Art History and Critical Studies

If you are one of those students who is fascinated by art history and visual culture, but you are also passionate about making art, then the BFA in Art History and Critical Studies is for you. In this major, theory and practice are presented as complementary. The emphasis of the program of study is on modern and contemporary issues, with special attention given to concerns directly affecting practicing artists. It is designed to appeal to artistically inclined students motivated to engage critical issues of our era with intellectual curiosity. The program also allows for a focused studio concentration along with the art history curriculum.

In the art history major, you will begin your artistic journey in the studio foundation program, along with the first-year students in the other majors. At the same time, introductory courses in the history of the principal periods of Western art will prepare you for advanced study in the discipline. A second year seminar will introduce art history majors to the key theoretical approaches to the study of the history of modern art, including iconographic, formal, social and political, psychoanalytical and semiological. You will then be able to pursue your interests in a wide variety of lecture and seminar courses.

In the final year, you will produce a thesis about a topic in art of the 20th or 21st century that will be submitted to a Thesis Committee for approval. To produce this thirty page polished critical paper you will work closely with a thesis advisor at all stages of the project, including developing a proposal. You will graduate from AIB with the art historical and critical tools and the studio skills to pursue graduate study or a career path in a variety of art-related professions.

Art History Programs

Art History BFA
123 credits | sample curriculum and courses

Art of the Western World I and II
Departmental Art History Course
Critical Theory
Non-Western Art History Elective
Advanced Art History Elective
Advanced Art History Elective

Open to all matriculated AIB students in the BFA degree program, regardless of major, the Art History Minor is designed to enrich the BFA degree by offering you the opportunity to enhance the training in your chosen artistic specialty with a more focused study of the history and theory of art. Many students will welcome the opportunity to delve more deeply into art of other eras and cultures and to further develop their critical and writing skills as a natural complement to their own art making. Because Art History is already a significant required component of all AIB students' education, the additional requirements for the Minor can easily be fulfilled. For information regarding the eligibility, application, and program requirements, contact Susan Ashbrook.

Current students may search course listings within the LOIS WebAdvisor system and visit Academic Advising to download program requirement worksheets.

Images at left from top:
All photography by Tia Renee Ryan, BFA 2007 (Photography); images from top: Frida Kahlo; The Kiss, 2006; The Lovers.