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Art History

Chair: Katherine Hornstein

Professors A. Cohen, M. K. Coffey; Associate Professors, A. Hockley, N. M. Camerlenghi, K. Hornstein, S. L. Kim, C. Elias; Assistant Professors, E. A. Kassler-Taub, A. Teriba; Senior Lecturers, S. E. Kangas, K. O’Rourke, Fellow, C. Gambetta, Visiting Professor, S. Agarwala

Consult the Department Administrator for further information.

To view Art History courses, click here.  

Requirements for the Major

Twelve courses as follows:

Prerequisite: Two courses from ARTH 1, ARTH 2, ARTH 4 or ARTH 5

Requirements: 

• One Studio Art course;

• Four Art History courses, each from a different area:

  • Pre-Modern (ancient and medieval art to 1400)

  • Early-Modern Europe (1400-1800)

  • Non-Western

  • Modern and Contemporary (1800 to the present);

• One advanced seminar in Art History (ARTH 80 through ARTH 83);

• ARTH 89, which will serve as the Major Culminating Experience;

• Three other Art History courses numbered 10 or higher except 89's, 91 or 92. (A Classical Studies course [CLST 20, CLST 21, CLST 22, CLST 24, CLST 25, or CLST 26] may be substituted for one of the three other Art History courses.)

        N.B.: ARTH 1, ARTH 2, ARTH 4 and ARTH 5 may serve only as major prerequisite courses.

Students planning an Art History major must first complete a Major Worksheet (available outside the Department office or on our website) which needs to be completed and then signed by the Department Chair, before it’s submitted to the Department Administrator. Students formally elect the major by submitting a proposed plan of courses through DartWorks, which the Department Administrator will check against the submitted worksheet. Once your plan is approved it will go to the Registrar.

Requirements for the Modified Major

Students wishing to declare a modified major must submit a short description of the proposed modification and a completed Modified Major Worksheet (available outside the Department office) to the Chair. If the faculty approves the proposal, the worksheet, and rationale statement must be filed with the Department Administrator, and additionally you must email the rationale statement to the Registrar.  The courses making up a modified major should constitute an intellectually coherent whole. The Department will consider proposals for modifying the Art History major only if they are presented before the end of the student's senior fall term. Students formally elect the modified major by submitting a proposed plan of courses through DartWorks, which the Department Administrator will check against the submitted worksheet. Once your plan is approved it will be sent to the Registrar. 

Thirteen courses as follows:

Prerequisite: Two courses from ARTH 1, ARTH 2, ARTH 4 or ARTH 5

Requirements: 

• Three courses in three out of four categories:

  • Pre-Modern (ancient and medieval art to 1400)

  • Early-Modern Europe (1400-1800)

  • Non-Western

  • Modern and Contemporary (1800 to the present);

• ARTH 89 (constituting the Major Culminating Experience);

• Two other Art History courses numbered 10 or higher except 89's, 91 or 92;

• Either a seminar (ARTH 80–ARTH 83) or an Honors Thesis course (ARTH 91–ARTH 92).

        N.B.: ARTH 1, ARTH 2, ARTH 4 and ARTH 5 may serve only as major prerequisite courses.

• Four courses, selected in consultation with the Art History advisor, will be taken in the secondary (modifying) department(s), with whatever prerequisites they require.

Another Major Modified with Art History

Prerequisite: One course: ARTH 1, ARTH 2, ARTH 4 or ARTH 5

Requirements: Four Art History courses selected in consultation with the advisor in the primary department.

Requirements for the Minor

Six courses as follows:

Prerequisite: One or two of ARTH 1, ARTH 2, ARTH 4 or ARTH 5

Requirements: Four courses, one in each of four categories:

• Pre-Modern (ancient and medieval art to 1400)

• Early-Modern Europe (1400-1800)

• Non-Western

• Modern and Contemporary (1800 to the present) 

If only one prerequisite is taken, any additional Art History course may be taken as the sixth course. An Art History seminar (ARTH 80-ARTH 83) is not required, but is strongly encouraged. N.B.: ARTH 1, ARTH 2, ARTH 4 and ARTH 5 may serve only as prerequisite courses.

Students planning an Art History minor must complete a Minor Worksheet (available outside the Department office or on our website) which needs to be completed and then signed by the Chair, and submitted to the Department Administrator. Students formally elect the minor by submitting a proposed plan of courses through DartWorks, which the Department Administrator will check against the submitted worksheet. Once your plan is approved it will go to the Registrar.

For more information about how to submit a plan through DartWorks, please consult the student guide located on the Registrar's website.

https://www.dartmouth.edu/%7Ereg/guides/dartworks/declare_major_or_minor.html

Minor track in East Asian Art History

This minor provides an introduction to the art, architecture, and visual cultures of East Asia. 

Six courses as follows:

Requirements:

• One of the following pan-East Asian courses:

  • ARTH 38.01: Sacred Architecture of Asia

  • ARTH 38.03: East Meets West

• Any five courses from the following list:

  • ARTH 32.01: 2000 Years of Korean Painting 

  • ARTH 32.11: Korean Art

  • ARTH 32.21: Sacred Art and Architecture of Japan

  • ARTH 32.22: The Japanese Painting Tradition

  • ARTH 38.02: Contemporary Art of Asia

  • ARTH 62.20: Modern and Contemporary Korean Art

  • ARTH 62.30: Japanese Prints

  • ARTH 62.81: Women, Gender and Art in East Asia

  • ARTH 82.01: Arts and Culture of Korea’s Last Dynasty

  • ARTH 82.02: The Camera in Nineteenth-Century Asia

• Students are encouraged, but not required, to include one of two advanced seminars among the five courses they select to complete their minor:

  • ARTH 82.01: Arts and Culture of Korea’s Last Dynasty

  • ARTH 82.02: The Camera in Nineteenth-Century Asia

Minor track in Architectural History and Urbanism

For students interested in the history and theory of architecture and urbanism across geographies and time periods. 

