Overview

"O, had I but followed the arts!" - Shakespeare, Twelfth Night

No matter what you choose to study in college in preparation for the professional world, an immersion in one or more of the arts is a natural complement to preparation for a vocation. The arts offer you new modes of communication and self-expression, as well as insight into the human person and, of course, beauty, entertainment and pleasure.

Why choose Wheeling Jesuit University?

At Wheeling Jesuit, you can combine a major with a program of study in one or more of the arts. The various programs of study that you can explore and combine are:

• Creative Writing - includes courses in fiction, creative non-fiction, poetry, and dramatic writing for stage and screen; depending on your focus, you can pursue this field either through English, communications, or even another academic disciplines
• Film Studies - includes courses in theory and practice, history, and creative process, including regular seminars on contemporary Hollywood
• Music - centers on vocal performance and music theory, with opportunity for composition; you can often gain practical credit through campus ensembles
• Theater - divides between classroom- and practicum-based instruction, with opportunity for you to act, direct, manage and write for the stage
• Visual Art - includes courses in painting, drawing, object-making, digital design and photography, as well as the history of art; your work is routinely given public display

Studying any discipline involves a basic grounding in theory - and lots of hands-on practice and guidance. Our faculty has published fiction and non-fiction, had their plays and music performed around the country and had work featured in museum and Web galleries. Our small class sizes ensure that you will receive individual instruction. For example, studio art and music workshop courses are capped at 16 and writing workshops at 12.

At Wheeling Jesuit, your education in the arts will be in the context of the 450-year tradition of a Jesuit education that embodies the human spirit and social justice. You'll grow as an artist at Wheeling Jesuit, and you'll grow as a person. As novelist Willa Cather has written, "Artistic growth is, more than it is anything else, a refining of the sense of truthfulness." To study the arts is to learn more about the worlds within and around you.