Bachelor of Arts - Art

The Major in Art, B.A. (Bachelor of Arts) is a liberal arts degree with two concentrations: Art History and Integrated Visual Studies. Both concentrations begin their study with the Foundations program. First-year students complete Foundations courses in studio art and global art history.

The Art History concentration seeks to develop students' critical and analytical skills and ability to comprehend global visual arts within social, historical, cultural, and aesthetic frameworks. Students develop an understanding about the visual and material culture of societies from around the world. Our Art History program champions a global history of art, offering courses that range from the Italian Renaissance to contemporary African art, women in art, and native North American art. Students in art history go on to careers in academia, museums, historical societies, and auction houses, and can apply their skills in visual literacy and analytical research to a wide range of careers.

The Integrated Visual Studies concentration is an ideal program for students to develop skills as makers and thinkers. By making work and interpreting images from visual art, photography, film, television, and commercial imagery, students learn to analyze visual communication from a variety of aesthetic, theoretical, scientific, economic, sociological and historical viewpoints. Students take a relatively equal ratio of studio and academic classes that foster critical awareness of how society is reflected and produced through visual means in the 21st century. Integrated Visual Studies students have the curricular flexibility to pursue interdisciplinary academic interests in combination with explorations in the theoretical and technical aspects of art making within a studio practice.