In a culture where the dominant form of communication is logical and verbal, art explores the power of visual imagery for personal and public communication. The Arts Department provides students with the means to pursue this imagery with a foundation in visual studies. This foundation is necessary for students to develop practical and theoretical knowledge about a broad range of visual activity, both past and present; students are offered courses that expose them to the complex relationship between theory and practice. The arts introduce us ” to people we have never met, places we have never visited, and ideas that may have never crossed our minds. By showing how others have lived and thought about life, the arts help us decide what is important in our own lives and what we can do to make them better. By connecting us with other people, they point the way to answers about what is right or wrong, or what is true to our heritage and our history.”