Liberal Arts
I am a better artist and designer because of my liberal arts classes.
Bridging Theory and Practice
Liberal Arts provide a foundation for art and design. Art history, writing, philosophy, anthropology and professional practices are woven throughout each semester right next to your art and design classes. You’ll become a creative and critical thinker who has a deep understanding of the world around you.
Minors
Minors are optional but perfectly compliment your other course work. And they are designed to easily fit into your schedule.
Support your visual storytelling with written words while exploring new styles of writing. Screenwriting, Poetry, Interactive Fiction, Graphic Narratives and so much more. You’ll gain confidence in your voice. And the best part? This minor is designed to easily work with your other requirements.
If you are an art history or theory buff, this minor is for you. It will help you develop advanced critical skills that will complement your work as an artist and designer. You’ll study art history, theory and criticism, writing and research and more!
Ctrl+S Publication
This student-led publication was produced as a collaboration between Graphic Design and Liberal Arts. It centers around CIA's student voices and amplifying individual creative expression and inclusively representing student work and experiences. It features artwork and writing by students from across the college.
Avant Garde Film
Film, the quintessential art form of the 20th century, added time and relativity to the artist’s palette. Examine the abstract and non-narrative tradition: films that focus on manipulation of form, motion and the collage-like collision of images in time (montage).
Biological Anthropology
Study human evolution and diversity from our first steps in Africa nearly four million years ago to our emergence as a modern species. You’ll start to understand the changing nature of the relationships between human biology, the environment and adaptation of culture as a way of life.
Race and Representation in Contemporary Art and Culture
This course considers the relationship between race and representation in visual art and culture during the last three decades using contemporary methods including multiculturalism and postcolonial theory. The focus is on American culture but your discussions will also include the cultural contexts of Africa, the Caribbean, Europe and Latin America.
Meet Faculty
Zachary Savich
Associate Professor + Division ChairZach Savich is a poet and nonfiction writer. His books include the poetry collections Momently (2024) and Daybed (2018) and the memoir Diving Makes the Water Deep (2016). Savich’s work…
View profileConor Bracken
Assistant ProfessorA poet and translator of francophone poetry, Conor is the author of Henry Kissinger, Mon Amour (Bull City Press) and The Enemy of My Enemy is Me (Diode Editions), and…
View profileColby Chamberlain
Assistant ProfessorColby Chamberlain is the author of Fluxus Administration: George Maciunas and the Art of Paperwork (University of Chicago Press, 2024). His research and criticism have appeared in publications including Artforum, Art Journal, ARTMargins, Cabinet, Grey Room, October, and Triple…
View profileElizabeth Hoag
Senior Professor of PracticeElizabeth Hoag, RPA, is an archaeologist and anthropologist with over 20 years of professional and teaching experience. Her current research interests include gender and motherhood experiences in the field of…
View profileScott Lax
Senior Professor of PracticeScott Lax has taught creative writing classes and specialized in Screenwriting at CIA since Spring Semester 2016. He is a novelist, short story writer, journalist, producer, screenwriter, and playwright. Scott…
View profileAlyssa Perry
Assistant Professor + Coordinator, Writing + Learning CenterAlyssa Perry is a writer, editor, and teacher. She is the author of Oily Doily (Bench Editions, 2024). Her writing appears with Annulet, The Canary, Coma, Fence, Mercury Firs, River…
View profileGeorge N. Ramírez
Assistant ProfessorGeorge earned his PhD from the department of Media, Culture, and Communication at New York University. His manuscript articulates a media theory of Latinx cultural production through an infrastructural, technological,…
View profileJessica Richardson
Assistant ProfessorRichardson is author of the short story collection, It Had Been Planned and There Were Guides, which won the FC2 Ronald Sukenick Innovative Fiction Prize and was longlisted for the…
View profileGemma Sharpe
Assistant ProfessorGemma Sharpe is an art historian specializing in modern and contemporary art from South Asia, Cold War histories of art, and museum and exhibition studies. Her in-progress book, Modernist Agencies:…
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