The Arts Initiative seeks to deepen the presence of the arts in all arenas of undergraduate and graduate student life.

Attracting Arts-Oriented Students

Stanford seeks to attract more undergraduates with a passion for the arts, whether or not they intend to become arts majors. Stanford also expects to increase the number of graduate students in the arts in current and new degree programs.

Shaping First Encounters with the Arts

Stanford plans to expand the number of arts-related sections in the Introduction to the Humanities course required for all freshmen. The university's unique system of Freshman and Sophomore Seminars and the intensive Sophomore College also will include more arts-focused classes. Other seminars will combine the study of the arts with hands-on experience.

Integrating the Arts in the Curriculum

The initiative will "mainstream" the arts, bringing them into undergraduate and graduate courses and fields not normally associated with art. One example is a course on Music and the Brain, co-taught by faculty from music and neuroscience and open to graduate students across the campus.

Stanford has also begun a program of arts grants that allow undergraduates in any major to pursue independent research and creative projects in the arts beyond the classroom. Similar efforts will create additional arts experiences for graduate students throughout the university.

Enlivening Residential Life

The Arts Initiative will bring visiting artists and performers into the student residences for meals, public conversations, and coaching with student artists. Residential programs will draw from the Stanford Lively Arts performance series, the Cantor Arts Center, the Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics, the Institute for Diversity in the Arts, and other campus arts organizations.

Fostering Student Performers and Audiences

The Arts Initiative will strive to provide more opportunities for students to perform on campus and experience the arts beyond Stanford. New performance series will showcase student groups. The "Off the Farm" program provides subsidized tickets to world-class performances and exhibitions throughout the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond.