Investigate visual culture across a range of fields

Our two-year Visual & Critical Studies graduate program trains artists, critics, and scholars to write professionally about today’s intricate visual landscape. Our rigorous curriculum emphasizes interdisciplinary and cross-cultural study, historical grounding, social and political analysis, and the craft of critical writing. You’ll learn to investigate a broad range of media and present criticism in straightforward language, so art theory can be accessible to everyone.

Study in the creatively diverse Bay Area

The San Francisco Bay Area is a hub for emerging artists, entrepreneurs, innovators, and social activists. We draw inspiration from the area’s intellectual and creative activity as we explore and develop crucial skills in visual analysis. You’ll also benefit from studying in an art school environment, where you can easily exchange ideas with architects, curatorial practitioners, designers, fine artists, and writers.

In contrast to MA programs at other schools, Visual and Critical Studies at CCA offers a unique practice-driven curriculum that supports our commitment to social justice, interdisciplinary collaboration, and hands-on professional experience. Core courses, electives, and workshops help you build critical skills in four interrelated areas:

• Close visual analysis
• Critical thinking
• Eloquent, persuasive writing
• Visually enhanced public speaking

We’re also one of the few programs to offer two distinct dual-degree options in fine arts and writing. The skills you’ll build during a dual degree will give you a competitive edge, enabling you to discuss and write about creative work more powerfully.

Broaden your artistic and professional networks

Graduate students sharpen their critical thinking and presentation skills by learning from the brightest minds in the field. We have two unique programs that foster open dialogue:

The VCS Forum, which convenes throughout the semester, gives you the opportunity to engage with leaders across a range of creative and scholarly fields, including visual studies, literary criticism, cultural studies, film, curatorial practice, and design.

Queer Conversations in Culture and the Arts, an ongoing collaboration between VCS and the Queer Cultural Center of San Francisco, brings locally and nationally renowned figures to campus for talks, screenings, and roundtable discussions of LGBTQIA+ topics.

Our distinguished faculty are scholars in the fields of anthropology, cultural studies, philosophy, gender studies, and literature, as well as the histories of art, popular media, and design. Like our students, our faculty are committed to exploring innovative forms and arenas of critical expressions. Our program's values—diversity, equity, inclusion—are articulated in our seminars, publications, exhibitions, artistic practices, and public programming.

The Visual and Critical Studies core seminars provide you with scholarly methodologies and critical theories while nurturing your research and writing skills. We also offer electives that let you tailor coursework to best reflect your areas of interest.

Visual and Critical Studies graduates excel in a wide range of professions in visual and cultural fields. They are arts and culture journalists, critics, editors, curators, community activists, and educators, and they hold various positions in higher education and at foundations, museums, galleries, and alternative art spaces. Many continue their studies at the PhD level in anthropology, art history, comparative literature, cultural studies, performance studies, and visual studies.