2025-2026 Academic Catalog 
    
    Aug 03, 2025  
2025-2026 Academic Catalog

Photography and Video with Communications or Studio Art, B.F.A.


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Degree Planning Sheet

To print the degree requirements for this program, use the paper icon above (Print Degree Planner), the printer icon (Printer Friendly Page), or the following hyperlink:

Degree Planning Sheet with Full-Time Sample Course Plan  

This sample plan represents a full-time pace. Part-time options are available; please connect with the recruitment team to learn more.

 

The Photography and Video with Communications or Studio Art B.F.A. seeks to prepare students for professions within the broad fields of photography, videography, and installation art/design as well as secondary areas in photographic visual styling, digital image postproduction, and social visual media management.  An ideal graduate of this program will be a new generation of artist – a critically thinking creative with career options in the rapidly growing fields of visual media production and management.  The program is also ideal for students with passions for fine art, an independent spirit, and aspirations of professionally exhibiting in galleries, or acceptance into a reputable M.F.A. program.

Photography and Video with Communications or Studio Art places balanced emphasis on concept development, artistic expression, and mastering market ready skill sets.  The program includes a strong foundation in formalism, traditional media, design, theory and art history; advanced study in digital media; access to cutting edge technology and equipment; expert instruction and mentoring; and professional experience.  This combination of the traditional and the new maintains a firm footing in the values of studio art while embracing the new spectrum of contemporary art and the professional market.

This program is a focused professional degree structured to facilitate the development of a capable, diverse, and competitive portfolio and in-demand creative skillsets.  

National Association of Schools of Art & Design (NASAD) accredits this and all Maryville Design & Visual Art Programs 

Programmatic Goals

The goals of this program are to:

  • Prepare students for professions in the digital arts
  • Prepare a digital visual artist fluent in the art making process/methodology, including the ability to define, research and generate multiple solutions to problems
  • Encourage creative problem solving, critical thinking and self-evaluation
  • Encourage oral communications skills through presentation, critique, and creative ideation
  • Provide a strong foundation in history of visual art
  • Provide a strong foundation in and broad exposure to the technology, and encourage self-reliance and perpetual learning
  • Encourage and promote ethical practices
  • Promote community in the studio

 

Disclaimer: The program requirements outlined in this catalog are applicable only to students who enroll in this degree program at the university during the academic year specified in this catalog.  Please be aware that program requirements and offerings are subject to change in future academic years. Dual-enrolled students are not admitted to a degree program, but upon admission to a degree program, they will follow the degree requirements that align with their start term.

MCORE


(36 credits)

Social Discovery


Courses in this area will focus on the study of human behavior, its ethical and moral dimension, human societies, the requirements of civility, and social science theory and practice which undergirds such study.

(6 credits)

Civic Discovery


Courses in this area will focus on the study and purpose of human institutions and systems, the historical and contemporary forms of power, authority, governance and citizenship, and the distribution and use of resources.

(6 credits)

Cultural Discovery


Courses in this area will focus on significant systems of thought, contributions made by significant historical and cultural figures, philosophical and historical movements, and ideas which have shaped history, culture and human institutions.

(6 credits)

Creative Discovery


Courses in this area will focus on the nature of the creative imagination, the philosophical underpinnings of human creativity in music, the visual arts, the narrative arts, and philosophical invention, and innovation in a variety of human endeavors.

(9 credits)

Scientific Discovery


Courses in this area will focus on the nature of scientific reasoning, the history and variety of the scientific endeavor in culture, and the nature of scientific process and exploration.

(9 credits)

Major Requirements


(84 credits)

Policies


Policies concerning all Design & Visual Art programs can be found here: Design & Visual Art  

Graduation Requirements - MCORE


  • 120 credit hours minimum
  • Last 30 hours of the degree taken in residency
  • A minimum of half the major credit hours in residency
  • A minimum of half the minor credit hours in residency
  • ​60 credit hours must be completed at a 4-year institution

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