CeramicsAA DegreeCertificate of Achievement
- Community of interest
- 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
Program detailsAward, code, department, CIP/TOP
Program Snapshot
- 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
Next Steps
AA Degree — expand to learn about this award
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.
Semester-by-Semester Map
Term 1
Class Schedules
course details
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).
course details
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:
General Education: Area 1A
about 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
about 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
course details
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.
Prerequisite: ART 50
Select one: Meets Area 3
General Education: Area 2
about 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
about 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 1-199 or C1000-C2999)
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
course details
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.
Prerequisite: ART 50
course details
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
about 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 1-199 or C1000-C2999)
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
course details
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.
Prerequisite: ART 52
course details
This course is an introduction to 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
about 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 1-199 or C1000-C2999)
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.
Example roles: 2
- Fine Artists, Including Painters, Sculptors, and Illustrators
- Craft Artists
Graduate School Paths
Advanced roles commonly associated with graduate, professional, or post-baccalaureate study.
Example roles: 1
- Art, Drama, and Music Teachers, Postsecondary
Local Job Market
Fine Artists, Including Painters, Sculptors, and IllustratorsSOC 27-10131 nearby opening
Top employers in sample
- Iron Orchid Designs 1
Where the postings are
- Antelope, Sacramento County 1
Sample current postings
Craft ArtistsSOC 27-10121 nearby opening
Top employers in sample
- Salvation Army Careers 1
Where the postings are
- Nevada City, Nevada County 1
Sample current postings
Art, Drama, and Music Teachers, PostsecondarySOC 25-11213 nearby openings
Top employers in sample
- Nevada City School of the Arts 3
Where the postings are
- Nevada City, Nevada County 3
Sample current postings
Posting counts come from Adzuna's index of US job boards, covering the last up to 90 days within up to 100 miles of ZIP 95965. Coverage and salary visibility vary by employer. Empty searches expand the radius and posting window before the section gives up.
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.
Live wage data was not available from the BLS helper for the mapped occupations, so some pay fields may be blank.
Last generated 2026-07-05T16:51+00:00