哥伦比亚大学

The Art History department teaches the history and practice of visual creativity. All people, at all times, around the world, have expressed their identities and their beliefs through visual art. From temple complexes to tea-cups, from quilts sewn with scraps to sculptures welded with tons of steel, art objects bring to us a knowledge of who we have been and how we shape our environments.

Art History majors have gone on to careers in museums, galleries, auction houses, arts administration, publishing, philanthropy, and academics, among other fields.

Requirements for an Art History Major

A minimum of 12 art history courses:

1. BC1001 and 1002 Introduction to Art History. This two-course sequence is required.

2. BC3970 Methods and Theories of Art History. To be taken during the junior or senior year.

3. BC3959x and/or BC3960y Senior Research Seminar.

Students write their senior thesis in conjunction with the Senior Research Seminar. Students will develop, research, and write their thesis project in consultation with an individual faculty member in Art History. They will also attend and participate in group seminars convened during the academic year in which all students will present their work. Students who plan to study abroad during their senior year and those who expect to graduate early must begin the senior research seminar sequence in the second semester of the junior year.

4. Two Seminar Courses in Art History (may also be counted toward the historical and regional distribution requirement.) Please see the department's policies and notes on limited enrollment seminar to the left.

5. Seven elective courses, with the following requirements:

Lecture or seminars courses can be used to fulfill the seven elective requirements. BC1001 and 1002 or any other broad survey cannot be used to fulfill this requirement. Courses in film are accepted toward the major requirements; studio courses are not. Students must take at least one course in three of four historical periods:
Ancient (up to 400 CE/AD)
400-1400
1400-1700
1700-present
These chronological divisions are approximate. In case of ambiguities about the eligibility of a course to fill the requirement, please consult the department chair or your advisor.

An additional two courses must also be drawn from at least TWO DIFFERENT world regions, as listed below:

• Africa
• Asia and the Indigenous Pacific
• Latin America, Caribbean and the Indigenous Americas
• Middle East