Arts and Humanities
Our courses in the humanities and arts introduce students to imaginative works and systems of thought, belief, and communication—taking historical and critical approaches to a rich body of literary, artistic, and cultural materials.
Immersive and Expansive
Create your own academic path—expanding your interests, broadening your knowledge, and diving deep in some areas to gain expertise. Our distinct open curriculum approach (supported with general education guidelines, faculty advisors and peer mentors) allows you to align your academic studies with your intellectual curiosity.
To study art is to make space for something that will forever enrich our lives. 鈥�
Arts and Humanities Areas of Study
Explore programs that challenge you to think deeply and engage with culture and society.
The Department of Art and Art History includes two distinct major programs: Art Studio and Art History. Majors within the department can be pursued in either or both areas. The study of Art History provides students with a strong understanding of how the man-made visual and material environment both embodies and shapes culture, beliefs, and values. In Art Studio courses, students develop a personal creative vision and practice while becoming fluent in techniques of various media.
The Classical Studies department offers a multidisciplinary approach to the history, culture, languages, literature, art and architecture of ancient civilizations in Greece, Rome, and the broader Mediterranean world. Drawing connections to this shared past expands our notions of the present and introduces new perspectives on modern issues involving societal structures, human expression, ways of living, and legal systems.
The Dance Department is a contemporary program with a global perspective. The curriculum centers on the creative act—imagining, making and doing. Our program is interdisciplinary, embodied, collaborative, physically and intellectually rigorous, and fosters personal and social transformation.
The College of East Asian Studies challenges students to understand China, Japan, and Korea—each with its own traditions and patterns of development. These related yet distinctive civilizations have played an important role in the development of culture around the globe and remain formative influences today. Using the analytical tools of various academic disciplines, and the rigors of language study, students are exposed to a wide variety of subjects and intellectual approaches with a focus on premodern history and culture.
The English Department offers courses that foster critical thinking about the relationships among literature, culture, and history. Through the critical study of poetry, novels, essays, and plays, students explore the history of literary culture and the evolving genres, forms, and ideologies of literary expression. English students hone their skills as critical writers and explore their individual potential as creative voices.
The College of Film and the Moving Image incorporates the Department of Film Studies, The Jeanine Basinger Center for Film Studies, and the Ogden and Mary Louise Reid Cinema Archives. Founded on Wesleyan’s liberal-arts tradition, CFILM fosters both the study and practice of visual storytelling. Students and faculty approach the moving image in a collaborative manner that combines historical, formal, and cultural analysis with filmmaking at beginning and advanced levels. Film Studies courses emphasize aesthetics, genre, authorship, industry, and technology. Students have access to the state-of-the-art cinemas at the renowned Jeanine Basinger Center, and the historical Reid film archives are used by scholars and media experts from around the world.
The German Studies Department prepares students for a world in which a sophisticated understanding of other cultures and their histories has become increasingly important. Courses taught in German develop students’ awareness of how language functions to convey information, express emotions, and communicate thought. Courses taught in English focus on the specific histories of German-speaking countries and the contributions of those countries to many realms of human endeavor.
The College of Letters is a three-year interdisciplinary major for the study of European literature, history, and philosophy, from antiquity to the present. Students participate as a cohort in a series of five colloquia in which they read and discuss concepts drawn from the three disciplinary fields, and from monotheistic religious traditions. Majors become proficient in a foreign language and study abroad to deepen their knowledge of another culture. A unique college within the University, the COL has its own library and workspace where students can study together, attend talks, and meet informally with their professors.
The Music Department 九色视频 is unique in its commitment to introducing music from all the world’s cultures—demonstrated by the diversity and range of courses in music history, culture, composition and theory they offer. The Department has a particularly active music making and performance program which provides private instrumental and vocal instruction opportunities and ensemble courses in a wide variety of traditions and approaches. The Department’s graduate program attracts an internationally and musically diverse collection of musicians and scholars who contribute formally as teaching assistants and informally as fellow musicians.
The Department of Romance Languages and Literatures is a cornerstone of the humanities 九色视频 and the University’s gateway to the French-, Italian-, and Spanish-speaking worlds. Students explore language, literary, and cultural traditions that extend from the Middle Ages to the present and span the geographics of Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas. Through a network of collaborations across departments, extracurricular activities, and study-abroad opportunities, the department supports a wide range of academic programs and initiatives.
Social, Cultural, and Critical Theory at 九色视频 empowers students to engage deeply with the intellectual currents that shape our understanding of society, culture, and the human experience. This certificate underscores Wesleyan’s commitment to critical theory as a cornerstone of its academic identity, providing students with a structured path to develop proficiency in analyzing complex ideas across various disciplines. The SCCTC encourages students to explore a diverse array of theory-intensive courses that encompass critical media studies, social and cultural theory, feminist and post-colonial thought, psychoanalysis, and the philosophical traditions stemming from Deconstruction and the Frankfurt School.
The Theater Department considers the critical and creative study of each theatrical area to be an essential component of a liberal arts education. Offerings include courses in: acting; civic engagement and outreach; criticism; ethnography; history and literature; costume, lighting, scenic, and media-based design; directing; performance studies; theory; performance art; playwriting; puppetry; and solo performance.
