History of Art BA

About this programme

The Major in History of Art is designed to give students solid grounding in the artistic traditions, practices, and contexts that comprise historical and contemporary visuality. Equally, it introduces the discipline’s history, methods, and debates. It prepares students to do independent research, to evaluate evidence, to create coherent and sustained arguments, and to develop skills in academic writing. In a series of increasingly focused courses — lower division, upper division, seminar, and honors program — the major provides a format for students to learn how to analyze and interpret visual, material, and textual evidence from specific cultural settings and historical circumstances. Major requirements are also designed to maximize exposure to different historical periods, geographical regions, and topics while allowing flexibility for students to pursue specific interests. Declaring the Major To declare the major in the History of Art Department, a student must complete two courses taught in the department and receive a grade of C- or higher in each course. All subsequent courses a student wishes to apply to the major must also receive a grade of C- or higher. Once these prerequisites are met, students may formally petition to declare the major by contacting the Undergraduate Advisor at any time during the fall and spring semesters. (Students in residence at UC Berkeley are strongly urged to complete all lower division requirements and one upper division course by the end of their sophomore year.) Transfer students should plan to take two History of Art courses in their first semester.