Integrated studies

Integrated Studies is not a major. Rather, it is a “horizontal” department where students from multiple majors study together learning material that is common to all disciplines—basic visual vocabulary, craftsmanship and technical skill sets.

This creates an interdisciplinary atmosphere in the lower divisions, allowing students to learn from one another and forge important relationships with their peers. Art Center’s long-standing distinction for—and commitment to—craft begins with these classes.

Integrated Studies offers workshops that are open to all majors including free drawing and painting workshops six days a week, and a curriculum of free digital media workshops on weekends for much of the term.

This department plays a significant role in the development of upper-division Transdisciplinary Studio classes by supporting faculty choices while also offering a variety of upper-division electives that appeal to multiple majors and help develop critical thinking and advanced skill sets. For example, this Fall Term Integrated Studies is offering a class called Tools and Creativity in association with an exhibition in the Williamson Gallery, TOOLS. The class will be held at the gallery, and students will learn to fabricate tools for the creative act and to develop a better understanding of how tools influence our culture and thinking.

The Integrated Studies Department is nimble, with the flexibility to respond to student needs. It can create a class based on student requests as long as it has an appeal to more than one major. All undergraduate students from every department take Integrated Studies classes. It is designed to facilitate and support each major by creating an intersection that allows for communication, cross-pollination and enhanced creativity for everyone.