Students graduating with a major in art history are able to:

  1. demonstrate an understanding of works of art and architecture from diverse genres and from a range of historical periods and geographical locations. (Note: By “works of art” we mean both traditional and nontraditional mediums, from painting and sculpture to installation and performance art.)
  2. demonstrate familiarity with more than one artistic culture of a particular time and place. (Structure of major: course selection should be broad rather than concentrated, and encompass both early modern and modern eras.)
  3. demonstrate mastery of analytical skills such as observation and inductive reasoning in interpreting works of art both as formal structures and in relation to social and cultural contexts. Students will also demonstrate mastery of the principal developments and primary problems of interpretation and an awareness of critical and theoretical perspectives. (Formal analysis and close interpretation of objects, all art history courses; contextual relations, some 1000-level courses, and all courses at 2000-level and above; critical approaches, advanced courses, tutorials, and seminars.)
  4. demonstrate an array of critical approaches to the study of art history and visual culture. (Junior Seminar, other seminars, courses in critical theory.)
  5. produce an extended work involving visual analysis, reading research, critical thinking, writing, and standard methods of documentation. (Senior Project.)