The MPA faculty couple an openness to incorporating new technologies in their teaching with a commitment to educating students about the history and tradition from which these new things come. Classes involve weekly critiques of work in progress and viewing and discussion of important works from the past. Emphasis is upon historical context as well as technical choices made within the context of the tools and times at hand. Through intensive critiques, students begin to make their own aesthetic choices. Guided by a technically-expert faculty, they strive towards mastery of the best, most effective means of recording their vision of the finished work.
Final reviews involve guest critics and faculty from within and outside the department.
Students who concentrate in Photography follow a common sophomore program designed to give them a firm technical and aesthetic background in black and white as well as color photography. Junior students use large format cameras. Photography students are encouraged to explore the boundaries of their medium. They work in autobiographical and documentary styles, use text to create another dimension in their work, or experiment with computers, installations, and artists' books as alternative means of presentation. The Photography area is housed in 11,000 square feet of spacious facilities with full ventilation, plentiful workstations and darkrooms, and gallery spaces for the display of student work.