Art History Requirements
Requirements for Concentration in Art History: The major consists of a minimum of 12 units. 10 units, including Art 105-106, must be in graded art history courses taken at Vassar. 2 units may be taken in studio art and/or architectural design, or may be transferred from work completed outside of Vassar, such as courses taken during Junior Year Abroad.
Distribution: 6 units must be divided equally between groups A, B, and C. 1 unit in group D (African or Asian) may be substituted for a unit from any of the other three groups and 1 unit taken Junior Year Away may also be applied to meet this distribution requirement. 3 units must be in 300-level art history courses: two seminars in different art historical groups and 301 (senior project). 300-level seminars are to be selected on the basis of courses in the same area already taken on the 200-level. Majors are also urged to take a 300-level seminar before 301.
- Ancient
Medieval - Renaissance
Seventeenth Century - Nineteenth Century
Twentieth Century
American
African American - Asian
African
Departmental and interdisciplinary courses that do not conform to the groupings listed above may be applied to the distribution requirements upon approval of the student’s major adviser.
Ungraded/NRO work may not be used to satisfy the requirements for the art history concentration.
Senior Year Requirements: Art 301 and 1 additional unit at the 300-level. Majors concentrating in art history are required to write a senior paper, based upon independent research and supervised by a member of the department. Petitions for exemption from this requirement, granted only in special circumstances, must be submitted to the chair in writing by the first day of classes in the A semester.
Recommendations: The selection and sequence of courses for the major should be planned closely with the major adviser. Students are advised to take courses in the history of painting, sculpture, and architecture, and are strongly encouraged to take at least one studio course. Students considering graduate study in art history are advised to take courses in foreign languages: German, and the Romance, Classical, or Asian languages, depending on areas of interest. Students with special interest in architectural design and/or city planning should meet with the departmental adviser to discuss this concentration.
The art department offers a correlate sequence in art history to allow students to develop an area of significant interest outside their major field of concentration. In consultation with a departmental adviser, the student selects a body of courses encompassing introductory through advanced study and covering more than one historical period. The Correlate Sequence in Art History: 6 graded units including Art 105-106, three 200-level courses in at least two art historical period groups, and one 300-level course.
Advisers: the art history faculty.