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 timeperiodslisted below.
At least 1 300-level course from 4 out of the 6regional categorieslisted below.
At least 1ART_HIST 390-0orART_HIST 395-0seminar.
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 requiredART_HIST 399-0courses towards the major.
Periods
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
Other as approved by director of undergraduate studies
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
Other as approved by director of undergraduate studies
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
Other as approved by the director of undergraduate studies
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
Other as approved by the director of undergraduate studies
Regional categories
Africa
Course
Title
ART_HIST 386-0
Special Topics in the Arts of Africa
Other as approved by the director of undergraduate studies
Asia
Course
Title
ART_HIST 389-0
Special Topics in the Arts of Asia
Other as approved by director of undergraduate studies
Diasporic, Indigenous, and/or Transregional
Course
Title
ART_HIST 384-0
African American Art
ART_HIST 385-0
Black Visual Culture: Race and Representation
Other as approved by director of undergraduate studies
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
Other as approved by director of undergraduate studies
Latin America & the Caribbean
Course
Title
ART_HIST 367-0
Special Topics in Art of the Americas
Other as approved by the director of undergraduate studies
Middle East & North Africa
Course
Title
ART_HIST 320-1
Medieval Art: Byzantine
Other as approved by the director of undergraduate studies
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.
Regional categories
Africa
Course
Title
ART_HIST 386-0
Special Topics in the Arts of Africa
Other as approved by the director of undergraduate studies
Asia
Course
Title
ART_HIST 389-0
Special Topics in the Arts of Asia
Other as approved by director of undergraduate studies
Diasporic, Indigenous, and/or Transregional
Course
Title
ART_HIST 384-0
African American Art
ART_HIST 385-0
Black Visual Culture: Race and Representation
Other as approved by director of undergraduate studies
Early/Modern (ca. 1400-1800 CE)
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
Other as approved by director of undergraduate studies
Other as approved by the director of undergraduate studies
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.
Header Image:Whose Renaissance? seminar participants with curator Rebecca Long and WCAS Dean Adrian Randolph at the Art Institute of Chicago, May 2023.
