Program Overview
Art History (BA)
The Art History program at NYU was established to provide a rigorous and wide-ranging education in the many facets of the history and theory of art. Students become familiar with global art from antiquity to the present. The department offers courses in ancient, medieval, Renaissance, baroque, modern, contemporary, East Asian, South Asian, Islamic, Latin American, African, Oceanic, Pre-Columbian, and Native American art, treating not only painting, sculpture, architecture, and photography, but also graphic media, manuscript illumination, the decorative arts, and aspects of urban design.
Program Description
The department is one of the few undergraduate programs in the country with extensive offerings in conservation and museology. A myriad of museums, galleries, and local architectural sites make New York City the ideal place in which to study the visual arts on site and in the flesh. Beyond New York, art history courses are offered at NYU's study away sites, such as Berlin, Buenos Aires, Florence, London, Madrid, Paris, and Prague.
Graduation with Departmental Honors
Students may graduate with departmental honors in Art History or in Urban Design and Architecture Studies by successfully researching and writing a senior thesis. This represents the culmination of the work for the major and provides excellent preparation for graduate school. To be eligible for the honors program, students must have a GPA of 3.65 or higher at the conclusion of their junior year, both overall and in Art History or in Urban Design and Architecture Studies.
Admissions
New York University's Office of Undergraduate Admissions supports the application process for all undergraduate programs at NYU. For additional information about undergraduate admissions, including application requirements, see the relevant university policies.
Program Requirements
The major in Art History comprises nine 4-credit courses (36 credits) completed with a grade of C or better (courses graded Pass/Fail do not count) as follows:
- One ARTH-UA foundations course
- Four ARTH-UA lecture courses chosen from the chronological and cultural lists below
- Two advanced seminars (ARTH-UA 800)
- Two ARTH-UA electives All nine courses selected for the major must be distributed across the department's three distinct time periods and across at least two cultural traditions as defined below.
Course List
- ARTH-UA 10: Foundations of Art History
- Four Lecture Courses Chosen From:
- Ancient or Medieval Art or Architecture (from Any Cultural Tradition)
- ARTH-UA 3: Ancient Art
- ARTH-UA 4: Medieval Art
- ARTH-UA 103: Roman Art
- ARTH-UA 105: Roman Architecture
- ARTH-UA 110: Ancient Egyptian Art
- ARTH-UA 150: Sp Tpcs Ancient Art
- ARTH-UA 201: Art of Early Middle Ages
- ARTH-UA 202: Romanesque Art
- ARTH-UA 203: Gothic Art in Northern Europe
- ARTH-UA 204: Art and Architecture in The Age of Giotto
- ARTH-UA 205: Medieval Architecture
- ARTH-UA 250: Sp Tpcs Medieval Art
- ARTH-UA 510: East Asian Art I: China, Korea, Japan to 1000 Ce
- ARTH-UA 530: South Asian Art I: Indus Valley to 1200
- ARTH-UA 540: Art in Islamic World I: from Prophet to Mongols
- Early Modern Art or Architecture (from Any Cultural Tradition)
- ARTH-UA 5: Renaissance Art
- ARTH-UA 302: Architecture & Urbanism in the Age of the Baroque
- ARTH-UA 306: Early Masters of Italian Renaissance Painting
- ARTH-UA 307: Age of Leonardo, Raphael & Michelangelo
- ARTH-UA 309: Italian Art in The Age of The Baroque
- ARTH-UA 311: Dutch &Flemish Painting
- ARTH-UA 315: Art in Spain from El Greco to Goya
- ARTH-UA 317: European and American Decorative Arts: Renaissance to Modern
- ARTH-UA 350: Sp Tpcs Renaissance & Baroque Art
- ARTH-UA 511: East Asian Art II:China, Korea, Japan, 1000Ce-Pr
- ARTH-UA 531: South Asian Art II: 1200 to The Present
- ARTH-UA 541: Art in The Islamic World II: Mongols to Modernism
- ARTH-UA 560: Arts of Africa
- ARTH-UA 570: North American Indian Arts
- Modern Art or Architecture (from Any Cultural Tradition)
- ARTH-UA 6: Modern Art
- ARTH-UA 404: American Art
- ARTH-UA 407: Abstract Expressionism to Pop Art
- ARTH-UA 408: Early Modern Architecture
- ARTH-UA 409: Modern Architecture: 1914 to The Present
- ARTH-UA 411: Neo-Classicism to Realism
- ARTH-UA 412: Impressionism to Post-Impressionism
- ARTH-UA 413: Cubism to Surrealism
- ARTH-UA 414: Contemporary Art
- ARTH-UA 431: Aesthetic History of Photography
- ARTH-UA 432: Social History of Photography
- ARTH-UA 433: Toward a Critical Vocabulary of Photography
- ARTH-UA 450: Sp Tpcs Modern Art
