Courses and Degrees
Art History
Art History at UNC-Chapel Hill is recognized as one of the top programs in the United States. The National Research Council (NRC) rankings place us among the top ten percent of programs, along with departments at UCLA, Northwestern, Harvard, Yale, and others. We offer excellent graduate and undergraduate training in the history of the visual arts, taking a critical, interdisciplinary approach to the study of images, architecture, and objects. The Art History faculty is composed of leading scholars whose contributions to the field are reflected in numerous publications, awards, leadership positions, and activities within the museum world. UNC-Chapel Hill consistently ranks within the top ten public research universities in the country, and our students benefit from the institution’s outstanding area studies centers and strong department connections to related disciplines. In addition to long-established strengths in the arts of Europe from antiquity into the twentieth century, our research and teaching encompasses the arts of Asia, Africa, and the Americas from the medieval period to the present day. Art and critical theories of representation, cultural interchange, gender, museum studies, and the history of architecture in pre-modern Europe, Asia and Africa, are areas of research and teaching emphasis.
Art History Undergraduate Programs
Studio Art
The program in Studio Art at UNC-Chapel Hill encourages the development of technical skills and a personal creative vision. Through study of the visual arts, students learn how to find creative solutions to problems and how to express their individuality. Studio Art majors are also encouraged to become critically aware and dedicated to their passion for art-making. Through their course work, students develop a sense of their future career potential and of professional standards in the visual arts.
The Studio Art faculty emphasize craftsmanship and the acquisition of the technical skills students will need to express their visual ideas. The faculty also encourages students to take advantage of the many resources offered by UNC-Chapel Hill as they cultivate their intellectual curiosity and develop a broad base of knowledge to inform their work.
The Studio Art program comprises one half of the UNC-Chapel Hill Department of Art and enjoys the collaboration of an art history faculty with a rich array of research interests. Members of the art history faculty frequently serve on M.F.A. thesis committees.