Art History Major
Art History Major Requirements
Major requirements are designed to maximize exposure to a range of world art traditions, while allowing students to develop and refine their study of specific areas of interest. Working in dialogue with faculty advisers, majors plan programs that combine introductory lecture courses with smaller, more specialized colloquia and seminars. Foreign travel and education abroad can provide unparalleled opportunities for students to refine and extend their study of art, architecture, and archaeology. Department faculty enthusiastically encourage foreign study, and advisers work closely with students to integrate rigorous and rewarding study abroad experiences into their major.
The only prerequisite for entry into Art History is successful completion of ARTH 2000 Art Worlds with a grade of C or above. The major in art history requires 10 courses, 9 of which must be above the 1000 level. Courses taken at any time during the student’s career can be counted, regardless of when or where the coursework was conducted, including dual-enrollment courses, transfer credits, study abroad opportunities, those studied during summer session and/or in architectural history. By graduation, a student must have achieved a minimum GPA of 2.000 in major courses. (A student who does not maintain an average of 2.000 or better in departmental courses will be put on probation and may be dropped from the program.) No course graded below C- may count for major credit.
Distribution Requirements
Students must complete one course focused upon material before and after the year 1500 at the 2000-level or above. Students must also complete one course focused upon the cultural historical traditions of Africa, Asia or Indigenous peoples. Please note: a single course may not satisfy more than one of these three requirements.
Any two 4000-level courses count as capstone experiences in Art History, but may not be used to satisfy one of the three requirements above. These include opportunities in Arts Administration, art historical or architectural historical seminars, DMP preparation, and investigations of advanced skills or topics which rotate on an annual basis. In addition to the two capstone courses, two courses must be at the 3000 level or above. 3000-level courses may satisfy any other requirement.
Students may count toward the major: one ARTH course at the 1000 level including AP credit with a score of 4 or 5; one course in Studio Art (ARTS); courses in Architectural History at the 2000 level or above; ARAD coursework.
Total Required Credits: 120
Sample Course Lists
- ARTH 1004 - A History of Architecture Credits: 3
- ARTH 1051 - History of Art I Credits: 4
- ARTH 1054 - How Art Works Credits: 3
- ARTH 1500 - Introductory Seminars in Art History Credits: 3
- ARTH 1503 - Art and the Premodern World Credits: 3
- ARTH 1505 - Art and the Modern World Credits: 3
- ARTH 1507 - Art and Global Cultures Credits: 3
- ARTH 2591 - Art Lab Credits: 3
- ARTH 3494 - Individual Research Experiences Credits: 3
- ARTH 3993 - Independent Study Credits: 1 to 3
- ARTH 4051 - Art History: Theory and Practice Credits: 3
- ARTH 4591 - Undergraduate Seminar in the History of Art Credits: 3
- ARTH 4951 - University Museums Internship Credits: 3
- ARTH 4952 - University Museums Internship Credits: 3
- ARTH 4998 - Undergraduate Thesis Research Credits: 3
- ARTH 4999 - Undergraduate Thesis Writing Credits: 3
Courses before 1500
- ARTH 1153 - Space Out! Cosmic Art from Prehistory to the Present Credits: 3 to 4
