IU’s Department of Art History is dedicated to exploring the significance and meaning of art and visual experience throughout human history across the globe.

Our faculty is known for exemplary research and teaching. They encourage work that investigates how art and material culture engage the social world and give form to human imagination. Faculty members in Art History study images, objects, and materials in their historical contexts. Our goal is to gain a fuller understanding of human expression.

While we attend to historical concepts such as beauty and aesthetics, our focus also extends to other realms—from the social and religious to the intellectual and political. We strive to work between the perceptual and the verbal, using a diverse array of historical practices and methods.

Architectural history is another area of research and study in our department. We examine the social and cultural histories of built environments, the roles these play in particular social contexts, and the relationships among people, spaces, and places.