Hi. I’m interested in both International Relations and Studio Art and would possibly like to double major or do a dual degree(BA/BFA). I was wondering which Liberal Arts College is the most well-rounded in terms of their art and IR departments. I don’t really have a particular college on my mind which is why I am asking around for some opinions.
Thank you!
A dual BFA/BA degree is a rare bird. I only know of 5:
Brown & RI School of Design
Tufts & School of MFA
UMi
Reed & Pacific NW College of Art
New School (Parsons) (but I don’t remember who their uni partner is)
All of those are ferociously tough to get into. Of those, Tufts is your best bet for IR.
For double majoring:
On the IR side, of the places that you list Foreign Policy ranks Tufts #14, Swat #19, Williams #20.
On the art side, Williams, Bryn Mawr (part of the Quaker Consortium with Haverford, Swat & UPenn, so you can get a really strong IR degree) and Vassar (which has an interesting International Studies program- but not a pure “IR”) are closest to be comparably strong in both.
You’d have to get in first, right? Why not apply to a few?
And I assume your family can afford them.
I don’t have time to check but wouldn’t this dual degree be BA from Eugene Lang (the Arts & Science College of the New School) and the BFA from Parsons School of Design, which is also part of the New School?
doh! ofc - thanks @Bill Marsh!
Haverford offers the Studio Art major, Bryn Mawr offers only a Art History Major but easy to attend one school and major at the other. Double majors are doable at Haverford but not common as they require theses. More students tend to do a major and minor.
tx for the correction & update, @doschicos - my info is clearly out of date!
IS grad from Vassar!
Vassar had a traditional IR program until a few years ago, when it was reformatted into IS. Vassar’s IS program is absolutely amazing and so so very flexible. I was able to learn a fourth language, travel to London (for free), take part in a civil rights project at the northeastern university school of law, and take classes in 3 other departments to count towards my major. I highly recommend applying to Vassar if you want to do IS, because the flexibility of the major is very beneficial. Vassar’s IS department is also very well funded and if I’m correct, there’s 2 trips next year, to Colombia (the country) and Sicily in Italy (granted that covid doesn’t ruin those plans.