9.4. Art History

Programs offered:

  • B.A. in Art History
  • Minor in Art History (TU)

The Art History major provides students with an intellectual, aesthetic and historical foundation for the rigorous study of all visual arts, including architecture, sculpture, painting, photography and electronic media. The courses which comprise the Art History major have been designed as global, integrated, interdisciplinary constructs that underscore and invigorate the Core and the liberal arts experience, complementing other courses and majors which are already offered at Oglethorpe.

The courses in Art History are logically arranged according to increasing levels of mastery and complexity of thought, symbol, imagery, and technical understanding, providing comparative historical, cultural, and philosophical references to other courses students often take. At the same time, these courses are decidedly appropriate for their intense immersion for a university education, function as rigorous, free-standing portals to specific sub-disciplines, with each course aligning to the mission of Oglethorpe.  Each course deepens intellectual curiosity, provides individual attention, encourages close collaboration between professor and student, and offers scholarly insights into real-world field experiences in museums, archaeology, cultural resource management, and galleries. The curriculum prepares students for graduate school in Art History and for a variety of careers in arts management and curation.

B.A. in Art History (see Sec. 8.5.1. for a complete list of B.A. graduation requirements)

  1. Completion of ART 350 Modern Art History.
  2. Completion of two Studio Art courses in any two different media.
  3. Completion of seven additional Art History courses. Up to two of these can be replaced by courses drawn from the following list (* = contingent upon the course being offered):
    • COM 101 Theories of Communication and Rhetoric
    • COM 420 Media, Culture. and Society
    • COM 460 Space, Place, and Public Memory
    • ENG 101 Ancient Literature
    • ENG 102 Medieval and Renaissance Literature
    • HIS 201 Ancient Greece
    • HIS 301 History of Christianity
    • PHI 207 Aesthetics
    • WGS 225 Women, Art, & Society: Women Artists
    • WGS 280 Gender, Culture, and Communication
  4. Additional requirements and things to note:
    • Students are encouraged, but not required, to take COR104 Art and Culture prior to taking upper level Art History courses.

Minor in Art History (TU)

  1. Completion of four Art History courses and one Studio Art course, for a total of at least 20 semester hours.