Art Therapy Major

Converse University's undergraduate art therapy program is embedded within a dynamic liberal arts curriculum. The major prepares students to identify as artists interested in the social transformation of individuals and communities. As a pre-professional program, students are prepared for graduate study in art therapy or other related mental health fields, and baccalaureate level entry into the social service professions.
 
The art therapy major, consisting of 62 credit hours, includes a year-long internship program completed during the senior year. A board certified art therapist supervises the fall field experience, and the spring internships are offered with a variety of populations and developmental stages, throughout the upstate region.

As an interdisciplinary field, a student majoring in art therapy completes ART 414: Senior Seminar and ART 415: Senior Exhibition, culminating in a group art exhibition in the Milliken Art Gallery, and completes 12 credit hours of behavioral science study in the Department of Psychology.

Art Therapy Program Goals

The program seeks to maintain a high percentage of graduates accepted into Master's programs or successful entrance into the baccalaureate level social service workforce. To accomplish this end, the Bachelor of Arts in Art Therapy degree program identifies the following primary goals:

1. Develop studio applications that support competency in two-dimensional (2-D) and three dimensional (3-D) visual language, and the inclusion of non-traditional materials.
2. Examine a comprehensive knowledge of art therapy theory, and skill-based practice to provide historical and contemporary contexts for understanding the profession.
3. Demonstrate civic awareness, ethical behavior, creative problem solving, and cultural humility during art-based interactions with at risk populations. 

Student Learning Outcomes

1. Students will exhibit studio applications that support competency in two-dimensional (2-D) and three dimensional (3-D) visual language, and the inclusion of non-traditional materials. 
2. Students will demonstrate a comprehensive knowledge of art therapy theory, and skill-based practice to provide historical and contemporary contexts for  understanding the profession. 
3. Students will display civic awareness, ethical behavior, creative problem solving, and cultural humility during art-based interactions with at risk populations.