Academic Programs

Undergraduate Programs

The Department of Visual Arts has two comprehensive undergraduate degree programs, the Bachelor of Fine Arts in Art and the Bachelor of Science in Art Education. A Minor in Art History has been offered since fall semester 2007.

The Bachelor of Fine Arts in Art is a professional degree program. The BFA prepares students for a variety of art and art related careers or graduate school by providing a thorough grounding in fundamental principles and techniques with opportunities for emphasis in one or more fine arts areas. This degree focuses on intensive work in art or design supported by a program of general studies. The BFA degree offers a concentration in the following 4 areas:

1. Graphic Communication
   (Professors Carole Maugé-Lewis & Jeanne Sperry)
2. Drawing and Painting (Professors Joe Remillard, Robert Sherer, & Donald Robson)
3. Photography and Printmaking (Professor Valerie Dibble & Matthew Haffner)
4. Sculpture and Ceramics (Professors Ayokunle Odeleye & Keith Smith)

The Bachelor of Science in Art Education leads to teacher certification in grades Pre-kindergarten through 12. This program is based on the Discipline-Based Art Education model with a curriculum that includes study in studio, art history, aesthetics and art criticism.The art education program is aligned with the National Standards in Visual Arts, the Quality Core Curriculum of Georgia, and the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. The program provides students with a broad foundation in general education, extensive study in art, and professional education and field experiences.

All art and art education majors are required to take art and art history foundation course work in lower division major requirements before taking upper division art or art education courses. ART 3000, the Professional Practices Seminar & Portfolio Review course, is required of all art and art education majors during the semester of completion of lower division major requirements or before the completion of six hours of upper level art or art education courses. All transfer students with transfer credit in lower division major requirements must take Art 3000 the first semester enrolled in upper level art or art education courses.

Each program of study is a sequentially-based curriculum beginning the first semester of the freshman year. Students who delay entering the major until completion of the General Education Core Curriculum may prolong their academic careers.

Graduate Program

The Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) Art program is specifically designed to meet the increasing demand for alternative initial certification routes for individuals who already hold a Bachelor of Fine Arts, the professional undergraduate education degree in art, or a Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science degree with a major in visual art.  Expertise within the field of art will be demonstrated through a portfolio review process. The MAT Art is a 48-credit hour program aligned with MAT programs previously established in the Bagwell College of Education. 

Minor in Art History

The Minor in Art History expands upon the art history requirements for the B.F.A. in Art and B.S. in Art Education degree programs by offering courses in Art Theory & Criticism, Research Methodologies in Art History, Latin American Art, African Art, American Art, Renaissance Art, Baroque Art, 19th Century Art, History of Photography, Romanticism and its Practice, Italian/Dutch Baroque Art Materials and Applied Techniques, Victorian Art and Culture, American Landscape Painting, French Art from the Baroque to Art Nouveau, Caravvaggio and the Spaniards Materials and Techniques, History of Graphic Design, Ancient to Medieval Art, Asian Art, History of Chinese Art, Post-Modernism, Art of the 1960s, Surrealism/Dada, Art of the African Diaspora, and 20th Century American Art.

General requirements include each of the three survey courses (ARH2750, ARH2850 and ARH2950), two Art History elective courses, and Research Methodologies in Art History (This class may currently be labeled ARH4490, but eventually it will have its own course number).