The Art Department offers three separate majors: art studio, art education, and art history. Across these areas, the fundamental goal is for students to write clearly and analytically about works of art, whether they are made by the student themselves or by other artists. The Writing in the Discipline sequence is thus fundamentally the same for all majors in the department, with variations for each area.
The sequence of ART 231: Prehistoric to Renaissance Art and ART 232: Renaissance to Modern (both 4 credits) introduces students to the most basic forms of writing within the discipline, including writing descriptions and analyses of individual artworks; writing comparisons; and writing based on secondary sources obtained through research. This sequence is followed by between two to six 300-level art history courses, depending on the major, in specific time-period content areas where students continue to develop these skills, with an emphasis on writing research papers. Variations for the majors are described below:
Art Studio majors
Art studio majors must take two 300-level art history classes.
Further writing instruction for studio majors is continued in discipline specific contexts; all studio course beyond Level III include writing. In Graphic Design, this includes writing project briefs, work proposals, visual analysis, curriculums vitae, and business letters. In the other studio areas (painting, sculpture, printmaking, jewelry/metals, ceramics), students write project proposals and artist statements.
Students in the BFA program are required to take Art 400: Issues for the Visual Artist, where they write artist statements, cover letters, and grant applications. Students also practice public speaking in presentations on their work.
Art History
Beyond the 231-232 sequence and the six 300-level courses, art history majors also take 400-level seminar classes, where the further disciplinary writing is explored, especially the research paper. This practice reaches its culmination in ART 493, an independent research project of twenty pages.
Art Education majors
As future art educators, undergraduate Art Education Program majors are expected to develop and demonstrate clear and coherent writing skills.
Art Education majors receiving a B.S. or BFA must take two 300-level art history classes, or one 300-level course and an art history seminar. They also take classes in several studio areas.
In Art Education courses, students learn how to write critical literature reviews, lesson plans, curriculum development plans, self-reflections and classroom observations, and resumes. These skills are developed progressively in ARTE 303 (Introduction to Art Education), ARTE 404 (Secondary Practicum in Art Education), and ARTE 405 (Elementary Practicum in Art Education), and ARTE 464 (Student Teaching Seminar in Art Education).
12/12/13 – with Art Ed’s input