Such acts of visual expression find diverse articulation as works of painting, sculpture, graphics, architecture, urbanism, garden design and spectacle, as well as the stunning versatility of modern and contemporary media. Whereas studio artists dedicate themselves to the making of art and catalyzing the further evolution of these media, the program in the history of art promotes a retrospective analysis of the art of the past, while critically engaging the art of the present.

The History of Art major emphasizes the modes of inquiry it shares with other fields that analyze cultural activity, such as semiotics, social history, psychoanalysis, and gender studies. The critical study of art cultivates knowledge of religious, aesthetic, social, theoretical, and economic principles. Students achieve a solid familiarity with the core monuments and major artists as well as trends from each of the principal subfields: Ancient and Medieval; Renaissance and Baroque; Modern and Contemporary; and Non-Western. A global perspective is a fundamental aspect of this program and the faculty specializes in the art and architecture of Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East. In association with the Rose Art Museum, students have extraordinary resources for the study of twentieth-century and contemporary art.