Visual Communication Arts

The Visual Communication Arts major offers an interdisciplinary course of study, encompassing the fine arts, graphic design, illustration, and photography, as well as courses from Communication and Media Studies, Comparative Literary and Cultural Studies, and film studies. It focuses on communication and creativity as fundamental elements of human expression and encourages students to think critically about creative expressions within the context of and across cultures, ethnicities, race, and gender. In this course of study, students focus on the visual arts and will be able to express themselves in a variety of media.

The program prepares students for entry-level positions in careers of museums, galleries, media, consulting, and the publishing sector. Students may also choose to pursue fine art or design careers or enter graduate and specialized studies in the arts.

Major Requirements (42 Credits)

Required Courses (9 Credits)

AHT 102Introduction to Art History and Visual Culture I: Antiquity to Early Renaissance

3

AHT 103Introduction to Art History and Visual Culture II: High Renaissance to Contemporary Art

3

COM 105Introduction to Communication and Media Studies

3

100-Level Courses (6 Credits)

Two of the following:

STA 106Introduction to Printmaking

3

STA 107Introduction to Digital Photography

3

STA 111Introduction to Drawing

3

STA 112Introductory Watercolor Techniques

3

STA 114Drawing Related Media

3

STA 115Introductory Painting

3

STA 125Basic Design

3

VCA 120TDocumentary and Street Photography on Location: Munich

3

200-Level Courses (9 Credits)

Three of the following:

STA 200Computer Graphics in Advertising

3

STA 206Intermediate Printmaking

3

STA 207Intermediate Digital Photography

3

STA 211Intermediate Drawing

3

STA 212Intermediate Watercolor Techniques

3

STA 214Drawing Related Media

3

STA 215Intermediate Painting

3

STA 220Heads and Bodies: the Human Head and Proportions in Art History, Theory and Practice

3

STA 235Sustainability and the Studio

3

STA 275TStudies in Ceramics: Northern and Central Italy

3

STA 280TAdventures in Printmaking

3

VCA 200Creative Publishing

3

VCA VCA 210Fundamentals of Digital Video Production

3

Upper-Level Courses (6 Credits)

Two of the following:

STA 300Computer Graphics in Advertising, Advanced

3

STA 306Advanced Printmaking

3

STA 307Advanced Digital Photography

3

STA 311Advanced Drawing

3

STA 312Advanced Watercolor Painting

3

STA 314Drawing Related Media

3

STA 315Higher Painting

3

STA 330TUmbria: A Warm Refuge for Inspiration: Art, Music and Life in Umbria, the Heart of Italy

3

STA 331TUmbria: Sustaining Art in the Heart of Italy

3

VCA 200Creative Publishing

3

VCA 370Topics in Visual Communication Arts

3

STA 330T: Ceramics, Mandala and Land Art, New Media

Major Electives (9 Credits)

Three of the following, with at least one at the 300-level:

AHT XXX
Any course in Art History

BUS 285Integrated Marketing Communications

3

CLCS 110Reading Cultures: Approaches to Cultural Studies

3

CLCS 220Inventing the Past: The Uses of Memory in a Changing World

3

CLCS 230Science / Fiction: Envisioning the Possible

3

CLCS 250Ecocritical Approaches to Film

3

CLCS 300Masculinities in Literature and Film

3

CLCS 340Fashion and Visual Culture

3

CLCS 350Culture and Human Rights

3

CLCS 360Critical Race Studies in a Global Context

3

CLCS 371Law and Culture

3

CLCS 372Tales of Catastrophe

3

COM 201Fundamentals of Media Studies and Criticism

3

COM 202Fundamentals of Interpersonal Communication

3

COM 225TTechnologized Bodies: Mobile ICTs in the City

3

COM 230TCommunication, Fashion, and the Formation of Taste (Italy)

3

COM 295Media Consumption, Fashion, and Identity

3

COM 301Globalization and Media

3

COM 302Intercultural Communication: Theory, Research, and Practice

3

COM 327Producing Digital Media: Communication and Media in Practice

3

COM 330The Digital Innovation and Media Strategies for a New Consumer Culture

3

COM 347Organizational Communication

3

COM 352Environmental Discourses

3

FRE 374Introduction to French Cinema

3

FRE 376French Cinema: The New Wave

3

GER 373German Film as Medium of Culture

3

ITA 373Italian Film and Society

3

ITA 374Italian Cinema

3

ITA 375Italian Film Adaptation: From the Page to the Screen

3

MUS 206Music History From Mozart to Mahler; Classicism, Romanticism, Modernism

3

MUS 213Classical Music in Film

3

MUS 216A History of Opera: From Orpheus to West Side Story

3

MUS 217Masterpieces of Western Classical Music

3

MUS 218Music and Politics: From the French Revolution to Communism

3

Note: Prerequisites may be required for courses outside of the major.

Senior Capstone (3 Credits)

One of the following:

VCA 495Senior Project in Visual Communication Arts

3

VCA 497Visual Communication Arts Internship

3

VCA 499Visual Communication Arts Thesis

3