Once described by New York Times art critic John Russell as the best undergraduate department of art history in the country, the Art History program at NYU was established to provide a rigorous and wide-ranging education in the many facets of the history and theory of art, a mission that its faculty continues to enthusiastically embrace. Students become familiar with global art from antiquity to the present. The department offers courses in ancient, medieval, Renaissance, baroque, modern, contemporary, East Asian, South Asian, Islamic, Latin American, African, Oceanic, Pre-Columbian, and Native American art, treating not only painting, sculpture, architecture, and photography, but also graphic media, manuscript illumination, the decorative arts, and aspects of urban design. The department is one of the few undergraduate programs in the country with extensive offerings in conservation and museology. A myriad of museums, galleries, and local architectural sites make New York City the ideal place in which to study the visual arts on site and in the flesh. Beyond New York, art history courses are offered at NYU's study away sites, such as Berlin, Buenos Aires, Florence, London, Madrid, Paris, and Prague.
The department offers majors and minors in Art History and in Urban Design and Architecture Studies. Since an education in the history of art can be enhanced by a firsthand understanding of its making, our majors are encouraged to minor in Studio Art through the Steinhardt School. The department publishes its own student journal (Ink & Image) and has an honors program which culminates in the writing and oral defense of a senior honors thesis.
Art History graduates have proven exceptionally successful in securing positions in museums, commercial galleries, auction houses, and nonprofit organizations. Those who go on to undertake graduate study typically pursue careers as curators, conservators, and academic art historians at the university and college level. Students majoring in Urban Design and Architecture Studies are well prepared for graduate study in architecture, urban planning, and historic preservation.
Graduation with Departmental Honors
Students may graduate with departmental honors in Art History or in Urban Design and Architecture Studies by successfully researching and writing a senior thesis. This represents the culmination of the work for the major and provides excellent preparation for graduate school. To be eligible for the honors program, students must have a GPA of 3.65 or higher at the conclusion of their junior year, both overall and in Art History or in Urban Design and Architecture Studies. A student wishing to write an honors thesis must apply for admission to the program via the department’s NYU Classes site in early March of their junior year. For a complete description of all the honors thesis requirements, please visit our departmental NYU Classes site for honors-track students.
Work toward the senior thesis consists of two 4-credit honors courses (ARTH-UA 801 Senior Honors Thesis I and ARTH-UA 804 Independent Studies, total of 8 credits) focusing on research methods and writing, accompanied by regular meetings with the supervising professor. The completed thesis, at least 30 to 40 pages in length, is read by a committee of three faculty members, including the supervising professor. The committee meets with the student for a thesis defense at the end of the academic year. Satisfactory completion of the thesis, in the committee’s judgment, earns an honors degree. These two honors courses may replace the two electives required for the major, allowing students to complete the major with honors in nine courses (36 credits).
Admissions
New York University's Office of Undergraduate Admissions supports the application process for all undergraduate programs at NYU. For additional information about undergraduate admissions, including application requirements, see How to Apply.
Program Requirements
The major in Art History comprises nine 4-credit courses (36 credits) completed with a grade of C or better (courses graded Pass/Fail do not count) as follows: one ARTH-UA foundations course; four ARTH-UA lecture courses chosen from the chronological and cultural lists below; two advanced seminars (ARTH-UA 800); and two ARTH-UA electives. All nine courses selected for the major must be distributed across the department's three distinct time periods and across at least two cultural traditions as defined below. Note that any given course may fulfill two different distribution requirements: that is, both chronological and cultural.
Upon completion of program requirements, students are expected to have acquired:
Foundational knowledge of the history and theory of art across different time periods and cultures, as well as specialized and advanced knowledge in areas of particular interest.
The ability to think critically about how art operates within social and political contexts, both historically and today.
An understanding of how art history has developed as a discipline, its range of analytical strategies, and the field's critical and interpretive approaches.
Visual literacy and the ability to describe and interpret a wide range of images and objects from different cultures and media.
