Art History

Study mode:On campus Study type:Full-time Languages: English
Foreign:$ 16.3 k / program Deadline: Feb 15, 2025
StudyQA ranking:2572 Duration:48 months

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Description

The history of art embodies the human imagination, human history, and the rich tapestry of human cultures in a memorable and accessible form. Art history is an examination of how images and monuments communicate and how they function in society: to teach us, move us, and to exalt us – and also, occasionally, to mislead us and to sway our opinions against our better judgment. The study of art provides an access to other cultures, other eras, and other ways of thinking, and will prepare you for your junior year abroad and for an entire lifetime of thinking and living with a global and historical perspective.

Art history majors develop a keen aesthetic sense plus excellent research, analytical, and communication skills—launching pads for many careers. Some art history majors go on to graduate school in architecture, museum studies, or law. Others pursue gallery and arts management, teaching, or nonprofit work. The major imparts a crucial combination of aesthetic appreciation and historical knowledge.

A Thriving Artistic Community

Our campus is your canvas: The university is set amid some of the world’s premier art institutions, including the Museum of Fine Arts, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, and the Institute of Contemporary Art (which is located in one of the country’s oldest artist colonies, Fort Point). Boston is an architecturally rich city, home to influential buildings and monuments—from Boston City Hall to the Massachusetts State House—which will play a key role in your studies.

Suffolk also houses the New England School of Art & Design, a dynamic artistic training ground for fine artists, graphic designers, and illustrators. Their 42,000-square-foot visual arts facility features traditional and electronic studios, a woodshop, workspaces for printing and lighting, an extensive arts library, and the Suffolk University Art Gallery.

Study Abroad

Suffolk encourages you to travel during your junior year to explore the artistic cultures of cities abroad. Suffolk maintains reciprocal relationships with universities around the globe. Our faculty will work closely with you to design the ideal program. Two popular options for art history students include:

  • Suffolk University in Madrid, Spain: Suffolk maintains a campus in the flourishing Spanish capital of Madrid. The city is home to the world-class “Golden Triangle” of museums: the Prado, the Reina Sofia, and the Thyssen-Bornemisza.
  • Florence, Rome and Venice, Italy: This six-week immersion program introduces you to Renaissance art and architecture in three of the world’s foremost art capitals.
Internships/Careers

Academic and noncredit internships are available. The department and the

Detailed Course Facts

Application deadline February 15, 2015 Tuition fee
  • USD 16265 Module (National)

Full-time: 12-17 credits per semester $16,265

Start date 2016 Duration full-time 48 months Languages Take an IELTS test
  • English
Delivery mode On Campus Educational variant Full-time

Course Content

To meet the requirements for the art history major, students must complete ten courses (38-40 credits).

Foundation Requirement (2 courses, 8 credits)

  • ARH-101 Art History I

    Credits:

    4.00

    Description:

    A survey of the art of western civilization from prehistoric caves to the cathedrals of the Middle Ages. Works of painting, sculpture, and architecture are presented in their historical context. Course covers Egyptian, Ancient Near Eastern, Greek, Roman, early Islamic, Byzantine, Romanesque, and Gothic.

    Term:

    Offered Both Fall and Spring

    Type:

    Humanities & History,Humanities Literature Requirement

  • ARH-102 Art History II

    Credits:

    4.00

    Description:

    A survey of the art of Europe and America from the Renaissance to the present. Works of painting, sculpture, and architecture are presented in their historical context. Course covers the Renaissance, Baroque, Rococo, Neoclassicism, Romanticism, Realism, Impressionism, Post-Impressionism, Cubism, Surrealism, Abstract Expressionism, Pop, and Post-Modernism.

    Term:

    Offered Both Fall and Spring

    Type:

    Humanities & History,Humanities Literature Requirement

Upper Level Course Requirement (6-8 courses, 24-32 credits)

Chosen from among the following courses. At least one of the upper-level courses must be an ARH 400-level seminar in art history or ARH-502 Honors Thesis.

  • ARH-305 Art of Greece and Rome

    Credits:

    4.00

    Description:

    An examination of the civic, religious, and domestic art and architecture of the Ancient Mediterranean cultures of Greece and Rome. Temples, forums, basilicas, city planning, sculpture, pottery, wall painting, mosaics, and engineering achievements will be examined in their cultural contexts.

