Ceramics Program Map

Award type:

AA Degree
Certificate of Achievement

The Ceramics program offers a solid foundation in the technical and aesthetic aspects of the medium. Students are taught the importance of minute details as well as overall excellence. Many specific skills are emphasized including handbuilding, wheel throwing, clay and glaze chemistry, mold making, kiln firings, and the specialized techniques of raku and primitive firings. Students have access to a fully equipped studio and have the opportunity to learn the operational requirements of the facility. Although ceramics as an art medium is emphasized, students also study the inter-relationship between industry, business and ceramics. The program offers a well-rounded art education including the ability to install exhibitions. A working portfolio for employment purposes is developed. The Ceramics Department offers courses which satisfy lower division requirements in many of the CSUs. Many job opportunities exist for the individual proficient in ceramics. These include, but are not limited to: artist, art teacher or therapist, self-employed craft-person, mold maker, glaze technician, ceramic restorer, industrial ceramist, gallery or art shop manager, museum employee, interior design specialist, tile decorator, dental ceramist, and production designer. Students interested in pursuing a four-year degree are provided with a strong foundation for further coursework.

Program detailsAward, code, department, CIP/TOP

Community of interest: BCAD Business, Cosmetology, Arts & Design
Award: AA Degree
Program code: 11128.00AA
Department: Photography/Ceramics
CIP code: 50.0711: Ceramic Arts and Ceramics.
TOP code: 1002.30 - Ceramics

Map Class Schedule

Program Schedule Report Meet with a counselor

Ceramics

AA Degree

The Associate of Arts is typically awarded for academic areas outside STEM and CTE — humanities, social sciences, arts, language. Like every Butte College associate degree, it has two parts: a general-education curriculum and an academic program of specialization.

About General Education. GE is an integrated program of learning designed to foster intellectual curiosity, cultural understanding, critical thinking, creative reasoning, oral and written communication, and the capacity for ethical reasoning. By graduation, you'll have developed the ability to think critically, communicate clearly, apply quantitative reasoning, understand how the major academic disciplines ask their questions, comprehend diverse cultures and historical periods, and assess ethical problems — alongside the depth you build in your major.

See the 2025-26 Catalog for official program details

Semester-by-Semester Map

Term 1

Class Schedules

15–16 units

ART 8

Drawing I

3 units

This course is an introduction to principles, elements, and practices of drawing, employing a wide range of subject matter and drawing media. Focus on perceptually based drawing, observational skills, technical abilities, and creative responses is placed on materials and subject matter. (C-ID ARTS 110).

ART 50

Beginning Ceramics

3 units

This course is an introduction to ceramics materials, concepts, and processes, including basic design principles, creative development, hand-building, throwing (potter's wheel), glaze techniques, firing and ceramic terminology. Students will experiment with a variety of forms, glazes, and other surface treatments, and will be introduced to historical as well as contemporary ceramic artworks.

Select one:

Required

3 units

Choose one of 2 choices

ART 7
2-D Foundations
3 units
course details
This course is an introduction to the concepts, applications, and historical references related to two-dimensional art and composition, including the study of the basic principles and elements of line, shape, texture, value, color and spatial illusion. Students develop visual vocabulary for creative expression through lecture presentations, studio projects, problem solving, and written assignments. (C-ID ARTS 100).
+−
ART 9
3-D Foundation
3 units
course details
This course is an introduction to the concepts, applications, and historical references related to three-dimensional design and spatial composition, including the study of the elements and organizing principles of design as they apply to three-dimensional space and form. Development of a visual vocabulary for creative expression through lecture presentations and use of appropriate materials for non-representational three-dimensional studio projects. (C-ID ARTS 101).
+−

General Education: Area 1A

English Composition

Baccalaureate-level academic writing — expository and argumentative. The foundation for every other course you'll write in.

General Education: Area 6

Ethnic Studies

The histories, experiences, and contributions of the four autonomous disciplines: Black / African American / Africana studies, Native American studies, Chicano/a/x and Latino/a/x studies, and Asian American studies.

Term 2

Class Schedules

15–17 units

ART 52

Ceramics II

3 units

This course is an exploration of clay as a medium of expression, using the potter's wheel and/or hand-building techniques to create sculptural and functional forms. Students will continue to develop techniques in basic wheel-throwing and/or hand-building, clay body formulation, surface enrichment techniques, and kiln firing. Students will also become familiar with historical as well as contemporary ceramic artworks.

