School of Art + Art History

Art History

Expand your awareness and understanding of art. Discover how social and cultural changes have had an impact on art over the centuries. Learn to look at and write about art.

Undergraduate
The B.A. degree program introduces students to the wide range of artistic styles and periods in the western world as well as art of the non-western world, art historical theory and criticism, and research methodology in the field. Critical thinking, research and writing skills are cultivated in this program, which emphasizes visual literacy, an understanding of history as well as the social forces and cultural ideologies that shape and inform different periods and styles. Five general areas of art history are offered in the curriculum -Ancient, Medieval, Renaissance/Baroque, Modern, and Non-Western. For the B.A., requirements include completion of one course in four of the five areas for the requirements of the degree.

The undergraduate curriculum is designed to move art history majors from a general to more advanced knowledge of the field as they progress through the program. At the upper-division level, majors are required to take at least one course in four of the five general areas offered: Ancient, Medieval, Renaissance/Baroque, Modern, and Non-Western. In addition to pursuing more specialized study in a given area of art history, students in these upper division courses will gain an understanding of current research in the field, and of the historiography and methodologies of art history. A seminar in one of the five areas must be taken in the senior year. The senior seminar offers more intensive exploration of the subject area, a greater opportunity for individual research and for student interaction than in the upper division lecture courses.

Graduate

We offer a global art history program covering a breadth of content from across time and space. In addition to faculty expertise in Western art history, 50% of the faculty has specialist expertise on art of other regions (e.g., Latin America, Africa, and Asia). Students work closely with their advisors and other faculty to pursue their research agendas. Their coursework is complemented by the Harn Eminent Scholar Chair in Art History (HESCAH) program, which brings leading scholars and museum curators to campus to lecture and offer master classes for our students. Voluntary *internships and curatorial opportunities are available at various university exhibition spaces, including the Harn Museum of Art and the School’s three galleries.

* International students on the F1/J1 Visa may not begin the internship until the formal CPT process is initiated and approved by the University of Florida International Center. (Paid and unpaid/volunteer, part-time and full-time, on-campus and off campus all require formal ADVANCE approval.)

Research Areas

Our faculty expertise supports cutting-edge research within the following nodes:

  • Ritual and Ornament in the Ancient World
  • Global Exchanges in the Early Modern Era
  • Decolonizing Canons
  • Women, Gender, and Sexuality in the Arts
  • ​Interpreting the Global Modern and Contemporary
Funding

The program offers full funding, in the form of a tuition waiver and stipend, to admitted graduate students. Students receive teaching experience through graduate teaching assistantships in art history and in the humanities for the course “What is the Good Life?.” PhD students may also serve as the instructor of record for introductory art history courses during the summer and have had opportunities to teach their own courses through Latin American Studies and other UF centers.

Opportunities for additional research funding include:

  • Research and language-study fellowships from the Center for Latin American Studies, the Center for African Studies, and the Center for the Humanities and the Public Sphere
  • ​Nominations and application support for outside fellowships such as those through the Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts, the Fulbright Foundation, and the American Academy in Rome
Awards

Jerry Cutler Graduate Student Travel Fund
Supports School of Art and Art History graduate students to travel in order to experience, firsthand, art that is relevant to their research and study interests.

William M. and Sue Goza Art History Prize Fund
Supports art history awards to students winning a competition for top art history papers.

Doctoral Dissertations

University of Florida Application Deadlines
Freshman
November 1, 2024
Application deadline for Fall 2025
Transfer Students
September 15, 2024
Application deadline for
Spring 2025
March 1, 2025
Application deadline for
Summer B or Fall 2025

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