Art History (BA)

An art history major will help you to develop competence in visual literacy, analytical skills, communication skills, and cultural and historical awareness. Art history is a marketable major, and graduates make competitive candidates in museums, galleries, archives, and cultural institutions as well as business, education, law, private and nonprofit organizations, professional writing, and publishing.

Art history students explore global history, culture, and society through art and architecture from antiquity to the present day. Trained to celebrate cultural differences and the broad spectrum of human creativity and expression, art history students are natural ambassadors of pluralism and tolerance. As an art history student, you’ll develop skills in appreciating visual and material culture to help you become a true global citizen—ideally equipped to understand how historical events and concerns relate to important contemporary and international phenomena.

Program Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this program, students will be able to:

• Identify themes, forms and structures of works of art, architecture and visual/material culture, using appropriate art historical terms.
• Connect features of works of art, architecture and visual/material culture to their appropriate historical and cultural contexts.
• Evaluate scholarly interpretations of works of art, architecture and visual/material culture.
• Present arguments related to works of art, architecture and visual/material culture in scholarly writing.

Bachelor of Arts Degree Requirements

Majors in art history are required to complete the language requirement as described under the university’s bachelor of arts requirements.

Because some languages are required for advanced research and graduate study in art history as well as other humanistic disciplines, majors are urged to choose one of them to satisfy the BA requirement. For example, Greek and Latin are the most commonly used languages in art-historical study about the Ancient Mediterranean; Chinese and Japanese are essential for most areas of East Asian art history; French, German, and Italian are the most commonly used languages in European art-historical research; and Portuguese and Spanish are the most commonly used languages in Latin American art-historical research. Substitution of other languages may be appropriate to a field of interest. Students are urged to consult with their advisors when selecting a language for study.

¹

ART115, 116, 199, 233, 333, 381, any courses from ARTC, ARTD, ARTF, ARTM, ARTO, ARTP, ARTR, and ARTS subject code courses. A course must be 3 credits or more to count toward the requirement.

²

Choose any 300- and 400-level courses with the exception of History of World Architecture I (ARH 314) and History of World Architecture II (ARH 315). Four of the eight courses must be at the 400 level. Of the eight required upper-division courses, two courses must be taken in any three of the following four chronological breadth areas: ancient, medieval, early modern, modern-contemporary. The remaining two courses are electives and may be taken in any area. At least four of the eight required upper-division courses must be taken in residence at the University of Oregon.

³

Any lower- or upper-division ARH course.

Majors must take art history courses for letter grades and pass them with a C– or better.

Honors Program

Four-Year Degree Plan

The degree plan shown is only a sample of how students may complete their degrees in four years. There are alternative ways. Students should consult their advisor to determine the best path for them.

Bachelor of Arts in Art History