World Arts and Cultures BA

Overview

The World Arts and Culture major emphasizes a cross-cultural and interdisciplinary approach to the study of art making, community engagement, and multimedia analysis. The five required preparation for the major courses introduce students to the intersectionality evidenced in the collective work of the faculty. A lower-division, practice-based course enables students … For more content click the Read More button below. Building upon the foundational preparation courses, the required core courses of the major expand interpretive lenses to include ethics of representation, methods of research, an opportunity to build upon one’s practice-based experience, and a one-credit course that connects students with faculty advisers to increase awareness of field-specific scholarship, disciplinary methods, and various genres and forms for intellectual output, particularly as these might be articulated with post-graduate aspiration. Students in the major have the option to pursue a senior praxis project. Working with faculty advisers, students will be able to develop a performance, film, event, multimedia production, and other possible forms of evidence of their education in the department. Students who wish to confer with the departmental student affairs officer regarding program planning and major requirements should contact the undergraduate counselor.

Building upon the foundational preparation courses, the required core courses of the major expand interpretive lenses to include ethics of representation, methods of research, an opportunity to build upon one’s practice-based experience, and a one-credit course that connects students with faculty advisers to increase awareness of field-specific scholarship, disciplinary methods, and various genres and forms for intellectual output, particularly as these might be articulated with post-graduate aspiration.

Students in the major have the option to pursue a senior praxis project. Working with faculty advisers, students will be able to develop a performance, film, event, multimedia production, and other possible forms of evidence of their education in the department.

Students who wish to confer with the departmental student affairs officer regarding program planning and major requirements should contact the undergraduate counselor.

Learning Outcomes

Demonstrated critical analyses of a variety of approaches to visual and performance-based art making and activism in cross-cultural contexts

Interpretation of and, in some cases, conduc-tion of field-based research within specific communities

Demonstrated ability to conceptualize, plan, and exercise art, curatorial, and/or ethnographic projects that reflect a dynamic dialog between theory and practice

Demonstrated sensitivity to diversity and cultural differences, particularly as articulated within various forms of governance, national and international policy, transnational art and curatorial practices, and museum and heritage sites

Development of informed interpretations, not only of the way that art functions within communities but also how the links between art and community and created and represented

Articulation of the value of civic engagement within a variety of arts-oriented social contexts

Entry to the Major

Admission

New students are admitted to the major for fall quarter only. All applicants are reviewed individually, based on submission of a written research paper, transcripts, two letters of recommendation, and one personal essay. These supplementary materials are requested from students in mid-December, after the general UC application is received and processed, and are due back in the department in January. For first-year applicants, college placement test scores are also considered.

Change of major applications are considered once a year. Current UCLA students who petition to change their major are required to meet with the student affairs officer prior to application, but no later than the eighth week of fall quarter in order to participate in the departmental supplemental application process during fall/winter quarters for admission into the program the following spring or fall quarter. They are required to take selected departmental courses before and during the term in which they apply to the program (contact the student affairs officer for a list of selected courses). They must have a minimum 2.0 overall grade-point average, a minimum 2.0 GPA in all departmental courses taken, and no more than 90 quarter units at the time of application. Students may be interviewed as part of the application process.

Major Requirements

Preparation for the Major

The Major

Complete five courses and 25 units of electives as follows:

Art as Action

Required Courses

Electives

Senior Praxis Project

Students may choose to complete a senior praxis project by completing 15 units of elective coursework and the following two courses (or 10 units of equivalent coursework with faculty approval). World Arts and Cultures 2 and 102 provide the foundational training in making practice-based techniques. Students begin to identify a project in the required World Arts and Cultures 185 Junior-Year Proposal course during their junior year. With the support of their instructor, students can be approved to choose the senior praxis project during their final three quarters of enrollment. Projects may include written theses, visual ethnographies, short films, curatorial projects, installations, short films, internships, community service, field-based research, as well as other formats. Projects are crafted in close consultation with faculty advisers to provide capstone experiences that draw together ideas and abilities from their WAC/D curriculum while positioning students for postgraduate opportunities.