Ceramics, B.F.A.

Foundation Year (Art School)

All first-year students are required to complete the foundation program. It consists of multiple courses taken in tandem. These courses are designed to introduce the students to fundamental processes and principles of artmaking. The objective of the program is to develop the student’s perceptions, sensitivity and technical skills.

The typical first-year schedule is as follows:

Second Year of Study (Art School)

In the second year, students are required to select courses from a variety of studio offerings. The intent of the second year is to introduce specific media skills and processes in depth, and to provide a broad range of artistic experiences for the student prior to the declaration of the major. During the second year, students are required to select one 3-credit course, not in their intended major, from each of the following categories:

1. ceramics or sculpture
2. painting/drawing, or visual communication design
3. photography or media arts
4. printmaking or illustration

The remaining 12 credits of studio course work in the second year are elective. Students who have determined a major area of study are encouraged to use these elective studios to begin fulfilling the requirements of the major. Students who have not determined a major are encouraged to distribute these electives among different media.

Second-year students intending to major in visual communication design or illustration should consult with those departments prior to choosing studio electives in the second year.

In addition, students in the second year are required to elect at least one academic course each semester in order to maintain a reasonable completion rate of academic requirements.

Required credits: 33

(Taken in ceramics and cognate areas as required by the department)

The major in ceramics requires two semester- long introductory courses. The emphasis of these courses is on handbuilt forms and throwing on the wheel. At the intermediate level, more complex thrown objects, handbuilding, and slab construction techniques are mastered. During the course of study in the ceramics major, specific concerns are covered, including surface decoration, glaze and clay chemistry, mold-making, slip-casting, sculptural ceramics, pottery, kiln design, and kiln construction. All forms of firing techniques (primitive, raku, soda, wood, bisque, salt, low temperature, and high reduction) are incorporated. Special topics and independent studio are available to the student working at the advanced level.

Required Courses for the Major

• CER 220 - Introductory Ceramics I 3 credit(s)
• CER 222 - Introductory Ceramics II 3 credit(s)
• CER 332 - Ceramic Sculpture 3 credit(s)
• CER 334 - Surfaces 3 credit(s)
• CER 339 - Clay and Glaze Lab 3 credit(s)
• CER 348 - Independent Ceramics Studio Variable credit(s)
• CER 349 - Independent Ceramics Studio Variable credit(s)
• CER 3XX Ceramic elective 3 credit(s)
• CER 440 - Advanced Ceramics I 3 credit(s)
• CER 441 - Advanced Ceramics II 3 credit(s)

Cognate Requirement

• SCL 220 - Introduction to Sculpture 3 credit(s)