art_history
Art and Art History

Undergraduate Art History Program

Download Degree Plan: Bachelor of Arts in Art – Art History

Download Chart: Art History Area Requirement Chart

The Bachelor of Arts in Art in Art History degree is structured much like a liberal arts degree allowing for 42 hours of general education requirement (comprised of courses in Rhetoric, English, Government, History, Social Sciences, Humanities, Mathematics, Natural Sciences), 19 hours foreign language, 17 hours electives, 9 hours fine art courses, and 33 hours art history. Total degree hours is 120. The B. A. Art History degree plan is well suited for students who want to be prepared to do graduate study in art history, material culture, and the visual arts.

The undergraduate program in Art History offers a foundation for an enduring appreciation and understanding of art as well as the tools necessary to succeed in an array of other academic and professional disciplines. Major coursework is undertaken in the history of art and in research methods relevant to the field. Students who receive this degree are required to fulfill art history area requirements in several periods: Ancient, Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, Modern, and Non-Western: African, Asian, Islamic, Latin American, Mesoamerican, Native American, and Oceanic, thus assuring that the student is exposed to the history of art from a variety of periods and cultures.

Art historians study the art of the past. The subject embraces a wide range of objects: paintings, drawings and prints of all kinds, including photographs and film; sculpture; buildings and their grouping into towns and cities; graves and tombs; gardens; books and manuscripts; objects made of precious stones and metals; performance; in short, all visual and a great deal of material culture. Art historians across the world form a community of scholars who describe their new discoveries and theories at conferences and symposia, in exhibitions, in articles for the scholarly journals, and in the form of books. Art history students therefore learn how to treat non-verbal objects as evidence, how to use scholarly publications, rare books and manuscripts, and how to explain their insights and findings in words. The end product is critical thinking about this extraordinary and engaging subject, and preparation for entry into a range of academic and professional occupations. The past starts yesterday.

Additional information on admissions, programs, and curriculum is included in this downloadable PDF document:
Undergraduate Admissions and Program Guide (pdf).

Special Honors in Art History

Download Guidelines and Instructions: Special Honors in Art History (pdf)

The Special Honors Program in Art History, for Art History majors pursuing the B.A. degree, requires successful completion of ARH 375 (Undergraduate Seminar on Art Historical Methods), with a grade of B or higher and the Thesis Course for Departmental Honors (ARH 679H), a two-semester course. Students must take the Methods course first. The student's project must be approved by both the immediate faculty supervisor and by the Honors’ Adviser. This is an in-depth investigation resulting in a substantial paper of about 40 pages. In order to graduate with honors in Art History, the student must receive a final grade of A from his or her immediate supervisor as well as approval from the Honors Adviser.

 

Contacts

Prospective Freshmen and Transfer Applicants:

Prospective applicants should arrange an appointment in advance of visiting the department. Please see Visiting the Department for detailed information.

Shane Sullivan, Senior Program Coordinator
Undergraduate Programs, Recruitment, and Admissions

Email: shanesullivan@mail.utexas.edu (Please allow 24 to 48 hour response time for email reply.)
Phone: 512-475-7718
Fax: 512-471-7801
Office: ART 3.334
Campus Mail Code: D1300

Current and Former UT Austin Students:

Current or former UT Austin students should arrange an appointment in advance of visiting the department. Please see Visiting the Department for detailed information.

Ramey Guerra, Academic Advisor I
Art History Advising

Email: rameyguerra@mail.utexas.edu (Please allow 24 to 48 hour response time for email reply.)
Phone: 512-475-7718
Fax: 512-471-7801
Office: ART 3.334
Campus Mail Code: D1300

Michael Charlesworth, Associate Professor, Ph.D
Art History Honors Advisor
18th and 19th Century British and European Art

Email: mick@mail.utexas.edu (Please allow 24 to 48 hour response time for email reply.)
Phone: 512-232-2345
Fax: 512-471-5539
Office: DFA 2.126
Campus Mail Code: D1300

You may also contact the Undergraduate Office by writing to the following address:

Undergraduate Office
Department of Art and Art History
The University of Texas at Austin
1 University Station D1300
Austin, TX 78712-0337

Information Request Form

Self–Guided Tour Map (pdf)