Colleges  > College of Art, Media & Design 

5 Year BFA/MAT in Art Education

The Bachelors of Fine Arts & Master of Arts in Teaching in Visual Arts (BFA/MAT) is a 5 year professional degree program incorporating preparation for the Pennsylvania Instructional I Certificate, including a 14 week student teaching practicum. The program in the Department of Art and Design Education is designed to permit a student majoring in an art or design field to use his or her undergraduate years as a key step toward certification (licensure) as as a K-12 Art or Design teacher. The University awards the degree and the Pennsylvania Department of Education awards the teaching certificate on successful completion of praxis exams.
Program Goals

Students will be able to:

• Seek to find the artist in every student and draw it forth with respect
• Provide safe, supportive, and inclusive environments for divers communities of learners
• Use assessment & reflective practices in teaching and learning
• Demonstrate life-span commitments to artistic, intellectual and personal growth
• Encourage tolerance for difference in an increasingly global community
• Use technology as a vehicle for advancing creativity, innovation, and learning
• Seek collaborations and connections among and across disciplines and populations
• Practice stewardship of the environment
• Engage in service to others through the arts

Illustration

The Illustration curriculum is a blend of drawing, painting, figure modeling, picture making, illustration, visual problem solving, digital experiences, self-discovery through mentor-student relationship, history of pictorial image making, and graphic and Web design courses. Some courses are geared to developing basic, generic skills and others more focused toward professional application. Pedagogical emphasis is on discovering and developing the artist within the illustrator and his/her unique point of view. When artists find their unique expression, they can take advantage of all the outlets of their work. Courses will prepare the individual student for life in the arts and the flexibility to enter diverse areas in the applied graphic arts.
Program Goals

Graduates of the Program will:

• Demonstrate knowledge of figure study and picture making, along with traditional and digital technical skill development, leading to successful image making as it relates to the multi-faceted and ever-changing illustration industry;
• Demonstrate self-discovery through visual communication leading to point of view:
• Acquire critical drawing and thinking skills;
• Conceptual visual problem solving (developing intellectual curiosity, in connection with LA studies) leading to successful visual communication;
• Discovering/developing point of view (critical thinking, critical visual thinking, and effectively combining content and technique in a unique expression).
• Demonstrate an understanding the unique aesthetic of the illustrator as designer and the development of knowledge and skills leading to successful design outcomes;
• Demonstrate knowledge of the role of illustration in entertainment design and the development of skills in the area;
• Acquire and demonstrate knowledge of the history of illustration;
• Demonstrate habits of mind (studio process, research, personal discipline, time management, professional culture of the program) as well as the ability to articulate concepts and present ideas;
• Acquire and demonstrate knowledge and skills of professional development (presentation, marketing, promotion, business, Web design, entrepreneurship).