Art | Arts Management | Communication & Graphic Design | Communication & Performance Studies | English | Media Studies | Music | Spanish

Art
The Art program is conceived as an integral part of the university’s liberal arts curriculum and is designed both for the student artist and the student interested in art. The Art curriculum includes two courses in studio foundations, four courses in art history, and beginning and advanced courses in the five studio disciplines of painting, sculpture, ceramics, printmaking, and graphic design. A course in photography is offered jointly between art and media studies.

The Art program provides students with an opportunity to actively participate in the shaping of their education. Courses are available in the traditional media and all involve direct experience in creative activity. The program is supported by well-equipped studio spaces with courses that are taught by faculty members who are producing artists/educators. The BVU Art Major presents a solid base for continuing work in graduate school and art-related fields such as teaching, arts administration, publishing, or exhibition. Major Requirements >>

Arts Management
The Arts Management major is designed to prepare students for careers in the administration and management of the creative arts fields. The major provides students with a core of coursework in business, coursework in a specialty field and the practical experience of an administrative internship.

The administration of organizations in music, theatre or visual arts obviously requires understanding and sensitivity for the content of the field. It also requires that the administrator be adept in such matters as budget development and control, public and human relations, organizational communication and legal issues. It is the intent of the arts management major to prepare students with coursework in business and communications; coursework in a specialty — the art field of their choice; and the practical dimension of an internship in an administrative setting. Major Requirements >>

Communication and Graphic Design
The Communication and Graphic Design program is designed to provide a broad professional and cultural study for students interested in careers in the area of visual communication.

The major draws coursework from the disciplines of art, corporate communication, marketing, and media studies. In addition, the program adds concentrated training in graphic design and an internship.

It is the intention of this program to provide and allow the student individual growth while giving focus in their major. Challenging and instilling in the student the desire to explore the area of visual communications, the larger world, and themselves both pro-actively and with a sense of enthusiasm and passion. Major Requirements >>

Communication and Performance Studies
The Communication and Performance Studies program offers students choices of four specialty majors: theatre, corporate communication, communication studies, and education certification. Regardless of specialty, the program presents students with opportunities to study communication and performance behaviors at intrapersonal, interpersonal, group, and organizational levels. Committed to the ethical development and treatment of communication in its rich variety of forms, the program challenges students to understand, apply, analyze, and articulate the complexity of human communication in a variety of contexts. Major Requirements >>  |  Theatre Site >>

English
The English department supports the New American College scholarship of engagement by fostering communication skills and critical authority for our students’ professional development, academic excellence, and life-long learning. Through a program of study that includes world literatures, writing in various genres, linguistic theory and development, and critical perspectives, our students develop a keen sense of the power of language and learn to deploy that power to benefit themselves and their communities. It is our belief that such mastery of written communication is fundamental to professional success, self-expression, and personal growth.  Major Requirements >>   |   English Site >>

Media Studies
Students of Buena Vista University’s Media Studies Program will become creative media practitioners and critical media consumers. BVU Media Studies majors will both create and examine media messages and processes in order to develop professional-level media skills as well as to acquire an understanding of how media shape culture and affect society. Major Requirements >>

Music
In keeping with Buena Vista University’s tradition of a comprehensive teaching institution dedicated to “education for service,” the music department provides a curriculum that prepares students for professional careers and life-long learning.

The Buena Vista University music program offers degree programs in two areas. The music performance degree prepares students for careers in the music performing arts. The music education degree prepares students interested in careers in public and private school education. Core courses for both majors include a study in music theory, music history, conducting and private instruction in the student’s applied area. Other requirements include: participation in major ensembles and passing a piano proficiency exam. The performance capstone for music majors and minors is a recital in the final semesters before graduation. Major Requirements >>  |   Music Site >>

Spanish
The Spanish department provides a solid foundation in verbal, writing, reading skills and life-long learning experiences in Spanish. We emphasize the development of a cultural understanding of the Hispanic people through study of culture, literature, foreign travel and/or a semester abroad. Mastery in Spanish and understanding of the Hispanic culture are our goals. Students majoring in Spanish are required to have an international immersion experience. This can be accomplished through the January Interim programs provided by the Spanish department or a semester abroad. An international experience is also strongly recommended for students minoring in Spanish. Arrangements for academic credit and Spanish faculty approval must be made prior to the international experience.

The Spanish Placement Test must be taken before registering for Spanish classes (see Spanish department web page for information on the placement test). Upon recommendation of the department, advanced students who successfully complete an upper-level course with a grade of B or higher may receive up to 6 credits for the lower-level classes for which competencies have been demonstrated. For example, a student starting at SPAN 201 typically would receive credit for SPAN 101 and 102. Major Requirements >>