IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT A MINOR IN ART HISTORY

 

The goal of the Department is to develop the student's critical understanding of visual culture in both art historical and archaeological contexts. Undergraduates are offered a diverse selection of courses in the art and archaeology of Africa, the Americas, Asia, and Europe. Students are encouraged to supplement their art historical and archaeological studies with courses in other fields, to participate in internships at local museums and galleries, and to take advantage of Maryland's study abroad programs. Students with GPAs of 3.5 or higher and who have completed a minimum of 60 credits may apply to the Department's honors program.

The location of the University between Washington and Baltimore gives students the opportunity to use some of the finest museum and archival collections in the world for their coursework and independent research. Curator/professors, exhibitions in the Art Gallery and Stamp Gallery at the University of Maryland, and the extensive use of study collections bring regional and distant museums into the classroom.

The Michelle Smith Collaboratory for Visual Culture is a new facility in the Department that includes a comprehensive suite of technology to encourage and promote new understandings through visualization. Undergraduate classes meet in the Collaboratory for special presentations and workshops, and students often attend departmental functions in the space.

Undergraduates make extensive use of the Art Library located in the Art/Sociology Building. In addition to the University's excellent libraries, students can use the resources of the Library of Congress and other major area archives.

Basic Requirements

Majors in Art History and Archaeology must complete the following coursework with a grade no lower than "C":

• Three (3) ARTH courses at the 200 level (9 credits), chosen from among ARTH200, ARTH201, ARTH250, ARTH275, and ARTH290. These are surveys of large geographical regions with broad chronological scope.

• Seven (7) ARTH courses at the 300-400 level (21credits). These courses cover narrower geographical, chronological or thematic issues.

• One (1) course in Art Studio (ARTT) (3 credits). In order to ensure that our students understand some fundamental aspects of art making, we require that they take either ARTT 100 (Two-Dimensional Art Fundamentals) or ARTT 110 (Elements of Drawing).

• Four (4) "Supporting Area" Courses (12 credits). These are four courses taken in departments other than Art History and Archaeology. All must be at the 300 or 400 level, and should be related to the student's career, research or intellectual interests in Art History and Archaeology. Two of the four courses must be taken in a single department. Supporting courses must be approved by an ARTH advisor.

 

Honors in Art History, 2011-2012

If you have completed at least 60 credits and at least 12 credits in ARTH courses, and if you have an overall GPA of 3.5 or higher (in all course work, not just ARTH courses), you are qualified to work toward departmental honors at graduation. Such honors will be noted on your official transcript.

Requirements to earn such honors:

1. Talk to the Director of Undergraduate Studies in ARTH, letting him/her know that you want to be in the program.

2. Among the seven 300/400-level ARTH courses, take Methods of Art History (ARTH 496).

3. Among those same seven 300/400-level ARTH courses, take at least one colloquium (normally ARTH 488 or ARTH 489).

4. Write write an honors thesis. Usually completed in your final two semesters, the thesis generally requires a semester of research (ARTH 498) and a semester of writing and revision (ARTH 499). (These courses may also count toward your seven required 300/400-level ARTH courses.) Before registering for these courses, you must gain the support of a faculty supervisor. Note the following steps toward signing up for the thesis courses:

 

a. Think about the research you would like to do for your thesis. Identify the subject/period that you would like to work on.

b. In the semester before you begin, talk about your idea with an ARTH faculty member whose interest and teaching area coincide with the work you would like to do. Ideally, this should be someone with whom you have studied before. The faculty supervisor must be a regular member of the ARTH department faculty. Adjunct faculty members do not supervise departmental honors.

c. Once a faculty member has agreed to supervise your work, obtain from the Graduate Program Coordinator or the Director of Undergraduate Studies in ARTH an electronic permit to register for the course, with the section number of your faculty supervisor. You will need to do this for each of the two semesters.

d. Bear in mind that each of the two courses in the thesis sequence (ARTH 498 and ARTH 499) carries 3 credits and will therefore require the amount of work you would normally do for any 3-credit course.

When enrolling in your final semester before graduation, be sure to notify the Director of Undergraduate Studies that you plan to graduate with departmental honors. This will help to ensure that your achievement is noted at commencement and on your transcript.

Internships

Students may receive academic credit for internships via ARTH 386. This course may count as one of the seven 300/400-level ARTH course required for completion of the ARTH major. Prerequisites: permission of department and 60 semester hours completed.

The best place to start looking for basic information on internships is at the Web site of the University Career Center . Students should also consult with the Director of Undergraduate Studies in ARTH.

Visit the Career Center in person, at 3100 Hornbake Library, South Wing, to take advantage of Walk-in Assistance to help you get started.

