UB Programs At-A-Glance

Art History

Department of Visual Studies

College of Arts and Sciences
608 Clemens Hall
North Campus
Buffalo, NY 14260-4640

Phone: 716.645.2435
Fax: 716.645.5978
Web: www.visualstudies.buffalo.edu

Charles Carman
Chair

Jolene Rickard
Director of Undergraduate Studies

About the Program

The Department of Visual Studies Art History Program is committed to exploring what the visual arts (painting, sculpture, performance art, graphic arts, architecture, photography, and decorative arts) reveal about the cultures that produced them. Using a diverse range of methodological approaches, the art history faculty helps students acquire the necessary tools and knowledge to make sense of our visual world. Courses cover all of the world’s major geographic areas, with individual professors exploring specific interests in social history, gender and race, postcolonialism, problems of taste and patronage, myth and narrative. An art history major is ideal for students who wish to pursue a career in the arts, but it is equally valuable for those seeking to develop visual, analytical, and communicative skills. Recent graduates have gone on to work in museums and art galleries, enroll in a variety of humanities graduate programs, and pursue careers in law, government, and business.

About Our Degrees

Acceptance Criteria - B.A.

Minimum GPA of 2.0 overall.
Minimum GPA of 2.0 in departmental courses.
Completion of or registration in any two of three required introductory courses: AHI 101, AHI 102, AHI 103.

Acceptance Criteria - Minor

Minimum GPA of 2.0 in AHI 101 Survey of Art History: Egypt to Renaissance, AHI 102 Survey of Art History: Italian Renaissance to Contemporary, or AHI 103 Survey of Art History: Non-Western.

Current Applications Information

Deadlines: Rolling
Number of applicants (2004-2005): 25
Number of accepted majors (2004-2005): 25
Total number of majors currently enrolled: 56

Degree Requirements

See the Undergraduate Catalog.

About Our Courses

The typical class size for:

Freshman/introductory courses is: 223
Sophomore/intermediate courses is: 35-45
Upper level/advanced courses is: 35-45

In the Department of Art History, what do teaching assistants (TA’s) do?

TA’s are used in AHI 101-AHI 102, and UGC 111 and UGC 112; they teach recitation sections once a week to smaller groups taken from the main student body in the course.

For course descriptions, please see the Undergraduate Catalog.

About Our Faculty

The art history faculty has compiled a distinguished record of teaching, scholarship and grant acquisition.

Faculty specialize in: Ancient, Renaissance, non-Western, Architecture, Islamic, American and Modern art. Two faculty recently published books entitled Architecture as Portraiture: Frank Lloyd Wright's Martin House; and Plain as Phaistos: Cycles of Social Complexity in the Mesara Region of Crete. Seven faculty have recently published books with the titles: Art and Methodology of Xu Bing; A Century in Crisis: Modernity and Tradition in the Art of Twentieth-Century China; Van Gogh's Progress; Utopia, Modernity, and Late-Nineteenth Century Art; The Cave Sanctuary of Zeus at Psycho: A Study of Extra-Urban Sanctuaries in Minoan and Early Iron Age Crete; Portals, Pilgrimage and Crusade in Western Tuscany; Man Made: Thomas Eakins and the Construction of Gilded Age Manhood; and Images of Humanist Ideals in Italian Renaissance Art.

One faculty recently contributed to “The Wall” exhibition, the first time China and the US have collaborated on a museum project; two faculty opened exhibitions at the Bauhaus-Archiv in Berlin entitled: Tempo, Tempo! The Bauhaus Photomontages of Marianne Brandt; and Washington's New Museum of the American Indian entitled: Our Peoples - Wall of Gold. Other exhibitions entitled: Re-imagining Iroquoia: A Cross-Disciplinary Examination of Indigenous Representation and Museum Practice. Other faculty have published books on subjects ranging from architecture to Renaissance and Romanesque sculpture.

Members of the department have recently received grants from The Smithsonian Institution, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, NEA (National Endowment for the Arts), NEH (National Endowment for the Humanities), ACLS (American Council of Learned Societies), the American Academy in Rome, NYSCA (N.Y.S. Council on the Arts), the Getty Center for the Study of the History of Art and the Humanities, and National Geographic for research and writing. In addition, Professor Quinan received the Distinguished Service Professor Award 2004/05; Professor Watrous received the Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching in 2002/03; Professor Rickard was awarded Exceptional Scholar for the Young Investigator Achievement Award 2002/03, and Professor Glass received the Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Teaching in 1977

See a list of our undergraduate faculty.

Practical Experience and Special Academic Opportunities

Opportunities for Undergraduate Research and Practical Experience

Independent Study
One 3-credit independent study may be undertaken with a faculty member. It must be an outgrowth of course studies already completed, and not a substitution for any of the required coursework. One (3 hour) course may be applied toward the degree.

Museum Internships
Internships may be available to art history majors and minors at such local museums and galleries as the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, the Amherst Museum, the Buffalo Arts Commission, the Buffalo Historic Preservation Coalition, the Buffalo Museum of Science, the Castellani Art Museum@Niagara University, the CEPA Gallery, the Center for the Arts’ Art Gallery, Erie County Cultural Commission, and Hallwalls. Internships may not be used for distribution credit for the art history major or minor.

