Are you a musician, an actor, set designer, painter, a bluegrass fiddler, an animator, a sculptor? Whatever your means of artistic expression, we have a home for you in the Fine & Performing Arts Scholars Program of our Honors College at East Tennessee State University.

The Fine & Performing Arts Scholars Program at ETSU is a unique approach to educating artists of the 21st century. The program is designed to support an interdisciplinary group of student artists who will share the experience of learning about the arts together. Students will share your artistic endeavors and part of their coursework with other arts scholars. Students will work closely with exceptional faculty artists in a variety of areas. Through a unique Roving Artist’s program, students be challenged to assist in projects across the university campus and region.

As a Fine & Performing Arts Scholar at ETSU, the choice of degree is not limited. However, participation in an additional curriculum and maintenance of a minimum overall GPA of 2.75 is required. The following list describes the curriculum requirements of the Arts Scholars Program:

• Each semester, students must participate in a minimum of 10 hours of community service either on or off-campus. The Director of the program will approve the choice of service, although we hope students consider art-related service activities.
• As a Freshman, enrollment in a 1-credit hour course each semester called the Honors Colloquium is required. Here students will learn to share their experiences, learn new skills for how to survive as an artist, and work with others to develop new projects. In the fall, freshmen will enroll in Artistic Vision (3 credit hours), a special interdisciplinary arts course.
• As a Sophomore and as a Junior, students will enroll in our Roving Artist course (2 credit hours each semester). Here students join with student colleagues to design, construct and perform projects across the university campus and local community.
• During their academic studies, students will fulfill an arts diversity requirement by enrolling in two courses from artistic areas other than their specialty.
• As a Senior, students will be back in Honors Colloquium to help the new freshman class and work toward completion of their capstone senior project, including a written component and a public presentation (Senior Honors Thesis - 6 credit hours).

This special curriculum is designed to challenge students to find their passion, test their potential, and help advance the arts into a new, interdisciplinary form.

Important Note

Beginning in 2012, new students in the Fine & Performing Arts Scholars Program will have different requirements. The choice of degree is not limited, but you must have at least a minor in an arts program. Participation in the program is dependent on a minimum GPA of 2.75 for less than 30 hours and 3.25 for 31 and higher hours. The following is a list of additional requirements for the FPA program:

• Each semester, students must participate in a minimum of 10 hours of community service either on or off-campus. The Director of the program will approve the choice of service, although we hope students consider art-related service activities.
• As a Freshman, each student will enroll in Artistic Vision I (3 credit hours), a special interdisciplinary arts course in the Fall semester, and Artistic Vision II (3 credit hours) in the Spring semester.
• Every semester through the senior year, each FPA student in a 1-credit hour course each semester called the Honors Colloquium. Here students will learn to share their experiences, learn new skills for how to survive as an student, and work with others to develop new projects. You will be taking this class with students from other programs in the Honors College, helping to develop an even deeper interdisciplinary approach.
• As a Sophomore and as a Junior, students will enroll in our Roving Artist course (2 credit hours) in the Spring semester. Here students join with student colleagues to design, construct and perform projects across the university campus and local community.
• As a Senior, students will work toward completion of their capstone senior project, including a written component (Senior Honors Thesis - 6 credit hours, taken over two semester) and a public presentation.