Majoring & Minoring: Art History

Art History is an academic liberal arts program that seeks to understand the significance of visual culture within specific cultural and historical contexts. The Art History major enables the student to develop visual literacy and to critically assess the complex meanings of material culture within diverse settings.

To foster such understanding, Art History courses take a broadly contextual approach, situating art objects in relation to contemporaneous political and historical events; issues of race, gender, class and power structures; intellectual history and aesthetic criticism.

Students are asked to adopt this expansive historical and interpretive perspective in their own work. They become well-versed in the history of art in specific cultural contexts, and learn to analyze the visual and material attributes of art objects; conduct thorough historical research; think theoretically about the meaning of artistic production; develop critical and inventive arguments; and communicate their ideas clearly in both written and oral forms.

Students preparing for graduate work in Art History are encouraged to develop strong language skills in at least one foreign language, which is required for advanced primary and secondary art historical research.

Upon invitation of the department, an honors project is available to students. An honors project requires at least six semester hours of Senior Research (71-98x) taken in the junior or senior year (starting, at the latest, fall of senior year). Those who are interested are encouraged to contact the professor who is most likely to act as adviser to the honors work and propose a topic. The project will have a committee of at least three faculty members, approved by the department, and honors are awarded upon the basis of and extensive research paper and an illustrated presentation, and the vote of the committee. Hours may not count towards the courses required for the major, and an honors project does not replace the seminar capstone requirement.

It is possible to complete a 54-hour program in International Studies that pairs a major in Art History with an additional “Concentration” of four courses on either East Asia, Europe, or Latin America plus two courses at the 300 level or above in an appropriate language and a semester or longer study abroad experience. See the International Studies Program for further details.

Major in Art History

36 semester hours, including Art History 71-103, 123, 803 (Capstone, to be taken junior or senior year); one course in Studio Art in any medium; one 200-level course (Asian); one 600-level course (Modern); 18 additional hours of Art History, 12 hours of which must be above the introductory level.

Minor in Art History

18 semester hours, including Art History 71-103, 123; 12 additional semester hours of Art History above the introductory level (three of these hours may be in Studio Art).

See the Education Department for information regarding teacher certification in Art.