Areas of Study
The Meadows School of the Arts has 11 areas of study within the realms of the visual arts, performing arts, and communication arts, with several interdisciplinary programs that pull from multiple areas of study. Learn more about the areas of study and the undergraduate and graduate programs they offer:
Advertising
With consumers seeing millions of messages throughout each day, advertisers must use creativity, skill and strategy to make an impact on their audiences. The Temerlin Advertising Institute for Education and Research trains students to search for unique solutions in advertising, preparing them for work in advertising agencies, media firms, corporate marketing departments and design studios.
Division of Advertising | Undergraduate Studies | Graduate Studies
Art
The Division of Art provides a challenging environment for the study of studio art within a multi-faceted arts school at a major liberal arts university. Each of our degrees is based in an innovative program of Foundation studies and broad experiences in ways of seeing, ways of making, and ways of thinking. We place equal emphasis on the development of our students' formal, conceptual and critical knowledge in painting, printmaking, drawing, sculpture, photography, ceramics and intermedia.
Division of Art | Undergraduate Studies | Graduate Studies
Art History
Art History trains us to negotiate a world saturated with images. It equips us to think critically about the visual culture that mediates our understanding of the past, present and future. Art History at SMU takes an interdisciplinary and intercultural approach to learning. Classes draw from fields such as anthropology, sociology, music, dance, literature, science and engineering. Students study buildings, monuments, paintings, sculptures, prints and photographs, as well as maps, jewelry, fashion, movies, advertising and digital media.
Department of Art History | Undergraduate Studies | Graduate Studies
Arts Management and Arts Entrepreneurship
As arts organizations today face a changing environment that presents both unprecedented opportunities and increased financial and competitive pressures, there is a need for skilled and resourceful administrators, managers, and leaders in the arts.
Division of Arts Management and Arts Entrepreneurship | Undergraduate Studies | Graduate Studies
Communication Studies
The Communication Studies program, accredited through the American Communication Association, offers students a foundational understanding of the theories, methods and history of communication; its relationship to liberal education; and its disciplinary and professional applications. Communication studies educates academics and professionals skilled in research, critical thinking, writing and advocacy who apply intellectual rigor and integrity to communication theory and practice.
Division of Communication Studies | Undergraduate Studies
Creative Computation
Creative Computing is a new, highly interdisciplinary program combining theory and methodology from computer science and engineering with aesthetic principles and creative practice from the arts. The program is rigorous in its interdisciplinary integration, requiring students to pursue core coursework in both the Lyle School of Engineering and Meadows School of the Arts.
Creative Computation Program | Center of Creative Computation | Undergraduate Studies
Dance
The Division of Dance offers professional dance training within the context of a comprehensive liberal arts education. The goal is to develop the disciplined, versatile dance artist through a balanced study of ballet, modern dance and jazz dance techniques, complemented and reinforced by a broad range of theoretical studies and performance opportunities. The program provides an atmosphere in which students are nurtured and stimulated in their quest for artistic achievement, technical mastery and scholarly excellence.
Division of Dance | Undergraduate Studies
Film and Media Arts
Students pursue a film curriculum that provides a well-rounded program of technical, scholarly and aesthetic training in the fields of film, television and emerging media. The degree program is designed to prepare students for careers in professional film, television, new media production and/or writing, and to develop students’ creative abilities in the art form. A wide variety of courses in cinema and television history, theory, and criticism provide a basic and necessary knowledge of these media as art forms and as vibrant social and cultural institutions.
Division of Film and Media Arts | Undergraduate Studies | Graduate Studies
Journalism
Students will study multimedia journalism, including broadcast, print and online formats. They will learn professional skills that will enable them to adapt swiftly to a changing journalism environment. Content that is useful and interesting will have value regardless of the delivery system or systems of a particular era. For this reason, students also are taught the intellectual and theoretical skills they will need to help them interpret the world around them and understand the role of the media in society. They will graduate as clear, concise thinkers and writers.
Division of Journalism | Undergraduate Studies
Music
The Division of Music is made up of an extraordinary team of artists, scholars, teachers, and students who find joy and satisfaction in the performance and study of great music. The Division of Music is internationally recognized for its award-winning students, renowned performing ensembles, and distinguished faculty of performers, composers. Students interact with an extensive slate of guest performers, conductors, composers, and scholars.
Division of Music | Undergraduate Studies | Graduate Studies
Theatre
The Division of Theatre offers students the knowledge, skills and critical perspective necessary for building the strongest foundation possible - in body, mind and spirit - for a lifelong engagement with their art and their world. We make and teach theatre that celebrates the human spirit, that is deeply engaged with the larger world, and that represents the very highest standards.
Division of Theatre | Undergraduate Studies | Graduate Studies