2018-2019 Undergraduate Academic Catalogue 
    
    Mar 28, 2024  
2018-2019 Undergraduate Academic Catalogue [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

Visual Arts, Photography Concentration, B.A.


Learning Aims

Students with a photography concentration will demonstrate a mastery in the following five areas:

  • Technical command of the photographic medium. Students should be able to make confident, informed decisions regarding composition, exposure and print quality using both film-based and digital imaging technology.
  • Command of the skills necessary to evoke their personal visions.
  • Heightened visual sensibility. Students should learn to see both with their eyes and their cameras and make astute compositional decisions in their photographs.
  • Knowledge of the history of the photographic medium and how it relates to the history of the other fine arts.
  • Fluent knowledge of the vocabulary of photographic aesthetics. Through their photographs, critiques, and written evaluations, students should demonstrate an ability to articulate their intentions about their own work and criticisms about the work of others using objective terminology.

Requirements for the Major


Requirements for the major and an example of a typical program of courses are as follows:

Freshman Year


Sophomore Year


Fall Term


Spring Term


  • PL 200-Level Philosophical Perspectives Course or
  • Theology Core
  • PT 300-Level Course
  • Math/Science Core
  • Social Science Core
  • Nondepartmental Elective

Junior Year


Fall Term


Spring Term


  • PL 200-Level Philosophical Perspectives Course or
  • Theology Core
  • PT 300-Level Course (or higher)
  • Math/Science Core
  • Nondepartmental Elective
  • Elective

Senior Year


Fall Term


Spring Term


  • PT 300-Level Course (or higher)
  • PT 300-Level Course (or higher)
  • Elective
  • Elective
  • Elective

Notes:


  1. Visual arts majors with a photography concentration take AH 111 , PT 270 , PT 300  or PT 301 , PT 319 , PT 400  or PT 412 , SA 224 , one additional art history course, one additional photography course 200-level or above, and six additional photography courses 300-level or above. No more than one of the following may count towards the major: PT 278 , PT 279 , PT 280 , PT 281 .
  2. Interdisciplinary visual arts majors with a photography concentration take AH 111 , PT 270 , PT 300  or PT 301 , PT 319 , PT 400  or PT 412 , and three additional upper-division photography courses.
  3. Visual arts students with a photography concentration are strongly encouraged to take computer science to fulfill one of the math/science core requirements.
  4. Visual arts students with a photography concentration are strongly encouraged to take Contemporary Art, 1945 to the Present (AH 320 ) to fulfill their second art history course requirement.
  5. Visual arts students with a photography concentration are strongly encouraged to take Philosophical Perspectives: Art and Imagination (PL 220 ) to fulfill their upper-division Philosophy core requirement.
  6. Visual arts students with a photography concentration are strongly encouraged to take Media Ethics (PL 316 ) to fulfill their ethics core requirement.
  7. Students interested in photojournalism should declare a visual arts major with a photography concentration and a communication minor, or a communication major with a journalism specialization and a photography minor.
  8. Students must complete the diversity core requirement through a designated diversity core, major, or elective course (see Diversity Core Requirement  under Curriculum and Policies).