Select one: Meets Area 3A

Required

3 units

Choose one of 2 choices

ART 2
Prehistoric to Gothic Art History Survey
3 units
course details
This course provides an overview of western art and architecture from prehistory through the medieval period within their historical and cultural contexts. (C-ID ARTH 110).
+−
ART 4
Renaissance in Contemporary Art History Survey
3 units
course details
This course provides an overview of art and architecture from the Renaissance to the Contemporary period within their historical and cultural contexts. (C-ID ARTH 120).
+−

General Education: Area 2

Mathematical Concepts and Quantitative Reasoning

College-level mathematics or quantitative reasoning — the toolkit behind science, business, and informed citizenship.

General Education: Area 4

Social and Behavioral Sciences

The systematic study of people as members of society — cultural anthropology, cultural geography, economics, history, political science, psychology, sociology — and the methods these disciplines use to ask their questions.

Elective (any course numbered 1-99 or C1000-C1999)

Only necessary if the 60 units needed to graduate have not been completed. Consider taking a Cal-GETC General Education course. Visit www.assist.org to see options.

Term 3

Class Schedules

15 units

ART 54

Ceramics III - Low Fire

3 units

This course expands on the hand-building and wheel-throwing skills learned in the introductory class, with an emphasis on a variety of low-fire glaze and surface techniques, setting up additional possibilities for creative expression.

ART 60

Sculpture I

3 units

This course is an introduction to three-dimensional sculptural principles, techniques, and concepts utilizing a wide range of materials and practices. Various sculpture methods are practiced with attention to creative self-expression and historical context.

General Education: Area 1B

Oral Communication and Critical Thinking

Baccalaureate-level oral communication and/or critical thinking — speaking with structure to a live audience, analyzing arguments, identifying assumptions.

Elective (any course numbered 1-99 or C1000-C1999)

Only necessary if the 60 units needed to graduate have not been completed. Consider taking a Cal-GETC General Education course. Visit www.assist.org to see options.

Term 4

Class Schedules

15–17 units

ART 56

Ceramics IV

3 units

This course is an in-depth exploration of clay as a medium of expression, with emphasis on individual ideas and directions. Students will concentrate on creating a personal vocabulary of imagery, construction methods, and surface treatments, and will develop and draw upon a broad awareness of historical as well as contemporary ceramic artworks.

ART 70

Gallery Production/Business of Art

2 units

This course will deal with the various aspects of operating an educationally directed art gallery including scheduling, lighting, publicity, security, budget, receptions, show themes and reviews. The Butte College Coyote Gallery will function as the class laboratory, and approximately two to three shows will be organized and installed each semester. (Annual student show in Spring semester). In addition, students will learn the business of art in order to be able to successfully compete in the professional market place.

General Education: Area 5

Physical and Biological Sciences

The physical universe, its life forms, and its natural phenomena — astronomy, biology, chemistry, geology, meteorology, oceanography, physics — taught alongside the scientific method that makes them work.

Graduation Requirement Choice (See GE Guide)

Elective (any course numbered 1-99 or C1000-C1999)

Only necessary if the 60 units needed to graduate have not been completed. Consider taking a Cal-GETC General Education course. Visit www.assist.org to see options.

Career Connections

2-Year Degree Paths

Entry points students may pursue after associate-level study, technical preparation, or licensure pathways.

No locally mapped occupations in the current dataset point cleanly to an immediate 2-year outcome for this program.

4-Year Degree Paths

Roles that more often open up after transfer and a bachelor's degree.

No locally mapped occupations in the current dataset are grouped into the 4-year pathway for this program.

Graduate School Paths

Advanced roles commonly associated with graduate, professional, or post-baccalaureate study.

No locally mapped occupations in the current dataset are grouped into the graduate-school pathway for this program.

Source Notes

Course sequencing is generated from the Acadia Program Mapper cache. Career groupings use local CIP-to-SOC mappings and BLS occupation data when available. Confirm education plans with Counseling and Advising.

No NCES/IPEDS CIP-to-SOC mapping was found for this program's CIP code.

Last generated 2026-06-12T23:20+00:00

Program Snapshot

Next Steps

2-Year Degree Paths

4-Year Degree Paths

Graduate School Paths

Source Notes