This interdisciplinarity is evident also in the courses taught by faculty. Recent offerings have included seminars on authorship, on systems of knowledge, on street or popular art, on mother goddesses, on frames, on outsider art. Similarly the materials studied and taught by members of the department reach far beyond the canonical body of high art objects into that of visual culture at large. The adjunct and affiliate faculty extend the range of the department even further. The innovative approaches and subject matter of the faculty are complemented by an effort to disseminate their work in a wide variety of traditional and alternative media.
Faculty routinely initiate exhibitions, conferences, and symposia.
Many of the faculty have received prizes or other commendations for excellence in scholarship. The University outside the department offers a wide variety of educational experiences, ranging from lecture series, symposia, theater, dance and the rich offerings of a major music school. Students may take seminars outside the department. Students may participate in both the departmental and the university graduate student organizations. The campus is located adjacent to the communities of Goleta and Isla Vista , but many students choose to live in Santa Barbara.