Undergraduate Programs
The degree programs in Visual and Media Arts combine a variety of skills with a liberal arts education. The programs are designed to support students’ acquisition of conceptual and technical skills while fostering their awareness of current issues, theoretical frameworks, as well as the historical and cultural contexts for art production. Under the guidance of a faculty advisor in the Department of Visual and Media Arts, students may choose between ten degree options. Coursework is augmented by field trips, a campus exhibition program, visiting artists, and international programs. Internships and independent study also enhance coursework, especially in graphic design, where off-campus field experience is required.
First Year Experiences
Supporting Your Learning Pathways
During their first year in the Department of Visual and Media Arts, students complete a set of core classes that are tailored to their area of study. No matter the area of study, these courses are essential for preparing for advanced classes and emphasize critical inquiry, discipline-specific methods, and hands-on experience.
As students continue in the department, they continue to hone these skills in the development of a personal body of work under the supervision of faculty mentors in the area. The self-direction nurtured early in the program is reinforced throughout your time at GVSU.
Read more about the first-year experiences in Visual and Media Arts
Majors
Art Education, B.A./B.S.
The discipline integrates the practices of art making, art criticism, and an understanding of contemporary visual culture as foundations for teaching art in schools as well as community settings. Art education students complete rigorous training in studio art complemented by courses in the theory and methods of art education. During the last year of the program, majors complete their professional training with assisting and directed teaching opportunities at regional schools. The program leads to teacher certification for visual art in the Michigan public schools at the primary and secondary levels.
Art Education - Program Information
Art History, B.A.
A major in art history provides you with an expansive framework to explore the arts and visual culture. Through the examination of historic and contemporary works produced around the globe, students engage with questions of context, interpretation, and how these concepts have changed over time. Through the study and practice of art history you’ll approach the arts as complex and dynamic agents that reflect as well as shape cultural ideas and values.
Film & Video Production, B.A,B.S.
A strong hands-on emphasis characterizes the film and video production major. Courses include animation, cinema studies, documentary and nonfiction, fiction filmmaking, new media, and sound design. The curriculum integrates production experience with the insights offered by media history, theory, and criticism.
Photography, B.A.,B.S.
Studies in photography at Grand Valley State University encompass the history, critical and aesthetic theory, and varied practice of photography as a medium of visual communication and expression in culture and society.
The photography program, in supporting the mission of the university, develops liberally-educated professional image-makers and media scholars through student-centered inquiry and practice in visual communication and the history, theory, criticism, and production of photographic images using state-of-the-art methods, tools, and facilities.
Studio Art, B.A., B.S., B.F.A.
Degrees in Studio Art combine a variety of skills with a liberal arts education. The programs are designed to support students’ acquisition of conceptual and technical skills while fostering their awareness of current issues, theoretical frameworks, as well as the historical and cultural contexts for art production. The B.A. and B.S. degrees are for students who wish to emphasize the breadth of experience or for students who want to combine art studies with another academic area. The BFA degree is for students who wish to develop the knowledge, skills, concepts, and sensitivities essential to professional art practice.
Minors
Art History Minor
The minor in art history is designed to offer students a general introduction to the study of art history and its methods. It offers students from many disciplines including - studio art, the humanities and professional degrees - the opportunity to examine the contexts for the production of the visual arts.
Film and Video Production Minor
The film and video production minor provides students with the skills necessary to communicate ideas using digital video and audio production equipment and techniques.
Photography Minor
Studies in photography at Grand Valley State University encompass the history, critical and aesthetic theory, and varied practice of photography as a medium of visual communication and expression in culture and society.
Studio Art, B.A., B.S., B.F.A.
The art minor offers students in other majors the opportunity to pursue their interest in the visual arts. Students take seven courses for the minor for a total of 21 credits.