Program Description

The Art History program cultivates critical thinking, close observation, and visual analysis skills that allow students to better navigate and respond to their communities, both locally and globally. Students in this program gain strong historical and theoretical grounding in multiple histories of art and visual culture, and develop skills in applying critical lenses and methodologies that challenge dominant narratives and structures. Courses in this program prioritize feminist, decolonial, transnational, and antiracist perspectives.

A major in Art History prepares students for a wide variety of graduate school disciplines and professional careers. Our alumni have gone on to apply their skills and experiences in law school, medicine, nonprofit administration, graduate studies in studio and art history, business and entrepreneurship, urban planning, architecture, and historic preservation. Our goal is to enrich students’ experiences of their visual world and to develop the necessary analytical and communication skills to thrive upon graduation.

Program Goals

1. Students understand, critique, and propose alternatives to narratives of art history using critical thinking skills, visual analysis, and art historical research.
   
2. Students understand and express how images and objects accumulate meaning in different contexts.
   
3. Students demonstrate agency and self-reflection regarding their own learning and positionalities.