Foundation (Depts. of Art and Design)
The School of Art and Design offers a foundation program in the first year that is a prerequisite for the B.F.A. degree programs in the Department of Art (art education, ceramics, fiber and textile arts, history of art, illustration, jewelry and metalsmithing, painting, printmaking, and sculpture) and the Department of Design (advertising design, communications design, fashion design, and interior design) as well as the Department of Design's B.I.D. degree program in industrial and interaction design. Students in fashion design have additional specific foundation requirements and should refer to that program of study for more information.
The Department of Foundation is comprised of energetic faculty who are specifically dedicated to first-year students. The foundation curriculum is designed to provide the most rigorous introductory courses necessary for a complete education in art and design. The basic structure of the foundation year includes four required studios: Time Arts, Foundation Drawing, Two-Dimensional Creative Processes, and Dimensional Arts; two required courses in art and design history; one of the required University writing courses; and the First-Year Colloquium, which addresses a wide range of contemporary issues and topics through films, lectures, and presentations by visiting artists and designers. The goal of these courses is to strengthen conceptual and technical abilities, promote research activity, and provide a cultural and historical context for a broader and more diverse understanding of students? ideas.
In addition to these required courses, students have choices of studio art and academic electives in both semesters. The goal of the studio art electives is to provide students with a broad, rich experience. You may choose to take your academic electives in other areas of the University, including within the School of Art and Design.
Throughout the foundation year students come in contact with faculty and students from all programs in the School of Art and Design. There are multiple opportunities for conversations and presentations about our many different major areas of study so that students are prepared to choose a major at the end of the year. By the end of the foundation program, students are prepared for both the intensive focus of their art or design major and the intellectual challenge of a liberal arts education, which is encouraged by being a professional school of art and design housed in a major university.