Program Overview
The undergraduate major in Art History empowers students to understand, interpret, and contribute to our complex visual world. Majors gain a broad knowledge of diverse historical and contemporary artistic traditions and receive structured training in foundational skills of art historical analysis, scholarly research, and writing. Our flexible curriculum exposes students to various cultures, periods, and theoretical perspectives while training them to pursue individual interests in specific areas of historical and contemporary art.
Why an Art History major at UW?
Art history majors:
- Develop valuable skills in visual, verbal, and written literacy; analytical insight and investigation; critical reading and reasoning; information synthesis; close visual and material observation; original research; and persuasive argumentation.
- Learn and use fundamental art historical concepts, vocabularies, methodologies, and problem-solving techniques to examine and interpret art.
- Explore diverse conceptions of human creativity, art, and artists.
- Grasp how visual images and material culture communicate information, define cultures, and contribute to new and innovative ways to understand the past and present.
- Work directly with original art objects, archival materials, and architectural sites.
- Actively engage with other fields, including history, philosophy, literature, music, gender studies, languages, cultural studies, anthropology, comparative religion, and media studies.
Admissions
The BA in Art Hisotry is an open major with minimum requirements.
Degree Requirements
To graduate with an undergraduate degree from the University of Washington, students must complete at least 180 course credits: 60 credits of Art History, UW general education requirements, and electives.
Honors in Art History
Majors who wish to forge close ties with faculty mentors, distinguish themselves in the field, and advance knowledge in an area of interest can earn the distinction of Honors in Art History.