Art History

Willamette University

United States of America, Salem

Apply Now!

Go to Official Website

Home/United States of America/Salem /Willamette University/Art History

Willamette University

United States of America , Salem

Key Facts

Program Level

Bachelor

Study Type

Full Time

Delivery

On Campus

Campuses

Main Site

Program Language

English

Start & Deadlines

Next Intake Deadlines29-Aug-2022 15-Dec-2022

Apply to this program

Go to the official application for the university

Duration 4 year(s)

Tuition Fee

USD 45,000 / year

Apply Date 15-Dec-2022

Next Intake 29-Aug-2022

Art History

About

The Department of Art History offers an exciting sequence of courses—from introductory surveys to more specialized seminars—that explore the complex world of visual art in its different historical contexts. A central part of the art history program is dedicated to the analysis of the significant facts and forms of visual art from Antiquity to Postmodernism. This analysis encompasses an effort to frame critically and understand historically the plurality of ways in which art has been conceived, produced, used and interpreted throughout time, according to the mutable interplay of material conditions and cultural expectations that characterizes different societies. Consequently, the courses cover a vast horizon of topics, problems, and questions pertaining to artistic traditions belonging to a wide variety of periods and geographic areas, from Asia to Europe, Africa and the Americas.

Visual Literacy and Historical Thinking

In the 100-level classes, students will acquire an introductory background of historical data as well as a basic set of interpretive tools in order to critically locate and understand the production, reception and diffusion of visual codes, styles and techniques belonging to the field of art, from the prehistoric cave paintings of Southern France to the aesthetic challenges of Post-modernism. Cultivating Visual Literacy is a primary goal of the required introductory courses (Introduction to Ancient and Medieval Art History, Introduction to Renaissance and Early Modern Art History, Introduction to Modern and Contemporary Art History), preferably undertaken in chronological sequence. Formal analysis and basic historical investigations will constitute, therefore, the methodological core of this formative sequence.

Critical Terminology and Interpretive Skills

In the 200-level classes, students will further develop the capacity for recognizing, critically de-structuring and historically interpreting different forms of artistic creation as well as other typologies of visual production properly set in their specific contexts. In these courses, students will become able to describe, explore and explain, thanks to the adoption of more sophisticated interpretive strategies and appropriate critical terminology, the processes of elaboration, reception and dissemination of styles, techniques and visual codes in different historical contexts. Philologically-based analysis of primary and secondary sources (i.e., art literature and criticism) will be introduced as fundamental tools within the hermeneutic process.

Metacriticism and Discussion/Oral Presentation Skills

In the 300-level art history classes, students become familiar with a broader bibliography in the Humanities by reading books and articles written not only by art historians, but also by scholars belonging to other disciplines, such as Anthropology, Philosophy, and Literature. In this way, students will be exposed to a more consistent critical vocabulary regarding historical as well as methodological matters. By systematically adopting this new lexicon in class discussions and individual oral presentations, students will enhance their own interpretive vocabulary and rhetorical skills, simultaneously inaugurating a dialogue with ideas, problems, and hypotheses related to the general network of studies in Art History and Visual Culture, and thereby establishing a fundamental background of meta-critical references.

Research Tools and Art Historical Writing

Finally, in the 400-level classes and, more specifically, throughout the required Art History Senior Seminar (ARTH 496W), students will learn how to effectively organize and undertake a rigorous research project in the fields of art history and visual culture, applying the various methodologies and interpretive tools they have so far studied and incorporated, in order to explore, in a historically-grounded process of cross examination, specific objects and themes of investigation. The historical, philological and formal analysis of artworks as well as the critical interpretation of subjects pertaining to the fields of art history and visual culture will thus constitute the starting point for research in which students, by exploring different methodologies and increasing their familiarity with metacritical concerns, will be expected to provide personal contributions to their areas of investigation, as young scholars. For that purpose, the course ARTH 362W (Theories and Methodologies of Art History) is a required prerequisite for ARTH 496W. A primary goal of both courses is the cultivation of critical writing on visual art.

Requirements

Entry Requirements

International applicants must submit a photocopy of the name/photo page of their passport showing their image and the correct spelling of their name.
An international applicant must demonstrate their English language proficiency to satisfy immigration policies. Proficiency may be demonstrated through any one of the following methods.
- International Applicants Whose Native Language is English Applicants who are fluent in English because it is their first language, need not take any further action to demonstrate proficiency. This includes, but is not limited to, applicants who are from Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand or who coupled a bachelor’s or advanced degree in a country where the primary and dominant language is English and English was the language of instruction of the school.
- Official TOEFL of 88 or IELTS of 6.5. The TOEFL code for Willamette is 4954.
Financial Requirements Applicants must be able to show they have sufficient resources to fund educational and living expenses for one year of the program and provide the following:
- A completed Statement of Financial Responsibility form
- Official bank verification of funds (written in English), showing that you and/or your sponsor have sufficient resources to cover educational and living expenses for one year of the program, or
- A financial guarantee letter from any government scholarship you have been awarded.

English Program Requirements

If your native language is not English, Willamette University requires you to submit scores from one of the following tests. Scores can be sent directly from the testing agency to the university. These tests can be waived if the primary language of instruction at your high school has been English.