Managing a Double Major and Double Minor as an Art Student

Go gung-ho: as an artist, learn to express yourself and explore as many facets of humanity as you can. Don't limit yourself to the art form you're most comfortable with, either. Experiment with music, writing, film, painting, dance, collage, print-making, animation, drawing, acting, sculpting, modeling, photography, and multi-media. You can't possibly (well, sanely) expect to become an expert at them all but studying other art forms, even for a single one-hour class, will definitely inform your first love. If you're hesitant to dabble in the art form itself, at least read up on its history and theory. Every book, even the really thick, intimidating ones, in your public library are free, after all. Maybe I'm too idealistic, but my belief that all artists should challenge themselves by becoming life scholars of sorts is why I recently chose to double major and double minor.

I recently applied to VCU Arts' Art History program for a double major and was lucky to get accepted. My grades aren't exactly the kind a cow would trample upon and then raise her hoof to investigate with disgust, but I worried nonetheless. Like many programs at Virginia Commonwealth University, mainly in the medical and art schools, Art History is highly competitive. Of course, the fact that I had already fulfilled all of the history, English composition, and English literature requirements for the major must have helped my case. Phew! Those Advanced Placement credits actually served a purpose, even if I questioned the accuracy, relevancy, and overall quality of the exams themselves back in high school. The point is, that I got into the department and am happy for becoming a double major and double minor in squeal-worthy subjects. And, no, I'm not crazy and I do have a life outside of school (although not much of one outside of the arts.)

Currently I am majoring in Art History and English with minors in Creative Writing and French. You can bet that is a demanding course load. Surely it would be at any college but the case is especially true here at VCU. Allow me to elaborate, O Curious Reader.

Virginia Commonwealth University's School of the Arts is consistently ranked as the number one public art school in the United States and one of the very top overall. Thus, you can't just slip through any of their programs without putting in a lot of effort, no matter how talented you are. All Art History majors must take the university's freshman seminar ("Word and Image" from my previous school, Grinnell College, luckily transferred over), three credits in English composition, six credits in English literature, fourteen credits in foreign language, fifteen credits in history, nine credits in Anthropology OR Archaeology OR Religion OR Geography, seven credits in fine arts studio, and then thirty-nine credits in Art History. The thirty-nine credits are divided into three categories: Emergence of the Western Tradition, Renaissance and Baroque, Modern and Contemporary, and Non-Western. You can imagine how comprehensive such requirements are for an undergraduate program. Here at VCU, Art History means big books.

Virginia Commonwealth University's English department has high expectations, as well, even if it is not especially highly ranked. Thank low funding, for that; U.S. News and World Report and Newsweek worships large endowments. When I transferred, I was surprised to learn that only 300-level English courses counted toward the major. At my previous school and at many others, public and private, 100 and 200-level classes would apply. Here, I must take at thirty-three credits in the department: English Studies (a three-credit introduction to the major), six credits in literature/writing/criticism, fifteen credits in literature (including at least six credits from pre-1700 works, six credits in works from 1700-1900, and three credits in "diversity literature" [immigrant, minority, women's, LGBT.]) Then we have to take six to nine credits worth of electives within the major that fall into one of the following categories: Literary Studies, Criticism and Theory, Cultural Studies, Writing, and Linguistics. Then of course there is the Senior Capstone class. Completion of a foreign language through the immediate level's necessary, too. (Stone me, but I believe that all artists, not just writers, should have a conversational knowledge of at least one other language besides their own, anyway. But that's a tangent.)

VCU also boasts one of the top Creative Writing programs in the country, thanks in part to the rich tradition of Southern writers, specifically in Richmond. In order to successfully complete the minor, I must take fifteen credits worth of writing workshops and writing theory. I can choose a poetry slant or a fiction slant or study both (I'm going for the last option.) The program also highlights an artists' and writers' workshop in Glasgow, Scotland in conjunction with the School of the Arts. Eek! If all goes according to plan, I'm going to immerse myself in Sean Connery wanna-bes next year.

VCU also runs the largest French film festival in the United States. Yes, quite shockingly in Richmond, VA, not New York or Washington, D.C., two much bigger "cultural" centers. VCU offers French students the opportunity to intern with the festival. The internship has its not-so-glamorous aspects (making approximately a kajillion phone calls, lots of planning, and overall buckets of stress), but you do get to schmooze with all the French actors and directors who fly into town. The VCU French department also offers two film classes (French Conversation & Film and French Cinema). Ooh la la!

In order to fulfill the requirements for my two majors and minors, I have to be creative-and not just because I'm taking artistically oriented courses, either. I am taking full course loads every semester I have remaining at VCU (I have every semester in college, anyway, save for my "light" one when I first transferred from Grinnell College to VCU. But even that still consisted of sixteen credits.) I am also taking summer classes and jumping at as many study abroad opportunities my bank account won't frown upon. This summer, I have signed up for Biology (yes, the one General Education requirement I did not fulfill in high school or my first year of college was laboratory science), American Literature: Romanticism (this definitely excites me!), and History of the Motion Picture (this excites me as well!) Hopefully the two thrilling classes will compensate for the less-than-thrilling one. I searched desperately for an Environmental Studies course but the university wasn't offering any over the summer. I am so also studying abroad in France for six weeks and taking two classes while I am there.

This Fall semester, I have a fantastic line-up-and by 'fantastic,' I mean both intriguing and crazy: Museums in the 21^st Century, History of Architecture, Chaucer, Literature of the English Renaissance, Advanced French Writing & Grammar, and Masterpieces in Russian Literature. I am also trying to get an over-ride for Introduction to Stage Performance in the Theatre department, which would count toward my fine arts requirement.

After reading about my philosophy of becoming a well-rounded artist and my strategies for accomplishing my course of study, maybe you've decided to try taking a similar route. If you as an artist are interested in double majoring and double minoring at VCU or any other flexible university, I have a few tips:

First, make the decision early on in your college career. I know that many artists tend to be procrastinators, but don't wait until senior year! Second semester of your sophomore year is probably the latest, realistically, you can declare two majors and two minors. If you're feeling indecisive about your second major, take classes at the local community college before your start college OR take electives during freshman year OR take summer classes before sophomore year.

Anyway, once you make your choice, try to plan your course loads far in advance so you don't waste time in unnecessary elective classes during junior and senior years.

Secondly, try to choose majors and minors that are similar. Several of the classes in the English and Art History departments overlap, for instance. All of my Creative Writing classes count toward my English major. Since both English and Art History require foreign language study and encourage sticking through the 300 and 400-levels, the French minor just made sense. For other hypothetical examples, how about a double Theatre and English major with minors in Dance and Music? Or doubles in Film and Photography and minors in Graphic Design and Animation?

Lastly, this should seem pretty obvious, but make sure you're in love with your course of study because you won't have the opportunity for too many esoteric electives. Literature, language, social history, cultural anthropology, the visual arts, cinema, psychology, fashion, theatre, philosophy, and theory-all of these subjects fascinate me. Thankfully, my course of study does a thorough job of introducing me to them. But if you're a talented dancer who thinks you should double major in Drawing just for the sake of it, think twice. The rule is simple: you'll hate yourself if you take up a major you hate.

Now, back to those books...because I definitely have some heavy reading and writing to do. If you choose to double major and double minor, especially in writing intensive departments, I promise that you will, too. Of course immersing yourself in what you adore shouldn't be a punishment. So please don't pity me. I'm infatuated. Artists have big hearts.