The Department of Art encompasses the creative activities of the fine arts (painting, sculpture, printmaking, and new media practices), the artistic applications of design, and the theoretical and historical concerns of art history. These complementary programs function together, so that the student gains not only depth of knowledge in a chosen specialty but also the breadth of experience that yields understanding of artistic traditions, values, cultural awareness, and contemporary issues. A faculty of exhibiting artists, practicing designers, published and respected historians, and strong studio programs focused on giving students facility with materials and familiarity with visual and theoretical concepts make the art department, in effect, an art school within a university. The Art Department offers majors in Art History (BA), Graphic and Visual Communication Design (BA), Photography (BA), and Studio Art (BA), minors in Art History (Minor), Graphic and Visual Communication Design (Minor), and Studio Art (Minor), and master's programs of Art History (MA) and Studio Art (MFA).