Undergraduate Major

Visual & Performing Arts (BA)

As a visual and performing arts major, you'll hone your craft in music, dance, visual art, or art administration, while simultaneously developing critical and creative thinking skills.

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    Fine Art Hero

    Program Overview

    Majoring in visual and performing arts will prepare you for many creative, unique career paths as you explore unique ways to communicate both concretely and abstractly through image, sound, and movement.

    As a visual and performing arts major, you'll choose an area of focus in arts administration, dance, music, or visual arts. Upon graduation, your diverse portfolio of work and engaging learning experiences will enhance any career path you choose.

    Why Study the Arts at Widener?

    • You'll learn to communicate your unique understandings and interpretations of concepts and ideas to a larger audience.
    • Each semester, you'll put your work on display through collaborations with distinguished professional artists.
    • You'll acquire skills employers are looking for like the ability to see, listen, communicate, and think critically.
    • You'll have the option to participate in rewarding internships, civic engagement opportunities, and study abroad to enhance your creative work. 
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    Program Options

    Visual and performing arts students study art history, music history, and dance, developing skills in critical thinking and analysis through classroom discussions, scholarly essays and research papers, and formal presentations. 

    View Loading... for all visual and performing arts majors.

    As a visual and performing arts major, you'll complete a core curriculum to prepare you with foundational knowledge, in addition to selecting an area of focus tailored to your personal interest. 

    Regardless of your chosen path, you'll gain important observational abilities as well as critical thinking, problem solving, and communication skills.

    Arts Administration
    Arts administration allows you to combine your love of the arts with the non-profit sector. You'll be prepared to work as administrators for arts organizations.  

    Dance, Music, or Visual Art
    Each of these three areas of focus will allow you to focus on your craft in devoted studio and classroom time while developing other important skills needed for a variety of professions such as medical, business, non-profit, arts, and law.

    Widener's pre-professional pathways give you the flexibility to follow your interests while preparing for a professional career.

    Visual and performing arts majors can participate in the following pathways:

    Enhance your degree with a related minor:

    You may also choose from our expansive list of additional minors and certificates for undergraduate students to find unique combinations for the career path of your dreams.

    Communication studies is a natural pairing for visual & performing arts majors. This double major enables students to combine a love of visual art with graphic design.

    View Loading... for the visual and performing arts and communication studies double major.

    Interested in pairing this major with a second College of Arts & Science major? That's possible too! You can share your interest in pursuing more than one major in your application.

    In addition to selecting a concentration in visual and performing arts, you'll also have the option to pursue a concentration in digital humanities.

    Digital humanities is a rapidly growing, interdisciplinary field that incorporates new tools and methodologies for pursuing modes of inquiry and producing forms of scholarship and engagement in the humanities. It seeks to apply humanistic reasoning and research to important questions related to technology, such as social sustainability, big data, and privacy. Work in digital humanities includes public humanities, data mining/visualization, web design, textual analysis, educational technology, and ethics and technology. The concentration in digital humanities is open to all humanities majors.

    Loading... requirements for the digital humanities concentration.

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    Program Highlights

    Though you'll specialize in one creative field, you'll be exposed to all fine arts contextual courses like music and art history. These courses will inform the historical and cultural context of your creations and help you discover unexpected connections between various arts.

    music students perform guitar duo

    Engaging Campus & Philadelphia Arts Opportunities

    Throughout the year, you will be invited to many on-campus arts events from students and faculty. Widener also hosts an exclusive recital series featuring free performances from world-renowned musicians. Philadelphia is also just a short drive away, granting access to world-class museums and renowned music and dance performance groups. The city is an ever-evolving hub for artists so you'll feel like an insider with internship opportunities at institutions like the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Anthropology.

