Learning Goals

Upon completion of the Program, students will demonstrate a general knowledge (at the survey level) of the history of world art and a greater depth of knowledge in their fields of concentration: Medieval/Ancient Art; Early Modern Art; Modern Art; or African/Native American/Oceanic/Pre-Columbian Art. Students will be able to identify the major works of art in these fields and construct a chronology of the principal artistic developments in the fields of specialty. In addition, students will be able to identify the principal methodological approaches to the interpretation of the works.

Graduates will demonstrate the ability to conduct original research in their fields of specialization in both archival and published sources and, for specialists in contemporary art, through personal interviews. In addition, they will be able to apply their knowledge of theoretical, conceptual, and methodological approaches to shape their research into scholarship.

Students completing the Program will be practiced in the formulation of and presentation of their scholarship in a variety of professional contexts. Those may include conference papers, articles in scholarly journals, or book-length studies.

Graduates will also possess professional competence in the areas in which they intend to pursue employment: college or university teaching, museum or gallery curating or administration, or art publishing.  For the chosen professional field, the graduate will demonstrate knowledge of major institutions and standard procedures. Students pursuing teaching careers will demonstrate an ability to organize a syllabus and present lectures for general survey courses in art history and more specialized courses in their fields of expertise. A student intending to pursue a museum career will demonstrate an understanding of the functions of museum collections, exhibitions and publications. Students who want to work specifically in art publishing should demonstrate a command of the roles in the discipline of scholarly publications as well as of art critical writing. All students will demonstrate the ability to formulate and develop an oral presentation on a topic in their field of specialization within the discipline of art history.