Major in Art History

Department website: https://www.towson.edu/cofac/departments/art/undergrad/arthistory/

Students may select one of two concentrations in Art History:

  1. Research or
  2. Research/Studio

Most students who plan to go on to graduate school in Art History choose the Research concentration, while students planning on a career in the gallery or conservation fields often choose the Research/Studio concentration. Both concentrations require the two-course capstone experience: Research Methods in Art History and Seminar in Art History. In both of these options, advanced research skills, knowledge of the use of technology in both research and presentation, and well-developed writing skills are required.

The optional honors thesis also allows those students with a qualifying grade point average to pursue an individual research project with a faculty adviser which will result in the thesis. Students may also take ARTH 498, which allows them the opportunity to gain practical experience in the community. Towson University has been successful in placing Art History students in such venues as the Baltimore Museum of Art, the Walters Art Gallery, Maryland Historical Society, Maryland Art Place and the Contemporary Museum. 

  1. Students will demonstrate a fundamental knowledge of the history of art, including artists, titles, and dates of key works, as well as knowledge of the broader artistic circumstances from which those works emerged, and of the interrelationship of those circumstances.
  2. Students will demonstrate visual literacy (the ability to interpret the visual, formal aspects of an artwork) in the perception and discussion of art.
  3. Students will demonstrate an understanding of the cultural contexts from which art has emerged.
  4. Students will demonstrate knowledge of the cross-cultural and multicultural interaction that has influenced the development of artistic forms throughout the history of art and up to the present day.
  5. Students will prepare for career fields specific to art history, such as teaching, curatorship and preservation.
  6. In written and oral work, students will demonstrate general skills associated with a liberal-arts education, such as the ability to find relevant sources, to use Chicago Manual or MLA guidelines or other well-established criteria in correctly formatting and citing information, to structure writing in a clear and logical manner, and to provide specific examples when necessary.