Art History

Close-up of the Adam and God's fingertips almost touching, from the painting by Michaelangelo on the Sistine Chapel

An African American male student is viewing the Robinson Collection of ancient Greek pottery at the UM Museum

Students on the study abroad trip to Paris gathered together at Versailles

Artist giving a talk to a crowd in the department's gallery.

art history students standing in front of a banner for an Andy Warhol exhibit in Chicago.

Conservator Amy Jones Abbe gives the Bust of an Unknown Roman a careful cleaning as part of her residency at University Museum.

art history students in a restaurant during a museum field trip

Learn about monuments, significant artists, and artistic periods in Western and non-Western cultures. Gain art studio fundamentals, learn about art theory and criticism, conduct research, and discern the hidden and not-so-hidden ideas behind images.

Beyond the study of art styles and trends, art history students are trained to communicate their own ideas about artwork and its various meanings. They can bring this knowledge to bear on an expansive array of careers, including arts administration, auction houses, art conservation, education, archives, publishing, art criticism, museums, galleries, and historical societies. By honing oral and written methods of analysis, their critical thinking skills can even be applied far beyond the field of art history.

Check out more art history photos through our Flickr account!

Picture of Grace Moorman standing in a museum.

Meet Grace Moorman (BA Art History, minor in Anthropology ’20), president of Vasari Society, who interned at the UM Museum and the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery in Washington D.C.

“The art department, love them! It’s just a fostering environment where they encourage you to do whatever you want to do and make it seem like it’s actually a possibility.”

Meet the Faculty

The art history faculty have areas of specializations in Medieval art history and archaeology, 19th and 20th-century American art, Early Modern Europe, modern art and architecture, postmodern art, theory, and the history & theory of photography. Their connections to alumni, other art historians, and museum and gallery professionals open the world of opportunity to our students.

Aileen Ajootian