- ARTH 2052 - Ancient Egypt Credits: 3 to 4
- ARTH 2053 - Greek Art and Archaeology Credits: 3 to 4
- ARTH 2054 - Roman Art and Archaeology Credits: 3 to 4
- ARTH 2055 - Introduction to Classical Archaeology Credits: 3 to 4
- ARTH 2056 - Aegean Art and Archaeology Credits: 3 to 4
- ARTH 2151 - Early Christian and Byzantine Art Credits: 3 to 4
- ARTH 2153 - Romanesque and Gothic Art Credits: 3 to 4
- ARTH 2252 - High Renaissance and Mannerist Art Credits: 3 to 4
- ARTH 2271 - Northern Renaissance Art Credits: 3 to 4
- ARTH 2525 - Topics in Renaissance Art History Credits: 3 to 4
- ARTH 2961 - Arts of the Islamic World Credits: 3 to 4
- ARTH 3051 - Greek Vase Painting Credits: 3 to 4
- ARTH 3062 - Pompeii Credits: 3
- ARTH 3151 - Art and Science in the Middle Ages Credits: 3 to 4
- ARTH 3153 - Prague: Threshold of European Art and Culture Credits: 3
- ARTH 3254 - Leonardo da Vinci Credits: 3 to 4
- ARTH 3255 - Renaissance Art on Site Credits: 3
- ARTH 3525 - Topics in Renaissance Art History Credits: 3 to 4
Courses after 1500
- ARTH 2281 - The Age of Caravaggio, Velazquez, and Bernini Credits: 3 to 4
- ARTH 2282 - The Age of Rubens and Rembrandt: Baroque Art in the NetherlandsCredits: 3 to 4
- ARTH 2352 - Art of Revolutionary Europe Credits: 3 to 4
- ARTH 2354 - British Art Credits: 3 to 4
- ARTH 2371 - Impressionism and Post Impressionism Credits: 3 to 4
- ARTH 2372 - Paris, “Capital of the Nineteenth Century” Credits: 3 to 4
- ARTH 2451 - Art in the 20th Century Credits: 3 to 4
- ARTH 2470 - Art Now Credits: 3
- ARTH 2471 - Art Since 1945 Credits: 3 to 4
- ARTH 2491 - The History of Photography Credits: 3 to 4
- ARTH 2745 - African American Art Credits: 3 to 4
- ARTH 2753 - Arts & Cultures of the Slave South Credits: 4
- ARTH 2769 - Queer Histories of US Art, 1950s-90s Credits: 3 to 4
- ARTH 2961 - Arts of the Islamic World Credits: 3 to 4
- ARTH 3254 - Leonardo da Vinci Credits: 3 to 4
- ARTH 3525 - Topics in Renaissance Art History Credits: 3 to 4
- ARTH 3545 - Topics In 20th/21st Century Art Credits: 3 to 4
- ARTH 3785 - Afro-Latin American Art Credits: 3 to 4
Courses Emphasizing African, Asian, or Indigenous Traditions
- ARTH 1861 - Silk Road Exchanges and World Cultures Credits: 3
- ARTH 2052 - Ancient Egypt Credits: 3 to 4
- ARTH 2053 - Greek Art and Archaeology Credits: 3 to 4
- ARTH 2054 - Roman Art and Archaeology Credits: 3 to 4
- ARTH 2055 - Introduction to Classical Archaeology Credits: 3 to 4
- ARTH 2056 - Aegean Art and Archaeology Credits: 3 to 4
- ARTH 2745 - African American Art Credits: 3 to 4
- ARTH 2861 - East Asian Art Credits: 3 to 4
- ARTH 2862 - Arts of the Buddhist World- India to Japan Credits: 3 to 4
- ARTH 2882 - Sex, Spirits & Sorcery: Modern Aboriginal Art Credits: 4
- ARTH 2891 - Arts of African Civilizations Credits: 3 to 4
- ARTH 2892 - Modern and Contemporary African Art Credits: 3 to 4
- ARTH 2961 - Arts of the Islamic World Credits: 3 to 4
- ARTH 3051 - Greek Vase Painting Credits: 3 to 4
- ARTH 3062 - Pompeii Credits: 3
- ARTH 3651 - Anthropology of Australian Aboriginal Art Credits: 3
- ARTH 3785 - Afro-Latin American Art Credits: 3 to 4
- ARTH 3861 - Chinese Art Credits: 3 to 4
- ARTH 3863 - East Asian Art, Landscape, and Ecology Credits: 3
New Declarations
Students who wish to declare a major or a minor in art history should contact the Director of the Undergraduate Program in Fayerweather Hall in order to be assigned an advisor.
To contact the Director of the Undergraduate Program, email
Director of the Undergraduate Program
Eric Ramirez-Weaver
311 Fayerweather Hall | email