About UArts

Click on a link to be taken to the entry below.

The arts have the power to transform society. They play an essential role in ensuring and enhancing the quality of life. The University of the Arts is committed to inspiring, educating and preparing innovative artists and creative leaders for the visual, performing, and media arts of the 21st century.

Purpose

The University of the Arts is devoted exclusively to education and training in the arts. Within this community of artists the process of learning engages, refines, and articulates all of our creative capabilities. Our institution was among the first to contribute to the formation of an American tradition in arts education. We continue to develop interpreters and innovators who influence our dynamic culture.

The University:

• Educates and professionally trains artists in the visual and performing arts, in design, in media, and in writing;
• Grants graduate and undergraduate degrees, diplomas, and certificates in the arts;
• Provides educational programs centered in the arts to multiple populations;
• Encourages relationships among the arts;
• Promotes high standards in creativity and scholarship;
• Prepares artists who will contribute responsibly to our culture;
• Challenges students to think critically, joining knowledge and skill to their individual creative vision;
• Anticipates and cultivates new art forms as they emerge.

We serve the community in which we reside, the professions for which we prepare new members and, ultimately, the society whose culture we both sustain and advance. The University’s goal is to direct each student’s quest for creative self-expression toward a productive role in society. Our programs develop the student’s talent, aesthetic sensibility, conceptual and perceptual acumen, cultural awareness, and professional expertise. The curricula integrate specific knowledge and skills needed for technical mastery of the various arts disciplines with a significant examination of conceptual and humanistic studies.

To this end, the University must gather and retain a distinguished teaching faculty offering a breadth of professional expertise. Their scholarly work and artistic exploration have national and international consequences for the institution. Our educational programs seek to stimulate and influence not only our students but the very disciplines that we teach.

The University of the Arts is the largest comprehensive educational institution of its kind in the nation, preparing students for professional careers in design, visual, media, and performing arts, and emerging creative fields.

The University of the Arts has evolved from two century-old institutions: the Philadelphia College of Art and the Philadelphia College of the Performing Arts.

The Pennsylvania Museum and School of Industrial Art was formed in 1876 in order to take advantage of the Centennial International Exhibition held in Philadelphia that year. Comprised of a museum (now the Philadelphia Museum of Art) and a school (now the College of Art and Design), its mission was to provide training in the industrial arts and exhibit well-designed manufactured goods. Following a series of name changes, the school separated from the museum in 1964 and became Philadelphia College of Art (PCA). Today the college offers curricula in art education, crafts, design, fine arts, media arts, and museum studies.

The performing arts programs of The University of the Arts date from 1870, when three graduates of the Conservatory of Leipzig opened the Philadelphia Musical Academy. In 1877 another Leipzig alumnus founded the Philadelphia Conservatory of Music. The conservatory and the academy merged in 1962 and continued under the academy’s name. While still offering only a music program but with a vision in mind, the school changed its name in 1976 to the Philadelphia College of the Performing Arts (PCPA). The following year PCPA absorbed the Philadelphia Dance Academy, which had been founded in 1944. The School of Theater Arts was added in 1983, thus achieving the college’s ideal program of studies: dance, music, and theater arts.

PCA and PCPA joined in 1985 to become the Philadelphia Colleges of the Arts, and a true visual and performing arts university was in its formative stages. Granted university status by the Pennsylvania Secretary of Education in 1987, The University of the Arts became the largest comprehensive educational institution of its kind in the nation, preparing students for professional careers in design, fine arts, crafts, dance, music, and theater arts. In 1996 the University added a College of Media and Communication, offering programs in communication, writing for film and television, and multimedia.

Further information can be found in the new book about the history of the University here. More information on the University’s name changes can be found here.

The University of the Arts is authorized by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to grant degrees in the visual, performing, and related arts, and is accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools (Commission on Higher Education, Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools, 3624 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104; telephone: 215-662-5606). The College of Art and Design is also an accredited institutional member of the National Association of the Schools of Art and Design, and the Industrial Designers Society of America. The School of Music is also accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music.

The College of Art and Design offers the Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Animation, Crafts, Film/Animation, Film/Digital Video, Graphic Design, Illustration, Painting and Drawing, Photography, Printmaking/Book Arts, and Sculpture. A major in Industrial Design leads to the Bachelor of Science degree. Crafts offers a post-baccalaureate certificate program. Art Education offers a post-baccalaureate pre-certification program.

At the graduate level are programs leading to the degrees of Master of Arts in Art Education, Master of Arts in Museum Communication, Master of Arts in Museum Education, Master of Industrial Design, Master of Arts in Teaching in Visual Arts, Master of Fine Arts in Book Arts/Printmaking, Master of Fine Arts in Museum Exhibition Planning and Design, and a low-residency summer Master of Fine Arts in Ceramics, Sculpture, or Painting. Teaching certification is offered on a non-degree basis, either independently or in conjunction with an undergraduate degree in the College of Art and Design. Concentrations in Art Therapy and Digital Fine Arts are offered, as well as eight minors.

The College of Media and Communication offers three degree programs as well as 11 minors. The Department of Communication offers a Bachelor of Science in Communication with six applications areas - documentary video, digital journalism, strategic advertising, narrative video, screenwriting, Web design and game design. The Department of Multimedia offers a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Multimedia and a minor in Information Architecture. The Department of Writing for Film and Television offers a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Writing for Film and Television. In addition to these three degree programs, the college also has a Freshman program, the Discovery Year, open to students who have not yet declared a major. 

The School of Dance offers Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees in Ballet, Modern, Jazz/Theater Dance, and Dance Education, as well as a two-year Certificate in Dance.

