Art history offers courses that consider art, craft, design, architecture, and media through the lens of history, geography, ethnicity, and identity. Although primarily designed to prepare students for graduate work in art history, careers in museums and galleries and arts administration, the curriculum also emphasizes skills that are essential to many other professions. A focus in art history can be combined with the minor in Museum Studies (see
Museum Studies 698).
B.A. DEGREE REQUIREMENTS
CORE CURRICULUM FOR ART HISTORY (9 credits)
All courses listed are 3 credits unless otherwise indicated
Select two from the following:
50:082:101 Introduction to Art History I
50:082:102 Introduction to Art History II
50:082:104 Introduction to the Arts of Asia
50:698:105 Cross-Cultural Art History
Required
50:082:490 Art History: Theory and Method
ADDITIONAL ART HISTORY DISTRIBUTION REQUIREMENTS (15 credits)
Select one course from five of the following six areas.
Some courses fulfill distribution requirements depending on the specific material covered in that course in a particular semester. Consult with your adviser to determine what distribution area is covered when you register. A partial list of these courses is:
50:082:200 Gender and the Arts
50:082:202 History of Design
50:082:305 Women in Art
50:082:394 Learning Abroad
Ancient
50:082:206 Art of the Ancient Near East
50:082:207 Art of Egypt
50:082:208 Greek Art and Archeology
50:082:209 Art of Ancient Rome
50:082:303 Art of the Silk Road
Medieval and Renaissance
50:082:203 Medieval Art and Culture
50:082:204 Renaissance Art
50:082:313 Renaissance Art of Northern Europe
50:082:320 Art of the Middle Ages
50:082:333 Italian Renaissance Art
17th and 19th Centuries
50:082:210 Arts of Power: Seventeenth & Eighteenth Century Europe
50:082:237 Nineteenth Century Art
50:082:267 American Art
50:082:340 Art in the Age of Discovery
Design & Media
50:082:202 History of Design
50:082:280 Art in an Age of Mechanized and Electronic Media
50:082:316 Art of Film
50:082:380 History of Animation
50:082:381 Japanese Animation
50:082:382 History of Graphic Design
50:082:383 History of Photography
Modern & Contemporary
50:082:214 Global Modern Art
50:082:238 Twentieth Century Art
50:082:251 Modern Architecture
50:082:352 European Modern Art: 1880-1940
50:082:353 Modern Art: 1940-1980
50:082:354 Contemporary Art
50:082:368 Twentieth-Century American Art
50:082:395 Sculpture of the Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries
In & Beyond the West
50:082:200 Gender and the Arts
50:082:201 LGBTQ/Race and Popular Culture
50:082:212 Japanese Art
50:082:213 Chinese Art
50:082:229 Art of the Americas
50:082:266 African American Art
50:082:285 Art of Africa
50:082:286 Latin American Art and Culture
50:082:305 Women and Art
50:082:329 Pre-Columbian and Meso-American Art
ART HISTORY ELECTIVES (9 CREDITS)
An elective may be drawn from any 200-level or higher Art History or Museum Studies course not already counted in the Distribution Requirements, including 50:082:491 Individual Study in Art History.
Students are encouraged to add an elective from Studio course offerings.
The total number of required courses in the Art History concentration is 11; the total number of credits is 33.
Note: Students intending to pursue graduate study in art history are strongly encouraged to pursue the museum studies minor (see Museum Studies 698). In addition, students 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 of which they are a part, the study of art history is strengthened by a knowledge of archaeology, cultural anthropology, history, literature, philosophy, religion, urban studies, and other related disciplines. In consultation with their advisers, students should select appropriate languages and courses in related subjects.
DEPARTMENTAL HONORS PROGRAM IN ART HISTORY
50:082:497 & 498 Honors in Art History I & II is a two-semester independent research project on a specific topic, leading to an honors thesis written under the supervision of a member of the art history faculty.
Prerequisites: Candidates for honors in art history must, at the end of their junior year, have a cumulative grade-point average of 3.2 or better, and an average of 3.5 or better in the major. Both semesters courses must be completed to receive credit in honors. Art History expand ones appreciation of art. Art history courses consider art, craft, design, architecture, and media through the lenses of history, religion, anthropology, geography, psychology, ethnicity, identity and more. A major in art history not only prepares students for graduate work in art history and careers in museums, galleries and arts administration, but it also develops skills that are essential to many other professions, such as acute visual observation and verbal and written exposition and argumentation. A focus in art history can be combined with the minor in Museum Studies (see Museum Studies 698).
