Our Program

B.A. in Art History

The B.A. in Art History provides students with a broad and rigorous education in the art produced around the world throughout human history. Students in this degree program take a wide variety of Art History courses, spanning many different cultures, geographies, time periods, and artistic styles. Students receive grounding in the traditional research methods and cutting-edge theoretical approaches of our discipline. Our program challenges students to confront art from a critical lens, analyzing how visual culture shapes and influences our understanding of the past, present and future. Students are taught to think across boundaries and question current categories, in order to practice a socially responsible art history. In addition to developing acute visual sensibilities, students acquire the ability to evaluate and organize information, conduct their own scholarly research and articulate their ideas in both written and spoken language.

The Art History major is particularly ideal if you want to:

• Go to graduate school in Art History at the MA or PhD level. Writing a Senior Honors Thesis is also encouraged, although not required.
• Take the broadest possible range of Art History courses.
• Study Art History as your second major, especially if you plan to pursue a career in your other major.

B.A. in Art History, Specialization in Museum Studies

The Museum Studies Specialization within the Art History major provides students with pre-professional training to begin their careers in museums, art galleries, archives, historical sites, and other institutions that collect, preserve, display, and interpret objects of visual culture. Through a wide selection of site visits and dialogues with museum professionals, students develop a robust understanding of the operating practices of museums as holistic institutions. Required internships and practicum training courses provide résumé-ready work experiences and networking opportunities in local museums and galleries. Students take coursework in Art History, as well as two required courses in other disciplines, to develop the rigorous research skills required to properly protect artworks, stage exhibitions, and communicate with the public. Several course options delve deeply into the current challenges and opportunities faced by museums – such as reckoning with calls for object repatriation, decolonization, protests within museums, and technological advances – preparing students to grapple with those issues on the job in the contemporary museum world.

The Museum Studies track in the Art History major is particularly ideal for these career paths:

• Museum careers or careers in related institutions, such as archives, historical sites, or other collecting institutions.
• Art gallery, auction house, or the art advisory field.
• Art conservation (note: Chemistry courses are also required for admission to graduate degree programs in Art Conservation. Please talk with the Art History Director of Undergraduate Studies for more advice).

B.A. in Art History, Specialization in History of Architecture

The History of Architecture Specialization within the Art History major certifies that students have completed the coursework and training required to meet the minimum requirements necessary to apply for graduate degree programs in architecture (typically Masters of Architecture) at many of the nation’s leading institutions in this field. Students will develop a wide-ranging knowledge of how architecture and the built environment has varied in aesthetics and functionality across time, geography, and culture. Students will develop analytical skills through academic writing as well as photography and drawing, thereby gaining familiarity with the conventions of both architectural history and architectural representation. Artistic skills, particularly in drawing, are honed through required studio art coursework. Calculus and physics courses are also required, grounding students in the mechanics of structural design. Several Art History course options delve deeply into the social impact and ethics of architectural design – such as the effects of human architecture on the natural environment and how architecture has been used as a tool of oppression and marginalization – preparing students to face those challenges creatively and productively in their future architecture careers.

The History of Architecture track in the Art History major is particularly ideal for these career paths:

• Note: students will also need to complete a Masters of Architecture (M.Arch) degree after their SMU Art History BA.
• Interior design.
• Architectural historian, either in academia or in historic preservation work.
• Urban planning and urban design, in government, non-profit, or private practice.