Please Note: The program requirements listed below are for students entering in the catalog year 2011-2012.  Students who entered in previous catalog years should refer to the program requirement sheets in the Advising area of MyWheelock. Students entering in future years should follow the requirements in that catalog year.

The Arts major offers programs in the Performing Arts (Music, Theater, and Dance) and the Visual Arts (Studio and Art History). Students participate in the creative process, acquire theoretical tools for evaluating their own and other peoples' work, and study the history and literature of their chosen discipline.

In addition to its value in supporting the interests of individual students, the major complements professional preparation in teaching, juvenile justice and youth advocacy, and child life. The arts have always provided people with a means of communicating ideas and reflecting on human experience. Students who have explored and developed their own creative processes are in an excellent position to nurture creative potential in the children with whom they work. Skills in performance and studio art can be a vital tool for practitioners in learning and therapeutic environments. Knowledge gained in studying the history and literature of the arts can have a direct impact on the richness of curriculum offered in the early childhood and elementary grades.

Arts Major with Professional Major (36 credits)

Performing Arts Focus

One introductory level course (100 level) in music, theater, or dance (4 credits)
Two history or literature courses, one from each of two different art forms (8 credits)
Two electives in music, theater, or dance (8 credits)
THE 277 Movement and Drama for Children (4 credits)
or
MUS 279 Music for Children
AMT 254 Aesthetics (4 credits)
Two advanced courses in music, theater, or dance* **(8 credits)
AMT 449 Arts Major Portfolio (0 credits)

Visual Arts Focus

VIS 125 Introduction to Design (4 credits)
VIS 130 Drawing (4 credits)
One Art History course (4 credits)
AMT 254 Aesthetics (4 credits)
Three studio art electives (12 credits)
Two advanced studio art courses* ** (8 credits)
AMT 449 Arts Major Portfolio (0 credits)

* Only one independent study can be applied to the advanced course requirement.

** AMT 412 Internship in the Arts (4 credits), a 150-hour placement in an arts organization, may be substituted for one of the advanced courses, or may be taken in addition to the 36 credit major.

Arts Major without Professional Major (48 credits)

Students opting to major in the Arts without a second major should follow the requirements for the 36-credit major as listed above and add the following, for a total of 48 credits:*

One art elective
One additional course in the focus
One additional advanced course in the focus

*48-credit majors must include AMT 412: Internship in the Arts as one of the advanced focus courses.