniques of composition. Additional Fee(s): Applied art fee.

One Studio art class

Note: For digital documentation and portfolio work students must provide their own portable hard drive. Please see faculty member for specifications.

Art History Concentration:

Five courses:

This introductory survey focuses on Western art from the Renaissance to today and the art of selected non-Western cultures (including Japan, Africa, and Islamic countries) after 1400. It concentrates on the stylistic, technical, and expressive evolution of painting, architecture, and sculpture within specific historical contexts, yet also explores the cross-influences and interaction of non-Western and Western art as defining characteristics of the modern world.

Visual Culture can be understood as the practice of scrutinizing visual items in both elite and popular culture; of determining how and what they mean to a variety of audiences; and of examining how those meanings might slip, change, or be changed according to both context and audience. Students examine a broad range of visual materials - from paintings to films - through the term of study.

This course is an introduction to the visual grammar of dynamic composition and form. In this studio course the student will study design with an emphasis on gaining an understanding of organizing principles that contribute to visual engaging and visual arrangements.

This course traces the rise of the humanistic spirit in the art of Italy between 1300 and 1550. Equal emphasis is placed on the achievements of Early Renaissance artists and architects (Ghiberti, Alberti, Donatello, Masaccio, Botticelli), and the masters of the High Renaissance (Leonardo, Raphael, Michelangelo, Bramante, Titian).

In this course the student will be introduced to the major movements in European and American art since 1900. The first half will focus on 1900 to 1950 and the concept of modernism, who and what shaped it, and the shifting definitions of the artist. The second half will focus on recent trends in world art, focusing on new media and movements, including installation art, earth art, video art, postmodernism, and teh new theoretical and conceptual approaches to art and art history.