Four Grinnell College art history students at a table examining artwork in the Iowa Room of the Drake Community Library in Grinnell.

Art History

Art as a history of human culture.

The Department of Art History is a group of active scholars with a dedicated teaching practice who believe art history is a crucially important discipline for understanding human history and contemporary society. We bring interdisciplinary perspectives from philosophy, religion, politics, economics, gender, and race to international art and visual culture. Through art history, we strive to upset received narratives and kindle passion about culture in our world. In art history classes, students learn to translate our visual worlds into verbal and written expression through analytical thinking and interpretation of artworks, artistic traditions, and the built environment. Learning to look closely is transferable to many evolving fields including biology, medicine, and AI image discernment. In Art History you’ll develop the creative and critical thinking skills, aesthetic judgment, and historical knowledge needed to pursue advanced studies or enter a career in architecture, arts management, education, law, museums and galleries, and more. 

The art history faculty are located in the Humanities and Social Studies Center. If you need to contact one of the professors, we suggest email.

Contact Information

Phone
641-269-3157

Humanities and Social Studies Center
1226 Park Street
Grinnell, IA 50112
United States

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