

Art History

Bachelor of Arts (BA)

Why do people make art? Where do you find art? What can art tell us about our world? Why does some art cost millions of dollars? Art history majors grapple with these questions by studying art across history and across cultures. Art history explores the world through images and objects. Our courses emphasize visual learning. They cover creative traditions in painting, sculpture, graphic arts, decorative arts, ritual objects, architecture, photography, design, performance, experimental media, and eco-art. Students are trained to examine, assess, research, and write about art objects. Graduates are prepared for a variety of careers, including teaching and museum work, or for graduate school.

Art history students visit local and regional galleries and museums and are encouraged to study abroad. Majors learn about careers in the field by studying how exhibitions are made, how collections are cared for, and how education of the public supports these efforts. Students can get practical experience through internships at a number of prestigious organizations, such as the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, the Connecticut Historical Society, the Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism, the New Britain Museum of American Art, Real Art Ways, the Joseloff Gallery, and many others.

Students who enter the University with advanced-placement (AP) credits in art history should elect at least one course at the 200 level before proceeding to 300-level work, and this course should not significantly duplicate material for which AP credit was awarded. A maximum of 3 credits in AP art history may be applied to the major or minor.

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Sherry Buckberrough, associate professor of art history in the College of Arts and Sciences, talks about art that incorporates the environment.