Department of Art and Art History
Faculty
Professors Emeriti
Roberta M. Bernstein, Ph.D. (Collins Fellow)
Columbia University
Robert Cartmell, M.F.A.
University of Iowa
Mojmir S. Frinta, Ph.D.
University of Michigan
Mark A. Greenwold, M.F.A.
Indiana University
Arthur G. Lennig, Ph.D.
University of Wisconsin
Thom O’Connor, M.F.A.
Cranbrook Academy
John C. Overbeck, Ph.D.
University of Cincinnati
Paul W. Wallace, Ph.D.
Indiana University
Professors
JoAnne Carson, M.F.A.
University of Chicago
Sarah R. Cohen, Ph.D.
Yale University
Phyllis J. Galembo, M.F.A.
University of Wisconsin
Edward A. Mayer, M.F.A.
University of Wisconsin
Associate Professors
David Carbone, M.F.A.
Brooklyn College, CUNY
Leona Christie, M.F.A.
University of Washington
Rachel Dressler, Ph.D. (Department Chair)
Columbia University
Adam Frelin, M.F.A.
University of California, San Diego
Daniel Goodwin, M.F.A.
Hunter College
Michael R. Werner, Ph.D.
Stanford University
Assistant Professors
Rakhee Balaram, Ph.D.
Courtauld Institute
Amy R. Bloch, Ph.D.
Rutgers University
Lecturers
Audrey E. Kupferberg, M.A.
New York University
Melissa Thorne, M.F.A.
California Institute of the Arts
Sculpture Technician
Roger Bisbing, M.F.A.
Syracuse University
Adjuncts (estimated): 18
Teaching Assistants (estimated): 13
The Department of Art and Art History offers a 36 credit major in art, a departmental art major of 60 credits, and a 36 credit major in art history. In addition students can minor in art or art history. The foundation of the studio art majors is a core curriculum in drawing, two- and three-dimensional design, and art history; areas of concentration are painting and drawing, sculpture, printmaking, and photography. The major in art history offers a range of courses drawn from offerings in art history within the department, and from other departments and programs in the College of Arts and Sciences, including history, theater, and East Asian studies. The University Art Museum offers a wide variety of exhibitions that enhance and extend the offerings of the Department of Art and Art History.
Careers
In addition to the traditional careers in fine art, commercial art, art history and criticism, students who immerse themselves in our art curriculum emerge with an understanding of visual literacy at a time when our culture as a whole is becoming increasingly dependent upon visual communication. Career paths include various positions in art museums and galleries, art conservation, the teaching of art and art history, art therapy, furniture design, industrial design, interior design, stage and costume design, graphic design, film production, TV production, medical archaeology and anthropological illustration, and animation.
Degree Requirements for the Major in Art
General Program B.A.: 36 credits, including at least 12 credits at the 300 level or above, to be distributed as follows: 18 credits are core requirements: A ART 105, 110, 115, 205 and A ARH 170 and 171; 18 credits are from electives with an A ART prefix; 3 of these credits may be from any course that applies to the art history major (see below.)
Degree Requirements for the Departmental Major in Art
General Program B.A.: 60 credits including a 30-credit core requirement consisting of A ART 105, 110, 115, 205, 220, 230, 240 or 242, 244, 305, and 491; 12 credits in art history consisting of A ARH 170 and 171 and 6 credits from courses that apply to the art history major (see below); 3 credits in studio art electives; and a 15-credit concentration in either painting and drawing, sculpture, printmaking, or photography.
Admission to Departmental Major in Art
The 60-credit art major is aimed at encouraging students who demonstrate both an unusual degree of accomplishment and potential. In the second semester of their sophomore year, or thereafter, students should submit from 12 to 20 works of art, in a portfolio or sheet of slides, to the Art and Art History Department for review. The portfolio should reflect a student’s intended area of focus: digital media, painting and drawing, photography, printmaking, or sculpture. The portfolio review is intended to give students an opportunity to demonstrate a maturing level of visual culture and the emergence of an artistic voice. Ultimately, an exemplary portfolio will display a high level of visual literacy and technical ability at the service of individual expression. This orientation will lead a student to further study at art school or at graduate school. Portfolios should be submitted to the art department secretary during the seventh week of the semester.
If a student is accepted as a 60-credit art major, the student should seek advisement from the undergraduate adviser and the faculty member they work with most to determine a set of personal goals within their remaining course of study.
Honors Program in the Departmental Major in Art
The Honors Program is designed for the exceptionally talented and committed student of art. Successful completion of the program is excellent preparation for graduate work in the Fine Arts. Studio space for Honors Students is limited. Successful completion of the program earns an Honors Certificate in Art and a nomination for graduating with “Honors in Art” from the University.
