Special Offerings & Opportunities
The Art Department supports students in participating in a wide range of opportunities including interdisciplinary courses, internships, independent study, study abroad, and student clubs.
Special Course Offerings
The Art Department offers new courses every year through college-wide programs. Courses include First Year Seminars, on campus Integrative Learning Experiences, and Muhlenberg Integrative Learning Abroad (MILAs). Below are some examples of past offerings. Courses change on a yearly basis. To learn about current courses visit Capstone or contact the art department.
Art, Experience, and the Irrational, First Year Seminar in Studio Art. Artists and writers work at the limits of understanding. As they struggle with experiences that seem beyond language, possibly in realms that appear irrational, how do artists and writers invent the language they need to reveal these experiences? Through reading, weekly informal writing to extended written analyses, discussion, drawing, and working in a sketchbook/journal we will analyze these issues—issues which haunt artists and may propel their work in unexpected directions.
Paper and Ink, Integrative Learning experience in Studio Art & History. This pair of linked courses asks students both to examine book production in its historical context and to create contemporary artists' books through the process of printmaking. Students in the cluster will produce art in dialogue with historical practices, and consider the history of the design, production, and reception of printed words and images.
Community Sustainability & Field Studio in Costa Rica, MILA short-term study abroad in Studio Art & Biology.
Documentary Photography, team-taught course in Studio Art and Media & Communications. Students produced a multi-media documentary website.
Internships & Independent Study
Many of our students pursue areas of individual interest through internships and independent study. Internships are available through a range of art organizations and may be completed for credit in consultation with a faculty advisor. Highly motivated students may be eligible for grants to work one-on-one with an Art Department faculty member for a 4-8 week period over the semester or the summer. In addition, students have developed independent studies to explore specific topics in depth (recent independent studies include textile printing and Roman art history), to develop scholarly articles, and even to curate exhibitions. Students have also included studio art and art history courses as an integral part of interdisciplinary self-designed majors.
LVAIC
Through Muhlenberg’s Lehigh Valley Association of Independent Colleges partnership (LVAIC), students may also enroll in art classes at nearby Cedar Crest College, DeSales University, Lafayette College, Lehigh University, and Moravian College. Students have studies graphic design, and metalworking.
Study Abroad
The Art Department encourages our students to study abroad. Some of the most popular study abroad destinations for studio art and art history students include the Florence University of the Arts, the Slade School of Fine Arts in London, and Goldsmith’s College in London. Other art-related programs include SIT’s Arts and Social Change series in the Czech Republic or Indonesia, as well as their National Identity and the Arts program in India or Senegal. Please visit our Office of Global Education for a complete listing of Muhlenberg-approved offerings available to all students.
Student Clubs
MUSES is Muhlenberg's art and literary magazine. In addition to a yearly publication featuring both writing and art, MUSES hosts several open-mic nights per year. Join the email list at [email protected]
The Jewelry Making Club explores the wide range of jewelry making techniques from beading to metal work, and is always open to introduce new methods. One does not need any previous jewelry making knowledge to join.
