Advisor Guide to VMAP Courses

The purpose of this guide is to help advisors of students interested in taking visual and media arts classes, whether to satisfy FSVP requirement, minor or major in studio art, or simply take an elective.

Please note that all studio classes have a 5-day drop-add period. Important studio safety training is conducted early in the term and studio assignments from the beginning of the term are difficult to make up. We make no exceptions to this policy.

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  • Satisfying General Education Requirements

    If you advisee is interested in satsfying FSVP requirement or elective by taking a studio art class:

    Department of Art and Art History offers numerous courses that satisfy FSVP requirement in drawing, painting, sculpture, darkroom and digital photography printmaking, digital and time-based media. The classes are centered around the studio or lab practice, and also involve individual and group critiques, slide presentations and readings and discussions on history and contemporary practice attendance of exhibitions and brief writing and research assignments.

    Students can expect to work, on average, about six hours per week outside of class, in addition to four hours of class time, in order to satisfy class requirements.

     

  • Transfering Courses

    If your advisee is interested in transferring courses from other institutions for FSVP credit: 

    It is essential that students obtain pre-approval from Department before enrolling in the course — in the past, many students have been disappointed that their classes transferred for general credit only.

    Please stress that the class must have a creative work component in order to be transferred as one of our FSVP classes.

  • Becoming a Studio Art Major or Minor

    If you advisee is considering a studio art major or minor: 

    • Encourage the advisee to take VMAP 211 and VMAP 212 as early as possible. These classes are prerequisites for most intermediate and upper-level studio courses and should be taken, if at all possible, in the first two years.
    • Encourage them to take ARTH 121, Survey 1: Prehistory to Middle Ages OR ARTH 122, Renaissance to Present as early as possible. One of those courses should also be taken in the first two years of study.
    • Enourage your advisees to contact one of the VMAP faculty (Jeremy Drummond, Brittany Nelson, Erling Sjovold, Tanja Softić) as soon as possible to discuss their interests, goals and sequencing of courses and study abroad. Even if they are not ready to declare, they will benefit from contacting us early.