The Art History area follows the AB program in Franklin College.
In addition to six (6) hours of Art History Survey (ARHI 2300 and ARHI 2400), the major requires:

  • 15 hours of 3000-level
  • 15 hours of 4000-level Art History courses

Intended majors should complete ARHI 2300 Art History I: Cave Painting to Michelangelo (or 2311H or approved equivalent) and ARHI 2400 Art History II: Baroque to Modern (or 2411H or approved equivalent). After successfully completing these two surveys, with a combined GPA of 3.0 in these two courses, he or she may make an appointment with the Area Chair to change the major status from intended to full. Students who do not have a combined GPA of 3.0 in their survey courses but want to pursue an art history major will be expected to take other 3000-level courses until their art history GPA reaches 3.0.

The following General Degree Requirements will be counted toward the major:

Area IV World Language and Culture, Humanities and the Arts:

  • three (3) of the required 12 hours must be: ARHI 2300 Art History I: Cave Painting to Michelangelo  

Area F/VI Major Related Requirements: 18 hrs

  • ARHI 2400 Art History II: Baroque to Modern
  • 15 hours of introductory and/or survey courses (1000 or 2000-level courses) from African American Studies, Anthropology, Studio Art, Classical Culture, Comparative Literature, Computer Sciences, Economics, Foreign Languages*, Geography, History, English, Mathematics, Music History, Philosophy, Political Sciences, Psychology, Religion, Sociology, Theater History, Women's Studies, Biological and/or Physical Sciences

* Note that Art History majors are required to complete course work through the fourth semester in a single foreign language.

Art History Sample Four Year Plan (pdf)

Major Requirements: 60 hours

All courses used to satisfy the major requirements must be passed with a grade of C or better.

ARHI Courses: 30 hours
  • 15 hours of 3000-level courses (at least one course in each of the four areas below)
  • 15 hours of 4000-level courses (covering at least three different areas, and including ARHI 4800)

The four broad areas currently taught in the Art History area are:

  • Ancient, Late Antique, Medieval, and Asian
  • Renaissance and Baroque
  • 18th- and 19th-century
  • 20th-century and Contemporary

Students are required to complete at least one 3000-level course in each of these areas. 4000-level courses must be taken in at least three different areas. Note that students MUST complete two (2) 3000-level courses before commencing a 4000-level ARHI course. For a complete list of the art history courses, by area, see the UGA Bulletin.

If a student intends to take courses in Art History while enrolled in a Study Abroad program, she or he should check with the art history area to determine whether credit is likely to be granted before completing registration for that program.

Senior exit requirements for the major: ARHI 4800; an approved art history research paper; and, a questionnaire that surveys the student's program of study.

Major Electives: 18 hours

Choose eighteen (18) hours in Franklin College: Humanities, Sciences, Social Sciences

In addition to the literature course required by Franklin College, these 18 hours must include a second literature course, approved by the Area Chair or from among those listed in the UGA Bulletin.

ARHI 4995; ARHI 4960H and/or ARHI 4990H may be used for major elective credit. These credits for Museum internship hours or honors program directed study and thesis courses must have prior approval from the art history area. See the requirements for Honors in Art History below, and contact the Area Chair to discuss Honors or the internship. These ARHI credits are major electives and do not count toward the 15 required hours of 4000-level art history courses.

General Electives: 12 hours

(Refer to College-wide requirements when selecting general electives.)

  • Upper division (at least 9 hours if not taken in major electives)
  • Any level (3 hours or more)

Guidelines for Honors Students:

In order to pursue an honors degree at UGA, a student is required to take between 9 and 12 honors classes. The art history program offers the equivalent of ARHI 2300 as an honors course: either ARHI 2300H or ARHI 2110H. In addition, all of the 4000-level classes may be taken as 'honors option' courses in consultation with the professor.

Guidelines for CURO Students & Summer Research Fellowships

CURO Summer Research Fellowships

Applications to Art History Area Mentor by February 1

Application to include:

  • Cover letter explaining the value of the Summer Research Fellowship to academic and/or career aspirations
  • Official transcript
  • One-page research proposal

If approved, the preliminary application, plus a letter from the Art History Mentor will be submitted to CURO and to the Art History Area along with the student's application.

Application will be submmited to CURO office by February 15.

Expectations for Art History CURO Summer Research Fellowship:
  • Students are expected to submit a research paper to the Art History Mentor by the end of summer classes (leaving enough time for it to be read and a grade to be submitted before end of the semester).
  • The research paper should be 15–20 pages and reflect the scholarly research related to the work done with the faculty mentor.
  • The research paper should include a separate bibliography.
  • The style of the paper, footnotes, and bibliography should conform to the Chicago Manual of Style format.

Students accepted into the CURO Summer Research Fellowship program will enroll in HONS4960 and ARHI4990H (total of 6 hours). After the paper has been submitted by the student, the faculty menor will present it to the Art History Area. Together with the mentor, the area will determine whether, based on the merits of the paper, the student will receive ARHI4990H credit as elective or major credit.

Museum Internship Credit (ARHI 4995):

Students should discuss their interest or opportunities with the Art History area chair before the semester in which it will take place. Otherwise, a late course add may be necessary, and this entails a fee for the student. All internships, whether at the Georgia Museum of Art or elsewhere, must be approved by the Art History area chair.

All internships for art history credit must revolve around research. A supervising curator will write an official letter on letterhead, outlining the student’s duties and guaranteeing a minimum of 6 hours of work per week for 15 weeks, or the equivalent. At the end of the semester, the student will compose and submit a paper summarizing their work/research and what s/he has learned. The curator assigns the grade on the student's performance.

The course ARHI 4995 is only available as 3 credits and does not count toward the art history major's course requirements. It will count as a major elective.