Art History, Japanese degrees offered

May 26, 2006

Beginning in September, the college will be offering a two new associate’s of art degrees in Art History and Japanese. The degree programs, which were approved in May by the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office, will recognize the completion of the lower division courses required for a bachelor’s of art degree in Art History and Japanese at most accredited universities.

Along with the Art History degree, several new courses have been added to the curriculum. Survey courses in western art and culture, non-western art, and an introductory course in art media are now included in the required coursework. The intent of the degree is to provide students with the foundational knowledge and critical skills necessary to the study of art history, and to prepare them for upper-division coursework in related or specialized fields within art history, art theory, or museology.

The Japanese program builds on the popularity of Japanese as a foreign language, one of the fastest growing language courses on the campus. Although the Japanese

curriculum has long been in place, coursework on Japanese culture and customs has been added for the associate’s degree. The culture classes are taught in English while the language classes are taught in Japanese.

Each semester more than 300 students take Japanese courses. Students also participate in speech contests, culture showcases, and other intercollegiate activities.