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Academics

Williams Arts Academics

Academics

At Williams, scholars and students learn from each other—often one-on-one—in a small, close-knit community. Faculty include scholars from diverse backgrounds with specialties ranging from medieval European literature to African art to music theory and analysis. Students are encouraged to participate in the arts regardless of their major, affirming the arts’ role in an open, creative, and flexible education both inside and outside of the classroom.
Three people read text on paper and a laptop screen in front of an art student's display of work in a gallery. Two student actors perform seated at a table. Claudia Rankine, Williams Class of 1986, seated, center, at a rehearsal for her new play, The White Card. An alumni talks about his dance project after performing in WCMA. Students and a professor sit around a table in the college museum during a class on museum acquisitions.

Art

Making and studying art go hand in hand for students in the art department, renowned for its wide-ranging curriculum, exceptional faculty, and accomplished alumni. Many classes engage with the collections and practices of the Williams College Museum of Art and the Clark Art Institute, and students may also take classes in the graduate art history program as undergraduates.
Two female students each hold an end of a piece of paper as they lower it onto a printing press in the printing studio. Students in a studio art class sit at easels and sketch a skeleton using charcoal. A student's artwork is displayed on a studio wall. A student works on installing a sculpture made with tree branches in an art gallery. Large charcoal sketches done by students are displayed down the hallway leading to an art studio. A male and female student work in an art studio. The male student is wearing a blue apron while he examines a freshly painted glass plate; the female student rolls red ink over a stencil onto a glass slide. An art student uses her hands to paint on a canvas in the painting studio. Closeup of hands in blue gloves working on a clay relief painting, featuring a floral design on a bright green background.
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Music

A dynamic faculty and numerous first-rate performance and composition opportunities set Williams’ music program apart from those at most other liberal arts colleges. The music department is noted for its orchestra, choirs, jazz groups, and Symphonic Winds Ensemble. Student-run groups, such as a cappella groups, instrumental combos, and bands are also prominent.
A group of students sit cross-legged on the floor while playing sitars. A string quartet of student musicians performs during a music festival event. Avery Sharpe plays the standup bass while wearing headphones. A male student in a black shirt plays the xylophone while looking at his music stand. A row of trumpet players in black shirts play during a concert. Closeup of the hands of a student musician playing the trumpet. A male student in a black shirt plays the violin while looking at his music stand.
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Theatre

The theatre department combines artistic practice with scholarly inquiry, with each season representing a broad range of dramatic literature and theatrical style. The department is a laboratory for the profession, exposing students to theatre at the highest level, with both professional and student-run initiatives.
A student looks out from a trap door in the floor of a stage. A professor speaks to a class of theatre students in an acting studio. A female student performs an independent piece on an empty stage on Claiming Williams Day. A professor speaks during a theatre class presentation while students sit on the floor of the stage. A full cast of student actors fill the stage in Victorian costume during a performance. Theatre students sit in a circle and read lines in the acting studio. A student actor reaches out of a trap door in the stage as another hands her a prop during a performance. Two student actresses perform on stage; one lies in a bed while the other sits in a rocking chair on a platform. A student actor sits on a stage covered in a white tarp with a bathtub and pile of wine bottles in the background.
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Dance

The dance department provides opportunities for students to study technique, choreograph, perform, and research both ancient and contemporary forms. The department sponsors professional artists in concerts, workshops, master classes, and residences that bring participants together for unique cultural experiences in a wide variety of dance forms.
A group of student dancers pose in a tight circle onstage, wearing colorful costumes and hairpieces. A student dancer performs solo in the middle of a stage. Student dancers of the Kusika dance company perform onstage in colorful African costume. A dance instructor leads a workshop in Balkan folk steps to student dancers in the dance studio. Four student dancers leap and twirl in unison on stage during a performance. Students dancers on a step team point their hands and heads to the right in unison. A group of student dancers in red costumes pose in turn across a stage.
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Creative Writing

The study of English allows students to explore the critical role language and literature play in shaping human culture and social experience. Creative writing courses are taught predominantly by the English department, although playwriting is also offered by the theatre department. Student-run organizations, like the Williams Writers Overground, host open workshop sessions, and student publications, like Parlor Tricks and the Williams Literary Review, produce print issues of student work.
Students in discussion around a table during a Creative Writing class. An English professor teaches a summer English class; a chalkboard with writing and pictures is behind her. Two female students study at a table in Sawyer Library. Students turn to discuss with their professor during a writing workshop. A student studies for English class in the library with a book and highlighter in hand. A look over the shoulder of an English student in class as she takes notes on her laptop. A male student studies in a quiet library room with a wall of black and white photographs behind him.
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Grad Art

The Williams Graduate Program in the History of Art provides exemplary preparation for careers in the academy, museums, and associated fields. Its graduates credit their time here as a defining scholarly and professional experience.  The constellation of instructors who participate in the Program includes professors, researchers and curators. Other staff at Williams, the Clark, WCMA and MASS MoCA, along with the Robert Sterling Clark Visiting Professorship and other visiting appointments also assist the program.
Four small trees are budding on the patio of the The Clark's reflecting pool. A library room in The Clark art museum displays artworks and features a large table for viewing books. Museum visitors go up the stairs in the main lobby of the The Clark, which is surrounded by floor-to-ceiling windows. The reflecting pool at The Clark is seen at twilight; behind it, the windows of the museum's main lobby are lit up and reflected in the water. The reflecting pool at The Clark is viewed from inside the museum; a large stone wall separates green grass on one side from the pool on the other, which reflects a cloudy blue sky.
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