Art & Art History Major:
Art History Concentration
The art history concentration offers specialization courses in the histories and theories of art, with a focus on the art and architecture of Europe and America from the Renaissance to the present. A senior-level seminar,
Art History: Theory and Method (ART 404), provides a strong theoretical overview and includes a significant research component.
Museum Studies (ART 340) adds professional preparation for students interested in exhibition planning and gallery management. Students are advised to complete an internship as an additional learning
experience while at LVC. Recent internship sites include the Demuth Museum, the
Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the Princeton University Art Museum.
Careers in Art History and Museum Studies
Graduates of the art history concentration have gone on to promising careers in the field, including at
museums and
auction houses. Other graduates have pursued graduate degrees in art history and museum studies at institutions including Temple University and the Pennsylvania State University. For more information visit our page on
Careers in Art &
Art History.
Art Major Core:
ART 103 Visual Thinking| This course introduces concepts and skills that are essential for artists, art historians, and art educators. The focus is on building foundational principles (such as the visual elements in works of art) and studio art methodologies (such as the creative process, problem solving, and critiques). Students in the course will work individually and collaboratively on a variety of studio projects, will undertake a semester-long creative journaling project, visit galleries and museums in the region, and interact with visiting professional artists and art historians. Prerequisite: Limited to art and art history majors and minors. 3 credits. |
| An introduction to art and architecture from the ziggurats of Mesopotamia and the pyramids of dynastic Egypt to the temples of ancient Greece and Rome, the mosaics of Byzantium to the illuminated manuscripts and soaring cathedrals of medieval Europe. Each artwork and architectural structure is situated within its historical, social, economic, religious, and cultural context. Fulfills general education requirement: Liberal Studies Area 5 (Literature and Fine Art). 3 credits. |
| Beginning with the rediscovery of antiquity and concluding with rise of modernity, this course examines the rapid transformation of Western art and architecture. Key stylistics movements include the Renaissance, Baroque, Rococo, Romanticism, Neoclassicism, Realism, Impressionism, Post-Impressionism, Cubism, Dada and Surrealism. Each artwork and architectural structure is situated within its historical, social, economic, religious, and cultural context. Fulfills general education requirement: Liberal Studies Area 5 (Literature and Fine Art). 3 credits. |
| An introductory survey course that focuses on the history, development, and cultural influences of non-Western art. The course will examine the traditions of art and architecture from various regions, including Africa, Arabia, India, China, Japan, the Americas, and Oceania. Geographically, the course moves from Africa through the Middle East and into central Asia, extending both south and east. The course then continues across the Pacific to examine the native North American region and the cultures within South America, including Mesoamerican and Andean. The course finishes with cultures on the western Pacific Rim, including the Australian Aboriginal and the New Zealand Maori. Fulfills general education requirement: Intercultural Diversity. 3 credits. |
Required courses:
ART 404 Art History: Theory and Method| This course explores the various analytical tools available to those working within the discipline of art history. The course will explore those key methodologies that have been employed in the interpretation and description of art since the 19th century, which include formal analysis, iconography, Marxism, feminism, biography and autobiography, psychoanalysis, structuralism, race and gender, and new methods from ecology and other emerging environmental fields. Prerequisites: ART 112 and 114. 3 credits. |
| This course prepares art and art history students for future professional work in the visual arts by providing developmental guidance at the critical junior or senior years. Students will explore the various opportunities open to studio artists, art historians, and art educators. Central to the class is the development of a refined art portfolio and/or writing sample that can be utilized in various vocational art fields and within the graduate school application process. Prerequisite: Junior or Senior standing or by permission; limited to art and art history majors and minors. 3 credits. |
Seven additional courses from the following, at least six of which must be in art history:
