Since our founding, the arts have played a seminal role in the educational mission of Connecticut College. We were the first baccalaureate institution in the country to offer music and art as fully fledged academic subjects. Visual art, creative writing, film, music, theater, and dance encourage us to see the world, and ourselves, in entirely new ways. They make us reflect more deeply, think more critically, listen more openly, and act more compassionately.

The future of innovation in every field will depend increasingly on students whose intellectual development includes research in the arts. Students who practice design thinking learn to find and to solve problems in creative and experimental ways. The arts offer a powerful platform for experimental practice, as well as a vehicle for advancing social change. Connecticut College has a long history of excellence in both.

The path-breaking experiments of the Ammerman Center for Arts and Technology have opened new vistas for research at the intersection of computer science and every arts discipline. Through this plan we will strive to build on the College’s historical legacy, and advance our distinction, by redefining the role of the arts in the liberal arts.