Research

The value of art history research

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.

Approaches to the field involve understanding works of art within their historical contexts, and being able to respond creatively to the aesthetic, social, political, and psychological issues they suggest. Because forms of visual communication are important to all cultures, art historians work to carefully trace and place their significance on many levels of understanding. They also learn to work as curators—collecting, preserving, and coordinating objects in order to shape larger stories about humanity.