What is the Department of Fine Arts (FA)?
The Department of Fine Arts is an integrated undergraduate arts department offering four Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) degrees, namely Art Management, Creative Writing (CW), Information Design (ID), and Theater Arts. It also offers Minors in Creative Writing and Theater Arts.
The ideal BFA major is:
- technically proficient in the crafts involved in his/her artistic discipline;
- literate and articulate in the theories and history of his/her artistic discipline; and
- aware of and critically responsive to the relevant contexts that affect his/her artistic practice.
All BFA majors pass through similar core courses in art theory and history where the humanistic dimension of art is emphasized, the imaginative capabilities of the young artist are initially challenged, and the experience of art is enriched. They then proceed to degree-specific programs of study that include theoretical, historical, and analytical courses as well as workshop and practical subjects.
There is a focus on critical engagement in the FA, on a creativity that flourishes not in spite of an intelligent socio-cultural consciousness but because of it. Thus, the study of art in the FA is committed to a contextualized syllabus that is aware of local, regional, and global realities and forces that affect the contemporary artistic practice.
The FA graduated its first students in 2002, a batch of less than 10 students across two degree programs. There are now over 500 students across the five year levels and four degree programs. ID and CW are two of only three degree programs in the School of Humanities (SOH) with multiple student blocks per year level, and ID is the biggest degree program in the SOH.
