As a history of art major, you’ll be able to study areas traditionally central to the discipline such as ancient, medieval and Renaissance art, and the integration of recent fields of theory and research to the study of global visual culture. You can explore the history of cultural interactions as manifested in visual culture both inside and outside the West from antiquity to the present, furthering your understanding of the discipline of art history, its roots, its methodologies, as well as its historical and critical connections with other disciplines.
Requirements
Want to start right away? Here are some basic requirements for students wanting to major in history of art. Keep in mind this isn’t the complete list of formal requirement — that list can be found on the Courses of Study page.
The major in the history of art requires 40 credits, 26 of which must be at the 3000-level or above.
For admission into the major, students need to take ARTH 1100 - Art Histories: An Introduction or complete a 3900-level tutorial.
The major requires:
- At least one 2000-level introductory class
- At least one 3000-level lecture class
- VISST 2000 - Introduction to Visual Studies
- ARTH 3101 - Proseminar
- Two other seminars at the 4000-level or above
Sample classes
- The Museum and the Object
- The Art Market
- Material Worlds: Trade and the Arts of Asia
Outcomes
All information below is based on the 2014-2018 First-Destination Post-Graduate Survey. Lists are not exhaustive; rather, they are a sampling of the data. "Other" includes time off, travel, volunteer experiences, and/or preparing for graduate school. If you would like more information, please email as_careers@cornell.edu
More than 4/5 of 2014-2018 History of Art graduates reported being Employed or Attending Graduate School, with the majority being Employed.
59% of the Class of 2014-2018 History of Art graduates completed the survey. n = 32
Below, you will find:
- Top Employment Sectors
- Where Graduates Work
- Top Graduate Fields
- Where Graduates Study
Top Employment Sectors
- Business - Other
- Communications/Media
- Law
- Nonprofit Organization
- Consulting/Prof Practice
- Retail
- Technology
Where 2014-2018 History of Art Graduates Work
| Employer | Job Titles |
|---|---|
| Allegiant | Competition Analyst |
| Amherst College | Assistant Museum Educator |
| ARTtwo50 | Director of Creative Marketing |
| Boies, Schiller & Flexner LLP | Project Assistant |
| Bulletin | Brand Experience Leader |
| City Year | Corps Member |
| Emanuel Di Donna | Gallery Assistant |
| Hauser & Wirth | Gallery Assistant Administrative Intern |
| Marian Goodman Gallery | Gallery Assistant |
| Miller Mayer LLP | Immigration Legal Assistant |
| Onishi Gallery | Gallery Assistant |
| Perez Art Museum Miami | Education Assistant |
| Peter Freeman, Inc. | Gallery Assistant |
| Richard Avedon Foundation | Sales Outreach |
| Sotheby's | Trainee Graduate Trainee |
| The Atlantic | Ad Op Trafficker |
| Untitled Entertainment | Intern |
Top Graduate Fields Pursued
- History of Art
- Arts Administration
- Law
- Comparative Literature
- Public Health
Graduate Degrees Pursued
- MA
- MPH
- JD
Where 2014-2018 History of Art Graduates Study
- Columbia University
- Courtauld Institute of Art
- George Washington University
- School of the Art Institute of Chicago
- SOAS University of London
- Yeshiva University