ART 214 History of Photography| This course covers the history of photography with emphasis on the aesthetic elements of traditional and contemporary work. The significance of technical developments, photographic processes, and photographic criticism is discussed. It provides a contextual study of photography, not only as an art form but as a social commentary on culture. Content includes the history of the photography from the early 19th century to the present, including the introduction of color, photography as a form of social documentation, Modernist and Postmodernist approaches to the medium, photojournalism, and the use of photography within popular culture. Fulfills general education requirement: Liberal Studies Area 5 (Literature and Fine Art).Writing Process. 3 credits. |
| Focusing on the late thirteenth to the end of the sixteenth century, this course offers a comprehensive survey of the major monuments, themes, and developments of Renaissance art in Europe. Works by Giotto, Van Eyck, Brunelleschi, Botticelli, D rer, Michelangelo, Raphael, and Titian, among others, are examined. Fulfills general education requirement: Liberal Studies Area 5 (Literature and Fine Art).Writing Process. Prerequisites: ART 112 or ART 114. 3 credits. |
| This course is a pan-European survey of baroque art and architecture, focusing on artists working in Italy, France, Spain, England, Flanders, and the Dutch Republic. Artworks by Caravaggio, Bernini, Borromini, and Velßzquez in southern Europe, and Rubens, Rembrandt, Vermeer, Poussin, and Christopher Wren in Northern Europe, will be highlighted. Students explore such issues as patronage, stylistic difference, the interconnection of art and religion, and the changing political climate of Europe. Fulfills general education requirement: Liberal Studies Area 5 (Literature and Fine Art).Writing Process. Prerequisite: ART 112 or ART 114. 3 credits. |
| Covering the period from the American Revolution in 1776 to the controversial Salon des RefusTs of 1863, this course examines the art of Europe and the North America as it undergoes turbulent cultural change. Cataclysmic events such as the American and French Revolution, the economic and technological changes wrought by the Industrial Revolution, and the various revolutions in thought and politics, such as The Enlightenment and the rise of Marxism, emerge as key driving agents in the transformation of art and architecture during the period. Art movements under examination include Neoclassicism, Romanticism, Realism, and Impressionism. Fulfills general education requirement: Liberal Studies Area 5 (Literature and Fine Art).Writing Process. Prerequisites: ART 112 or ART 114. 3 credits. |
| An overview of modern art and architecture from the 1890s to the rise of postmodernism in the 1970s, including important stylistic movements such as Symbolism, Art Nouveau, Cubism, Dada and Surrealism, Abstract Expressionism, Minimalism, Pop Art, and Conceptual Art. The focus will be on the ideas, works, and critical reception of specific artists, widened to include issues of science and technology, race and gender, and related developments in politics and literature. Fulfills general education requirement: Liberal Studies Area 5 (Literature and Fine Art).Writing Process. Prerequisite: ART 114. 3 credits. |
| This course explores the cultural and theoretical underpinnings of the contemporary art world. Focusing on the past three decades, the course examines those key elements that define art today, such as the art market, the media, controversy and debate, new modes of practice, and the rising context of the global. By tracing the diverse narratives that inform the art world, the student will understand how contemporary art and architecture generate meaning, and what methods and theories are employed in critiquing emerging forms. Fulfills general education requirement: Liberal Studies Area 5 (Literature and Fine Art). Prerequisite: ART 114. 3 credits. |
| This course examines the interrelationship of art history and film studies from the origins of photography and cinema in the 1800s to the present day. Specific examples of filmmakers and artists are examined, as well as various art movements including Cubism, Surrealism, and Postmodernism. Fulfills general education requirement: Liberal Studies Area 5 (Literature and Fine Art). Prerequisite: ART 114. 3 credits. |
| This course broadly examines the history, principles, and practices of museums. Though much of the focus is on museums of art, students investigate issues related to all museums, including the development, care, and use of ¼museum collections; the function, management, and operation of museums; curatorial methods and exhibition design; and research and catalogue writing. Prerequisites: ART 112 or ART 114. 3 credits. |
| This course immerses students in a thematic investigation of color in human culture from ancient times to the present. Using case studies from the histories of art, literature, and philosophy, students examine the role color plays in our understanding of the world, particularly in relation to economic, moral, and spiritual value systems. Fulfills general education requirement: Disciplinary Perspectives.Writing Process. 3 credits. |
ART 390
ART 400