Liberal Arts

The Liberal Arts Department offers courses that encourage students to think critically, write effectively, and develop the informed, flexible minds that make art possible. All MassArt students take eight to ten courses in this department.

Freshman Seminars teach students to read written texts with college-level comprhension skills and to think analytically.
Literature and Film Criticism teach students to analyze, verbalize and organize ideas that inform verbal or cinematic art.
Writing Courses teach students to express ideas effectively in writing.
Social Sciences and History Courses help students develop an historical perspective and deepen their understanding of cultures, psyches, and societies.
Natural Science Courses teach students to understand scientific methods, principles, and facts.
Mathematics Courses teach students mathematical logic and the skills necessary for material and structural calculations in design projects.
Summative Elective
A Summative Elective in Liberal Arts is a degree requirement for all BFA students beginning in the fall of 2016. In Summative Elective courses, students undertake research, or scholarship enhanced creative work, treating a topic that individual students focus for themselves.The 400-Level Summative Elective enables students to study a specialized topic of interest to them within one or more Liberal Arts disciplines.

Courses may have a studio component and are conducted as seminar classes.

Students will choose a Summative Elective Seminar with the expectation that they will actively search for a creative connection between the Seminar subject and their previous studio and academic experience, using the serendipity of the choice as a catalyst for new creative insight. The creation of this wider meani ng web will represent a culminating moment in the individual’s creative quest.

Liberal Arts Faculty

Ben Blum, Professor
BA, Rensselar Polytechnic Institute
MA, Brandeis University
PhD, Brandeis University

Cheryl Clarke, Assistant Professor
BA, Knox College
MFA, University of Iowa

Josh Cohen, Associate Professor
BA, Haverford College
MA, Boston University
PhD, Boston University

Jennie-Rebecca Falcetta
BA, Gordon College
MA, Baylor University
Ph.D, University of Connecticut

Robert Gerst, Professor
BA, Wesleyan University
MA, University of Pennsylvania
PhD, Suny, Buffalo

Alan Gluck, Assistant Professor
BA, Trinity College
JD of Law, Washington University, St. Louis

Lin Haire-Sargeant, Professor
BA, Tufts University
MA, Tufts University
PhD, Tufts University

Noel Ignatiev, Professor
EdM, Harvard Graduate School of Education
PhD, Harvard University

Saul Nava, Associate Professor
BA, University of Texas
MS, University of Texas
PhD, Indiana University

Marika Preziuso,Assistant Professor
BA, Universita delgi Studi di Salerno
MA, University of London (UK)
Ph.D, University of London (UK)

Maura Smyth, Assistant Professor
BA, University of Maryland
MA, Indiana Universiry, Bloomingtom
Ph.D, Indiana University, Bloomington

Jasminka Udovicki, Professor
BA, University of Belgrade
PhD, Brandeis University

Programs

Liberal Arts (General Education Requirements)