    Term:

    Occasional

    Type:

    BFA Humanities Requirement,Humanities & History,Humanities Literature Requirement

  • ARH-306 Art of the Middle Ages

    Credits:

    4.00

    Description:

    Religious and secular painting, sculpture and architecture and the minor arts in the context of medieval civilization. Examples of mosaic, ivory carvings, manuscript illumination, enamel work, stained glass, altarpieces, fresco painting, basilica churches, monasteries, and cathedrals from early Christian, Byzantine, Barbarian, Carolingian, Ottonian, Romanesque, and Gothic periods included.

    Term:

    Occasional

    Type:

    BFA Humanities Requirement,Humanities & History,Humanities Literature Requirement

  • ARH-307 Art of the Italian Renaissance

    Credits:

    4.00

    Description:

    Painting, sculpture and architecture of the 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries in Italy viewed in their cultural context. Issues covered include the search for ideal form, the tools of realism, changes in patronage, and the development of portraiture. Artists include Giotto, Masaccio, Donatello, Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Michelangelo, and Titian.

    Term:

    Occasional

    Type:

    BFA Humanities Requirement,Humanities & History,Humanities Literature Requirement

  • ARH-308 Art of the Baroque & Rococo

    Credits:

    4.00

    Description:

    A study of 17th and 18th century painting, sculpture and architecture in Italy, Spain and Northern Europe. Artists include Rembrandt, Rubens, Caravaggio, Bernini, Poussin, Velasquez, Watteau, Boucher, Fragonard, Chardin, and Hogarth.

    Term:

    Occasional

    Type:

    BFA Humanities Requirement,Humanities & History,Humanities Literature Requirement

  • ARH-309 Art of the 19th Century

    Credits:

    4.00

    Description:

    A study of Neoclassicism, Romanticism, Realism, Landscape painting and Impressionism in European painting. Artists include David, Ingres, Friedrich , Constable, Delacroix, Goya, Courbet, Millet, Daumier, Manet, Monet, Renoir, Degas, and Cassatt.

    Term:

    Occasional

    Type:

    BFA Humanities Requirement,Humanities & History,Humanities Literature Requirement

  • ARH-310 Modernism in Art

    Credits:

    4.00

    Description:

    A study of European painting and sculpture from around 1880 to 1940, including Symbolism, Post-Impressionism, Fauvism, Expressionism, Cubism, Futurism, Suprematism, Constructivism, De Stijl, The Bauhaus, Dada and Surrealism. Artists include Gauguin, Cezanne, Van Gogh, Matisse, Kandinsky, Picasso, Braque, Malevich, Mondrian, Duchamp, Masson, Magritte, Dali and Ernst. Normally offered alternate years.

    Type:

    BFA Humanities Requirement,Humanities & History,Humanities Literature Requirement

  • ARH-311 American Art

    Credits:

    4.00

    Description:

    A study of American painting, sculpture, photography and architecture from the colonial period through WWII. Artists include the Freake limner, Smibert, Copley, West, Stuart, Jefferson, Whistler, Sargent, Eakins, Homer, Ryder, Bierstadt, Cole Church, Bingham, Lane, Hosmer, Inness, Sloan, Sullivan, Wright, Hopper, Sheeler, Davis, Shahn, O' Keefe, Dove, Hartley, Marin, Bellows, Riis, Hine, Stieglitz, Strand, Weston, Steichen and Lange.

    Term:

    Occasional

    Type:

    BFA Humanities Requirement,Humanities & History,Humanities Literature Requirement

  • ARH-312 Art of the Northern Renaissance

    Credits:

    4.00

    Description:

    Painting, sculpture, and architecture of the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries in Northern Europe, viewed in their historical context. Issues included the invention of oil painting, the development of woodcut and engraving, the effect of the Reformation on art, and the relationship to the Renaissance in Italy. Artists include van Eyck, Durer and Brueghel.

    Term:

    Occasional

    Type:

    BFA Humanities Requirement,Humanities & History,Humanities Literature Requirement

  • ARH-316 Contemporary Art

    Credits:

    4.00

    Description:

    A study of European and American art since WWII, including Abstract Expressionism, Colorfield Painting, Pop Art, Minimalism, Neo-Dada, Happenings and Performance Art, Earth Art, Feminism, Neo-Expressionism and Post-Modernism. Artists include Bacon, Giacometti, Hofmann, Pollock, De Kooning, Frankenthaler, Rothko, Newman, Stella, Judd, Andre, Hesse, Calder, David Smith, Serra, Johns, Rauschenberg, Warhol, Lichtenstein, Smithson, Holt, Christo, Nevelson, Kaprow, Kosuth, Kruger, Sherman, Baldessari, Salle, Polke, Basquiat, Kiefer, and Haring.