The School of Music offers the Bachelor of Music degree in Jazz Vocal Performance, Instrumental Performance with a jazz/contemporary focus, and Composition. In addition, a four-year Undergraduate Diploma and two-year Certificate in Dance or Music are offered. The School of Music offers minors in E-Music and Music Education.

At the graduate level, the School of Music offers the Master of Arts in Teaching in Music Education and the Master of Music in Jazz Studies.

The School of Theater Arts offers the Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theater Arts, with majors in Acting, Applied Theater Arts, Musical Theater, and Theater Design and Technology.

The complete list of Degree Programs can be found here. 

Carol Graney

cgraney@uarts.edu
Director of University Libraries
Greenfield Library, 1st floor Anderson Hall
215-717-6281

The University libraries are central to the educational mission of the University, enabling and enriching every student’s professional preparation and general education. Through the services the library staff provides, and through the materials it collects or to which it provides access, the University libraries seek to enhance teaching and improve learning, and to educate students in the arts to be successful and productive users of information.

The University libraries of The University of the Arts includes the following three campus locations:

The Albert M. Greenfield Library, on the first floor and lower level of Anderson Hall (333 South Broad Street), serves as the main library for the campus, containing materials in many formats on art and design, communication, dance, theater, film and television, multimedia, liberal arts, and other general subjects. The Greenfield Library also houses the libraries’ administrative offices and technical services operation, as well as the library’s Picture File, University Archives, and the library’s Special Collections, with particular strengths in book arts and textiles.

The Music Library, on the third floor of the Merriam Theater Building (250 South Broad Street), is a specialized library serving academic programs and interests in music. Its holdings and services are also important for students and faculty studying or needing information about dance, musical theater, and other areas related to music. The Music Library contains listening facilities for recorded sound in addition to general reading areas and a music education resource area.

The Visual Resources Collection, on the mezzanine of Anderson Hall, provides image resources for teaching and study. The collection is made up of slides, pictures, and digital images of a variety of subjects, with a focus on reproductions of artwork. Equipment in the Collection may be used for viewing personal images, as well as slides and digital images from the collections.

The total holdings of the libraries are more than 113,000 books and bound periodicals, 16,000 music scores, 133,000 mounted and encapsulated pictures, 190,000 slides and digital images, 20,500 items of recorded music in LP and CD formats, and over 2,700 audiovisual materials in video and multimedia formats. Electronic reference tools are also available, including periodical indexes with full-text articles, databases including image and audio files, and specialized encyclopedias and reference works.. To access the electronic resources, see http://library.uarts.edu under “Research Tools and Resources.” Listening and viewing facilities, Internet access, and photocopiers are available in addition to general reading facilities.

Information about the libraries’ collections is available through an online catalog that is accessible from computers in the Greenfield and Music Libraries, the Visual Resources Collection, or via the World Wide Web. Records for library materials can be searched by author, title, keyword, subject, and call number. Once a record is found, information including its shelf location and whether or not it is available for circulation is displayed.

Reference assistance and course reserves are available at each library location. Some materials on course reserve are available electronically through the libraries’ online catalog. The libraries provide other information services such as interlibrary loan, class instruction in research techniques and library use, and advanced electronic research capabilities including discounted online database searching for students. The library maintains reciprocal use arrangements with other nearby academic libraries.

Albert M. Greenfield Library
215-717-6280

Music Library
215-717-6292

Visual Resources Collection
215-717-6290

University Libraries’ website
http://library.uarts.edu

The University of the Arts is committed to maintaining an environment in which students, faculty, and staff may pursue academic, artistic, and professional excellence. This environment can be secured only through mutual respect and unconstrained academic and professional interchange among faculty, staff, and students. Under the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title IX of the Educational Amendments of 1972, other state and federal laws, and The University of the Arts policy, the faculty, staff and students of the University are entitled to participate in and obtain the benefits of University programs, activities, and employment without being discriminated against on the basis of their race, creed, color, ethnic background, national origin, gender, age, religion, disability, or sexual orientation.

The University also strictly prohibits any form of retaliation or reprisal against anyone reporting allegations of harassment or discrimination, or cooperating in an investigation of such a report. Such retaliation shall be considered a serious violation of the University’s nondiscrimination policy and shall be punishable by discipline up to and including termination, regardless of whether the charge of discrimination is substantiated. However, if an employee, student, or faculty member is found to have intentionally lied about a claim of discrimination, or brought a claim in bad faith, knowing that the allegation of discrimination is false, then that employee, student, or faculty member may be subject to discipline or expulsion.

Examples of prohibited retaliation include: threatening reprisals against the person who complained or cooperated in an investigation; unfairly changing a person’s evaluations, assignments, grades, or working conditions; or otherwise continuing any harassment or discrimination against such person.

The University of the Arts gives equal consideration to all applicants for admission and financial aid, and conducts all educational programs, activities, and employment practices without regard to race, color, gender, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, ethnic background, or disability. Direct inquiries to the Office of the Dean of Students/ADA Coordinator, The University of the Arts, 320 S. Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA 19102; 215-717-6618.

This catalog was updated as of August 2007. The University of the Arts reserves the right to revise any information herein at its discretion and without prior notice.

Trademarked names appear throughout this catalog. Rather than list the names and entities that own the trademarks or insert a trademark symbol with each mention of the trademarked name, the publisher states that it is using the names only for editorial purposes and to the benefit of the trademark owner with no intention of infringing upon that trademark.

The University of the Arts® is registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Reg. No. 2,341,258. UArts® is also registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Reg. No. 2,677,865.