 

1. Decide what kinds of internships interest you. These may include curatorial work in a gallery, digging at an archaeological excavation, enrolling in a formal internship at a major museum, and many other options. Some internships are paid. Many more are done on a strictly volunteer basis. If you decide to hold a paid internship, you can not earn academic credit.

2. Explore possible options. Start early so that you have several choices when it comes to getting internship offers. ARTH does not maintain a full list of possible internships, though your professors may have heard about some of interest in their various fields. The Career Center has many directories listing possibilities, including Peterson's Internships and the National Directory of Internships, in the "Gaining Experience" section of their Resource Room. The Art Gallery in the Art - Sociology Building regularly offers internships to UMCP students, and those with art historical content may be used for credit in this department.

3. Talk about your ideas with ARTH faculty members whose interests and teaching areas coincide with the work you would like to do. Ideally, these should be people with whom you have studied before. Obtain the agreement of a faculty member to supervise your work. The faculty supervisor must be a regular member of the ARTH department faculty. Adjunct faculty members do not supervise internships.

4. Apply (through the relevant organizations) for a selected group of internships that best match your interests. Consult with your faculty supervisor about the timing of applications and course registration.

5. Once you have accepted an internship offer, obtain from the Director of Undergraduate Studies an "ARTH Internship Contract." Please read the internship contract carefully, as it outlines your obligations. You must sign the contract and have both your faculty advisor and internship supervisor sign it as well.

6. Contact the Graduate Program Coordinator in ARTH for an electronic permit to register for ARTH 386 with the section number of your faculty supervisor.

7. Register for the course.

8. Work out with your on-site supervisor exactly what you will be doing during your internship.

9. Work out with your faculty supervisor exactly what you will be expected to do for course credit, in addition to the requirements of the internship itself. Bear in mind that an internship normally carries 3 credits, and so should involve the amount of work you would normally do for any 3-credit course. Since internships are tailored to each individual's academic needs and interests, requirements will vary; but the following should be expected.

 

a. You will normally meet with your faculty supervisor approximately every two weeks.

b. You are required to submit to your faculty supervisor copies of any written work produced in the course of the internship. If you intern in a gallery, for example, you must submit any exhibition labels that you write (the versions before editing, if any, by your site supervisor).

c. A written research project is normally required. This may be an extension of research done for your site supervisor. It should be written in normal art historical/archaeological form, with full documentation (notes and bibliography).

d. A written summary of work completed during the internship is normally required.

10. After completion of the internship, your site supervisor should submit a report to your faculty supervisor. The faculty supervisor will submit a grade for you, based on that report and on the work outlined in number 9.

Letters of Recommendation

Guidelines for Requesting Letters of Recommendation for Undergraduates

The members of the faculty are happy to write letters of recommendation for you. Because we want to do this as positively and as efficiently as possible, we have written the following guidelines for you.

Letters are most effective when written by faculty members who know you well and can appraise your work with some degree of specificity. Letters from advisors are critical. In a highly competitive market, brief general letters usually do not suffice. In the case of graduate school applications, programs will expect to see a letter from the faculty member who teaches in the field for which you are applying to study. In the case of job placement, you may wish to ask faculty members whose field or employment history is appropriate to the position that you are seeking. Whenever possible, you should request letters of recommendation at least two months before the deadline. Sometimes this is not possible; in these instances, please understand that you may be asked to seek another recommender. Please remember that the results are best when professors write for students whose work they know well. Requests with tighter turn-around times are more easily accommodated when the professor has written for you in the past and thus has a letter on file.

Once a faculty member has agreed to write for you, you should provide:

 

A description of the project for which you wish to receive funding or, in the case of graduate school applications, your personal statement.

A transcript.

A sample of your written work (paper or exam).

A list of addresses and deadlines.

Forms that are completed in an accurate manner (including signing and checking the box regarding confidentiality).

In most cases, faculty members will send letters directly to the institution or funding agency to which you're applying (hence the need for accurate addresses and deadlines). In these cases, please supply one stamp for every letter that must be sent out. All letters will be mailed in envelopes marked with the return address of the department. Even in cases where a granting institution or funding source requests that letters come in a single packet from you, some faculty members prefer to send materials directly to the program/job, etc. for which you're applying. Please be aware that a decision to proceed in this fashion is entirely within the rights of the recommender and that for many institutions, in fact, this is a widely accepted condition of confidentiality. In those cases where you will in fact assemble the entire packet yourself, please provide the faculty member with a stamped, self-addressed envelope for every recommendation letter that will be sent back to you. Do not use an envelope with the return address of your place of work. The likely scenario here is for the professor to write the letter on department letterhead, put it in a department envelope, sign across the seal to demonstrate confidentiality, and then send the whole back to you in the envelope you've provided.