Junior Year Abroad
Overseas programs are available to art history majors and are encouraged by the department. Interested students should make inquiries to the Study Abroad Advisor, Office of International Education Services, 210 Talbert Hall (645-3912).

Honors, Awards, and Scholarships

Honors Program
Junior year art history majors who have a minimum GPA of 3.5 in AHI and a minimum GPA of 3.3 overall may be admitted to a senior honors program. By taking the AHI 497 Honors Thesis Tutorial during the spring semester, accepted seniors may pursue specialized, independent study leading to an honors thesis with two faculty members who will be assigned to direct the student's program.

For majors who plan to attend graduate school in art history, or for those students who simply wish to immerse themselves in a focused art history project, the department encourages enrollment in the senior honors program. Under the guidance of faculty advisors, an honors student develops, researches, and writes a senior thesis over the course of the senior year. Majors who secure faculty support for their projects and who have a minimum departmental GPA of 3.5 and a minimum GPA of 3.3 overall may be admitted to a senior honors program. A special designation of University Honors Scholar appears on the final transcript of those who successfully complete the program

Extracurricular Activities

The Art Historical Association is a student-run organization funded by the Student Association of UB. Officers plan activities that usually include a trip to a major museum in Toronto, Cleveland, or Rochester; a meeting on the subject of careers in art history; social activities; and the sponsorship of a film or speaker. The club also functions as a liaison between art history majors and the faculty. In the last two years, the Art Historical Association has won awards for “Outstanding Leadership” and “Academic Commitment to Excellence.”


The Undergraduate Art History Club is an active undergraduate club that meets regularly. Faculty participate with the club on trips to museums and exhibitions, cultural events, lectures and discussions of interest (e.g., career possibilities).



See the UB Student Association.

Complementary Programs and Courses

Majors that Complement Art History


Minors that Complement Art History


Courses Outside the Major that Could Improve Employment Opportunities

We recommend a broad liberal arts background.

Career Information and Further Study

Art history provides a student with a broad overview of world art history and draws upon history, art, archeology, anthropology, psychology, and other disciplines. It emphasizes visual skills and verbalization of the visual, both of which are increasingly important in an image-saturated world.

Art history majors gain an excellent liberal arts background and have pursued many different careers and many different work settings. Some pursue careers as curators or archivists at the many museums and galleries across the country. Others use the art history degree to hone their intellectual abilities in art for careers in media, advertising, publishing, fashion, or design. Another path for art historians is art therapy, working with people with disabilities. Others move into careers in business, government, and non-profit organizations. In recent years, some students have gone on to law, business training, library science, and other graduate degree programs at UB.

Skills gained in this program include:

Critical visual skills by evaluating works of art, and oral and written proficiency through presentations and papers. Researching, managing cultural resources, appraising, designing, writing, promoting, selling, teaching, analyzing, interpreting policy, editing, advising, learning to think conceptually, organizing, problem solving, and developing attention to detail.

Career Choices

  • Advertising specialist
  • Appraiser
  • Art director
  • Art/music critic
  • Curator
  • Designer (display, fashion, set, stage)
  • Editor/publisher
  • Gallery manager
  • Graphic designer
  • Lawyer
  • Librarian
  • Photographer
  • Printmaker
  • Research assistant (document/records)
  • Technical illustrator


What percentage of graduates goes on to find related employment?

40%

Alumni in Art History have found employment in the following fields:

  • Advertising
  • Art consultant
  • Art gallery
  • Art investment
  • Art law
  • Art therapist
  • Artist representative
  • Bookstore manager
  • Corporate curator
  • Cultural center manager
  • Documentary filmmaker
  • Fashion
  • Fine arts appraiser
  • Freelance writing
  • Historic preservation
  • Lawyer
  • Librarian
  • Magazine research manager
  • Merchandise display
  • Photographer
  • Professor/educator
  • Public defender
  • Public relations
  • Publishing
  • Realty analyst
  • Researcher
  • Retail buyer
  • Slide curator
  • Teacher
  • Textile designer
  • University annual giving director
  • Video producer


Work settings include:

Museums, historical societies, historic sites, galleries, U.S. and state governments, K-12 schools, corporations, colleges/universities, antique dealers, archives, parks, magazines/newspapers, publishing firms, non-profit organizations, and restored communities/estates.

Salary Information

Salaries range greatly from one occupation, position, and work setting to another. According to the April 1998 NACE national salary survey for bachelor's degree graduates, history graduates' salaries averaged $25,896, and letters graduates' salaries averaged $28,129.

Career Hints

Employers are looking for experience and development of skills from that experience. Internships, part-time jobs, and volunteer activities in areas related to a student's career goal offer excellent methods of gaining experience and developing skills.

Students should participate in leadership roles in extracurricular activities, take electives relating to their career goal, participate in a directed research project through the department, and volunteer at places like museums, galleries, or historic preservation organizations (depending on career goal).

What percentage of graduates goes on to graduate school?

15% to such schools as: Temple University, University of Texas/Austin, University of Virginia, Emory University, and University of North Carolina/Chapel Hill.

Additional Resources

The Association for Art History home page for information and vacancies.

Links to Further Information About This Program

Last Modified: Tuesday, 7-Nov-2006 10:26:03 EST