Information For Postgraduates - Yale University

Yale College, the undergraduate division of Yale University, offers a Bachelor of Arts degree program with a major in art. Undergraduate applicants wishing to major in art at Yale must apply to Yale College directly. Please contact the Office of Undergraduate Admissions, PO Box 208234, 38 Hillhouse Avenue, New Haven CT 06520-8234, 203.432.9300 (www.yale.edu/admit/).

The program in art offers courses that, through work in a variety of media, provide an experience in the visual arts as part of a liberal education as well as preparation for graduate study and professional work. Courses at the 100 level stress the fundamental aspects of visual formulation and articulation. Courses numbered 200 through 499 offer increasingly intensive study leading to greater specialization in one or more of the visual disciplines such as graphic design, painting/printmaking, photography, and sculpture.

The prerequisites for acceptance into the major are a Sophomore Review, which is an evaluation of work from studio courses taken at Yale School of Art, and five terms of introductory (100-level) courses. Three must be completed at the time of the Sophomore Review. Visual Thinking (Art 111a or b) and Basic Drawing (Art 114a or b) are mandatory. At the time of the review, the student should be enrolled in the fourth and, ideally, the fifth 100-level courses. In exceptional cases, arrangements for a special review during the junior year may be made with the director of undergraduate studies in art.

For graduation as an art major, a total of fourteen [14] course credits in the major field is required. These fourteen course credits must include the following: (1) five prerequisite courses at the 100 level (including Visual Thinking and Basic Drawing); (2) five 200-level and above courses; (3) a Junior Major Seminar (Art 395a); (4) the Senior Project (Art 495a or b); and (5) two courses in the History of Art. Suggested program guidelines and specific requirements for the various areas of concentration are available from the director of undergraduate studies.

Official Yale College program and course information is found in Yale College Programs of Study, available on line at www.yale.edu/yalecollege/publications/ycps/

PAINTING AND PRINTMAKING (MFA)

Instruction in the program is rooted in the investigation of painting as a unique genre with its own complex syntax and history. Within this setting, the program encourages diversity of practice and interpretation, innovation, and experimentation on the part of students.

Approximately twenty-one students are admitted each year. At the core of instruction are individual and group critiques with faculty, visiting critics, and visiting artists. In addition, students participate in a variety of seminars taught by both faculty and critics. The study of printmaking is integrated into the painting program, and a student may concentrate in painting, printmaking, or a combination of the two.

PHOTOGRAPHY (MFA)

Photography is a two-year program of study admitting nine students a year. Darkroom, studio, and computer facilities are provided. Students receive technical instruction in black-and-white and color photography as well as nonsilver processes and digital image production.

The program is committed to a broad definition of photography as a lens-based medium open to a variety of expressive means. Students work both individually and in groups with faculty and visiting artists. In addition, a critique panel composed of faculty and other artists or critics meets weekly, as well as for a final review each term, to discuss student work.

SCULPTURE (MFA)

The sculpture program offers students the opportunity to develop their work and to choose their own path, in concert with a broad array of different voices. The field of sculpture, at the moment, includes a collection of quite diverse methods; one set of tools is not privileged over another. Students work independently in individual studio spaces and have access to a woodworking shop, a metal shop, plaster facilities, a small computer lab, and some video equipment in the sculpture building in addition to further resources offered by the School of Art and the University at large. No metal-casting facilities are available.

The main focus of this program is to facilitate the development of conversation among students and faculty. Our aim is to articulate student work vis à vis its own trajectory and in relation to art history and the current moment. This conversation is formally structured to take place one-on-one between students and faculty, in small groups, and within a more public larger group involving the whole sculpture department.



< Back to college profile