Major in Art History
Art history majors have the flexibility to shape their academic journey through multiple pathways tailored to their personal interests and career goals. With the support of a department advisor, students can focus their studies on a specific region, time period, theme, or conceptual framework. Many choose to align their work with faculty expertise in areas such as:
- Art institutions and museum studies
- Social, economic, and political constructions of gender, sexuality, race, and class, and histories and theories of:
- Photography, media, and performance
- Architecture and infrastructure
- Installation art and the built environment
- Painting and fiber arts
- Environment, industry, and technology
- Materiality and ethnology
These areas reflect the department’s strengths and the diverse ways scholars approach the study of art and visual culture. They can serve as a framework—enabling students to integrate courses from different departments into a customized major within the Department of Art and Art History.
Requirements for Art History Major
Ten courses form the requirements for an art history major:
- Any three 100-level courses in the major. The two introductory courses that best frame your studies are:
- AHST 100: Introduction to Visual and Cultural Studies
- AHST 101: Introduction to Art History
- Four 200/400-level program courses, one of which may be an independent study or internship
- AHST 209: Writing on Art (sophomore/junior seminar)
- AHST 398: Senior Seminar
- One course in studio art
Honors in Art History
If you wish to be considered a candidate for an honors degree in art history/visual culture, you must meet the following requirements before applying:
- Have a grade-point average of 3.5 within the major.
- Have completed the introductory courses and at least three courses in the program, or have demonstrated proficiency in a number of related courses in the field.
- Have completed a 300-level or higher art history/visual culture course or have otherwise demonstrated competence in the area of study of the proposed honors project.
To apply, you must submit an honors project proposal to the department, the subject of which has been mutually agreed upon (and signed) by the student and his/her chosen faculty advisor early in the junior year.
If accepted, the candidate must complete a minimum of twelve credit hours beyond the major requirements, with the following distribution:
- Four credit hours in a 300-level seminar in art history.
- Four credit hours in AHST 393: Senior Project (the honors course).
- Four credit hours in a course given outside the art and art history department that is related to the honors project. This is intended to provide a broader and deeper understanding of the period or area of the honors project. This course is selected in consultation with your honors faculty advisor and normally will be a 200-level course taken in the spring of your junior year or fall of your senior year.
- Complete a distinguished essay approximately thirty-five pages in length. This can be a seminar paper further researched and suitably expanded, or what you choose to work on during your AHST 393: Senior Project course. In addition to the student's project advisor, a second reader (selected together by the advisor and the student) will evaluate the essay.
- Maintain a 3.5 grade-point average within the major.
- Submit two complete copies of the essay, one of which will be preserved by the University.
Requirements for Graduation with Distinction
Grade point average is calculated only from the required major courses. Transfer grades and study abroad grades (unless given by the University of Rochester) are not computed. Levels of distinction are rated by a minimum GPA as follows:
- With Distinction: 3.5
- With High Distinction: 3.7
- With Highest Distinction: 3.9
Contact
For more information contact the undergraduate advisor for art history, Christopher Heuer at cheuer@ur.rochester.edu.