Six courses as follows:

Requirements:

• Four of the following classes, divided between at least three different geographic areas of focus (Europe, Americas, Asia):

  • ARTH 28.05: Art & Society in the Age of the Rococo

  • ARTH 28.06: European Art in the Age of Revolution (1750-1850)

  • ARTH 31.02: Art and Industry: The Visual and Material Culture of South Asia, 1800 to present

  • ARTH 40.01 American Art and Identity

  • ARTH 40.02: The American Century: Modern Art in the United States

  • ARTH 40.03: Twentieth Century Art from Latin America

  • ARTH 40.04: Mexicanidad: Constructing and Dismantling Mexican National Identity

  • ARTH 41.01: Modernism and Modernity: Art in late nineteenth-century France

  • ARTH 41.02: Twentieth Century Art in Europe, 1900-1945

  • ARTH 41.03: European Art 1750-1850

  • ARTH 47.01: Building America: An Architectural and Social History

  • ARTH 47.02: Modern Architecture

  • ARTH 48.02: Histories of Photography

  • ARTH 48.03: The Arts of War

  • ARTH 48.04: Women in Art

  • ARTH 48.05: Satire: Art, Politics & Critique

  • ARTH 62.20: Modern and Contemporary Korean Art

  • ARTH 62.30: Japanese Prints

  • ARTH 62.81: Women, Gender and Art in East Asia

  • ARTH 63.01: Mexican Muralism

  • ARTH 63.12: When Media Were New

  • ARTH 63.13: Bad Art!

• One advanced modern seminar in art history (in the range of ARTH 80 and higher) or ARTH 89 (Senior Seminar in Art Historical Theory and Method)

Students planning an Art History minor must complete the relevant Minor Worksheet (available outside the Department office or on our website) which needs to be completed and then signed by the Chair, and submitted to the Department Administrator. Students formally elect the minor by submitting a proposed plan of courses through DartWorks, which the Department Administrator will check against the submitted worksheet. Once your plan is approved it will go to the Registrar.

For more information about how to submit a plan through DartWorks, please consult the student guide located on the Registrar's website.

https://www.dartmouth.edu/%7Ereg/guides/dartworks/declare_major_or_minor.html

 

Advanced Placement

The Department does not award course credit to students who have taken the high school Advanced Placement course in Art History. However, an Art History major or minor who has achieved a grade of 5 in this course may substitute two appropriate mid-level Art History courses for the two introductory-level courses (ARTH 1, ARTH 2, ARTH 4 or ARTH 5) required as prerequisites for the major or minor. The substitute courses must be chosen in consultation with a faculty advisor.

 

Honors Program

To be eligible for the Honors Program, a student must have achieved by the end of the junior year a 3.2 general College average and a 3.4 average in all Art History courses. A candidate for admission to the Honors Program must, in either the spring preceding or in the fall of the senior year, consult with a potential faculty adviser and submit a written and in-person presentation to the whole Art History faculty of the proposed Honors project. Admission or non-admission to the Honors Program will subsequently be determined by a vote of the faculty. The Program will consist of an advanced project of study under ARTH 91-ARTH 92 (only one of which may be counted as part of the major, under “other”), taken during two consecutive terms in the senior year.

Students are strongly encouraged to initiate discussion with an appropriate faculty adviser as early as possible in the junior year.

The Art History Department oversees funds intended to underwrite research for honors projects in the Department. For information see the Department Administrator.

 

Foreign Study Program

In order that students may have an opportunity to study art history in direct contact with original works of art, the Department conducts a Foreign Study Program during the spring term. Based in Rome, one of Europe’s richest artistic centers, with a continuous evolution from antiquity to the present, the program examines the monuments of the city, their creators, their patrons, and their various audiences.

This program is open to all students. There are two prerequisites:

There are two prerequisites for the Art History FSP, Italian 1 (or its equivalent) and Art History 1. In addition, Art History 2 is highly recommended. While in Rome, students are enrolled in ARTH 26.01 and ARTH 26.05 or ARTH 26.02 and ARTH 26.04 depending on the instructor (both of which may be counted toward the major and/or minor, but only one of which fulfills a departmental distributive), and ARTH 26.03, which is the equivalent of ITAL 2. Interested students should contact Professors Hornstein, or Camerlenghi as early as possible in their academic careers.

 

Transfer Credit

Transfer credits will be granted only to majors, modified majors, and minors in the Art History Department. Majors are limited to two transfer credits only one of which can fulfill a departmental distributive requirement. Modified majors and minors are limited to one transfer credit, which cannot fulfill a departmental distributive requirement. The Art History Department does not grant transfer credit for courses on topics related to those we teach. Applications for transfer credits must meet all of the requirements stipulated by the Registrar. Before requesting transfer credit, students must submit a copy of the syllabus of the course they intend to take to the Chair of the Art History Department.