Requirements

Art History

Art History Major

The art history major consists of ten courses.

Art History Minor

Courses that count toward the major and minor must be taken for regular letter grades (not Credit/D/Fail), and students must earn grades of C- or better in these courses.

Seminars in Art History

The seminars are intended to utilize the scholarly interests of members of the department and provide an opportunity for advanced work for selected students who have successfully completed enough of the regular courses to possess a sufficient background. The department does not expect to give all, or in some cases any, seminars each semester. As the seminars are varied, a given topic may be offered only once, or its form changed considerably from time to time.

Visual Arts

Visual Arts Major

The major consists of ten courses.

Visual Arts Minor

The minor consists of six courses.

Courses that count toward the major and minor must be taken for regular letter grades (not Credit/D/Fail), and students must earn grades of C- or better in these courses.

A maximum of two studio visual arts courses and one art history course (for a total of three courses) taken at another college or university may count toward the major or minor in visual arts, with departmental approval of that transfer credit.

Visual arts courses without prerequisites are frequently oversubscribed; registration preference is then given to first- and second-year students, as well as to juniors and seniors fulfilling requirements of the visual arts major or minor.

Interdisciplinary Majors

Art history participates in interdisciplinary programs in art history and archaeology, and in art history and visual arts. Art history majors may pursue a coordinate major with digital and computational studies, environmental studies, or education. See the Interdisciplinary Majors.

Visual arts participates in interdisciplinary programs in art history and visual arts. Visual arts majors may pursue a coordinate major with digital and computational studies, environmental studies, or education. See the Interdisciplinary Majors.

Additional Information and Department Policies

Art History

• Students who received a minimum score of four on the Art History Advanced Placement exam may replace one introductory Art History course (numbered 1100-–1999) with any upper-level course for the art history major and art history minor. In order to receive credit for Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate work, students must have their scores officially reported to the Office of the Registrar by the end of their sophomore year at Bowdoin.
• Majors and minors in art history may double-count one course with another major or minor as long as the course is cross-listed with art history. 
• Art history majors are also encouraged to take courses in foreign languages and literature, history, philosophy, religion, and the other arts.
• A maximum of two courses for one semester of study from another college or university may count toward the major in art history with departmental approval of that transfer credit. If a student studies away for a full academic year, three courses from another college or university may count toward their art history major with departmental approval.
• Only one course for one semester of study from another college or university may count toward a student’s art history minor with departmental approval.

Visual Arts

• Students who receive a four on the Studio Art: 2-D Design, Studio Art: 3-D Design, or Studio Art: Drawing AP exams, and complete VART 1101 Drawing I, VART 1201 Printmaking I, VART 1401 Photography I, or VART 1601 Sculpture I, with a minimum grade of B-, are eligible to receive a general credit toward their degree, but not major/minor credit. If a student has scores for more than one exam, only 1 total credit will be awarded. For information on credit for International Baccalaureate scores, please see the visual arts department. In order to receive credit for Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate work, students must have their scores officially reported to the Office of the Registrar by the end of their sophomore year at Bowdoin.
• Majors and minors in visual arts may double-count an unlimited number of courses with another major or minor as long as the course is cross-listed with visual arts.

Information for Incoming Students: Art History

Art history offers ways to understand our world and our histories through the visual arts. We look at the ways people have expressed their ideas, responded to their experiences, and created the world they lived in through paintings, sculptures, buildings, furniture, jewelry, stained glass, and much more.  By teaching you how to look closely, Art History provides you with new ways to think about the images and objects around you.

Art history is offering two first-year writing seminars this fall: ARTH 1021 Faked, Forged, Stolen, and Repatriated: Crimes Against Art and ARTH 1028 Art and Race from the Crusades to Colonization . First-year students are also welcome to join all our 1000- and 2000- level courses. The 1000-level courses offer more general introductions to broad themes in art history: ARTH 1120 Introduction to Art History: The Body in East Asian Art and ARTH 1220 Making Medieval Art. The 2000-level courses allow students to dive more deeply into specific topics and periods, but there is no expectation that students have any previous experience with art history: ARTH 2330 Materializing the Self and Other in Early Modern Art, ARTH 2440 Shoot, Snap, Instagram: A History of Photography in America, ARTH 2510 Industry and Imperialism: Nineteenth-Century British Art, and ARTH 2710 Cosmographies and Ecologies in Chinese Art.

Information for Incoming Students: Visual Arts

VART 1101 Drawing I, VART 1201 Printmaking I, VART 1401 Photography I, VART 1601 Sculpture I or VART 1702 Video I are recommended to all students as a starting place in the visual arts curriculum, regardless of previous studio art experience. These courses have no prerequisites and presume no previous knowledge or aptitude beforehand, only a strong interest in the subject and the willingness to work. Students who have never taken an art class will be strongly welcomed and encouraged. 

Materials and fees: Students are responsible for paying the first $100 of art materials. An endowed fund (the Kaempfer Fund) will pay the cost of additional art materials - up to $600 for photography courses and up to $300 for other courses - for all registered students. 

Introductory credit: student requests to apply AP credit or previous college credit to the major or minor will be discussed by the department on a case-by-case basis. We do not waive the requirement of VART 1101 Drawing I as a major or minor requirement or as a prerequisite for VART 1301 Painting I.