Students may present a portfolio for admission to the Honors Program to the Undergraduate Director in the second semester of their junior year or the first semester of their senior year. In order to be eligible for admission to the Honors Program, a student must be accepted as a 60-credit major and have completed at least 12 credits of studio course work. An applicant should have an overall grade point average of 3.25 or higher and a 3.5 or higher in all courses applicable toward the major. Applicants must submit a portfolio of 10 works in their area of concentration. The portfolio must demonstrate visual literacy, technical mastery, creative potential, and the drive and maturity to work independently in order to cultivate a distinctive personal direction. The Honors Committee may waive the entry requirements where appropriate. Decisions of the Honors Committee are final and are not subject to review or appeal.
Students in the Honors Program are required to complete a minimum of 60 credits, meeting all the requirements of the major. In addition, students must complete an Honors Project for 6-12 credits of studio course work and complete A ART 496, the Mentor Tutorial. The Honors Project mentor will be a member of the faculty who regularly works with the student in the student’s area of concentration. Critiques will be conducted during regular course offerings. An overall grade point average of 3.25 or higher and an average of 3.5 or higher in all courses applicable toward the major must be maintained in each semester of the program. Students dismissed from the program cannot be readmitted unless the grades on which dismissal is based were in error and are officially changed.
Degree Requirements for the Major in Art History
The purpose of the major in Art History is to introduce students to the principles and methods of art history, and to encourage their intellectual exploration of art and architecture in historical culture. Advisement and internship supervision are conducted in the Art and Art History Department.
General Program B.A.: A minimum of 36 credits.
Required core courses (9 credits): A ARH 170, 171; 3 credits from: A ARH 450, 480, 499.
Lower Division Electives 9 credits from: A ARH 207, 208, 209, 230, 238, 240, 260, 261, 263, 264, 265, 266, 267, 280, 298; A ANT 233.
Upper Division Electives 18 credits, of which no more than 6 credits can be from A CLA courses, from: all 300 and 400 level A ARH courses; A ANT 334, 433; A CLA 490, 497; A HIS 302Z, 303Z, 364Z.
Honors Program in Art History
Honors students in Art History will take a structured sequence of coursework focusing upon the main areas of study offered in the Art History curriculum. They must take at least one three-credit course each in the following areas of Western Art History: Ancient (A ARH 207, 208, 209, 301, 302, 303, 310, 401, 402, 403, 405, 406); Medieval (A ARH 331, 332, 442); Early Modern (Renaissance, Baroque, and Eighteenth Century: A ARH 341, 342, 343, 350, 351, 352, 450); Modern and Contemporary (A ARH 365, 366, 466, 467, 468); Film and Photography (A ARH 260, 261, 263, 264, 265, 266, 267, 361, 362, 363, 364, 367, 368, 460, 461, 462). In addition, they must take at least one three-credit course in non-Western Art History (A ARH 280, 480; A ANT 233, 334, 433).
Honors students in Art History are required to take a research seminar, in which they will perform special work devoted to Honors: A ARH 499 “Research Seminar in Art History,” A ARH 450 “Art and Society in Early Modern France,” A ARH 480 “Sung and Yüan Painting,” or equivalent seminars as they are developed. The special Honors work in the seminar will entail at least two of the following features: use primary sources; conduct research in languages other than English; build on an annotated bibliography to develop an historiographic analysis; or conduct research on a primary object in a museum or archaeological setting, using archival documentation when appropriate.
Honors students in Art History will also be required to take six credits of intensive work culminating in a major project or series of projects. This will comprise two additional Research Seminars with Honors level work or one additional Research Seminar with Honors level work plus three credits of Independent Study or, in exceptional cases, six credits of Independent Study. The Independent Study credit will generally be developed from research the student began in a Research Seminar and will include Honors level research (as defined above). An Internship (A ARH 490 or 491 or A CLA 490) with a particularly strong and focused research component may count as three credits toward this requirement.
When needed, Art History faculty may create a special “honors track” in regular (non-seminar) upper-level courses for a student who wishes to pursue advance research in that area but does not have the opportunity to take a seminar in the area.
Advisement and Evaluation of Honors Students
Selection: The students should have declared as an Art History major and should have completed at least 12 credits in the Art History program. Their overall grade point average must be at least 3.25, with a grade point average of at least 3.5 in the Art History major.
Project Evaluation: Honors students are entitled to an evaluation at the beginning of their last semester if the project has been in progress for at least one semester, and must receive a formal evaluation at the end of the third quarter of their senior year through an Evaluation Committee (composed of at least two members of the Art History faculty). The faculty member responsible for grading the student’s Honors papers will explain the strength of the student’s work and recommend acceptance or denial. The committee is also responsible for waiving program requirements where warranted and for certifying the candidate has finished all outstanding “Incomplete” grades by the end of the third quarter of the senior year.
Advisement: The student’s faculty adviser will also serve as the Honors adviser and is responsible for supervising the student’s selection of coursework toward the Honors.
