Skip to Main Content

Download as PDF

ARTHS-BA - Art History (BA)

Overview

Program Overview

The department offers courses of study in:

  1. Art History

  2. Art Practice (studio)

  3. Film and Media Studies

  4. Film Production

leading to the following degrees: B.A. degree in Art History; B.A. degree in Art Practice; B.A. degree in Film and Media Studies; M.F.A. degree in Art Practice; M.F.A. degree in Documentary Film and Video; Ph.D. degree in Art History.

The undergraduate program is designed to help students think critically about the visual arts and visual culture. Courses focus on the meaning of images and media, and their historical development, roles in society, and relationships to disciplines such as literature, music, and philosophy. Work performed in the classroom, studio, and screening room is designed to develop a student's powers of perception, capacity for visual analysis, and knowledge of technical processes.

How to Declare the Major

Students who wish to major in Art History must meet with the Student Services Specialist. At that time, the student selects a faculty advisor, declares the major on Axess, and selects a concentration.

Concentrations

Concentrations within the major are approved by the student's major advisor; they are not declared on Axess, and they do not appear on the transcript nor the diploma. Concentrations include:

  • Topical concentrations: art and gender; art and race; art, science, and technology; urban studies

  • Genre concentrations: painting; sculpture; architecture; prints and media; decorative arts and material culture

  • Historical concentrations: ancient and medieval (prehistory - 1350), early modern and modern (1350 - 1850); modern and contemporary (1850 - present)

  • Geographical concentrations: Asia, the Americas, Europe and the Mediterranean

  • Interdisciplinary concentrations: art and literature; art and religion; art and economics; art and medicine

Preparing for the Major

Suggested Preparation for the Major

Students considering a major in art history should take ARTHIST 5 Art and Power.

Program Policies

External Credit Policies

Students can take a maximum of two courses (10 units) away from Stanford; this includes transfer courses from other universities and Stanford Overseas Studies. Students must meet with their faculty advisor and the Student Services Specialist before planning an overseas campus program.

Learning Outcomes

Program Learning Outcomes

The department expects undergraduate majors in the program to be able to demonstrate the following learning outcomes. These learning outcomes are used in evaluating students and the department's undergraduate program.

Students in historical studies are expected to demonstrate:

  1. knowledge and awareness of art and/or film terminology and concepts;

  2. ability to develop effective and nuanced lines of interpretation;

  3. improved critical thinking skills using primary and secondary source materials;

  4. improvement in analytical writing skills and close reading skills;

  5. ability to form and validate their own and others' opinions through knowledge of artistic movements and sociohistorical events.

Students in creative art are expected to demonstrate:

  1. enhanced awareness of the role of art in intellectual and cultural life;

  2. problem solving skills to organize, analyze and interpret visual information;


  3. mastery of techniques and materials of a discipline with awareness of historical and current practices;

  4. selection of materials, processes, form, and content to achieve poetic and expressive relationships to artistic media;

  5. ability to apply critical analysis to the student’s own work and the work of others;

  6. effective techniques for the preparation and presentation of work consistent with professional practices in the field.