Majors, Minors and Certificates

Our program combines an intensive conservatory experience with the campus life of a major land-grant university. You’ll perform on our mainstage and in our laboratory theatre, and train with renowned faculty and guest artists (including Academy and Tony Award nominees).

The BFA in Art and Design is nationally accredited and constantly updated to provide students with the most current training and technology to prepare for a career in today’s growing creative professions.

Tailor this major to your interests by taking courses in one of these areas:

• Ceramics
• Graphic Design
• Painting
• Photography
• Printmaking
• Sculpture
• Time-Based Art

We combine the benefits of a small studio program with the resources and facilities of a major research university. Our graduates are certified to teach grades pre-K through 12 and have a high job placement rate.

Tailor this major to your interests by taking courses in one of these areas:

• Studio Emphasis: Ceramics
• Studio Emphasis: Graphic Design
• Studio Emphasis: Intermedia/Photography
• Studio Emphasis: Painting
• Studio Emphasis: Printmaking
• Studio Emphasis: Sculpture

An interdisciplinary field drawing on philosophy, history, literature, religion and mythology, Art History examines works of art and their contexts. Our program combines the benefits of a small, close-knit program with the facilities and resources of a major research university.

This major blends art-making, psychology and counseling coursework to prepare you for a unique, creative mental health profession.

Develop and hone your techniques in a program that offers both experiential and theoretical dance education. You’ll study a variety of dance genres and subjects — ballet, modern, jazz, tap, world dance, choreography, dance history and dance criticism.

Tailor this major to your interests by taking courses in one of these areas:

• Dance Education

Our MDS program gives you the flexibility of selecting three minors to create an individualized educational plan. At least two of the minors must be selected from programs offered by the College of Creative Arts.

The Music BA program is for students who wish to specialize in music and still have time to explore WVU's academic offerings. It’s also perfect if you want to combine the study of music by double majoring in a non-music field.

This program focuses on contemporary music performance within an integrative curriculum that includes electives from arts, theatre, dance, industry and philosophy.

Have a passion for music but also want a career in healthcare? You can do both in this major.

Tailor this major to your interests by taking courses in one of these areas:

• Medicine (MD)
• Pharmacy (PharmD)
• Physical Therapy (DPT)
• Occupational Therapy (OTD)
• Dentistry (DDS)
• Physician Assistant (PA)

Learn the fundamental analytical, regulatory and creative knowledge and skills necessary for jobs in the music industry.

Tailor this major to your interests by taking courses in one of these areas:

• Applied Music
• Multi-Instrumental

Society's increased interest in the arts is creating many new opportunities for professional composers and teachers. This program will prepare you to be a composer in both acoustic and electronic styles.

If you successfully complete this program (and all tests required by the West Virginia Department of Education), you’ll qualify for a Birth–Adult Music professional certificate that allows you to teach instrumental, vocal and general music in West Virginia schools.

In the School of Music, you’ll be surrounded by elite faculty who are some of the nation's brightest and most adept musicians. You’ll have weekly lessons, chamber music coaching, large ensemble rehearsal and opportunities in musical organizations.

Tailor this major to your interests by taking courses in one of these areas:

• Instrumental Performance
• Piano Performance
• Voice Performance

Jazz and Commercial Music encourages study, training and performance in all forms of creative improvised music, jazz and world music. You’ll expand your creative vision and gain a global perspective.

Music therapists use a variety of instruments and musical experiences to help babies, children, adolescents, adults and older adults work toward non-music goals related to education, health, rehabilitation and wellness needs.

We combine an intensive conservatory experience with the college experience of a major university. You’ll perform on our mainstage and in our laboratory theatre, and train with renowned faculty and guest artists (including Academy and Tony Award nominees).

Puppetry course work includes intensive study in children’s theatre, the practice of puppetry as a theatrical art form, and educational and creative dramatic activity as methods of learning and self-development for children.

This is the first degree of its kind in the U.S., and brings together art, science and the humanities.

The BA Theatre program allows you to explore and customize your education to include a more multidisciplinary approach to theatre studies, including performance, design and technology, dramaturgy and playwriting.

We provide hands-on training through work on the Theatre and Dance mainstage. Working side by side with faculty, you'll develop a variety of theatre environments using the most current technology and tools available.