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The College of Art subscribes to the standards for the Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) degree and Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree as set forth and accepted by the College Art Association of American (CAA) and the National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAD). For students entering the College of Art in fall 2021, a BFA degree requires a total of 121 credits of course work, and a BA degree requires 120 credits of course work.


The First-Year Experience

In your first year, you’ll take core studios, including drawing, 2D design, 3D design, digital studio, and a weekly seminar. Drawing studios are team-taught by studio art and communication design faculty. You’ll develop observational and illustrative skills, working mainly with charcoal, graphite, ink, and pastel. In 2D design and digital studio, you’ll build essential skills in composition and communication through manual processes and digital design software. In 3D design, you’ll learn fundamental sculptural and spatial skills, experimenting with new materials and processes, while learning how to use specialized tools and machines.

Every first-year student is mentored by a dedicated academic advisor who guides them in shaping the educational and degree path they desire. This includes course selection and scheduling.

Advanced Coursework

As your education progresses, so will your course flexibility. In your second year and the fall semester of your junior year, you take courses such as Word & Image, Typography, and Interaction Foundations. Starting in the second semester of your junior year, you choose all of your own major courses.

Your studio courses are supplemented by readings and seminars that acquaint you with the field of contemporary art and design and in developing an understanding of where your interests fit in the historical arc. You also take professional practice seminars, taught by our dedicated career development specialist, in which you’ll develop essential skills like writing preparing a portfolio and CV, applying for internships and jobs, and presenting a public lecture on your work.

All studio courses have a low student-to-faculty ratio to ensure personalized attention.

Recent Course Offerings

UX Research Methods for Design

Semiotics Studio: Designing Signs and Symbols

Visual Principles for the Screen

Conditional Design

Animated Worlds

Illustration Entrepreneur

Digital Game Design

Multimedia Design: Time/Sound/Space

Interaction Design: Understanding Health and Well Being

Design in Social Systems

Global Topics in Visual Communications

Image and Meaning

Applied Illustration

Letterpress Printing

Design for Social Impact

The Illustrator’s Sketchbook

Illustration as Practice

Panel by Panel: Narrative Comics

Programming Design

Printing Propaganda: The Letterpress Poster

Literatures of Drawing

Content to Cover: The Design of Books

Type as Image: Experiments on Press

Enchanted Objects: Material Culture


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