Art History, BA

• Degree Requirements
• Learning Goals and Objectives
• Honors

Degree Requirements - 126 credits

Students can earn a Bachelor of Arts degree with this major

Art History Major Requirements: 11 courses, 39-40 credits

Core Requirements (3 courses, 9 credits)

ARH-101	Art History I	4
ARH-102	Art History II	4
CAS-201	College to Career: Explore Your Options and Find Your Path	1

Studio Art Requirement (1 course, 3 credits)

Choose one of the following:

• Any Foundation studio course (ADF-S)

• Any Fine Arts studio course (ADFA-S)

Art History Electives (7 courses, 27-28 credits)

Choose seven electives, one of which must be an ARH 400-level seminar or ARH-H555, Art History Honors Thesis. Electives must include at least one course in groups A, B, and C

A) Ancient Through 18th Century Art

ARH-205	Gender, Class and Alterity in Ancient and Medieval Art	4
ARH-303	Art of the Early Renaissance in Italy	4
ARH-304	Art in the Age of Michelangelo: The High and Late Renaissance in Italy	4
ARH-308	Art of the Baroque & Rococo	4
ARH-312	Art of the Northern Renaissance	4
ARH-404	Seminar in Art History: Caravaggio	4
ARH-406	Seminar in Art History: Bernini	4

B) 19th Century Through Contemporary Art

ARH-309	Art of the 19th Century	4
ARH-310	Modernism in Art	4
ARH-311	American Art	4
ARH-316	Contemporary Art	4
ARH-318	Art and Museums Today	4
ARH-321	Women, Art and Society	4
ARH-411	Seminar in Art History: Impressionism	4

C) Non-Western Art

ARH-203	Arts of Asia	4
ARH-206	Global Cross-Cultural Perspectives in Art	4

Notes:

• One elective course may be in related areas of visual culture such as the philosophy of art, photojournalism, advertising, and cinema. A relevant First-Year Seminar with a strong concentration in art history or visual culture may also count as an elective at the discretion of the program director:

ADPR-257	Advertising I: Foundations	4
ARH-290	Internship in Art History	1-4
CJN-152	Visual Aesthetics	4
CJN-L218	Photojournalism	4
FR-220	French & Francophone Cinema	4
PHIL-219	Philosophy of Art	4

• Upper-level Art History courses taken at other institutions or through study abroad must be approved by the program director and must not overlap significantly with any other upper-level Art History course(s) counted toward the major.

• AP credit cannot be applied toward the major.

Residency Requirement Policy: In the College of Arts and Sciences, a two-course (8 credit) residency requirement must be satisfied for completion of a minor and a four-course (16 credit) residency requirement must be satisfied for the completion of a major.

About the Art History Major

Learn more about the experiences and opportunities available within this major.

View the Program Page

 

Art History Major Learning Goals and Objectives

Learning goals and objectives reflect the educational outcomes achieved by students through the completion of this program. These transferable skills prepare Suffolk students for success in the workplace, in graduate school, and in their local and global communities.

Learning Goals	Learning Objectives
Students will know/understand...	Students will be able to...
The important roles that the visual arts have played in society	- Demonstrate awareness of the multiple purposes visual arts have played in different cultures and periods
Appropriate methods for analyzing works of visual art	- GENRE: know the traditional aims and conventions of the major types or genres of work produced in the historical and regional contexts covered by the course (e.g. Renaissance status portraits, Gothic cathedrals); and articulate how a given work or monument sustains, transforms, or breaks those conventions in the pursuit of its particular aims - FORM/STYLE: thoroughly and accurately perceive the media, techniques, and formal elements of a given work (composition, texture, scale, etc.); use appropriate technical vocabulary for describing them (contrapposto, nave, painterly brushwork); and relate them to the contextual meaning/purpose and expressive content of the work - CONTEXT: relate works to the ideas and practices of their original contexts (social, cultural, political, religious, etc.); and account for how a given work sought to affect or influence the ideas and practices of its original context
How learning experiences inside and outside the classroom are connected and interdependent	- Analyze works of art seen in person at local museums and galleries using course-acquired knowledge and skills

About the Art History Major

Learn more about the experiences and opportunities available within this major.

View the Program Page

Honors

To complete requirements for honors in the major, a candidate must:

1. Have a major GPA of 3.7 or higher

2. Have an overall GPA of 3.5 or higher

3. Complete ARH-H555 with a grade of A- or above

4. Complete an 18-page minimum guided research paper in ARH-H555

5. Make a formal oral presentation to the Art History faculty and other invited members of the Suffolk community

6. CAS Honors Program students only: Present work from the senior honors experience at the Honors Symposium or Pecha Kucha event

To become a candidate for honors in the major, a student must:

1. Have a major GPA of 3.7 or higher

2. Have an overall GPA of 3.5 or higher

3. Have completed a minimum of 27 credits in the major

4. Apply to the honors coordinator by March 1^st of junior year

About the Art History Major

Learn more about the experiences and opportunities available within this major.

View the Program Page