Areas of Study at an Arts School

If you’re coming in to an art and design program straight from high school, chances are you haven’t been exposed to many of the areas of study now offered at art and design colleges today. Perhaps your high school art classes consisted mainly of painting, drawing, and sculpture. The fields of art and design have expanded greatly over the past ten years, with colleges regularly developing new programs to keep up with the market needs and the interests of their students. A growing number of colleges offer multi-disciplinary majors and/or emphasize self-directed study.

If you’re not sure of what you’d like to study, most colleges offer the opportunity to take elective classes to test your interest and skill and other subject areas. Your choice of major will affect the content of your program, the faculty and students you meet and the professional opportunities availed to you during and after college. Please feel free to click on each area to learn more.

Selection of a major does not alone pre-determine a career path. While certain careers, especially in design fields, require particular areas of study to become certified or gain employment, art and design students are not limited in their career pursuits by the discipline in which they major. For example, Audrey Niffenegger studied visual arts as an undergraduate at School of the Art Institute of Chicago and became an acclaimed and best-selling author. Two Industrial Design graduates from RISD founded one of the leading innovation firms in medical device manufacturing, Ximedica. Armed with an art and design education, students can truly create the future they desire.

Areas of Study

Administration & Management
- Arts Administration
- Business/Management
- Design Management

Art Education & Engagement
- Art Education
- Arts Therapy
- Community Arts

Art History, Theory, Criticism, Curatorial Studies
- Art History/Theory/Criticism
- Curatorial/Museum Studies
- Exhibition Design
- History of Decorative Arts

Crafts
- Book Arts/Paper
- Ceramics
- Craft
- Fibers/Textiles
- Furniture/Wood
- Glass
- Metals/Jewelry/Enameling

Film, Photography, Video
- Film
- Photography
- Video

Fine Arts
- Art/Fine Arts/Studio Art
- Drawing
- New Genres/Performance
- Painting
- Printmaking
- Public/Social Practice
- Sculpture

General Education
- English/Writing
- Social Sciences

Multi-Disciplinary
- Individualized Major
- Interdisciplinary

New/Digital Media
- Animation
- Computer Art/Digital Arts
- Digital Media
- Entertainment Arts
- Game Art/Game Design
- Interactive Media
- Media Art and Design
- Sonic/Sound Art
- Time-Based Media

Performing Arts
- Dance
- Music
- Theatre

Three-Dimensional Design
- Architecture
- City and Regional Planning
- Environmental Design
- Fashion Design
- General 3-D Design
- Historic Preservation
- Industrial Design
- Interior Design
- Landscape Architecture
- Lighting Design
- Toy Design
- Transportation Design

Two-Dimensional Design
- Advertising Design
- Comic Art
- General 2-D Design
- Graphic Design
- Illustration
- Medical Illustration
- Visual Communications