Art and Art History

Art History Overview

Welcome to the program in Art History, an interdisciplinary liberal arts discipline that at Willamette focuses on art and architecture created from the Stone Age to the present in the Ancient Mediterranean region and in Europe and North America, with introductory offerings on the art of Asia.

The Art History major program is comprised of a core of three courses that explore monuments and themes in Western art from prehistoric times to the twentieth century. Students build their major around this core by electing additional courses focused on a particular art form or tradition (such as Ancient Greek Painting or Architecture in America), a unique locale (as in Roman Art and Architecture or Northern Renaissance Art), or a single individual or monument (Major Artists).

The student majoring in Art History also completes at least one Studio Art course and has the option to complete a Minor in Studio Art. All Art and Art History majors meet as a group with the faculty of the Department at the annual Art Majors Dinner in September. This is an occasion for faculty and students to become acquainted or re-acquainted, for announcing special events, for the faculty and advanced majors to provide information about the program to newcomers, and for students to share additional thoughts concerning the Major.

A key resource for Art History study at Willamette is the Hallie Ford Museum of Art, where permanent collections and changing exhibitions offer students original works of art to study firsthand, whether in class assignments or as the focus of advanced independent study. The Museum also serves as a laboratory for those with an interest in museum studies; internships and Work Study assignments can be arranged to work with the collections in a professional environment.

All Art History majors enroll in Senior Seminar in the fall and spring semester of their senior year. A major emphasis in the Seminar is planning and writing the senior thesis in Art History, a major culminating paper that involves original research and analysis by each student. The completed papers are displayed in a reading alcove in the Senior Exhibition held each April in the Hallie Ford Museum.

The major program in Art History complements studies in Studio Art, History, Humanities, Religious Studies, Classics, English and Comparative Literature, Philosophy, Anthropology, International Studies, and American Studies, among others. As taught at Willamette, it is a flexible, wide-ranging discipline involving many modes of inquiry, the development of skills in visual analysis, and emphasis on precise and expressive writing about works of art, their historical contexts, and their changing significance over time.