Art History
Course offerings in art history at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs reflect the unique strengths of local and regional museum collections in the areas of Native American, Hispanic, Spanish Colonial, and Contemporary art. Courses in these areas are complemented by fieldwork and visits to museums and historic sites in Denver, Colorado Springs, the San Luis Valley, Taos, and Santa Fé. Course offerings in Western European art, art of the Pacific Rim, African art, African American art, feminist art and theory, and the history of photography round out the major. The art history major is also supported by a group of lower and upper division courses required of all students in the Visual and Performing Arts Department that focus on the intersections of art, film, theatre, and music.
In their senior year, art history majors produce a substantial research project that is presented publicly to the students and faculty of the Visual and Performing Arts Department. The seminar taken in conjunction with this senior thesis project (AH 400: Seminar in Art History Practice) provides art history majors with a supportive intellectual environment comparable to that offered at a small, private college.
Art-related and scholarly resources in Colorado Springs enhancing the undergraduate experience of art history majors include borrowing privileges at the Fine Arts Center Library (a premier collection with deep holdings in Native American, Hispanic, and Spanish Colonial art and culture), art-related events at the Heller Center for Art and Humanities, a visiting artists' lecture series supported by the Visual and Performing Arts Department, various internship opportunities at local cultural institutions, and a minor in museum and gallery practice.
Art History Option: 60 credits
Students intending to earn a Bachelor of Arts in Visual and Performing Arts with an Art History option must complete 60 credit hours: 33 in Art History, 9 in Visual Art, 12 in VAPA, and 6 within another VAPA option for the Cross-Disciplinary component.
Art History requirements: 33 credits
Core requirements: 6 credits
AH 250 Art Matters: Reading, Writing and Research in Art History
OR
AH 150: Art and Ideas: Michelangelo to Basquiat
AND
AH 400: Seminar in Art History Practice
Lower Division requirements: 12 credits
Upper Division requirements: 15 credits
These courses must be distributed among four different areas of study.
These areas include: Ancient Cultures, the Medieval World, the Art of Africa, North American Native Arts, Mesoamerican Art, Islamic Art and
Architecture, Renaissance and Baroque Art of Europe, the Arts of the Pacific Rim, the History of Women in the Arts, Public Art and Architecture, Art of
the Contemporary Period, and Current Issues in Art History.
Visual Art requirements: 9 credits (from the following list)
VA 101 Beginning Studio 2D
VA 102 Beginning Studio 3D
VA 104 Beginning Drawing
VA 210 Digital Imaging
VA 211 Introduction to Photography
VA 213 Beginning Painting
VA 219 Weaving
Students with proper prerequisites may elect to take upper division visual arts courses to fulfill this requirement.
VAPA requirements: 12 credits
3 credits VAPA 100 level
6 credits VAPA 390
3 credits VAPA 400 capstone
Cross-Disciplinary requirements: 6 credits
200/300/400 level courses in Film Studies, Museum & Gallery Practice, Music, or Theatre.
Art History Minor: 18 credits
9 credits of lower division 200 level
9 credits of upper division 300/400 level
Links to Local and Regional Art-Related Resources and Museums
Heller Center for Art and Humanities (under construction)
Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center
Clyfford Still Museum
Denver Art Museum
Denver Museum of Contemporary Art
The Lab at Belmar
Museo de las Américas
Vance Kirkland Museum
Harwood Museum
Georgia O'Keeffe Museum
Site Santa Fe
The Wheelwright Museum
For a current schedule or course descriptions please check out the UCCS Bulletin:
http://www.uccs.edu/course.html
Art History Director: Elissa Auther