Degree Requirements
Major in Art History
Requirements
Courses in the Department of Art History
- 12 department courses
- 2 200-level courses
- Art History 391-0: Art Historical Methods Seminar: ideally taken in junior year, especially by students who want to write an honors thesis.
- 9 additional 300-level courses in art history. These must be distributed according to following criteria. A course may simultaneously fulfill a period, regional, and a seminar requirement (or any subsection of these 3 requirements).
- At least 1 300-level course from 3 out of the 4 time periods listed below.
- At least 1 300-level course from 4 out of the 6 regional categories listed below.
- At least 1 ART_HIST 390-0 or ART_HIST 395-0 seminar.
- 1 course in art making, design, or other arts course focused on practice approved by the director of undergraduate studies. The following courses have been pre-approved:
- ART 210 Introduction to Drawing
- ART 220 Introduction to Painting
- ART 230 Introduction to Time-Based Arts
- ART 240 Introduction to Sculpture
- ART 250 Introduction to Photography
- ART 260 Studio Practice
- DSGN 320 Introduction to Industrial Design Methods
- RTVF 190 Media Construction
- RTVF 372 Editing
One credit of Chicago Field Studies may be substituted for either a 200- or 300-level art history course when the internship is conducted at an arts organization approved by the Art History Director of Undergraduate Studies.
Students conducting honors may count one of the two required ART_HIST 399-0 courses towards the major.
Minor in Art History
Requirements
- 8 Department Courses
- 2 200-level courses in art history
- 6 additional 300-level courses in art history, with at least 1 300-level course from 3 out of 6 regional categories listed below.
One credit of Chicago Field Studies may be substituted for either a 200- or 300-level art history course when the internship is conducted at an arts organization approved by the Art History Director of Undergraduate Studies.
Expand all
Periods
Ancient/Medieval (pre-ca. 1400 CE)
Ancient/Medieval (pre-ca. 1400 CE)
| Course |
Title |
| ART_HIST 319-0 |
Special Topics in Ancient Art |
| ART_HIST 320-1 |
Medieval Art: Byzantine |
| ART_HIST 320-2 |
Medieval Art: Early Medieval |
| ART_HIST 320-3 |
Medieval Art: Late Medieval |
| ART_HIST 329-0 |
Special Topics in Medieval Art |
|
Early Modern (ca. 1400-ca. 1800 CE)
Early Modern (ca. 1400-1800 CE)
| Course |
Title |
| ART_HIST 330-1 |
Early Modern European Art 1400–1500 |
| ART_HIST 330-2 |
Early Modern European Art 1500–1600 |
| ART_HIST 339-0 |
Special Topics in Early Modern Art |
| ART_HIST 340-1 |
Baroque Art: Italy & Spain 1600–1800 |
| ART_HIST 342-0 |
Eighteenth-Century European Art |
| ART_HIST 349-0 |
Special Topics in 17th & 18th-Century Art |
|
Modern/Contemporary (after ca. 1800 CE)
Modern/Contemporary (after ca. 1800 CE)
| Course |
Title |
| ART_HIST 350-1 |
19th-Century Art 1: 1789–1848 |
| ART_HIST 350-2 |
19th-Century Art 2: 1848–1914 |
| ART_HIST 359-0 |
Special Topics in 19th-Century Art |
| ART_HIST 360-0 |
20th Century Art |
| ART_HIST 365-0 |
Art of the United States |
| ART_HIST 368-0 |
Special Topics in Modern Art |
| ART_HIST 369-0 |
Special Topics in Contemporary Art |
| ART_HIST 370-1 |
Architecture & Landscapes, 1750–1890 |
|
Transhistorical
Transhistorical
| Course |
Title |
| ART_HIST 318-0 |
Exhibiting Antiquity: The Culture and Politics of Display |
| ART_HIST 328-0 |
Medievalism in Video Games: Art, Culture and Theory |
| ART_HIST 378-0 |
The Global City |
|
Regional Categories
Africa
Africa
| Course |
Title |
| ART_HIST 386-0 |
Special Topics in the Arts of Africa |
|
Asia (including Central Asia, South Asia, East Asia, & the Pacific)
Asia
| Course |
Title |
| ART_HIST 389-0 |
Special Topics in the Arts of Asia |
|
Diasporic, Indigenous, and/or Transregional
Diasporic, Indigenous, and/or Transregional
| Course |
Title |
| ART_HIST 384-0 |
African American Art |
| ART_HIST 385-0 |
Black Visual Culture: Race and Representation |
|
Europe, U.S. & Canada
Europe, U.S. & Canada
| Course |
Title |
| ART_HIST 320-2 |
Medieval Art: Early Medieval |
| ART_HIST 320-3 |
Medieval Art: Late Medieval |
| ART_HIST 330-1 |
Early Modern European Art 1400–1500 |
| ART_HIST 330-2 |
Early Modern European Art 1500–1600 |
| ART_HIST 340-1 |
Baroque Art: Italy & Spain 1600–1800 |
| ART_HIST 342-0 |
Eighteenth-Century European Art |
| ART_HIST 350-1 |
19th-Century Art 1: 1789–1848 |
| ART_HIST 350-2 |
19th-Century Art 2: 1848–1914 |
| ART_HIST 360-0 |
20th Century Art |
| ART_HIST 365-0 |
Art of the United States |
|
Latin America & the Caribbean
Latin America & the Caribbean
| Course |
Title |
| ART_HIST 367-0 |
Special Topics in Art of the Americas |
|
Middle East & North Africa
Middle East & North Africa
| Course |
Title |
| ART_HIST 320-1 |
Medieval Art: Byzantine |
|
Major and Minor Requirements prior to Fall 2025
Requirements prior to Fall 2025
NOTE: The major and minor requirements below pertained to students who matriculated at Northwestern University prior to Fall 2025. Students who entered before then may choose to follow the new major/minor requirements (listed above) or the ones listed below.
Major in Art History
Requirements
(*these requirements pertained to students who matriculated before Fall 2025. Students who entered before then may choose to follow these requirements instead of the ones listed above.)
Courses in the Department of Art History
- 2 200-level courses
- 10 300-level courses, including:
- Art History 391: Art Historical Methods Seminar, ideally taken in junior year, especially by students who want to write an honors thesis;
- at least 1 Art History 390 or 395 seminar;
- at least 1 Art History course in each of the following three art historical periods: 1) pre-1400 CE; 2) 1400 CE-1800 CE; and 3) post-1800 CE.
- At least 2 Art History courses in non-Euro-American art
- 1 course in art making, design, or other arts course focused on practice approved by the director of undergraduate studies. The following courses have been pre-approved:
- ART 210 Introduction to Drawing
- ART 220 Introduction to Painting
- ART 230 Introduction to Time-Based Arts
- ART 240 Introduction to Sculpture
- ART 250 Introduction to Photography
- ART 260 Studio Practice
- DSGN 320 Introduction to Industrial Design Methods
- RTVF 190 Media Construction
- RTVF 372 Editing
Minor in Art History
Requirements
- 8 Art History Department courses, of which 2 (and no more than 2) must be at the 200-level and 6 courses at the 300 level. At least 1 300-level course must be in a non-Euro-American area of art historical enquiry.
