Minors

Studio Minors

As a MIAD student, you’ll have the opportunity to enhance your education with a fine art or design studio minor in one of the following disciplines: Communication Design, Fine Art + New Studio Practice, Illustration, Interior Architecture and Design or Product Design. Some studio minors may require additional credits beyond the Bachelor of Fine Arts degree minimum to complete.

The Animation minor for non-Illustration majors provides you with skills sought by the film, television and interactive media industries. You’ll gain a comprehensive understanding of animation principles and techniques through a focused curriculum covering 2D and 3D animation, alongside electives for specialization.

The Arts Management minor prepares you to lead and manage arts organizations and events. You’ll explore the theory, practice, knowledge and culture necessary to manage individual practices, community arts organizations, traditional and experimental art spaces, museums, galleries, non-profit groups spanning varied genres and fields, and roles in businesses such as film and promotional companies.

Through an introductory course and a variety of required and/or elective courses, you’ll create books that use image and text in new and inventive ways. You’ll learn traditional and non-traditional book bindings, construction materials, multi-page document creation (including the components of narrative, pacing, sequence, structure and form), concept building, typographic and compositional rules, and the materials and tools of book creation.

If you are interested in designing and building well-crafted modern furniture from conception to completion, this cross-disciplinary minor is ideal. You’ll learn the principles of woodworking, joinery and fabrication, as well as more exploratory bending and forming techniques – molded plywood, bent lamination, steam bending and vacuum-formed plastic. The structure is equal parts design (sketching, drawing, modeling, physical studies and material exploration) and build (millwork, joinery, sanding, assembly and finishing). Area design and manufacturing companies provide a rare opportunity to work with resources from traditional lost wax casting to technologies such as laser cutting, multi-axis CNC and rapid prototyping.

Critical Studies Minors

The Art History minor is particularly valuable if you are considering graduate study, curatorial work or as part of professional training in design areas that stress verbal as well as visual skills. Choose from a variety of art history electives and discipline-specific courses.

A broad-based humanist inquiry will complement your studio experience, especially if you are interested in graduate study, curatorial work or as part of professional training in areas that stress an understanding of culture, society and foundations of the human condition. Choose from a variety of humanities electives and discipline-specific courses.

The Natural Sciences minor is a good fit if you are interested in learning more about nature or seek a career path where Natural Sciences and visual studies merge. Choose electives in topic-based courses, seminars or field experience. Your final coursework will be through an independent study coordinated with a science faculty member.

Regardless of your major, a Sustainability minor can focus your work on a sustainable practice, through use of sustainable materials, research into environmentally friendly building codes or studio work that informs and conveys these concerns. Learning how natural systems function, remain diverse and produce everything needed for the ecology to remain in balance helps you become a creative practitioner and communicator who lives and breathes sustainability principles, and who influences others by the meaning and power of your work.

If you are considering graduate study, curatorial work or as part of professional training in design areas that stress verbal as well as visual skills, the Writing minor is particularly valuable. Choose from advanced-level writing courses, internships, independent study and elective writing courses.

Marquette University Cross-Registration Minors

If your goal is to work in an advertising agency, you’ll be especially interested in MIAD’s Advertising minor in conjunction with nearby Marquette University. The minor is primarily targeted for Communication Design majors looking to augment the degree.

MIAD’s Business minor in conjunction with nearby Marquette University provides you a unique opportunity to explore a variety of business theory and practice areas, especially if you are a Communication Design major looking to augment your degree. This minor is equally useful for you as a designer or fine artist who intends to begin your own business or work in an established organization.

MIAD’s Copywriting minor in conjunction with nearby Marquette University blends a rigorous study of brand strategy with creative practice, helping you learn to write across all media and create a portfolio showcasing your copywriting talents. This is a great minor for you as a Communication Design student aiming to strengthen your portfolio, but also an excellent choice if you are a student in another major aiming to hone your creative writing skills inspired by brands.

MIAD’s Psychology minor in conjunction with nearby Marquette University will help you gain a better understanding of psychology – the science of behavior, emotions and mental processes. Coursework will also introduce you to possibilities in the practice of art therapy, though an advanced degree is generally required.