BA Art History

The Major in History of Art is designed to give students solid grounding in the artistic traditions, practices, and contexts that comprise historical and contemporary visuality. Equally, it introduces the discipline’s history, methods, and debates. It prepares students to do independent research, to evaluate evidence, to create coherent and sustained arguments, and to develop skills in academic writing. In a series of increasingly focused courses — lower division, upper division, seminar, and honors program — the major provides a format for students to learn how to analyze and interpret visual, material, and textual evidence from specific cultural settings and historical circumstances. Major requirements are also designed to maximize exposure to different historical periods, geographical regions, and topics while allowing flexibility for students to pursue specific interests by selecting a Focus of Study.