Art History Major/Minor
Art History Major
Suggested Preparation
Students considering a major in art history should take ARTHIST 5: Art and Power or any of the survey classes:
- ARTHIST 1A: Experiencing Early Global Art and Architecture
- ARTHIST 1B: How to Look at Art and Why
- ARTHIST 2: Asian Arts & Cultures
- ARTHIST 2B: Introduction to Islamic Art
Fields of Study and Degree Options
Students who wish to major in Art History must meet with the Student Services Specialist. At that time the student selects a faculty advisor, declares the major on Axess, and selects a concentration. Concentrations within the major are approved by the faculty advisor and are not declared on Axess. Sample concentrations include:
- Historical period concentrations: ancient and medieval; Renaissance and early modern; modern and contemporary
- Geographical concentrations: the Americas; Africa; Asia; Europe and the Mediterranean
- Topical concentrations: art and gender; art, politics, race, and ethnicity; sacred space; art, science, and technology; urban studies; environmental art history
- Genre concentrations: architecture; painting; sculpture; film studies; prints and media; decorative arts and material culture
- Interdisciplinary concentrations: art and literature; art and history; art and religion; art and economics; art and music; art and medicine (with advisor consent a maximum of two concentration courses may be taken outside the department)
Degree Requirements
Students must complete at least 65 credits, 15 courses distributed among geographic areas and time-periods. For the most up to date information about requirements for the Art History major, please click the link below to the Stanford Bulletin.
BA Art History Degree Requirements
Course Offerings
2025-2026 Art History Schedule
A brief overlook of courses offered in 2025-26 across periods:
Ancient - 1350
Professors who teach in the field: Blessing, Maxmin, Pentcheva, Vinograd
- AH 1A: Experiencing Early Global Art and Architecture
- AH 101: Introduction to Greek Art 1: The Archaic Period
- AH 102: Introduction to Greek Art 2: The Classical Period from the Parthenon to Scopas
- AH 182B: Cultures in Competition: Arts of Song-era China, 960-1279 CE
- AH 208B: The Art of Medieval Spain: Muslim, Christians, and Jews
- AH 209C: Material Imagination and Affect: Image Theory in Byzantium
1350 - 1850
Professors who teach in the field: Blessing, Lugli, Greenlee, Vinograd
- AH 1B: How to Look at Art and Why
- AH 2: Asian Arts & Cultures
- AH 128: Modern Africa
- AH 130: Intro to Early Andean Visual Culture: Interspecies Value and More-than-Human Presence
- AH 185: Arts of China in the Early Modern World, 1500-1800
- AH 211A: Andean Textile Logic: Weaving as Practice and Process in the Precontact Andes
1850 - Present
Professors who teach in the field: Cohen, Kwon, Lugli, Meyer, Nemerov, Salseda, Vinograd
- AH 129: Fashion
- AH 130N: The Age of Romanticism: Painting, Literature, Politics (IntroSem)
- AH 133: Introduction to Global Modern Art
- AH 165: Vincent van Gogh and His World
- AH 201A: Søren Kierkegaard and the Visual Arts
- AH 215A: Visualizing Race in California: An Art History
- AH 228: Curating Contemporary Chinese Art
- AH 213A: From the Ruins: Art, Literature, and Thought ca. 1945 and Beyond
Special Features
AH 208B: Medieval Art in Spain
The art and architecture of Medieval Spain confronts us with compelling multicultural, multi-ethnic and multi-religious character. This course, jointly taught by Professors Blessing in Islamic and Pentcheva in Byzantine art, explores the entanglement of Jewish, Muslim and Christian identities. We plan a trip to Spain during Thanksgiving break (November 19-29, 2025), partially funded by the department of Art & Art History. We will visit the very monuments we study such as the palaces of the Alhambra in Granada and Aljaferia in Zaragoza, the mosques-churches of Cordoba and Seville, and the synagogues of Toledo. We will also see the cathedral of Santiago: a magnet of pilgrimage and crusade.
Art History Minor
A student with a minor in Art History must complete six Art History courses for a total of 25 units. Courses must be taken for a letter grade. Only one class may be taken for credit outside of the Stanford campus; this includes courses taken in the Overseas Studies Program. Minors are required to attend an orientation session presented by the professional staff of the Art and Architecture Library, which introduces the tools of research and reference available on campus and through the Internet. This requirement should be completed no later than the quarter following the declaration of the minor.
Degree Requirements
For the most up to date information about requirements for the Art History minor, please click the link below to the Stanford Bulletin.