Why study art history? Throughout history, art and architecture have been among the most powerful means of social interaction and communication. Today, the visual dominates our world more than ever before. The discipline of Art History attempts to analyze how images and materials have been used in the past and are used in the present through a thorough understanding of their visual, contextual, and ideological bases. The History of Art is a unique discipline in that it allows students to approach and to access a great variety of subjects through the study of material culture. At both the undergraduate and graduate levels, students examine works of art in relation to the historical, political, cultural, social, philosophical and theological circumstances surrounding their creation.

Undergraduate studies in Art History are designed to contribute to the general education of all students, stressing an understanding of the visual arts within their cultural and historical contexts.

A major in Art History is essential preparation for graduate work in the discipline, and it also provides an excellent background for those planning to attend graduate and professional schools in other areas, or for those entering a more general job market.