The Department of Art and Art History offers courses that satisfy the degree requirements toward the B.A. degree in art or art history. The art discipline prepares individuals for a life in the arts with a grounding in the technical, aesthetic, and critical aspects of artistic production and exhibition; art history provides students with the methodological and critical tools for the analysis of visual culture and its role in history. The study of art and art history can significantly enrich a liberal-arts education, especially in a world that is increasingly shaped by images and the exchange of visual information.
Major in Art History: The degree requirements for students majoring in art history consist of eleven full courses (forty-four hours) and a comprehensive examination to be taken during the final semester of the senior year. In order to receive departmental honors, a student must have a departmental GPA of 3.5 at the end of the final semester and have passed the comprehensive examination with distinction, that is, with an overall score of 88 on a 100-point scale.
Eight of the 11 required courses must be in art history and must include the following seven, all of which must be taken at Sewanee: a) two art history surveys (ArtH 103 and ArtH 104); b) the Junior Seminar (ArtH 317); c) one additional upper-division art history course of the student's own choosing; and d) at least one upper-division lecture or seminar course from each of the following three groups:
Ancient and Medieval: includes Greek and Roman Art [ArtH 312], Spanish Medieval Art [ArtH 318], Medieval Art [ArtH 320]
Renaissance and Baroque: includes Italian Renaissance Art [ArtH 325], Northern Renaissance Art [ArtH 326], 17th- and 18th- Century Art [ArtH 332]
Modern and American: includes 19th-Century Art [ArtH 335], British Art [ArtH 338], American Art [ArtH 340], Modern Art [ArtH 345], and Contemporary Art [ArtH 346]
In addition, art history majors are required to complete three full courses in three different fields related to their Area of Special Interest. Majors must inform their advisors of their Area of Special Interest — Ancient/Medieval, Renaissance/Baroque, or Modern/American — before the end of their sophomore year, ideally prior to registration for Advent semester courses. Once the Area of Special Interest is chosen, majors must provide their advisors with a list of at least three complementary courses outside art history. These three complementary courses may be taken at Sewanee, at another institution, or in a study-abroad program and may be taken on a pass-fail basis.
For example, a student who pursues Ancient/Medieval Art as his or her Area of Special Interest might take three of the following complementary courses: Classical Mythology (Classical Studies 101), Ancient Greece (History 301), Ancient Rome (History 302), Chaucer (English 352), Medieval Philosophy (Philosophy 302), Early Medieval Europe (History 303), or High and Late Medieval Europe (History 304). Of course, other relevant courses may be proposed. Approval of complementary courses is at the advisor's discretion.
NOTE: Courses taken in art as part of the requirements for a degree in art history will not count toward a major in art.
Subject to approval by the art history faculty, the department may accept up to two courses (eight hours) in art history from other institutions. Exceptions to this limit will be decided by the chair. Students interested in advanced placement into upper-division art history courses should consult the department.
Minor in Art History: Students may minor in art history by passing both halves of the art-history survey (ArtH 103 and ArtH 104), four upper-division (200-level and above) art history courses, and Part I (slide identification) and Part II (art-historical terms and concepts) of the art history comprehensive examination. Subject to approval by the art history faculty, the department accepts up to two courses (eight hours) in art history from other institutions, two of which may be beyond the introductory level. Exceptions to this limit are decided upon by the chair.
Major in Art: The degree requirements for students majoring in art consist of ten full courses (forty semester hours) — nine full courses in Art and one full course in Art History — and a comprehensive examination. The Studio Art program offers classes in six disciplines: Sculpture, Digital Arts, Photography, Video, Drawing, and Painting.
Majors are required to take one of the six disciplines up to the 300 (advanced) level and another of the six disciplines to the 200 (intermediate) level or above; a junior tutorial (Art 418 or 419); the senior seminar (Art 420); and one art history class. Students must take courses with at least three faculty members prior to enrolling in the junior seminar.
The comprehensive examination for studio art majors includes the following: preparation and presentation of a portfolio; participation in a senior exhibition; and submission of an artist's statement.
Students with a department GPA of at least 3.2 by the end of their junior year are eligible to apply for department honors. To apply for honors, a student must submit a proposal for a thesis project by the middle of the first semester of his or her senior year. Those students whose proposals have been approved are required to complete the honors seminar (Art 430), prepare a thesis exhibition, write an accompanying paper, give a public presentation and defense of the exhibition, and pass the comprehensive examination. Final determination of honors is based on the quality of the thesis exhibition and presentation.
There is no minor in art.
Since Sewanee does not allow AP credit for studio art, AP or advanced art students are strongly encouraged to consult with art faculty for placement in art classes, with possible enrollment directly into upper-division courses without first completing required 100-level prerequisites. Placement directly into courses beyond the introductory level is at the discretion of the professor teaching the course into which a student wishes to gain entry.
Subject to approval by the art faculty, the department accepts up to two courses (eight hours) in art from other institutions. Exceptions to this limit are decided by the chair.
NOTE: Courses taken in art history as part of the requirements for a degree in art do not count toward a major in art history.
