Academics
The Art, Art History, and Film Department prepares students to engage critically with our image-saturated world. We emphasize individual mentorship, interdisciplinary collaboration, and hands-on learning in varied environments, from studios to museums. Graduates apply their skills of observation, creativity, and intercultural understanding to professions in the arts and beyond.
Art History
Art history encompasses the study of images, objects, and built spaces from a broad range of historical periods and geographical regions, providing a doorway into the many rich and diverse cultures throughout the world.
Film Studies
The Film Studies program has arisen out of a need and desire to assist students in developing critical and technical skills in the area of film. Video, photography, and television also play a supportive role in the development of these skills.
Studio Art
In our increasingly image-laden society, visual intelligence and visual literacy are paramount skills. The Studio Art program provides students with exciting, opportunities for creative exploration in painting, drawing, photography, video, ceramics and digital media.
Art History
The art history faculty has determined the following outcomes for our program:
Students will be able to analyze the patterns of interaction between art and its historical context, developing knowledge of the discipline’s subfields across the globe.
Students will be able to integrate art history with other disciplines in the humanities and sciences, such as biology, chemistry, economics, history, literature, political science, philosophy, and theology.
Students will be able to apply and critique different methods of interpretation, recognizing the position of each approach within the history of the discipline.
Students will be able to develop their own research questions, carry out research to answer their questions, and explain why their research matters to both specialist and non-specialist audiences.
Film Studies
A student completing a Film Major in the context of Liberal Arts will be evaluated prior to graduation on the following points before a panel of two or three faculty members:
General View of Film: Based on the initial course in Introduction to Film Art
Film Production: Intermediate grasp of sound, lighting, composition
Film Editing: Digital editing for a film production (Final Cut Pro or Avid non-linear)
History: Solid grasp of American film( feature and documentary), basic knowledge of foreign film (European, Mid-East, Latin American, or World Cinema)
Criticism: Ability to grasp nuances in script, characterization, camera work, etc.
Written Expression: Clarity and proper grammar for essay writing; structure, for screenwriting, with a focus on narrative.
Research: Ability to do scholarly research and documentation
At the same time, as part of the requirement, the Film Major necessitates a student writing a thesis, completing a full-length screenplay, or producing a short film (feature or documentary) under close supervision of an advisor.
Studio Art
The Studio Art Major offers students a course of study that includes introductory and advanced investigations in a variety of media, an exploration of the conceptual approaches inherent in artworks, and background knowledge of art history. Through a course of directed study, advanced students create a body of work equivalent to a visual thesis, which is exhibited.
The Studio Art major will be assessed on their ability to:
- Create a body of work equivalent to a visual thesis. These artworks should display a mastery of technique, an individual visual and conceptual sensibility, and historical understanding of the issues relevant to their work.
- Effectively communicate issues and aspects of visual experience and culture in oral and written arguments.
- Discuss and articulate knowledge of contemporary artists and understanding of the current ideas and concepts generated by visual artworks in global cultural discourse.
They should also:
- Develop technical abilities and fundamental knowledge with a variety of media.
- Develop a self-reflective and critical approach in making artworks.
- Develop creative thinking and problem solving skills.
- Develop the ability to research ideas, and to make one’s work accessible to others thru clear, well organized visual thinking.
- Acquire the ability to verbally express the ideas and concepts with which one works visually.
- Acquire standards for a visually critical and contextualized practice.
- Develop skills in the preparation and use of presentational strategies.
- Develop documentation skills consistent with professional practice.
- Acquire a familiarity with artists and their practice in a variety of historical periods.
Selected Faculty Publications
Arnie Jarmak: Photographing Chelsea in Transition, 1977–89
McMullen Museum of Art, 2022
Beyond Words: Illuminated Manuscripts in Boston Collections
McMullen Museum of Art, 2016
The Pamphilj and the Arts
McMullen Museum of Art, 2010
What the Emperor Built
University of Washington Press, 2020