Major and Minor Requirements
Welcome to the Art History program at Georgetown! The information and forms below will guide you in planning your major or minor in Art History.
Requirements for Art History Majors
Please refer to the checklist of requirements below and refer to it when you consult with your advisor.
The Art History major requires ten courses, including one course in studio art. Majors are expected to take the two Introduction to Art History courses (ARTH 101-102) during the first two years, since these are designed both as historical surveys and as introductions to the discipline of Art History. They are also prerequisites for most upper-level courses.
The major also requires courses that focus on a range of historical periods, geographical or cultural regions, or selected themes. Normally these 100- to 300-level courses should be selected to cover at least three of the four following categories (Ancient/Medieval; Renaissance/Baroque; Modern/American; and Non-European art). This distribution requirement is meant to ensure that all majors have a reasonable breadth of experience.
Finally, all majors take three advanced courses, usually 400-level Art History seminars. No courses taken abroad or outside of the department may count for this requirement. With permission, some students may fill one of the advanced-level requirements with ARTH 470: Museum Internship (planned jointly with a museum curator and an Art History professor and approved by the internship advisor and department chair) or ARTH 490: Senior Thesis (see below).
No more than three courses taken outside the Department of Art and Art History (for example cross-listed courses, study abroad courses, and transferred credits) .may count toward the major in Art History.
Requirements for Art History Minors
Please refer to the checklist of requirements below and refer to it when you consult with your advisor.
The Art History minor consists of six courses. Most students take the two Introduction to Art History courses (ARTH 101-102) and three or more courses beyond the introductory level. At least one of these should be on art mainly before 1600 and one on art mainly after 1600, so that the Art History minor represents a reasonable range of historical periods and styles. We aim for students to gain broad knowledge in art history, and encourage students to construct a minor that explores beyond a limited portion of art history. With the faculty advisor’s permission, one of the elective courses may be a studio art course taught within the Department of Art and Art History.
No more than two courses taken outside the Department of Art and Art History (for example cross-listed courses, study abroad courses, and transferred credits) may count toward the minor in Art History.
AP Credit for Art History Majors and Minors
For a score of 5 or 4, the student will receive three credits for ARTH 101 (Ancient to Medieval Art). The requirement to take both ARTH 101 and 102 for the major and minor and as prerequisites for other courses will be waived, and the student will be allowed to proceed to intermediate and upper level art history courses.
Art History majors who receive AP credit are therefore required to complete nine, rather than ten courses for the major. Art History minors who receive AP credit are therefore required to complete five, rather than six courses for the minor.
The AP credits may be applied in this way to the Art History major or minor, but not toward the humanities and writing general education requirement. Only in unusual circumstances and with the approval of the advisor may an Art History major or minor be permitted to take ARTH 101 or 102 for credit toward the major or minor.
Advising for Art History Majors and Minors
Students who consider majoring or minoring in Art History should meet with a faculty advisor to discuss requirements and plan their program. Any member of the core faculty (Professors Hilton, Prelinger, Acres, and Wang) will be happy to work with you, although it is helpful to find an advisor with whom you are already studying. You may change advisors if your interests change. Please meet with your advisor at least once a semester, ideally during the preregistration period. Your advisor will review transfers of credit, requests for approval of summer course work, your course selections, and proposals for internships. Contact information for the Art History professors and the Director of Undergraduate Studies may be found on the Department of Art and Art History website.
Senior Thesis for Art History Majors
Enrollment in ARTH 490: Senior Thesis may be approved for interested seniors who have already taken a seminar and written a substantial research paper for a professor who agrees that it would be a suitable basis for development into a thesis. Students should consult with the professor well before preregistration for the fall semester of senior year in order to prepare a proposal and obtain the approval of the professor and the department chair. The student typically pursues substantial research and preliminary writing, in periodic consultation with the advisor, during fall semester of the senior year. They register for ARTH 490 in the final (typically spring) semester, which is dedicated to more intensive writing, meetings with the advisor, and completion of the thesis. Students wishing to submit their thesis for the Department’s annual Misty Dailey Award for a Research Paper in Art History need to complete the thesis by early April in order to meet the deadline for submissions.
Forms for download:
Art History Majors Checklist
Art History Minors Checklist
