Here is a look at what you can expect from the coming changes to our B.A. major.  The new structure will help to even better meet the goals that we have established in educating our students.  As a student in Critical & Visual Studies at Pratt Institute, you will: 

*Develop your intellectual literacy.
*Learn how to think logically, clearly, skeptically, critically and, above all, for your self.
*Learn to learn, that is, take in and analyze new information intelligently.
*Grasp the interconnections and dependencies of the various and diverse fields of human inquiry, artistic endeavor, and cultural, social and political practice.
*Refine your sense of ethical, social and political responsibility and of the world’s diverse cultures and communities.
*Further your appreciation of the aesthetic achievements of poetry, cinema, literature and the visual arts.
*Understand the functions of analytical and quantitative reasoning and the methods of the sciences in comprehending the natural and social worlds.
*Gain meaningful access to the historical past both for its own sake and to think creatively about the future.

BA Program in Critical & Visual Studies
Department of Social Science & Cultural Studies
School of Liberal Arts & Sciences
Pratt Institute
200 Willoughby Ave.
Brooklyn, N.Y. 11205

Pratt Institute Admissions: http://www.pratt.edu/admissions/

Our New Program of Study

First Level: The first two years of the curriculum will give our students a broad and solid foundation in the Liberal Arts and Sciences, as well as allowing you to begin exploring your own individual interests.

Semester I

The first semester immerses our students into the foundations of the Liberal Arts: critical analysis, history, philosophy, science, and literature. Students share a common experience in the first semester that will establish a unique basis for your studies:

CST.100 First Year Seminar - 3.0 credits

CH.300 World History I - 3.0 credits

PHIL.208 or PHIL.209 History of Philosophy - 3.0 credits

ENGL.101 Introduction to Literary and Critical Studies I  - 3.0 credits

MSCI.210 Science and Society - 3.0 credits

CST.190 Beyond Google I: Basic Information Literacy - 1.0 credit

Total Credits 16.0

Semester II

Semester Two completes the introduction to history, critical studies, literature and writing. It allows students the flexibility to choose electives from across the department, the school, and the institute. To ensure a distribution of elective credits, in semesters 2, 3, and 4 students may take no more than 6 non-required credits in any one disciplinary field of Social Science, History, Philosophy, and, Math and Science and no more than 15 credits from any single division at Pratt (i.e. SLAS, Art & Design, and Architecture).

ENGL.103 Introduction to Literary and Critical Studies II - 3.0 credits

CH.400 World History II - 3.0 credits

Open Elective credits 9.0 - 3.0 credits

Total Credits - 15.0

Semester III

In Semester Three, students take the new Symposium course and continue their distribution of electives.

SS.225 Symposium - 3.0 credits

Open Elective - 12.0 credits

Total Credits - 15.0

Semester IV

In semester 4, students participate in the guided advisement of Moderation. They also take their required Theory and Practice course and continue to take electives.  “Moderation” provides students with the opportunity to reflect on their studies during semesters 1-3, identify their interests and begin to focus on the concentration that will structure the final two years of their program.  Moderation requires students to examine their initial experiences in the program, their goals, and their interests, to evaluate their performance and their commitment to a course of study and to chart their final two years of college with the help of a faculty committee.

Theory and Practice requirement - 3.0

SS.299 Moderation - 2.0

Open Elective credits -  9.0

Total Credits - 14.0

First Level (Years 1 and 2) Total Course Credits 60

Second Level: In their third and senior years, students are immersed in their guided electives, minors, internships, and their senior project or honors thesis. The project or thesis is undertaken with a committee chosen from and approved by the faculty. With the help of their Moderation advisers, students develop a course of study tailored to their individual interests and faculty expertise.

Semester V

CST.390 Beyond Google II: Thesis and Information Research - 1.0 credit

Guided elective - 9.0 credits

Open elective - 6.0 credits

Total Credits - 16.0

Semester VI

Guided electives -  9.0 credits

Open electives  - 6.0 credits

Total Credits - 15.0

Semester VII

Guided elective - 3.0 credits

Open electives - 9.0 credits

CST.440 Senior Seminar - 3.0 credits

Total Credits - 15.0

Semester VIII     

You may choice two options, either a 6 credit Senior Thesis or a 3 credit Senior Thesis                           

CST.480 Thesis/Senior Project* - 3.0 credits

Open Electives - 12.0 credits  

       OR

CST.480 Thesis/Senior Project* - 6.0 credits

Open Electives -  9.0 credits

Total Credits - 15.0

Second Level (Years 3 and 4) Total Credits 61

___________

Total Credits for Degree - 121

*Senior projects carry 3 credits while more formal and in depth academic thesis carries 6 credits. If a student undertakes a 3 credit project, then they will take 12 elective credits. If a student undertakes a 6 credit thesis, they will take 9 credits