    Term:

    Occasional

    Type:

    BFA Humanities Requirement,Humanities & History,Humanities Literature Requirement

  • ARH-318 Art and Museums Today

    Credits:

    4.00

    Description:

    This course examines the art world of the past 20 or so years with special attention to the roles and exhibition practices of contemporary art museums and galleries. Questions addressed will include: Who are the major artists and what are the major trends in today's art world? What civic and educational roles have museums played historically, and what are their roles today? How do different approaches to exhibit display and interpretation fulfill those roles? Class visits and assignments at the Boston Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) and other local venues will examine these issues in practical application. This course fulfills the ECR requirement.

    Term:

    Offered Fall Term

    Type:

    Expanded Classroom Requirement,Humanities & History,Humanities Literature Requirement

  • ARH-321 Women, Art & Society

    Credits:

    4.00

    Description:

    This course covers women artists from the sixteenth century to the present as well as the new direction of art-historical scholarship developed by feminist art historians during recent decades.

    Term:

    Offered Spring Term

    Type:

    Cultural Diversity Opt A,Cultural Diversity Opt B,BFA Humanities Requirement,Cultural Diversity BFA,

  • ARH-347 History of Photography

    Credits:

    4.00

    Description:

    An introduction to the study of photographs. The history of the medium in Europe and America from its invention to the present. Lectures address photographic theory and methodology, and photographs are studied both as art objects and as historical artifacts. Topics include portraiture, documentary photography and photojournalism, Pictorialism and art photography, landscape photography, and issues of gender, race,identity, and the body.

    Term:

    Occasional

    Type:

    Humanities Literature Requirement,Humanities & History

  • ARH-502 Honors Thesis

    Prerequisites:

    Senior standing & permission of the Dept.Chair.

    Credits:

    4.00

    Description:

    A major research project completed under the supervision of a regular faculty member.

    Term:

    Occasional

    Type:

    Humanities & History,Humanities Literature Requirement

  • ARH-510 Independent Study

    Prerequisites:

    An independent study form must be submitted to the CAS Dean's Office.

    Credits:

    1.00- 4.00

    Description:

    Students meet with a departmental faculty member to pursue advanced studies in areas of particular interest to them.

    Term:

    Occasional

    Type:

    Humanities & History,Humanities Literature Requirement

Related Options (maximum of 2 courses, 6-8 credits)

Two of the eight upper-level courses may be taken outside of the Department of World Languages and Cultural Studies, through the art history offerings at NESAD, or in related areas of visual culture such as the philosophy of art, photojournalism, advertising, cinema, and select 3-credit studio art and design courses, such as the following:(Other courses may be permitted at the discretion of the major advisor.)

  • ADF-S101 Foundation Drawing I

    Credits:

    3.00

    Description:

    This course concentrates on the traditional techniques of observational drawing. Fundamental principles and elements of drawing are introduced in structured lessons and exercises, which are supplemented by additional outside assignments. Foundation Drawing I stresses the development of visual skills as well as the broad use of drawing concepts, vocabulary, techniques and variety of materials.

    Term:

    Offered Both Fall and Spring

  • ADF-S123 Painting

    Prerequisites:

    ADF S101, ADF S166

    Credits:

    3.00

    Description:

    In this introductory course, students will learn to accurately perceive relationships of shape, form, color and value, and to translate that information through the medium of paint. In a series of in-class and outside projects on canvas, prepared paper and panel, students will explore various approaches to the use of acrylic and oil paint. Emphasis will be placed on the development of disciplined technical skills as well as the exploration of painting's potential as a medium of communication and creative visual expression.

    Term:

    Offered Spring Term

  • ADF-S143 Color

    Prerequisites:

    Intended for majors only

    Credits:

    3.00

    Description:

    This course features a hands-on approach to the study of color as students create, modify and compare hues, values and strengths through the direct mixing and application of paint. Also explored will be issues of color harmony, chromatic light, space, color assimilation, and color psychology, as well as past and present views on the use of color in art and design. This intensive focus on the specific issues of color gives students experience with and flexibility in the use of color in their work.

    Term:

    Offered Both Fall and Spring

  • ADF-S151 2-Dimensional Design

    Credits:

    3.00

    Description:

    The focus of this course is the fundamental logic and structure of two-dimensional organization. Emphasis will be placed on the essential elements of visual language: line, shape, value and texture. Students will learn to develop dynamic approaches to visual problem solving by combining these elements into a unified whole. Skills will include technical proficiency in a variety of wet and dry media, appropriate presentation of work, and the ability to discuss work critically.

