Humanities & Sciences

Develop new modes of expression

To engage meaningfully in the production of culture, we need to be adaptable, inclusive, and ethical. Critical thinking is essential to broadening our perspectives and exploring uncharted territory with compassion and resourcefulness. From critical inquiry and curating to crafting prose, poetry and comics, Humanities and Sciences embraces a wide array of practices.

Our three undergraduate and three graduate degree programs are centered on writing, studio practice, and spirited inquiry. To forge greater connections between theory and practice, we partner with established cultural institutions, such as the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, the Cartoon Art Museum, the Contemporary Jewish Museum, the Museum of the African Diaspora, KADIST, The Lab, and San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. With experience in multiple modes of critical thinking and visual analysis, students become visionary change makers and nimble collaborators.

Study in the culturally diverse Bay Area

CCA’s location in the heart of the Bay Area—a hub for emerging and established artists, entrepreneurs, innovators, and social activists—draws a diverse community to campus. You’ll have many opportunities to exchange ideas with architects, curators, designers, and other professionals who push disciplinary boundaries in their work. In addition to our partnerships with museums, we also collaborate with nearby cultural centers and academic institutions, including Galería de la Raza, the Queer Cultural Center, Stanford University, UC Berkeley, and Yearba Buena Center for the Arts.

Meet the dean of Humanities and Sciences

Jacqueline Francis is an art historian, curator, and creative writer. She researches and writes modern and contemporary US art histories; she has a special interest in the construction of past and present racialized identities and identifications which she considers in the critical framework of social art history. She is the author of Making Race: Modernism and “Racial Art” in America (2012), the first book-length study of interwar expressionist American painting, scrutinized through the lens of critical race art history. Francis has edited and co-edited several books dedicated to the works and influence of historical and present-day artists: Adia Millett (2020 and 2023); Romare Bearden: American Modernists (2011); Is Now the Time for Joyous Rage? [on Lorraine O’Grady] (2023); and Sargent Claude Johnson (2024). She has published essays in numerous exhibition catalogs, peer-reviewed journals, and reference texts, and presented her research at museums, conferences, and colleges and universities in North America, Europe, and Asia. She has been a visiting professor at the Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts at the National Gallery of Art and San Francisco State University.

Brilliant faculty who actively shape visual culture

Our faculty’s enthusiasm, visionary research and writing, and commitment to equality and social justice propel interdisciplinary work at CCA. Students can learn about feminist poetry from an Iranian-born New York Times best-selling author or about modernism and racial art in America from a well-known art historian and curator. What differentiates humanities and sciences at CCA from curricula at traditional liberal arts colleges is that our approach bridges theory and practice. Faculty, including an award-winning cartoonist, acclaimed feminist of color writer, and prominent queer curator, help students make clear connections between studio-based projects, personal interests, community needs, and research endeavors. Students are not only inspired to question and challenge conventional viewpoints, but also develop new modes of expression that give voice to their personal vision.

Writing and Literature students build toward a full-length thesis collection, drawing inspiration from the many Bay Area literary organizations and reading series. History of Art and Visual Culture students directly engage with a broad range of research materials in the course of their studies at CCA. Comics is a STEM-designated program where students focus on narrative development, relationships between text and image, and visual storytelling to push the practice to new heights. This work culminates in the production of a senior thesis project that mirrors the rigor of professional practice. These programs encourage students to integrate visual art and design into their work by introducing them to creative spaces across the disciplines and offering studio-based electives.

Undergraduate degree programs

• BA in History of Art & Visual Culture
• BA in Writing & Literature
• BFA in Comics

Shape your interests into a polished manuscript

Our three graduate programs give students the time and space to refine or reinvent their critical and creative voices. Our tight-knit community produces in-house publications and exhibitions that draw inspiration from the Bay Area’s rich literary and arts and crafts history, while engaging in a vibrant contemporary scene for stand-up comedy, slam and spoken word poetry, independent publishing, alternative art spaces, groundbreaking cultural institutions, and more. You have the freedom to explore many different research methods and genres as you work toward a thesis collection that can serve as an exceptional portfolio for jobs, residencies, and PhD applications.

Graduate degree programs

• MA in Visual & Critical Studies
• MFA in Comics
• MFA in Writing

Dual-degree options

The MA in Visual & Critical Studies (VCS) program offers two dual-degree options that give students an edge in competitive, postgraduate arenas. Combine the MA in Visual & Critical Studies with an MFA in Fine Arts or MFA in Writing and earn two graduate degrees in just three years. You can apply for any dual-degree program with a single CCA application but must submit a different personal essay and portfolio for each.

Add to your creative toolbox

Humanities and Sciences students learn to develop new modes of expression in their thoughts, words, and actions. CCA’s range of creative spaces, from the Book Arts and Letterpress Studio to our extensive Media Center, supply the inspiration and hands-on tools for directly engaging with material practices. With more skills in your creative toolbox, you’ll be empowered to embrace the unknown and take advantage of opportunities that leverage your interdisciplinary education.

In addition to physical spaces, students thrive in intimate workshop settings, whether in person or online. The MFA in Comics, which is a low-residency program, uses the time between intensive on-site summer sessions for long-distance workshops that keep comics students on track with their goals and manuscripts. Undergraduate students have ample opportunities to learn from acclaimed faculty, including visiting writers, during workshops focused on poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, and other genres. And the MFA in Writing students experience craft talks with visiting writers, like R.O. Kwon and Andrew Sean Greer, during special masterclasses.

Tuesday Talks in the Writers’ Studio

The MFA in Writing program’s famed Tuesday Talks is a series that hosts some of today’s most dynamic writers, giving them a platform to share new work with CCA and the surrounding communities. Graduate students have the chance to engage with visiting writers during masterclasses that focus on craft, revision, publishing, and more.

Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts

An acclaimed exhibition venue and research institute, the CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts shows work from artists all around the world. It also dedicates an entire year to reflecting on questions posed by a single artist. The Wattis Institute collaborates regularly with the faculty and students in the MA in Visual and Critical Studies program. Recently, it hosted genre-bending writer and CCA faculty member Dodie Bellamy, who read from her forthcoming novel.