Almost every school has an Art History major. It’s a great track for people who want to work in galleries or museums, but it’s also a wonderful major for those who want to learn critical thinking, writing, and research skills. Many students who take art history will never work in a museum, but they will leave with impressive skills and a great undergrad humanities education. If you are interested in Art History then you have to check out programs at these top-tier schools.
Harvard
We put Harvard on best-of lists a lot… Come on it’s Harvard. However, it especially should be on an Art History list. Art History is one of their oldest departments having started in 1874. The department is supported by the Harvard Art Museums, Fine Arts Library, Graduate School of Design, Houghton Library, and Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology and Visual and Environmental Studies. Through this department, they offer the History of Art and Architecture major. This major has a ton of focus options including African, African-American, American, Ancient, Architecture, Baroque and Rococo, Byzantine, Chinese, European 18th and 19th centuries, South Asian, Islamic, Japanese, Latin American/Pre-Columbian, Medieval, Modern and Contemporary, Photography, and Renaissance (Northern and Southern). TLDR there are a lot of options to concentrate on the art each student gravitates towards.
Columbia
The Department of Art History and Archeology at Columbia offers both an Art History major and a major in Art History and Visual Arts. They also have a major in the History and Theory of Architecture. Students in this program write a senior thesis and they also offer honors and awards for interested students. They also have Travel Seminars. These are classes that take students on trips over breaks to study art up close from everywhere from California to Rome. Spending spring break in Paris? Where do we sign up?
UC Berkeley
Many of the UCs have great Art History programs. UCLA could easily also make this list, but UC Berkeley has some really cool resources when it comes to art history. They house the Visualization Lab for Digital Art History, Art History/Classics Library, and the Art History Undergraduate Association. They help students pursue great internship opportunities. Their program has a lot of great international courses and electives such as Baek(je) to (Nam June) Paik: Korean Art in Global Context, African Aesthetics, as well as undergraduate seminars and American and European art courses.
Williams
Students at Williams can choose one of two art history majors: Art History or Art History & Studio. The art department is one of Williams’ largest departments and many students study both art and art history in conjunction. They house the Williams College Museum of Art. They also have an honors track, scholars program, internship opportunities, awards, fellowships, residencies, and more. They offer some pretty unique classes such as Chicana/o/x Film and Video, Museum Culture: Do you see what I see?!, and Afro-Cosmopolitans 1935-1955.
Yale
Yale requires Art History students to take twelve credits. This includes two 400-level seminars, one methods seminar, two electives, and the senior essay. They also award 5 prizes to Art History students, the A. Conger Goodyear Fine Arts Award, Walter Louis Ehrich Prize, Mark Deitz Memorial Prize, Vincent D. Andrus Memorial Prize, and The Marshall-Allison Fellowship in the History of Art. Yale also has great grants, fellowships, and abroad programs for Art History students. Yale also houses three museums, multiple libraries, and The International Center of Medieval Art.
Emory
Art History students at Emory use resources at the Michael C. Carlos Museum and the Stuart A. Rose Manuscripts, Archives, and Rare Book Library. They pride themselves on having a faculty comprised of museum curators, studio artists, art conservators and specialists in Europe, Africa, and the Americas. Their Art History Department offers a couple of majors including Art History, Museum Conservation, History and Art History Joint, and the Integrated Visual Arts Co-major. They also offer minors, study abroad opportunities, and undergraduate research.
USC
USC offers a Bachelor of Arts in Art History as well as a minor in Art History and a minor in Visual Culture. They highly encourage their art history students to study abroad in programs including USC in Paris and Madrid. They house the USC Fisher Museum and the USC Pacific Asia Museum and are close to many others around the Los Angeles area.
Stanford
Stanford’s Art and Art History Department offers majors in Art History, Art Practice, and Film and Media Studies. They offer a lot of concentrations in Art History. And we mean a lot, including art and gender; art, politics, race, and ethnicity; art, science, and technology; urban studies; ancient and medieval; Renaissance and early modern; modern and contemporary; America; Africa; Asia; the Americas; architecture; painting; sculpture; film studies; prints and media; decorative arts and material culture. They also have interdisciplinary concentrations inducing art and literature; art and history; art and religion; art and economics; art and medicine. They offer an honors track, arts grants, and a peer advising program for majors.
Duke
The Department of Art, Art History & Visual Studies at Duke has a couple of Art History majors. They have Art History, Art History: Architecture, Art History: Museum Theory and Practice, and Art History & Visual Arts. No matter which you take, students at Duke are involved in research, interdisciplinary learning, and take courses in theory and practice, methodology and criticism, and digital technologies.
Washington in St Louis
WashU houses the Department of Art History and Archaeology. They offer an honors program, research opportunities, undergraduate awards, and help with internship and career placements. They encourage students to study abroad and have programs in Athens, Rome, Paris, Florence, and more. They also house a Digital Art History Lab to help students learn important tech skills in the field.
Schools, like the ones on our list, who offer interesting concentrations, cool study abroad opportunities, and research through awesome museums are must-sees for those interested in studying Art History. Sometimes students are weary when it comes to studying Art History. We hear all the time, “I love it but I am worried I won’t be able to get a job!” Art History teaches important skills and comes with wonderful opportunities. TLDR, if you love it, go for it!
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