Degrees & Majors

The Georgia State University undergraduate concentration in Art Education prepares pre-kindergarten through 12^th grade art educators with expertise in the visual arts and the skills to plan and teach in a way that is responsive to all students and their communities.

The program builds a community of collegial professionals who demonstrate disciplinary expertise, including art teaching skills with sound pedagogical strategies, an understanding of current scholarship and issues within the field and the ability to positively impact student learning. Special emphasis is placed on the teaching of diverse learners in urban and metropolitan settings. The program bridges the gap between theory and practice—helping students develop skills as an instructor and an artist.

Art Education students benefit from the activities of the National Art Education Association, which provides a variety of early professional experiences for pre-service teachers, including the organization of exhibitions of art education student and alumni artwork, the sponsorship of fundraisers and service projects in the Atlanta area and travel to state and national conferences.

The program also reflects a professional art school commitment to the mastery of art media. Students are required to take several courses in one art discipline to gain the depth needed for teaching and personal artistic development, as well as a broad range of elective studio courses to master the diverse skills that will be needed as a classroom teacher.

The student experience: Three of the four pre-student-teaching courses include on-site classroom observations.  The last semester of the program is spent student-teaching with master’s-level teachers in the Atlanta metropolitan area.

The Ernest G. Welch School of Arts & Design and The College of the Arts offer a dual undergraduate/graduate degree program in Art History. The program provides students with the opportunity to complete a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in as short a period as five years.

Acceptance into the dual-degree program does not constitute admission to the graduate-degree program. Admission to the graduate program occurs in the senior year and is contingent upon 1) earning a bachelor’s degree, 2) maintaining the required program grade-point average, 3) performing in the graduate-level courses taken during the bachelor’s degree program and 4) meeting the other admission requirements of the specific program.

The Georgia State Bachelor of Music with a concentration in Composition offers students personalized instruction and an immersive learning experience. The program features distinguished guest speakers like Eric Whitacre, George Lewis, Caroline Shaw, John Luther Adams and the Grammy Award-winning ensemble, Roomful of Teeth.

Collaborative opportunities in film scoring, including a recent web series with the School of Film, Media, and Theater (FMT), further enhance students’ practical skills. This comprehensive program not only provides exceptional faculty guidance and inspiring guest lectures but also equips students for graduate study in composition, professional composing careers and teaching positions. Successful applicants demonstrate proficiency in theory and aural skills, submit a portfolio of compositions with accompanying recordings and pass an entrance jury.

Freshman and sophomore students may enroll in Composition Seminar to develop their portfolio. Completion of Theory I and Aural Skills I is required for admission into the Composition Seminar.

The Georgia State University Bachelor of Music with a Music Education concentration offers a comprehensive and enriching program for aspiring educators passionate about fostering musical growth and learning in diverse educational settings.

This concentration prepares students to teach music in schools or other group settings, covering early childhood through adulthood. Graduates are eligible for a Georgia teaching certificate in K-12 music. In addition to developing performance skills, students study child development, learning theories and various teaching methods specific to music education.

Applicants are expected to have a strong background in music performance and music reading, coupled with a genuine interest in sharing their love of music with others.

A Georgia State University Bachelor of Science in Music Production & Audio Recording prepares students for artistic, technical and producer/engineer roles in the music and music-related media industries. Through a comprehensive curriculum, students become skilled audio engineers and music technologists with practical training and hands-on experience that prepares them for the multifaceted challenges of the industry.

Graduates emerge from the program well-versed in the technical intricacies of sound recording, mixing and mastering and possess a discerning artistic sensibility that allows them to create captivating and high-quality audio productions.

The Drawing and Painting concentration hosts diverse media-specific and conceptually focused classes, dedicated classroom studios and a project/critique space. A stylistically diverse faculty offers courses in specific media and material content—oil-based, water-based, life drawing, digital possibilities—as well as concept-driven courses such as “Figure as Content,” “Sound and Radio,” “Anthropocene Studies,” “Research Methodologies,” “Maps and Messages,” “Science + Art” and more. Philosophically, the faculty engender a range of visual expression, media experimentation, social practice and conceptual art—all grounded in traditional technical training.

Faculty areas of expertise include classical drawing, mixed-media, collage, video, sound, animation, trompe l’oeil /ultra realist and abstract painting, sculpture and installation. A range of international travel programs have been hosted by area faculty and student internships are supported by faculty.

The Printmaking curriculum introduces students to cross-disciplinary modes of working while enhancing their understanding of foundational principles of design and the importance and beauty of method, process, discipline, repetition and perseverance.

Emphasis is placed on mastering the elements of mark-making while encouraging variation and risk-taking with the tools at hand. Stressing the notion of drawing and the formal elements of process and design as a language, the faculty encourage students to broaden their vocabulary and fluency in the medium, honing and translating their perceptions of a tangible world into legible and poetic works. Students look at the history of art and the tradition of printmaking in order to trace the evolution of the medium to the position it now enjoys as a vibrant and viable means of creating contemporary art. They are taught technique and concept through discussions, demos, examples, museum/studio/gallery visits and readings that demonstrate the uses of print-based techniques for image-making, which serves as a vehicle for learning and the proliferation of meaning and messages, taking cues from all aspects of the contemporary political, philosophical and social sphere. Students gain technical skill and are shown methods of employing the techniques unique to printmaking’s fundamental processes to make work that marries form and content in meaningful ways and when appropriate reaches beyond the confines of the traditional print.

The Printmaking area cultivates a culture of collaboration and is enhanced by a student-run organization, Printmaker’s Workshop, which organizes trips to conferences, museums and studios in Atlanta and beyond.

The Georgia State University School of Film, Media, & Theater offers a professionalized dual-degree program for current Georgia State bachelor of arts (B.A.) Film students aspiring for advanced honors-level and master of arts (M.A.) thesis production or thesis research. This program is designed to take five years (including a student’s freshman and sophomore years), at the end of which, a student will receive both a bachelor of arts degree in film and media and a master of arts degree in communication with a concentration in film, media and digital imaging. The dual-degree program is ideal for enrolled undergraduate students who are sophomores or juniors and want to use their senior year as a segue into graduate work. The senior year would involve advanced coursework that one would usually take in the first year of the M.A. program. The first (and only) year of the M.A. program would involve only advanced coursework and the thesis film.

Students learn graphic design principles through problem-solving. The program encourages students to meld the practical aspects of applied design creatively with more abstract issues of personal exploration, social consciousness and individual goals. The implementation of historical knowledge, contemporary cultural issues, conceptual and philosophical research, and media experimentation is fundamental to the graphic design experience at Georgia State.

The business of graphic design and the practical aspects of the profession are also key elements of the program. Students participate in internships with local, regional, national and international firms, which provide them with a firm footing for their careers once they leave Georgia State. In addition to the permanent faculty, the program uses a diverse and rotating staff of guest instructors, each a prominent member of the professional design field. The professional teaching staff provides an important bridge between the academic program and the professional community.

Course and topics taught: Introduction to Graphic Design, Typography, Print and Editorial Design, Interactive Design, Design for Education, Graphic Design in Popular Culture, Internship in Graphic Design, Motion Design and Timed Media, Corporate Identity Design, Graphic Design through Advertising, Professional Practices in Graphic Design, Specialized Applications of Graphic Design.