The studio art track, photography, and media concentration, are designed to prepare students for careers in photography or media arts. It may also serve as a foundation for graduate study in fine arts.

JMU School of Media Arts and Design graduates tell the best stories. We prepare students to serve as creative, reflective and highly skilled media producers and storytellers, sensitive to the personal and social impact of the messages they create and to the important role media can play in advancing the public interest. Graduates of the School of Media Arts and Design work in media or in media-related careers. Program concentrations allow students to pursue interests in journalism, digital video and cinema, creative advertising or interactive design. The major also prepares students for graduate study in mass communication, journalism, advertising, visual communication or digital production. SMAD’s 39-credit-hour requirement allows students to pursue minors and second majors, to strengthen their knowledge about the types of stories they want to tell.

Bachelor of Arts in Applied Art & Design, housed in the Department of Media, Culture, and the Arts, offers a modern comprehensive interdisciplinary approach to studio and visual art education in an intimate setting. Coursework and class related activities encourage the investigation of contemporary directions in studio art, imaging, and visual communication and promote the development of projects that address diverse approaches to successfully communicate complex ideas.

The Bachelor of Fine Arts (BA) degree in Art is intended for students who have serious ambitions towards becoming practicing artists and/or photographers who may also aim to further their studies with an advanced degree.

The Mass Communications (BA) with emphasis in Media Arts and Production requires 78 credit hours. 57 core credit hours of mass communications coursework, plus an additional 21 emphasis area credit hours

In the Bachelor of Arts in Audio/Radio Production and Studies program, you will gain skills in the latest audio formats and programming, including podcasts and digital radio. Create a variety of news, entertainment, public service, music, and live programming, using industry-standard technology in the Herbert School's multimedia studios.

Media, Culture and the Arts combines hands-on media production experiences with the cultural and historical study, and critical analysis of media practice. Students engage with histories and theories of production informed by philosophical, artistic, and technological traditions, while learning to produce creative works that interrogate these traditions. MCA faculty members comprise specialists in the history of media, theorists of media, and practitioners/makers of media.

The theories and skills introduced in Communication Design I and II are revisited and further developed in Information Graphics. The development of students’ abilities to design and facilitate people-oriented communications by organizing and restructuring the flow of information will be emphasized, as will their abilities to relate their writing skills to the formulation and evolution of visual communication problems.

The Typography courses provide students with an understanding of the integral use of typography in the overall design concept. Type as a communicative and creative element is explored. Students become familiar with the organizational skills necessary for clear communication as well as the formative aspects of typographic symbols and arrangement.

The successful design of an interior space can improve the human experience in tangible and intangible ways.

This beginning course focuses on sewing machine techniques using woven fabrics. Decision-making, such as threading, tension adjustments, and other methods of machine troubleshooting will be emphasized. Additional equipment and supplies critical to the sewing process will be demonstrated. Students will also have a brief introduction to sergers and industrial sewing machines. Students will be sewing a simple garment to better understand basic sewing construction techniques.