Effective writing skills, including the ability to develop arguments and support them with evidence, and also presentation and speaking skills (as developed in seminar courses).
The ability to conduct primary and secondary research in libraries, museums, and other repositories.
Policies
Program Policies
Policies Applying to the Major
Credit toward the Art History majors and minors is granted only for courses completed with a grade of C or higher. Courses graded Pass/Fail do not count. Neither do art or art history courses in Steinhardt.
Students cannot receive credit for both History of Western Art I (ARTH-UA 1) and Ancient Art (ARTH-UA 3) or Medieval Art (ARTH-UA 4); or for both History of Western Art II (ARTH-UA 2) and Renaissance and Baroque Art (ARTH-UA 5) or Modern Art (ARTH-UA 6), as their contents overlap.
In the Art History major, students must complete at least one course in each of two distinct cultural traditions which include Africa/the Near East, East Asia, South Asia, Europe/the Americas, Islamic, and Pre-Columbian/Native American/Oceanic, among others. In addition to the courses listed on the Curriculum tab for this requirement, ARTH-UA 550 Sp Tpcs Non-Western Art: or ARTH-UA 800 Advanced Seminar may be used, when the topic is appropriate.
The following courses satisfy either the early modern or modern art and architecture requirement in the Art History major, not both: ARTH-UA 511 East Asian Art II:China, Korea, Japan, 1000Ce-Pr, ARTH-UA 531 , ARTH-UA 541 Art in The Islamic World II: Mongols to Modernism, and certain ARTH-UA 850 Special Topics: courses, when the content is appropriate.
In addition, the following courses may be used to satisfy only one of the ancient or medieval, early modern, or modern art and architecture requirements in the Art History major: ARTH-UA 560 Arts of Africa, and certain ARTH-UA 850 Special Topics: courses, when the content is appropriate.
Note that any given course may fulfill two different distribution requirements: that is, both chronological and cultural. For instance, ARTH-UA 510 East Asian Art I: China, Korea, Japan to 1000 Ce qualifies as ancient/medieval (chronological) and East Asian (cultural). If students use one or more courses to satisfy two distribution requirements in this fashion, they may need to take one or more extra major electives so that their total number of major credits remains at the requirement of 36 credits.
Art History electives may be chosen from any non-survey courses in the department or any approved course offered in another department or at an NYU study away site. Any course in the Urban Design and Architecture Studies program may be counted as an elective for the Art History major. Other proposed substitutions must be discussed with and approved by the DUS prior to election of the course in question.
Advanced Standing Credit
A score of 5 on the Advanced Placement Art History examination, or a score of A on the Advanced Level History of Art examination, exempts students from ARTH-UA 10 Foundations of Art History and counts as one course toward the major (i.e., the major can be completed with eight courses). Note that the Advanced Level exam awards 8 credits; 4 are equivalent to ARTH-UA 10 Foundations of Art History, and the other 4 are ARTH-UA elective credits that count toward the baccalaureate degree but not the major. Lower scores on AP and A Levels do not count toward the major or exempt students from ARTH-UA 10 Foundations of Art History, although scores of 4 and B respectively do count as elective credit toward the baccalaureate degree. Advanced standing credits cannot count toward the minor.
Courses in the College Core Curriculum
Students majoring or minoring in Art History or Urban Design and Architecture Studies are exempt from the College Core Curriculum's Expressive Culture requirement. Students who wish to have a Core Expressive Culture course (CORE-UA 720 Expressive Cult: Images or CORE-UA 722 Expressive Culture: Architecture in New York Field) count for credit toward either major must secure the permission of the director of undergraduate studies for Art History or the director of the Urban Design and Architecture Studies program.
Internship Policy
Under exceptional circumstances, the Department of Art History awards academic credit (1 or 2 credits) for an internship accompanied by an independent study. Students must find a professor willing to supervise this study. Course work may include a written diary recording the student's work experience and will include a term paper relevant to the internship, to be approved by the supervising professor. The independent study must also be approved by the director of undergraduate studies.