    Fine Arts Performance Ensembles

    Unique Performance Ensembles

    Beyond the classroom, you're encouraged to join music and dance performance groups on campus. Some groups like Chamber Ensemble are led by faculty; others are student-led, like the acapella group Keepin' It Trill and Widener Dance Company. You'll become a leader collaborating with your peers to put on spectacular performances each semester.

    students perform with FreshBaked Children's Theatre

    Immersive Community & Cultural Learning Experiences

    As a visual and performing arts major, you'll use your creative knowledge to explore and positively impact the world around you. Civic engagement opportunities like the Dance for Parkinson's program and clubs like the FreshBaked children's theatre will engage you with your community and abroad.

    visual and performing arts student at museum with mentor

    Hands-On Internship Experiences

    Expand your education with an internship experience. In addition to the vast network of arts and culture opportunities that Philadelphia provides, students can also find engaging local internships with organizations such as the Community Arts Center in Wallingford and the Chester Made program. 

    Faculty

    From day one, you'll be supported in your creative endeavors and make connections with internationally-recognized faculty. Our faculty will seek to know you both personally and professionally as you receive individualized instruction and continual feedback.

    lores
    Mat Tomezsko
    Adjunct Instructor

    In Widener’s visual and performing arts program, you’ll learn to appreciate arts and culture with a grounded and well-rounded outlook.

    Ilene D. Lieberman
    Ilene D. Lieberman
    Gabriel Lukas Professor of Fine Arts

    "Art is about ideas! By studying art, we learn what it means to be human. Images reveal the fundamentals of any society; by using an historical lens, we can decipher complex content embedded in representation."

    Mara E. Parker
    Mara E. Parker
    Chair of Visual & Performing Arts Department

    "The arts teach us that one can communicate both concretely, with words, and abstractly, with music, visual art, and dance. The arts teach us to see, listen, communicate and think."

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    Recent News

    Kevin stands in front of his art

    Research Projects Shape Students’ Futures

    Hands-on research opportunities at Widener give students the chance to explore their interests, build a foundation of experience, and hone skills for their future professions.

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    Chamber Music Program

    Rehearse weekly in a relaxed and informal atmosphere as you collaborate with professional musicians and develop close connections with students who share an interest in music. You'll also have the opportunity to take private lessons.

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    Dance Program

    Working with internationally recognized dancer and choreographer, Katherine Stark, you'll develop skills and talents in modern dance, work on original dance compositions, and perform every semester.

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    Your Inside Track to Success

    Your Inside Track to Success

    With an abundance of creativity and problem-solving skills, you'll graduate prepared for a meaningful job not only in the arts but across a wide range of occupations.

    Where Our Visual & Performing Arts Students Are Now

    • Philadelphia Museum of Art, educator
    • Abilities4Work, consultant
    • Easter Seals Philly, physical therapist
    • Elsevier Inc, illustration and art buyer
    • Lyneer Search Group, research analyst
    • Inspira Health Network, brand manager
    • Long Beach Township (NJ), police department
    • Avon Grove School District, special education teacher: autistic support
    • Graduate school: Widener's physical therapy doctoral program

    Outlook & Outcomes

    Potential Careers

    • Performance
    • Not-for-profit management
    • Museumology
    • Education
    • Healthcare

    Any & All Careers

    Visual and performing arts majors bring their humanities skills to a wide variety of industries. Our graduates have worked in advertising, consulting for multimedia outlets, law, and the medical field in physical and occupational therapy.

    In-Demand Skills

    • Collaboration
    • Critical thinking
    • Complex problem solving
    • Persistence
    • Observation
    • Listening

    Take the Next Steps

    Join a leading university dedicated to your success.

    Visit Us

    To visit Widener is, more often than not, to fall in love with the place. To fit your timeline and schedule, we offer a variety of ways to get to know us.

    View Tuition and Fees

    When comparing costs, we encourage you to look beyond sticker price. Because Widener is a private institution, we’re able to offer financial assistance that brings our exceptional education within reach.

    Financial Aid

    Our financial aid team takes the guessing game out of applying for financial aid. To determine your financial aid package, including scholarships and grants, apply and complete the financial aid process. You might be surprised at how much we can offer in assistance.

    Next steps to apply

    Applying online has never been easier—and it’s free! We also accept the Common Application. Take the next step toward joining the Widener Pride. 

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