Academic Catalog 2019–2020

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Bachelor of Arts in Fine Arts

Overview

The Bachelor of Arts in Fine Arts is designed to help students attain full development as visionaries in both a general arts context and within the framework of art history and philosophy. Students are encouraged to create a personal style and a critical approach to the solution of individual problems by exploring two- and three-dimensional media and forms.

Mission

The mission of the B.A in Fine Arts is to nurture students to their full potential as leading creative artists and thinkers, in both the studio arts context and within the framework of art history and philosophy.

Program Objectives

The Bachelor of Arts in Fine Arts seeks to:

  1. utilize a liberal arts education designed to acquaint students with the leading ideas and forces that steer and shape the arts and art education globally,
  2. provide students with the technical skills and knowledge of the use of materials and technologies in the making of drawing, sculpture, printmaking, ceramics, multimedia, and computer art as professional artists,
  3. prepare students interested in art education for a career in teaching art,
  4. pave the way for graduate studies in studio art, art theory, and/or art education,
  5. relate the fine arts to other disciplines and practices in design, technology, science and the humanities for inspiration and areas of interaction,
  6. help heighten the students’ sense of imagination, creative personal expression, and their pursuit of excellence in today’s highly competitive art world, and
  7. provide a yearly art exhibition and an accompanying art catalog featuring the students ‘works, introducing them to how a professional art exhibit is carried out, while also exposing them to galleries, art critics, and the public at large.

Learning Outcomes

Graduates with B.A. in Fine Arts will be able to:

  1. become professional artists highly trained and equipped to exhibit and market their own work with a seasoned portfolio,
  2. practice in elementary and secondary schools as art teachers with a solid educational background and a distinctive art portfolio,
  3. pursue higher education in art theory, and/or in creative studio art,
  4. contribute drawings and illustrations to books, newspapers, and magazines as an illustrators,
  5. qualify as artists/intellectuals contributing to both their own culture and to the world’s reservoir of creative art and art theory works,
  6. grow to be art critics, and
  7. seek employment in museums and art galleries.

Curriculum

A total of 92 credits are required to graduate, after Freshman Year [or the equivalent Lebanese Baccalaureate Part II], distributed as follows:

  • Major Core Courses (55 credits)
  • Art or Photography Elective Courses (3 credits)
  • LAS Requirements (34 credits)

Major Core Courses (55 credits)

Art or Photography Elective Courses (3 credits)

LAS Requirements (34 credits)

Recommended Study Plan

Year One

Fall (13 credits)

  • Foundation Year Courses (13 cr.)

Spring (15 credits)

  • Foundation Year Courses (12 cr.)
  • ART222 Drawing II (3cr.)

Summer (7 credits)

  • LAS courses (7 cr.)

Year Two

Fall (12 credits)

  • ART341 Painting I (3 cr.)
  • ART331 History of Art I or History of Architecture I (3 cr.)
  • ART351 Sculpture I (3 cr.)
  • LAS course (3 cr.)

Spring (12 credits)

  • ART342 Painting II (3 cr.)
  • ART332 History of Art II (3 cr.)
  • Art or Photography Elective (3 cr.)
  • LAS course (3 cr.)

Summer (6 credits)

  • LAS course (6 cr.)

Year Three

Fall (15 credits)

  • ART334 Printmaking (3 cr.)
  • ART441 Painting III (3 cr.)
  • ARC375 /IAA375 Introduction to Islamic Art (650-1650) (3 cr.)
  • LAS course (6 cr.)

Spring (12 credits)

  • ART499 Senior Studies (3 cr.)
  • LAS course (9 cr.)