Art History is the study of the visual arts in civilization. It
examines changing values in all fields of visual culture,
including painting, sculpture, graphics, photography,
architecture, film, the mass media, and forms of popular
expression. Its interdisciplinary reach encompasses literature,
history, anthropology, sociology, philosophy, gender studies,
critical theory, and cultural studies. Art History emphasizes
visual as well as verbal and written literacy, providing more
than the standard advantages to a liberal arts education.
Students majoring in Art History will engage with the
wide-ranging opportunities its curriculum presents for learning
and research. Studying Art History develops visual
literacy, communication skills, critical/creative thinking and an
understanding of diversity.
Professor Michael Yonan and Dr. Amy Freund (Kleinheinz Endowment
for the Arts and Education Endowed Chair in art history at
Southern Methodist University) gave a talk on Oct. 23 at the
Figge Art Museum in Davenport, IA. “Visualizing the Feline in
Art” asked “what is it with cats and artists?” Yonan and Freund
examined the ubiquitousness of cats in depictions of
artists’ studios and in artworks that serve as manifestos of
their makers’ techniques of visual representation.
At the second annual Calouste Gulbenkian Conference in Art
History, Professors Talinn Grigor and Houri Berberian (UC Irvine)
will present the keynote address
Andrew
Patrizio, Professor of Scottish Visual Culture from 1945
onwards, art and ecology, art and ethics. Edinburgh
College of Art, University of Edinburgh
Alan C.
Braddock, Ralph H. Wark Professor of Art History,
Environmental Humanities and American Studies. William and Mary
