The mission of the Art History program is to promote world art studies in a post-modern age, encourage the celebration of cultural diversity, and stimulate a more inclusive internationalism. Rigorous standards of research are pursued, and particular emphasis is placed on cross-disciplinary methods of analysis and evaluation in a historical context. The program is designed to serve a diverse urban constituency, to attract students from elsewhere, to complement the requirements of studio, applied arts, and art education students, and especially to prepare art historians to compete nationally at a high level of professionalism. The program prepares candidates to continue with graduate work in art history, as well as for a variety of career possibilities.
The strength and uniqueness of this program lie in the diversity of its faculty, the urban setting of the university, and the multicultural emphasis of the curriculum. Courses are offered in a wide range of fields, including: Ancient Egyptian; Near Eastern; Roman; Medieval; Italian and Northern Renaissance; Nineteenth- and Twentieth-Century European and American; African; African-American; and Contemporary.