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The Art History major at the University of Maine prepares students for our media-rich and symbolic world by emphasizing the analysis and critique of visual culture. The major opens up opportunities for graduate study in the field and prepares students for careers in related fields as well, including anthropology, communications, museum studies, gallery work, arts administration, arts journalism, filmmaking, and studio art.

Art History B.A.

The Department of Art offers the Bachelor of Arts degree in Art History. Students begin the program with two introductory courses that survey historically significant objects and monuments – including paintings, prints, drawings, sculptures, pottery, photographs, film and video, and architecture – from ancient times to the present. These introductory courses consider the form, content, and meaning of these works in terms of their social, political, economic, philosophical, and cultural contexts. From its foundation courses through its highest-level seminars, Art History at the University of Maine stands out for its emphasis on theory, diverse methodologies, and the epistemology of the discipline.

A strong awareness of the historiography of the field is instilled from the introductory courses onward. The curriculum stresses research by teaching students in the introductory courses the essential value of primary sources and peer-reviewed secondary sources as they work through their studies. Building on this first-year experience, second-year courses focus on how to collaboratively develop important questions, present research in formal writing assignments and oral presentations, and meet the discipline’s professional standards. Two upper-level seminars dedicated to the principal underpinnings of the field – art theory and criticism and critical methodologies – engage students in critical thinking about the discipline itself. For their capstone experience, students present a research paper to the public for open commentary, preparing them well for participating in professional conferences.

The program treats Art History within the greater context of visual culture, encouraging students to consider wide classes of objects as valuable windows into culture. In considering the wealth of material culture from any given epoch, students learn how visual language functions as a complement to the written or oral record. The program also emphasizes academic writing skills and interdisciplinary research. In addition to courses in Art History, students take two Studio Art courses to provide insights into the working methods of artists and the creative processes that foster critical thinking and visual literacy. Students must also take two courses in a foreign language to broaden their research capabilities in the field. The major highly recommends that its students enroll in the Honors College. Throughout their course of study, students can expect a very high degree of individual attention.

Art History Student Learning Outcomes

1) Knowledge and History of the Canon: students learn to draw freely and knowledgeably from the historical canon, with clear knowledge of periods, their contexts, and the artworks representing the diversity of ideas defining them, in classroom discussions, public presentations, and research papers.

2) Writing Abilities: students learn to articulate ideas clearly, carry arguments cogently, demonstrate effective rhetorical persuasiveness, and synthesize claims and evidence from primary and secondary sources with their own theses.

3) Oral Presentation Abilities: students learn to articulate ideas clearly, carry arguments cogently, demonstrate effective rhetorical persuasiveness, synthesize claims and evidence from primary and secondary sources with their own theses, and design coherent and effective digital presentations of visual materials.