The ceramics program at James Madison University aims to provide an excellent learning environment for art making. This environment has evolved over the years. What students bring to their studies in ceramics and what they want from their studies personally and professionally are strong influences on this evolution<br><br>The purpose behind the thoughtfuland well-supportedevolution of the ceramics program is to graduate capable artists and craftspeople ready to work as teachers of ceramics or as independent studio artists, or equally ready to take on the challenges of MFA graduate programs in ceramics. More specifically, the ceramics curriculum encourages students to engage across a wide range of contemporary and historical practices, in order to develop technical and design expertise and conceptual awareness that together expand their aesthetic vocabulary. The deeply international nature of ceramic art always influences the program's purpose. The program's faculty, and the visiting artists the program has brought in, have intentionally reflected this reality by the examples of their own training and work.