Catalog Year 24/25  Total Credits 120-121
*International students that require ELS-101 (4.0 cr); Total Credits = 121/122

Total credits: 121: First Year Experience=1; Foundations=15; Major=57; Gen Ed=42; Elective=6

General Education Electives – Successfully complete any 200-400 level Liberal Arts course (i.e. DHS, DNS, DAH, DAS, DSS, DEN, DLE, DPL, DVC etc)

Open Electives – Successfully complete any (3.0 credit) 100-400 level course from any Undergraduate subject (Studio or Lecture).
This plan is provided for use as a guide only and is based on full-time status with successful completion of credits outlined per semester. Degree Timelines and requirements may vary based on actual program, credits completed per semester and/or catalog year. Students are responsible for confirming completion of all requirements before graduating (use program/student resources to support degree progression). Minimum Cumulative GPA of 2.0 required.

Vision Statement

The Photography Department will be an inclusive environment for innovative image-makers who push the technical and conceptual boundaries of lens-based practices. It will provide a globally aware and engaged education that prepares makers for the potentialities of our ever-evolving world of still and moving pictures.

Mission Statement

The Photography Department emboldens students for a future in lens-based media with a mastery of analog and digital techniques and a deep conceptual understanding of the medium’s past, present, and future. The department is committed to being a center for critical thinking, active learning, and aesthetic development. It prepares students for a broad range of professional photographic and motion practices for a rapidly changing, but image-dominated world. Graduates are ready to be visual leaders, pursue advanced degrees, and responsibly assume their role as skilled photographers and artists.

Program Learning Outcomes (PLO)

Upon graduation, students in the BFA Photography program will be able to:

1. Communicate effectively through lens-based media and innovate in their own visual style as demonstrated through a range of output methods.
2. Possess a critical understanding of photography’s historical and contemporary trends through visual, written, and oral means, and incorporate this knowledge into their own practice.
3. Make work that reflects and responds to culture and society from their position as ethically responsible artists.
4. Demonstrate proficiency and creative problem solving in historical and contemporary image making systems, software and tools, with the flexibility and independence needed to adapt to the ever-evolving platforms and processes by which images are made and delivered.
5. Exhibit leadership in their field and foster an ethical approach to image-making through a shared commitment towards equitable representation in the arts and visual culture.