The Art History Major in Honors and Course, and the Honors Minor
Requirements for Admission to the Major
Requirements for Completion of the Major
20 Course Rule
Study Abroad
Honors Program
The Art History Major consists of nine credits in art history and one credit in studio art.
REQUIREMENTS FOR ADMISSION TO THE MAJOR
1) Overall Average of C or better in all courses taken during the two semesters preceding the time of application.
2) Completion of at least two courses in art history at Swarthmore with grades of B or better. For a Double Major the grade minimum is also B.
REQUIREMENTS FOR COMPLETION OF THE MAJOR
All Art History Majors, in both course and honors programs, are required to take 10 credits to fulfill major requirements. Four of these must be the following:
1) 1 credit in studio art
2) ARTH 002: Western Art (Students are encouraged to take this course early in their major program)
3) ARTH 003: East Asian Art
4) ARTH 020: Junior Workshop (taken in the Spring semester of the Junior year).
The remaining 6 credits must be drawn from the following four distribution areas. See below for different distribution requirements for course and honors majors:
1. Ancient and Medieval
2. Renaissance and Baroque
3. European/American after 1800
4. Asian or Non-Western
Distribution Requirements:
• Course Majors must take at least one course in each of the above four distribution areas, and at least one must be a 2–credit seminar.
• Honors Majors must take three 2-credit seminars in three of the above four distribution areas.
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The Comprehensive Requirement
During the senior year, course majors will be given a short list of works of art or architecture drawn from the four subject distribution areas. From this list, students will choose one work to investigate in preparation for writing an essay situating it within its critical interpretive context, addressing broad questions of method and theory as well as the work itself.
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Transfer Credits from other institutions :
A maximum of two transfer credits will count toward the major. Those students transferring from another institution can consult with the art history coordinator on their specific situation.
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Foreign Study:
A maximum of two transfer credits will count toward the major.
AP Credit:
Credit for an AP5 will be given upon completion of an art history course in the department.
ART HISTORY MINOR:
The course minor in Art History will consist of 5 credits in Art History: Four of the 5 credits must be taken at Swarthmore.
ART DEPARTMENT MAJORS AND THE 20-COURSE RULE:
It is a college requirement that 20 of the 32 credits required for graduation must be OUTSIDE the major. This means that one can take no more than 12 courses in the major, unless one graduates with more than 32 credits, in which case the surplus can also be in the major. The major in Art History requires 10 credits of work, while the major in Art requires 11 credits of work. A student could take 2 more credits in art history or one more credit in studio art before the 20 course rule could become a problem.
For Art History Majors, the one required credit of studio art course work counts as within the Major, but additional credits of studio art count as outside. Thus, an Art History Major graduating with 32 credits could take no more than 2 additional art history credits beyond the 9 art history credits that are required for the Major. But an Art History Major could take as many more studio credits as desired (assuming fulfillment of distribution requirements).
STUDY ABROAD:
The Art Department strongly encourages those with an interest in art and its history to consider incorporating foreign study--either during a summer or a regular academic term--into their Swarthmore program. Important examples of art and architecture are scattered throughout the world, and the encounter with works still imbedded in their original context is vital to an understanding of their historical and contemporary significance. Past experience has shown, however, that art courses in most foreign study programs fall considerably below the academic standards of comparable courses at Swarthmore. Students who are interested in bettering their chances of gaining a full Swarthmore credit for a course taken in a foreign program are advised to meet with either the Studio Art Coordinator and/or the Art History Coordinator, before leaving the campus.
Note: Study abroady for Junior Art History Majors should take place in the Fall of the Junior year because the required Junior Workshop course is in the Spring of the Junior year.
HONORS PROGRAM:
Requirements for admission to Honors do not differ from those for admission to the Course major. Once admitted to the Honors Major, students will be expected to maintain an average of B+ or better in all courses in art history.
Major
1. An Honors Major in Art History requires three two-credit preparations, consisting of three 2-credit seminars. The normal prerequisite for any art history seminar is 2 credits of previous art history course work. Each seminar will be examined in a three-hourwritten examination and an individual 30-minute oral.
2. An Honors Major in Art History must fulfill the requirements for a 10-credit Course major including ARTH 020 (Junior Workshop). With one course in studio art, and the two required surveys the student must with the seminars satisfy three of the following four subject distribution areas.
1) Ancient and Medieval
2) Renaissance and Baroque
3) European/American after 1800
4) Asian or Non-Western
3. For Majors, Senior Honors Study, normally carried out in the Spring semester of senior year, will consist of the revision of a paper previously written for each art history preparation. Revisions should be approximately 2500 words in length and may develop all or part of the original paper as the student sees fit. Faculty will contribute through their comments on the original papers, but will not critique drafts of revisions.
Minor
1. An Honors Minor in Art History will take one two-credit seminar, and must have done at least two other courses in Art History. Only one of those credits can be a transfer credit.
2. For Honors Minors, Senior Honors Study will consist of the revision of a paper previously written for the preparation. Revisions should be about 2500 words in length and may develop all or part of the original paper as the student sees fit. Faculty will contribute through their comments on the original papers, but will not critique drafts of revisions.