Tyler's Foundations curriculum is designed to support art and design students in developing a rigorous, exploratory, and personally meaningful creative practice. Through a range of courses, students build skills, test ideas, and engage with diverse approaches to making while developing both technical proficiency and conceptual depth. The Foundations program and introductory studio courses establish core ways of seeing, thinking, and working that prepare students for continued study across disciplines.

Digital tools and workflows are integrated throughout the Foundations curriculum, supporting both creative exploration and professional skill development. As students progress, they deepen their individual interests and approaches while gaining the skills and experience needed to navigate a wide range of creative and professional pathways. At Tyler, students learn within a supportive and challenging environment that encourages experimentation, critical thinking, and the development of their own voice.

Freshman Year

The Foundations program is a structured and immersive first-year experience that introduces students to the fundamental principles of art and design through an integrated and interdisciplinary approach. Courses in Drawing, Visual Language, and Space emphasize the development of visual thinking, material exploration, and conceptual inquiry while fostering critical thinking and creative problem-solving.

The curriculum is designed to balance technical skill-building with conceptual development, encouraging students to understand both how and why they make work. Across courses, shared language, processes, and methods are reinforced to support retention and deeper learning. Students work through cycles of experimentation, critique, and refinement across analog and digital tools to develop a flexible and contemporary creative practice. The intensive and shared nature of the first-year experience fosters a strong sense of community and cohort, supporting student engagement, confidence, and success.

Sophomore Year

Sophomore studio electives serve as prerequisites to enter the major, of which one or two specific courses are required in each major. During the sophomore year, students are offered the opportunity to explore a wide range of studio areas. This experience gives the necessary background with which to make an informed selection of a major and adds to the overall breadth of the educational experience. Requirements are six 2000-level studio courses (18 s.h.), not to exceed three courses from any one major area and additional credits in Art History electives and/or General Education.

Junior and Senior Years

The Bachelor of Fine Arts degree is completed after a final two-year focus in a major studio area. Because expressive work is often achieved by synthesis of disparate media, studio work outside the major is encouraged. Requirements are the specified major courses (21-24 s.h. depending on the major) and one major capstone course (3 s.h.), with a minimum grade of C- required in each course; a minimum of three studio electives which may be taken outside the major (9-12 s.h. depending on the major); and additional credits in Art History, General Education and elective courses.

Laptop Requirement for Foundations Students

All students enrolled in the Foundations program are required to have access to a personal laptop. The Foundations curriculum is built on a practice that brings digital and physical processes into dialogue, using both in tandem as part of a contemporary art and design practice.

Access to a laptop allows students to fully engage in making, documenting, revising, and refining work across courses while developing fluency with the tools, workflows, and habits essential to creative practice today. This continuity supports students in building a connected set of skills that carry forward into their major and future professional work.

For full device specifications and recommendations, please refer to the Tyler School of Art and Architecture Digital Tool Requirements.

Accreditation

Temple University is a non-profit accredited member of the National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAD). NASAD establishes national standards for undergraduate and graduate degrees and other credentials for art and design and art/design-related disciplines, and provides assistance to institutions and individuals engaged in artistic, scholarly, educational and other art/design-related endeavors.

Contact Information

Chad Curtis, Chair
Tyler School of Art Building, Room 210R
215-777-9167
chad.curtis@temple.edu

These requirements are for students who matriculated in academic year 2026-2027. Students who matriculated prior to fall 2026 should refer to the Archives to view the requirements for their Bulletin year.

Summary of Requirements

The Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in one of the studio arts majors (i.e., Ceramics, Fibers and Materials Studies, Glass, Graphic and Interactive Design, Illustration and Emerging Media, Metals/Jewelry/CAD-CAM, Painting, Photography, Printmaking, Sculpture, or User Experience and User Interface Design) may be conferred upon a student by recommendation of the faculty and upon the satisfactory completion of a minimum of 126 semester hours of credit with a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.00.

General Education, courses waiving General Education requirements, and major courses all must be completed with a minimum grade of C- to fulfill requirements. Please confer with the advising staff and review your DARS for further information.

BFA Curriculum

¹

Students in the BFA Graphic and Interactive Design, BFA Illustration and Emerging Media, and BFA User Experience and User Interface Design must complete one Design or Illustration History course as part of their Art History requirement (ARTH 2601, ARTH 2676, ARTH 2696, DES 3401, DES 3403, or DES 3497).

²

Students waived from General Education requirements must make up the credits with academic coursework taken outside of Tyler departments to be in compliance with BFA accreditation.

Sophomore Prerequisites for BFA Departments

Suggested Academic Plan

Please note that this is a suggested academic plan. Depending on your situation, your academic plan may look different. 

Bachelor of Fine Arts

Suggested Plan for New Students Starting in the 2026-2027 Academic Year

¹

These 2 courses constitute the waiver for the GenEd Arts category if the courses are completed with a grade of C- or better.

Year 2

During their sophomore year, students take a combination of studio electives, sophomore prerequisites, major requirements, and GenEd coursework. See the Requirements tab for a list of sophomore prerequisites by major.

You can find full, 4-year Academic Plans for each Tyler BFA at the links below:

• Ceramics
• Fibers and Material Studies
• Glass
• Graphic and Interactive Design
• Illustration and Emerging Media
• Metals/Jewelry/CAD-CAM
• Painting
• Photography
• Printmaking
• Sculpture
• User Experience and User Interface Design