BA in Art History

Student working on a painting of a woman.

Our program is committed to exploring the visual arts as tools for exploring and decoding culture. 

We offer art history courses on painting, sculpture, performance art, graphic arts, architecture, photography and decorative arts as ways to investigate today’s broad and immersive visual world.

Students will have the chance to explore traditional media such as painting, as well as  architecture and digital media. A global approach to art history allows UB students to explore thematic elements of the fabric of visual culture such as taste and patronage, myth and narrative, gender and race, and intercultural relations.

Faculty members use a diverse range of methodological approaches to help students master the necessary tools and knowledge to understand our visual world.

Courses are offered from ancient to contemporary art history, with specific attention to social history, gender, sexuality and race, post-colonialism, and the context of history and politics.

Academic Opportunities

  • Visiting Artists and Speaker Series: The Department of Art regularly invites artists, critics, historians and designers to participate in the Department of Art Speaker Series, the Leslie-Lohman Queer Art Lecture Series, classroom lectures and critiques.
  • Curatorial Opportunities: Students have opportunities to curate exhibitions at numerous art spaces, such as UB Art Galleries and The Project Space in the Center for the Arts.
  • Buffalo Metropolitan Area: Buffalo is home to diverse grassroots and alternative spaces dedicated to new and experimental genres. These spaces complement larger institutions such as the Albright-Knox Art Gallery and the Burchfield Penney Art Center. Toronto, a ninety-minute drive from Buffalo, is the largest metropolitan area in Canada. It has hundreds of alternative spaces and commercial art galleries including the Power Plant and the Ontario Gallery of Art.
  • Study Abroad: Students interested in study abroad have the opportunity to participate in numerous art-oriented programs around the globe. The Department of Art encourages majors to consider a junior year study abroad program. 

Scholarships and Financial Support

  • Rumsey Travel Award
    • The UB Department of Art’s Rumsey Award provides funding for summer travel to one or two art and art history sophomores and juniors in this annual competition based on an exhibition of their work and a written travel proposal.

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BA in Art History

Course Catalog Listing for BA in Art History Contains:

  • Overview
  • Admission Criteria
  • Course Requirements
  • Academic Requirements
  • Program Distinction (Academic Honors)
  • Curricular Plan
  • Learning Outcomes

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