Why take courses in this discipline?
In art history, students develop a critical understanding of art as a history of human culture that both shapes and responds to people, societies, politics, and identities. The skills art history classes teach through visual and written analysis enhance all students’ abilities in literate communication. We encourage cross-cultural and interdisciplinary studies and study abroad. Our majors go on to work in architecture, arts management, community service, development, education, law, and museums and galleries.
How does the discipline contribute to the liberal arts?
Courses in art history primarily concern the study of creative expression and human behavior and society.
What kinds of questions are asked in this discipline?
Art history asks what meaning art has in relation to historical and societal contexts.
How does a student get started?
First-year students should take Introduction to Art History (ARH 103), which introduces students to the discipline and to the global history of art, and serves as a prerequisite for most other courses.
Students majoring in art history must also take Introduction to the Studio (ART 111), Drawing (ART 134), or another approved studio art class.
Students majoring in art history should also take courses in a foreign language, history, film, literature, and philosophy.
AP/IB Credit
A score of 4 or 5 on the AP art history exam would count for four credits in the humanities division but does not count for major credit.
Courses in Art History
Regular 200- and 300-Level Courses
- Arts and the Visual Cultures of China
- The Global Mongol Century: In the Footsteps of Marco Polo
- Impressionism and Post-Impressionism
- From Beasts to Revolutionaries: Modern Art in Europe 1900-1940
- Gender and Art Since 1945
- American Art
- Modern Architecture and Globalization
- Greek Archaeology and Art
- Roman Archaeology and Art
- Theory and Methods of Art History
- Collecting the "Orient"
- Gender and Sexuality in East Asian Art
Recent Special Topics
- Caribbean Art and Visual Culture
- Black Art & Visual Culture
- The Camera and the Body
- Medieval Mediterranean
- The Blessed to the Bawdy: Reframing Medieval Art
- Surrealism
- Edo to Istanbul
- Modern and Contemporary Art of South Asia
| Fall | Spring | |
|---|---|---|
| First | ARH 103 Language course |
ARH 2XX Language course |
| Second | ARH 2XX Language course |
ARH 2XX ART 111 or 134 Language course |
| Third | OCS or ARH 360 | OCS or ARH 2XX |
| Fourth | ARH 400 (Seminar in Art History) | ARH 380 and ARH 2XX |
Off-Campus Study
Recommended programs: IES in Berlin, Syracuse University in Florence, SACI in Florence, IES in Madrid, Hamilton College in Paris, Trinity College in Rome, Vassar College in St. Petersburg, as well as Australia; New Zealand; Cape Town, South Africa; Freiburg, Germany; and Madrid, Spain.
We are currently considering additional programs that could offer preapproved credits toward the major.
Contributions to Other Majors/Concentrations
Courses in art history contribute to concentrations in American studies, East Asian studies, and European studies.
Department Events and Opportunities
A highlight of the art history curriculum is the Exhibition Seminar, a rare opportunity for undergraduate students to curate a professional exhibition using objects in the Grinnell College Art Collection. The seminar culminates in a show in the Grinnell College Museum of Art, and in the publication of a catalog students have researched, written, and produced.