Fine Arts - Photography

Program Mission Statement

The Department of Art and Design supports a broad and diverse curriculum in Photography, developed and taught by experts in their fields. The mission of the Bachelor of Fine Arts program in photography in the department of Art and Design is two-fold:

First, the photography program is designed to develop students' skills in the craft of photography and their abilities in critical and creative thought and visual communication. The broad-based curriculum includes instruction in traditional, digital, and alternative photographic processes in both black and white and color, in addition to relevant training in art history and theory. Photo students at UNF have the opportunity to work closely with important collections of art in local museums, including the Cummer Museum of Art and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Jacksonville. Photo majors are encouraged to participate in the department’s various internship, study abroad, and undergraduate exhibition and research programs.

Second, the Photography program supports creative work and scholarship by its faculty in all fields of creative and scholarly endeavor related to photography and its history and reception. UNF Photography faculty exhibit original creative work and publish original scholarly work nationally and internationally. The department also supports faculty creative work and scholarship that contributes directly to student learning and to the department’s undergraduate exhibition and research programs.

The Photography program prepares students for graduate study in art, museum studies, arts administration, and education and careers in the arts and commercial photography, in business, education, and the non-profit sector, and in all fields that require advanced skills in creative and critical thought and visual communication.

Student Learning Outcomes

Graduates will be able to:

Content/Discipline-Specific Knowledge/Skills

• Demonstrate competence in a broad range of photographic processes - analog, digital, and alternative through production of a body of photographic work that can be presented through traditional exhibition strategies as well as digital means.
• Demonstrate an understanding of photography's diverse practical functions and cultural impact via study of photographic history and contemporary practice.
• Produce works of art demonstrating knowledge of important techniques, methods, and processes.
• Demonstrate understanding of common elements and vocabulary of art and knowledge of the historical, cultural, theoretical, and stylistic contexts of art

Communication Skills

• Demonstrate the ability to articulate, in written and spoken form, the formal, technical and conceptual foundations of one's art.
• Demonstrate the ability to relate and analyze complex ideas in a cogent spoken/written form, and eloquently elucidate one's concepts in a precise manner within the context of a group discussion.
• Produce works of art that effectively communicate creative, symbolic, aesthetic, or other artistic ideas.
• Articulate in writing a critical and aesthetic perspective as the creator of a coherent body of works.

Critical Thinking Skills

• Demonstrate the ability to analyze and critique artworks in a broad range of media, with specific emphasis on photographic works. Consider, analyze and respect values and ideas transmitted in the photographic arts that are difficult, challenging and controversial. Application of these strategies and critical tools to the various assignments (applied, written, oral) included in the curriculum for photography.
• Make and respond productively to critical judgments and reflections about works of art in the process of critique.
• Produce a coherent body of works of art that communicates an original critical and aesthetic perspective.

Other Skills (Opt.)

Interpret and ascribe meaning in the visual arts with specific emphasis on photographic history and contemporary practice, and the ways that photographs reflect the ideas of a given culture, period and/or artist.

Assessment Approaches

Student learning in the Photography program is assessed in three areas: 1) discipline specific knowledge and skills; 2) communication skills; 3) critical thinking skills.

Disciplinary Knowledge I is assessed in 2000, 3000, and 4000 level courses through direct assessment of students’ mastery of the concepts and applications of specific artistic techniques and processes. Techniques are taught using learning objects encompassing readings, discussion of relevant artworks, and practical demonstrations. Students then produce work designed to demonstrate conceptual and practical understanding of the relevant technique. Disciplinary Knowledge II is assessed in 3000 and 4000 level classes using direct assessments of students’ knowledge of the history and reception of significant artists, artworks, and artistic concepts. The degree of mastery is measured using appropriate rubrics.

Communication I, visual communication, is assessed in 3000 and 4000 level courses through direct assessment of the student’s ability to express or convey an idea in a work or body of works of art. Ability in visual communication is assessed using a standardized rubric. Communication II, written communication, is assessed in 3000 and 4000 level courses through direct assessment of the student’s ability to express in writing an aesthetic perspective as the creator of a work or body of works of art. The degree of mastery is measured using appropriate rubrics.

Critical Thinking I is assessed in 3000 and 4000 courses through indirect assessment of the student’s ability to reflect on and respond to artworks through the process of critique, using appropriate critical terms and methods. Critical Thinking II assessed in the senior capstone through direct assessment of the student’s senior portfolio using appropriate rubrics to evaluate the student’s demonstrated ability to respond thoughtfully through the creative process to artistic critique.