As our culture reinvents itself on an increasingly rapid basis, the steady flow of images and information requires an increasingly sophisticated response from artists. The Photography Program in the Division of Art and Design is structured to empower artists of the future to address the complex challenges which lie ahead. By providing a multidisciplinary base, informed by a strong foundation in theory and criticism, students work closely with faculty and peers to develop their unique direction and focus as working artists. This activity is complemented by field trips, lectures and workshops by visiting artists and occasional internships, which additionally prepare students to enter the forefront of the photographic arts.

The Photography Program is designed to encourage critical thinking and to expose students to the theoretical as well as technical practices of photography, in both the historical and contemporary spheres. The faculty is strongly committed to helping students find a working balance between the aesthetic, theoretical and political aspects of photography, along with the, at times, rigorous technical expertise required to realize these goals. A Socratic model - one which nurtures an open critical debate between students and instructors, and which allows for challenge and discovery - is ideally suited to the classroom critique as a forum in which to investigate new ideas.

For example, the current convergence of photography and digital image-making presents exciting new challenges for working artists today. Are the critics who hold that "photography as we know it is dead" correct? If so, as we enter the post-photographic era, what do we gain? What do we lose? As students create images utilizing new technologies and simultaneously grapple with these issues, they acquire the intellectual apparatus necessary to invent their and photography's future.

Thus, students who graduate from this program are prepared for advancement in a multitude of professions which include advertising, mass media, photojournalism, industrial and architectural photography, to name a few. We also anticipate that students will work with interactive multimedia and digital applications, as well as in the fields of photographic education and the fine arts. However, no matter which endeavor one pursues, the ability to question and think critically is the legacy of a solid education. It will be of lasting value and will inform one's relation to self and society throughout one's life.