    Term:

    Offered Both Fall and Spring

  • ADF-S152 3-Dimensional Design

    Prerequisites:

    ADF S151 or ADF S166

    Credits:

    3.00

    Description:

    This course focuses on the fundamental elements of three-dimensional form. Line, plane and volume will be explored as students develop visual analysis and critical thinking skills in the round. The role of scale, proportion, structure, surface, light and display will be addressed, as students create forms that activate space and engage the viewer. The course will proceed from work with simple forms and techniques to more challenging and comprehensive problems addressing both additive and subtractive methods.

    Term:

    Offered Both Fall and Spring

  • ADFA-304 Art and Architecture of the Italian Renaissance

    Prerequisites:

    ADF-182 and the Fine Art Program Director's consent.

    Credits:

    4.00

    Description:

    This course introduces the students to Italian Renaissance art, artists and culture from the first evidence in the Italian Gothic (around the 1260's) to the Early and High Renaissance, predominantly in Florence and Venice, up to the 1600's. The course will survey the history of painting, sculpture and architecture as we study the works individually, for their formal elements and visual importance, but also within their aesthetic, historic, political and cultural context. Class discussion and a visual analysis of works of art will encourage personal interpretation and critical thinking. A list of terms related to the Renaissances introduces the language of art. Normally offered during the summer. Offered in Italy only.

    Type:

    Expanded Classroom Requirement

  • ADFA-306 Art & Culture of Asia, Africa, South America and Oceania

    Credits:

    4.00

    Description:

    The coursework introduces students to the artistic and visual traditions from South and East Asia, Africa, Oceania and the Americas. In addition to the material culture of the particular region under study, the coursework will consider socio-political ideals, religious belief systems, and cultural principles that 'shaped' or informed the work and the ideology of civilizations beyond the Western hemisphere. Comparative analysis among non-western and western traditions will be used to critically analyze the salient points of influence, rejection and modifications of aesthetic affinities. Class lectures will be supplemented with museum seminars specifically the rich non-western collections at the MFA, Boston. Guided field trips to the museum will allow students to formally analyze the works of art discussed in lecture and text material.

    Term:

    Occasional

    Type:

    Cultural Diversity Opt B,Cultural Diversity BFA,Asian Studies,Humanities & History,Expanded Classroo

  • ADFA-345 Art of India

    Credits:

    4.00

    Description:

    A chronological survey of South Asian art (2300 BCE - 1750 CE) including India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Nepal. Examination of art and architecture from their first and still mysterious beginnings in the Indus Valley, through the great masterpieces of Buddhist and Hindu art to the coming of Islam, including the eclectic culture of the Mughal courts and the golden age of miniature paintings. Consideration is given to the multiple aspects of patronage in Indian culture - religious, political, economic - through case studies of individual works of art and architecture. (Formerly HUM 345)

    Type:

    Humanities & History,Cultural Diversity Opt B,Humanities Literature Requirement,Asian Studies

  • CJN-L218 Photojournalism

    Credits:

    4.00

    Description:

    An introduction to the role of photography in the journalistic process. A discussion of photography as communication and a survey of the history of photography.

    Term:

    Offered Both Fall and Spring

    Type:

    Humanities & History

  • CJN-257 Advertising

    Credits:

    4.00

    Description:

    Theoretical and practical applications of communication are considered in terms of advertising strategies and campaigns for media.

    Term:

    Offered Both Fall and Spring

  • CJN-288 Film Language: From Silents to Citizen Kane

    Credits:

    4.00

    Description:

    Film history from 1895 - 1940. An introduction to the language and technology of cinema as developed by pioneering filmmakers, and a basic discussion of aesthetics and criticism of film. Key films from the silent era through Orson Welles' Citizen Kane.

    Term:

    Offered Both Fall and Spring

  • CJN-290 Women in Struggle on Film

    Credits:

    4.00

    Description:

    Problems of women at work and at war, in love, marriage and pregnancy, as seen in Hollywood films, both old and new, and in documentaries. The roles of women are examined historically, psychologically, sociologically, and cinematically. Normally offered yearly.

    Term:

    Offered Fall Term

    Type:

    Humanities & History

  • CJN-291 Film Studies: the Modern Era

    Credits:

    4.00

    Description:

    Film history from 1940 until 1970. Includes an emphasis on film aesthetics, criticism, and history from World War II through the end of the Hollywood studio system; from film noir to Italian Neo-Realism to the French New Wave.

