The art history area of specialization offers diverse courses that consider art throughout history from many geographic regions, designed to prepare students for graduate work in art history, careers in museums and galleries, and arts administration. The curriculum emphasizes skills in critical thinking, visual discrimination, and fluency in oral and written communication, all of which are essential to such professions as law and medicine, as well as in all art-related fields. A focus in art history can be combined with the minor or courses in museum studies (see Museum Studies 698).
Core Curriculum for Art History (18 credits)
50:082:101,102 Introduction to Art History I,II (3,3)
50:082:490 Art History Methodology (3)
50:082:491 Individual Study in Art History (3) and two of the following:
50:080:102 Visual Fundamentals (3) or 50:080:103 Three-Dimensional Foundations (3) or 50:080:213 Introduction to Computer Graphics (3) or 50:080:221 Drawing I (3) or 50:080:225 Color Theory (3) or 50:080:264 Digital Photography I (3)
Additional Art History Area Requirements (30 credits)
3 credits in ancient or medieval art from the following:
50:082:303 Art of the Ancient Near East (3)
50:082:310 Art of Egypt (3)
50:082:311 Roman Art (3)
50:082:320 Art of the Middle Ages (3)
50:082:342 Greek Art (3)
6 credits in Renaissance and Baroque art from the following:
50:082:313 Renaissance Art in Northern Europe (3)
50:082:331 Italian Renaissance Art (3)
50:082:340 Seventeenth- and 18th-Century European Art (3)
50:082:349 History of Sculpture: Baroque to Modern (3)
9 credits in 19th- and 20th-century art of Europe and the United States from the following:
50:082:251 Modern Architecture (3)
50:082:305 Women and Art (3)
50:082:332 African-American Art (3)
50:082:351 European Art: 1780 to 1880 (3)
50:082:352 European Modern Art: 1880 to 1940 (3)
50:082:353 Modern Art: 1940 to 1980 (3)
50:082:354 Contemporary Art (3)
50:082:367 American Art: 1650 to 1900 (3)
50:082:368 Twentieth-Century American Art (3)
50:082:380 Art in an Age of Mechanized and Electronic Media (3)
50:082:382 History of Design (3)
50:082:383 History of Photography (3)
50:082:395 Sculpture of the 20th Century (3)
3 credits in non-Western art from the following:
50:082:105 Cross-Cultural Art History (3)
50:082:285 Art of Africa (3)
50:082:329 Pre-Columbian and Meso-American Art (3)
50:082:360 Japanese Art (3)
50:082:363 Chinese Art (3)
50:082:485 Latin American Art and Culture (3)
9 elective credits selected from all courses offered in art history or museum studies at the 200 level or above.
Students intending to pursue graduate study in art history should take the equivalent of four semesters of college-level courses in a foreign language, usually French or German, and should strongly consider participating in the Art History Honors Program in their senior year. Because works of art express the ideas of the culture that produces them, the study of art history involves a knowledge of archaeology, cultural anthropology, history, literature, philosophy, religion, and urban studies. In consultation with their advisers, students should select languages and courses in related subjects that treat the geographic area and time period of their special interest.
