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Art History

Like the other humanities, the history of art as an undergraduate major offers an enrichment of and a preparation for life, rather than training for a specific occupation. The student who goes on to graduate work in the field can pursue a career in teaching, museum work, or employment in a commercial art gallery, or auction house.

Working in consultation with the LAS undergraduate adviser for art history in the School of Art and Design, each student will design a program of study that satisfies the requirements listed below. Students who wish to take a considerable number of studio courses as part of their major should enroll in the history of art option offered by the School of Art and Design within the College of Fine and Applied Arts.

Major in Sciences and Letters Curriculum

E-mail address: cdolske@uiuc.edu

Degree title: Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Arts and Sciences

Minimum required major and supporting course work equates to 47 hours including 32 hours of Art History courses.

General education: The LAS General Education requirements are set up so students automatically complete the Campus General Education requirements.

Minimum hours required for graduation: 120 hours

Departmental distinction: To be eligible for distinction, a student must earn a high grade point average and complete at least 4 semester hours of independent research to write a senior research paper. See the undergraduate adviser for details.

Hours Requirements
4 ARTH 111–Ancient and Medieval Art
4 ARTH 112–Renaissance and Modern Art
24 200- to 400-level courses in Art History including one 3 hour course in each of the following areas:1
 
Ancient and medieval art
 
Renaissance, Baroque, and Rococo art
 
Late eighteenth-, nineteenth-, and twentieth-century art
 
African, Asian, Oceanic, and pre-Columbian art
15 200- to 400-level courses in supporting areas chosen with the approval of the adviser. Although the program in art history allows considerable latitude in the selection of such courses, they should be chosen with the goal of enhancing the student’s understanding of the cultural context within which works of art and architecture have been created. Recent practice suggests that supporting courses will most commonly be drawn from such fields as anthropology, classics, history, literature, music and dance history, philosophy, psychology, and religious studies.
1. Courses in the history of architecture, excluding ARCH 210, may be used with the approval of the adviser for as many as 12 hours of credit in meeting the 24-hour requirement.

Twelve hours of 300- and 400-level courses in the major must be taken on this campus.

All foreign language requirements must be satisfied. For students considering graduate work in Art History French or German is strongly recommended for the foreign language requirement. Other languages including Chinese or Japanese may be used with the approval of the adviser as the needs of the student's program dictate.

A Major Plan of Study Form must be completed and submitted to the LAS Student Affairs Office before the end of the fifth semester (60-75 hours). Please see your adviser.