Rice Unconventional Wisdom

Visual and Dramatic Arts - title

Degree offered: Bachelor of Arts in Visual & Dramatic Arts

Department of Visual and Dramatic Arts majors are students who concentrate their focus of study in the visual arts, with emphasis in studio, film, or theatre tracks. Our small, diverse, and energetic faculty and staff teach and support multiple disciplines of arts that enrich not only the humanities, but also the sciences, political and social sciences, music, business, engineering, and architecture through critical and creative thought and dialog that supports, promotes, and encourages critical thinking and social engagement in all disciplines.

Our department offers courses in sculpture, critical theory, drawing, painting, photography, printmaking, acting, directing, stage design, film production and criticism. With the addition of special topics courses covering anything from video art to drawing for video games, our modestly staffed program offers a range of academic possibilities.

A major or double-major in the visual and dramatic arts sets the foundation for a range of careers in design, museums and galleries, architecture, art history and conservation, and teaching.  The faculty and staff of the Department of Visual and Dramatic Arts work to enrich the lives of our students as they prepare  for careers after Rice, or pursue graduate degrees and professional training beyond the undergraduate level. 
 
One of the largest departments with regard to student enrollment in the School of Humanities, the Department of Visual and Dramatic Arts is an interdisciplinary department with a working state-of-the-art cinema that screens films from around the world.  We also have a 500-seat proscenium style performing arts theatre staging two theatrical productions each year--with collaborative ties with the Globe Theatre in London; National Theater Institute’s Eugene O’Neill Theater Center; and the Actors from the London Stage.
 
In addition to our facilities on campus, our department works closely with local art venues such as The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; MFAH Glassell School of Art; The Holocaust Museum; Southwest Alternate Media Project (SWAMP); Alley Theatre; and the Houston Center for Photography to collaborate on interdisciplinary programs, events, and exhibitions that enhance and enrich the academic curriculum across the university.
 
For more information on our department and faculty, please download our new  Department of Visual and Dramatic Arts Undergraduate Brochure  . 
 
To see the department degree requirements for the visual arts and dramatic arts major in studio, film, or theatre tracks, please click on the degree track listed in the Academics menu to the left.  For general university requirements, see Graduation Requirements in the Rice University General Announcements . 

 Draw Exhib  3Penney  Filmstrip  Print shop closeup