Program Overview
Students specializing in Art History & Visual Studies will organize their visual experiences within critical, social, scientific, and historical contexts. This track is focused upon the aesthetic and cultural analyses of images, rather than their production. The courses within this track ask some fundamental questions:
- What kind of visual objects does a culture produce and preserve, and why?
- How do images and ways of seeing effect meaning?
- What is the effect of art and architecture on society?
Major requirements
- Art 101: Ancient through Medieval Art
- Art 102: Renaissance through Contemporary Art
- Art 151: Introduction to Design
- At least 20 additional hours in cultural history and visual analysis to be selected from:
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Art 201: Issues in Public Art & Architecture
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Art 250: Design History
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Art 290: Interdisciplinary Studies
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Art 291: Representations of the Holocaust
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Art 295: Special Topics
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Art 305W: American Art & Architecture
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Art 306S: Modern & Contemporary Art
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Art 310: History of Photography
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Art 395: Selected Topics
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Art 491-496: Independent Study in Art (1-6)
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- At least 4 hours in Film Studies (COMM/Engl 178, 262, 368, 373S; 399; Span 308)
- At least 16 hours of the coursework above must be at the 300- or 400- level.
Total: 9 courses & 36 hours minimum
Supportive Requirements
The combined equivalent of two years of study in foreign language(s).
Minor Requirements
Art 101, 102, and 201 or 250 or 291,plus at least 12 hours in cultural history and visual analysis from the list above (excluding studio arts courses) at the 300- or 400-level.
Departmental Honors in Art
For a student to be considered for admission to the Honors Program in Art, she or he must meet the general College requirements for admission to such programs. In addition he/she must:
- Be an Art major.
- Hold a 3.5 grade point in the major and 3.25 overall.
- Earn 4 hours in Art 491-496: Independent Study in addition to their major requirements in which they complete a substantial scholarly project for the Art History & Visual Studies concentration or a substantial creative project for the Studio Arts concentration. For the Art History & Visual Studies concentration, the results of the project must be either published in a scholarly journal or publicly presented (e.g., at the Student Research Forum, a professional conference, or a colloquium of Art faculty and students). For the Studio concentration, the creative work must be presented as an exhibition including an oral presentation before Art students and faculty.