The Fine Arts Foundation

To fulfill the Fine Arts Requirement, students must take one three-credit course chosen from core-designated courses, ordinarily in the fine arts.

​Why the Fine Arts?

The fine arts requirement reflects the importance of creative and artistic expression within the Dominican tradition and the Catholic faith. The Mission of Providence College requires that students are educated as moral, spiritual, and intellectual beings. To accomplish this goal, students must be provided with opportunities to engage directly with artistic activities as well as develop the aesthetic dimension of their minds and spirits. The fine arts core seeks to foster students’ understanding and appreciation of the arts and of the aesthetic in the human and natural world. It encourages students to reflect on aesthetics as a way of integrating the multifaceted dimensions of human experience. Through such reflection, students can develop a richer understanding of the meaning of life and of the moral and spiritual values that sustain it. It is also hoped that students are encouraged to develop life-long practices of arts appreciation and of considering the role of the aesthetic in broader human and social questions.

The fine arts requirement can be fulfilled through courses that emphasize the historical development of different forms of art, as well as those that emphasize hands-on student involvement in the creation of works of art, music, theatre, dance, or film. Regardless of emphasis, fine arts core courses should encourage the development of students’ critical appreciation of the arts, including an understanding of how historical changes have shaped the creative process and notions of the aesthetic. Where possible and relevant, core courses in the fine arts should seek to enrich students’ aesthetic experience by exposing them to the resources of the Rhode Island cultural community.