- ARTH-UA 511: East Asian Art II:China, Korea, Japan, 1000Ce-Pr
- ARTH-UA 531: South Asian Art II: 1200 to The Present
- ARTH-UA 541: Art in The Islamic World II: Mongols to Modernism
- ARTH-UA 560: Arts of Africa
- ARTH-UA 570: North American Indian Arts
- ARTH-UA 701: Museums & The Art Market
- Ancient or Medieval Art or Architecture (from Any Cultural Tradition)
- Two Advanced Seminars
- ARTH-UA 800: Advanced Seminar (taken two times, for a total of 8 credits)
- Major Electives
- Select two ARTH-UA electives
Sample Plan of Study
The sample plan of study includes:
- 1st Semester/Term: ARTH-UA 10 Foundations of Art History, Foreign Language, Texts and Ideas, First-Year Seminar
- 2nd Semester/Term: EXPOS-UA 1 Writing as Inquiry, Cultures and Contexts, Foreign Language, ARTH-UA XXX Lecture Course #1 of 4
- 3rd Semester/Term: ARTH-UA XXX Lecture Course #2 of 4, Quantitative Reasoning, Foreign Language, Elective
- 4th Semester/Term: ARTH-UA XXX Lecture Course #3 of 4, Foreign Language, Societies and the Social Sciences, Elective
- 5th Semester/Term: ARTH-UA XXX Lecture Course #4 of 4, ARTH-UA XXX Major Elective 1 of 2, Physical Science, Elective
- 6th Semester/Term: Life Science, ARTH-UA XXX Major Elective 2 of 2, Elective, Elective
- 7th Semester/Term: ARTH-UA 8XX Advanced Seminar 1 of 2, Elective, Elective, Elective
- 8th Semester/Term: ARTH-UA 8XX Advanced Seminar 2 of 2, Elective, Elective, Elective
Learning Outcomes
Upon completion of program requirements, students are expected to have acquired:
- Foundational knowledge of the history and theory of art across different time periods and cultures, as well as specialized and advanced knowledge in areas of particular interest.
- The ability to think critically about how art operates within social and political contexts, both historically and today.
- An understanding of how art history has developed as a discipline, its range of analytical strategies, and the field's critical and interpretive approaches.
- Visual literacy and the ability to describe and interpret a wide range of images and objects from different cultures and media.
- Effective writing skills, including the ability to develop arguments and support them with evidence, and also presentation and speaking skills (as developed in seminar courses).
- The ability to conduct primary and secondary research in libraries, museums, and other repositories.
Policies
Policies Applying to the Major
- Credit toward the Art History majors and minors is granted only for courses completed with a grade of C or higher. Courses graded Pass/Fail do not count.
- In the Art History major, students must complete at least one course in each of two distinct cultural traditions which include Africa/the Near East, East Asia, South Asia, Europe/the Americas, Islamic, and Pre-Columbian/Native American/Oceanic, among others.
- The following courses satisfy either the early modern or modern art and architecture requirement in the Art History major, not both: ARTH-UA 511 East Asian Art II:China, Korea, Japan, 1000Ce-Pr, ARTH-UA 531 South Asian Art II: 1200 to The Present, ARTH-UA 541 Art in The Islamic World II: Mongols to Modernism, and certain ARTH-UA 850 Special Topics: courses, when the content is appropriate.
- In addition, the following courses may be used to satisfy only one of the ancient or medieval, early modern, or modern art and architecture requirements in the Art History major: ARTH-UA 560 Arts of Africa, and certain ARTH-UA 850 Special Topics: courses, when the content is appropriate.
- Note that any given course may fulfill two different distribution requirements: that is, both chronological and cultural.
Advanced Standing Credit
A score of 5 on the Advanced Placement Art History examination, or a score of A on the Advanced Level History of Art examination, exempts students from ARTH-UA 10 Foundations of Art History and counts as one course toward the major.
Courses in the College Core Curriculum
Students majoring or minoring in Art History or Urban Design and Architecture Studies are exempt from the College Core Curriculum's Expressive Culture requirement.
Internship Policy
Under exceptional circumstances, the Department of Art History awards academic credit (1 or 2 credits) for an internship accompanied by an independent study. Students must find a professor willing to supervise this study. Course work may include a written diary recording the student's work experience and will include a term paper relevant to the internship, to be approved by the supervising professor. The independent study must also be approved by the director of undergraduate studies.