Undergraduate

The study of art history ranges widely, from ancient cave paintings in Central Asia to new media installations in Manhattan. Students in art history classes can expect to look intensely at works of art, to read texts contemporary with the art’s production, as well as the latest in scholarly interpretation, to understand the unique practices and materials that underpin any human creation, as well as to explore the significance of art for the cultures that make it. To this end, students taking classes in art history find themselves immersed in questions of politics, social institutions, religion, technology, material culture, and the city. 

Students in art history enter a world not only of art and architecture, but a community, too. Faculty, graduate students, majors, and visitors come together frequently in the Department of the History of Art to share their work and their views on the nature of human creativity.