    Term:

    Offered Spring Term

    Type:

    Humanities & History

  • GER-306 German Cinema

    Credits:

    4.00

    Description:

    A survey of films produced in the German speaking countries from the 1920's to the present. Includes the Weimar republic, the Nazi period, postwar production from both East and West Germany, and new trends since reunification. Film esthetics and socio-historical context. All films shown in German with English subtitles.

    Term:

    Occasional

    Type:

    Humanities & History,Humanities Literature Requirement

  • SPAN-408 Latin American Cinema

    Prerequisites:

    Take ENG-102 or ENG-103 or Instructor's consent. Span 302 is strongly recommended for Spanish and Latin American & Caribbean Studies majors and minors.

    Credits:

    4.00

    Description:

    A survey of films from Argentina, Mexico, Cuba, and other Latin American countries. Occasionally the course includes films produced in the United States that are directed by Hispanic filmmakers or that illustrate the significance of Hispanic culture in North America. Films in Spanish with English subtitles. Discussions in English. All majors and minors are expected to complete their written assignments in Spanish. Cultural Diversity B. Prerequisite: None. SPAN 290 or 300 are strongly recommended. Normally offered alternate years. 4 credits.

    Term:

    Occasional

    Type:

    Cultural Diversity Opt B,Humanities & History,Humanities Literature Requirement

  • PHIL-219 Philosophy of Art

    Credits:

    4.00

    Description:

    What counts as art? What is beauty? Are there objective standards of beauty? This course examines the nature of aesthetic experience, art, beauty, and creativity. Through the classic and contemporary readings, the students will be introduced to philosophical issues concerning the meaning of art, artistic representation, perceptions of art, interpretation, and criticism. Students will be encouraged to reflect on their own experience of art and explore the relationships among the artist, the audience, the artwork, and the world. 1 term - 4 credits. Normally offered every third year.

    Type:

    Humanities & History,Humanities Literature Requirement

Notes:
  • A relevant Seminar for Freshmen with a strong concentration in art history or visual culture may also count toward one of the related options at the discretion of the major advisor.
  • Upper-level art history courses taken at other institutions or through study abroad must be approved by the student’s art history advisor (preferably prior to being taken), and must not overlap significantly with any other upper-level art history course(s) counted toward the major.
  • Except under special circumstances approved by the student’s art history advisor, at least 6 of the 10 courses (24 of the 38-40 credit hours) must be fulfilled through coursework offered by the Department of World Languages and Cultural Studies.
  • AP credit cannot be applied toward the major.

English Language Requirements

TOEFL paper-based test score : 550 TOEFL iBT® test : 77

To study at this university, you have to speak English. We advice you to

take an IELTS test. More About IELTS

Requirements

We do not use specific minimums for scores or grades in the decision process, but weigh all factors together to gain a whole view of you and your potential for success as a Suffolk University student:

  • Level and range of high school courses selected
  • Grades achieved (official high school transcript with senior year grades)
  • SAT or ACT scores (our code is 3771)
  • Recommendations (two required; one from a guidance counselor, one from a teacher)
  • The essay
  • Other required forms
  • Admission interview (optional)
  • Transfer students should view the transfer requirements page for more details.

In high school, you should have completed:

  • Four units of English
  • Three units of mathematics (algebra I and II and geometry)
  • Two units of science (at least one with a lab)
  • Two units of language
  • One unit of American history
  • Four units distributed among other college preparatory electives

We may also consider other factors in the review process, such as:

  • Class rank
  • Honors courses
  • AP courses

We are also very interested in personal qualities that will offer us further insights into you as an applicant, including:

  • Admission interview
  • Extracurricular involvement
  • Community service
  • Special interests

Work Experience

No work experience is required.

Related Scholarships*

  • Academic Excellence Scholarship

    "The Academic Excellence Scholarship can provide up to a 50 % reduction in tuition per semester. These scholarships will be renewed if the student maintains superior academic performance during each semester of their 3-year Bachelor programme. The scholarship will be directly applied to the student’s tuition fees."

  • Alumni Study Travel Fund

    Scholarships for students who are already attending the University of Reading.

  • Amsterdam Merit Scholarships

    The University of Amsterdam aims to attract the world’s brightest students to its international classrooms. Outstanding students from outside the European Economic Area can apply for an Amsterdam Merit Scholarship.

* The scholarships shown on this page are suggestions first and foremost. They could be offered by other organisations than Suffolk University.

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