The School of Art and Design offers two undergraduate degrees, the Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) and the Bachelor of Arts (BA).
The BFA, a professional degree, includes ten specializations:
Under the BA degree there is one major: art.
Click here to apply to the undergraduate program.
The Master of Fine Arts program at SIUC is one of the leading graduate programs in the country, as recognized by US News & World Report's ranking of graduate programs. For the MFA degree, students may specialize in the following areas:
Students in the MFA Program, and others, can also enroll in the Graduate Certificate in Art History.
Click here for more information on how to apply to the MFA Program.
The MA in Art History and Visual Culture provides broad liberal arts training in the historical analysis of art and visual culture as well as discipline specific, career-enhancing competencies that can lead to study on the PhD level, and to careers in academia, in museums, archives and collections, as critics, in the art trade, in advertising, and in other visually oriented fields. Students learn to approach a range of visual material, including design, film, fine art and photography, with intellectual rigor, historical perspective, and theoretical insight. Courses explore issues in the production, reception, and theory of art and visual culture from antiquity to postmodernity.
The curriculum is interdisciplinary, encouraging students to take courses not only in art history but also in Anthropology, Cinema & Photography, English, History, Mass Communication and Media Arts, Philosophy, and other related fields. Students are required to take 30 credit hours over the course of their study, with a minimum of 15 credits earned at the 500 level. 18 hours constitute the core requirement (a required course in methods and theory; and five distribution electives, to include courses in pre-1800, post-1800, and design history/theory); 9 hours constitute free electives; and 3 - 6 hours are applied to a Master’s thesis or a comprehensive examination (the student’s choice). During their course of study, students are required to pass a language examination in the reading of German, a Romance language, or an approved substitute (German and French—along with English—have long been the most important languages for scholarship in art history and in the art trade—but students with particular interest in, need for, or existing knowledge of another foreign language may substitute).
Based on full-time study (9 or more hours per semester), the program should take two years to complete.
Full time students are eligible for Graduate Assistantships that include a tuition waiver and stipend, for which they serve as Teaching Assistants in courses in Art History and Visual Culture, work in the School of Art and Design’s Visual Resources collection, or fulfill other functions.
Information on SIUC's graduate school admission requirements are available at: Grad School Admissions
Application Checklist
Graduate School Application
For more information, please contact Dr. Carma Gorman.
The Graduate Certificate in Art History will enable students to develop a broad knowledge of the history of art, become familiar with the discipline's methodology, and acquire skills necessary for teaching art history. It is open to students who have completed a bachelor's degree. Students enrolled in the MFA program offered through the School of Art and Design may enroll concurrently in the certificate program and apply part of their MFA art history coursework towards both degrees. The program requires students to complete 21 credit hours of graduate-level art history coursework, including a teaching practicum, and to pass a comprehensive qualifying exam designed to assess general knowledge of art history.
For more information, please see the Art History Graduate Certificate page.
SIU offers a Masters in the Art of Teaching (MAT) Program through the College of Education and Human Services with an emphasis in teaching art at the high school level. Students complete 6 hours of course work in the Art Education Program as part of their MAT Program. For more information, please consult the MAT Program Director in the College of Education and Human Services
To apply to the MAT program, contact Dr. Donna Post.
SIUC's School of Art and Design is an accredited institutional member of the National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAD). SIUC as a whole is accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools.
The School of Art and Design has several international study opportunities.
Ireland - National College of Art and Design, Dublin; Glass
Scotland - Hospitalfield House, Arbroath; Art and Design
Sweden - Steneby Institution of Craft and Design; Blacksmithing and Design
Germany - University of Koblenz-Landau
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