Undergraduate Programs

Program Requirements

Students who complete a bachelor of arts (BA) degree in art with a fine arts concentration will develop a broad, deep, and critical engagement with visual culture from many different periods and places. You’ll learn to conceptualize and produce visual art in a wide range of new and traditional media and be introduced to standards of professional practice in applied and fine art.

Major Requirements

36 hours of major coursework
12 credits co-requirements
120 total credits for graduation

Required courses: ART 1030, 1040, 1100, 2000 (minimum 2 semesters), 2100 or 3100 (4 sh), 2020, 2030, 2040 or 2050, 2060, 4010, 4011;

Art History Requirement: ART 2017 or 2018; Two of the following: ART 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 or 2018;

Electives (6 sh): Art History beyond the 6 sh requirement or ART 2080, 2081, 3020, 3030, 3040, 3060, 3081, 3082, 3910, 4020, 4060, 4910, 4970.

Co-requirements: Communications/History (4 sh): COMM 2140 or any 4 sh in History; English (4 sh): One from ENG 2020, 2030, 2040, 2050; Philosophy (4 sh): PHIL 3515

Participation in Fourth-Year Show/Curatorial Project required.

Academic Catalog  Core Curriculum

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Course Descriptions

The following descriptions are a sample of courses you may take as an art major. For a complete list of required courses, please review the academic catalog.

Introduction and application of the elements of visual language. Studies in shape, color, line, texture, and value as they relate to two-dimensional art.


Elements of visual language as they apply to three-dimensional art. Projects based on the study of volume, space, line, color, and texture.


Line, tone, and composition in relation to a variety of subjects, such as still-life, architecture, figure, and landscape. Media will include pencil, ink, charcoal, Conte crayon, ink wash, etc.


This creative ensemble welcomes all students interested in art to register. This experience ushers students into the collaboration of art making and the organization of creative events. It fosters student interaction with and investment in Chicago's rich artistic landscape. Activities include studio and institutional visits, service projects both on and off campus, guest speakers, performances, and discussions. Course is variable credit and repeatable. Experienced students will have the opportunity to direct projects and activities.


Continuation of Drawing I with the human form as subject matter. Drawing in various media directly from the figure.


Development of technical and conceptual skills involved in painting. Both direct and indirect techniques are stressed in oils and acrylics.


Investigation of media, tools, and techniques employed in ceramics, sculpture, and other three-dimensional forms of visual expression. Materials used may include stoneware clay, plaster, stone, wood, fabric, metals, and found objects. Techniques employed may include the ceramic techniques of hand building and wheel throwing and the sculpture techniques of modeling, carving, welding, assemblage, and installation.


This course is an exploration of relief woodcuts and linoleum block printing. Various approaches to relief, along with both the history and theory of the techniques, are investigated.


This course explores a variety of intaglio printing processes such as etching, engraving, drypoint, and aquatint. Students create plates with metal and plastic using traditional and contemporary techniques in black and white as well as color.


This course will introduce students to camera mechanics, digital processing techniques and photographic criticism. Students will explore creative techniques and operations with digital cameras.


This course is an introduction to the basic principles of visual communication, including an introduction to problem-solving strategies, symbolic association, and the problem of effective communication in a global culture. Students will explore the relationships between form and content, word and image, and practice the selection, organization and presentation of information in the form of text and images.


This course considers advanced concepts in visual communication, including an introduction to user-based design theory. Students will explore the world of print media through a series of case studies, and practice single page compositions, multi-page compositions, and the integration of form, image, and text. Lab.


Intermediate study of painting in both oils and acrylics. Study of the history of painting included.


Intermediate study of spatial arts.


Intermediate study of printmaking.


Intermediate studies in digital photography and alternative processes, as well as photographic theory and criticism.



This class familiarizes students with the vocabulary, tools, and methods of vector-based drawing and reinforces ties to traditional media. Advanced concept in illustration software programs.


This class familiarizes students with the vocabulary, tools and methods of raster-based drawing and photo editing, and reinforces ties to traditional media. Advanced concepts in photo editing programs.


Investigation of a selected subject in art.


Advanced study of painting.


Advanced study of photography.


The fourth-year students majoring in art may do additional work in history of art or in one of the applied fields.


An apprentice experience in the professional world of art. The University has a working arrangement with several design studios, offices, and advertising agencies. Please refer to the Internship Section of the catalog for further internship requirements and guidelines.


Study of the art produced on the continent of Africa. This course will include analysis of social and cultural traditions and how they have shaped visual arts from region to region. This course may cover art from any period, ancient through contemporary.


Study of the art produced in North, Central and South America. Analysis of indigenous religious traditions and social structures and the way they have shaped the visual arts in the Americas. The art will be studies before contact with European civilization and after conquest and colonization.


Study of Grecian and Roman art from B.C.E. 800 to C.E. 500. Architecture, sculpture, painting, and ceramics will be some of the art forms studied. Attention will be given to how the art produced by these two societies is similar and how it diverges.


Early Christian, Byzantine and Medieval art which was produced from about 300 C.E. to 1300 C.E. will be studied. The course will trace the development of Christian art from its origins in Roman art and culture to its full flowering in the Byzantine and Gothic styles.


Study of art produced in Europe between the years of 1400 C.E. and 1700 C.E. The course will study painting, sculpture, and architecture and will analyze the roles of the Reformation and the counter-Reformation as they impacted European Art.


Study of art produced primarily in Europe and America in the nineteenth century. The course will study various media including some or all of the following: painting, photography, architecture, and sculpture. Focus on major movements which may include Neoclassicism, Romanticism, Realism, and/or Impressionism will structure analysis of the culture and society during this period.


The art of the first half of the 20th century produced primarily in Europe and America. All forms of modern visual expression will be included but the primary focus will be upon the arts of painting, photography, sculpture, and architecture.


The art of the second half of the 20th century and the art of the 21st century. The course will study all forms of visual expression including new media as well as covering art theory. A substantial portion of the course will focus on the art produced in America but art from around the world will also be studied.


A survey of British literature from the Restoration of Charles II to the modern period. Individual works will be studied in relation to literary traditions, cultural contexts, methodology, and literary theory.


Study of selected North American writers and their works from the seventeenth to the twentieth century. Individual works will be studied in relation to literary traditions, cultural contexts, methodology, and literary theory.


Study of selected writers from various nations outside the United States and the United Kingdom. Individual works will be studied in relation to literary traditions, cultural contexts, methodology, and literary theory.


The study and practice of the major forms of creative writing. The course will be taught as a seminar, emphasizing the study of model texts and the development of students' work.


A seminar course on selected problems and topics in the area of aesthetics, e.g., the nature and meaning of aesthetic value, the problem of aesthetic judgment.