About

Bachelor of Arts Degree

The Department of Art offers an undergraduate program leading to a Bachelor of Arts degree or a Bachelor of Arts in Art Education Certification, K-12. For successful completion of both B.A. degree in art and art education certification, K-12, each student is expected to demonstrate knowledge, skills and understandings within the following five categories (#5 pertains to the B.A. in Art Education Certification, K-12):

1. Promote visual literacy; e.g., the understanding of a work of art through its connections with history, criticism, aesthetics, culture, style and the formal elements.

2. Demonstrate the ability to create and solve the production of original, visual forms of expression in different media designed around a theme and to promote the interdisciplinary importance of art making as a method of knowing.

3. Develop critical thinking in strategies of inquiry, iconology and comparative studies that will promote cross-cultural and ethnically diverse methods of art making.

4. Establish methods of working and understanding the creative process and production in a variety of two- and three-dimensional media-graphics, computers, painting, ceramics, sculpture, printmaking and conceptional/ interdisciplinary work styles.

5. Develop methodology for effective teaching; creating lesson plans appropriate for a variety of academic venues; learn how to communicate effectively; be able to demonstrate effective technical skills; and understand the role of art education in human development.

Features

The Department of Visual Arts offers an undergraduate program leading to a Bachelor of Art degree in Art or Bachelor of Art in Art Education Certification, K-12, has and an interdisciplinary concentration in Computer Graphics with the Department of Computer Science and a Certificate in Graphic Design.

Freshman Portfolio Review

After admission to the art major and art education certification, K-12, programs, students must present a portfolio of their original artwork for review to the art department faculty. Specific requirements for content of this portfolio can be requested from the art department chairperson, departmental secretary or the art department website at www.ship.edu/~art. The Foundation Portfolio is a required component of the art department for all freshmen and transfer students from other colleges or internal transfers within SU. The Foundation Portfolio Review is given one time per year, the third Tuesday of September. All new and transfer students will participate in this review the first September after they have become an official art or art education major. The Portfolio Review is used as an assessment tool for incoming art majors.

Other Options

Because of the department’s variety of courses and degrees, its cooperative programs with two major institutions, The Art Institutes International (AII) and the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT), the Ship art graduate has a wide range of career opportunities.

Continual development of selected topics, visiting artists’ programs, trips to Washington, D.C., New York City, Philadelphia and credit-bearing trips to foreign countries provide students with ample opportunities to view the “world of art”. With the 33 credits of free electives, many students choose a number of different options. The student can double major, minor in another field such as business or strengthen their art major by taking additional unrestricted art electives. Selecting a double major, including art/communication, art/business or art/psychology, increases their career options. New programs such as the Interdisciplinary Arts minor allow students to create a program to match their needs.

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