Art History

We live in a visual world and the field of art history provides an essential tool for experiencing humanity's visible achievements. The Art History Program offers a complete academic curriculum covering all the major movements and periods of Western civilization, as well as courses on the arts of Asia, the Americas, and Africa.

The Art History Program has successfully attracted many motivated and creative undergraduates who demonstrate their broad understanding and appreciation for the visual arts of painting, architecture, sculpture, photography, and new media.

Art history students develop critical evaluation skills through a cycle of courses that:

• Examine the artistic heritage of the ancient, medieval, Renaissance, baroque, modern, and American cultures in the Western experience and the artistic heritage of Asia, Africa, and the Americas
• Explore contemporary developments in art within our increasingly global society

The Art History program's goals include:

• Enabling students to develop a visual vocabulary
• Developing multiple perspectives on key paradigm monuments in their cultural contexts
• Establishing an understanding of the cross-disciplinary nature of art history as a gateway connected to the humanities and liberal arts
• Developing students' abilities to organize ideas, respond, write, and speak coherently about representational issues
• Encouraging students to take advantage of the world-class museums and collections in Connecticut and New York City
• Motivating students to attain direct involvement and aesthetic pleasure from the knowledge and comprehension of world art
  

A. Nadine Hovnanian '09 Double Major: Art History and Economics Prize: Mary Louise Larrabee Award for Outstanding Achievement in Art History

With a strong emphasis on the relationship between historical research, written analysis, and observational interpretation, students of art history come to possess a powerful visual vocabulary. Coursework leads to seminars in the junior and senior years. The skills learned in art history are essential for teaching, museum and gallery curating, marketing and media careers, as well as nearly every job that requires visual analysis. A strong liberal arts education based in art history also prepares students for careers including medicine, law, management, and international relations.

Among the many outstanding resources and programs available to art history students are:

• Specially arranged visits to major museums in New York and Connecticut with behind-the-scenes tours by curators
• Internships at regional museums and cultural organizations
• Hands-on apprenticeships at the University's Thomas J. Walsh Art Gallery
• Ongoing research with the University's Samuel H. Kress Collection of Italian Paintings and the Metropolitan Museum of Art Plaster Cast Collection, and the art collections in the new Bellarmine Museum of Art

Many art history majors choose to enrich their experience further by spending a semester or year abroad in Florence, Italy. Ultimately, the art history curriculum leads to a capstone experience, with credit earned in advanced seminars and independent study, or through an internship.

A strong liberal arts education based in art history gives students the tools to pursue careers as diverse as medicine, law, management, and international relations.