Art History Degree Requirements

Art History expands one’s 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 a 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
  • 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, Method  

ADDITIONAL ART HISTORY DISTRIBUTION REQUIREMENTS (15 CREDITS) 

Select one course from 5 of the following 6 areas.  

Some courses fulfill distribution requirements depending on the specific material covered in that course in a particular semester. Consult with your advisor 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 & 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 – 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 one’s 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).