Art

Art History

Art history majors, course and honors, are required to take nine credits to fulfill major requirements. Nine credits must include one 2-credit seminar and the following:

1. ARTH 002 The Western Tradition (students are encouraged to take this early in their major program)
2. One course or seminar on art in the western tradition post-1800
3. One course or seminar on art outside the western tradition
4. ARTH 095 Cracking Visual Codes (strongly recommended in the junior year)
5. One credit in studio art

The remaining four credits will consist of other 1-credit art history courses and/or 2-credit art history seminars and/or a 2-credit thesis. For those majors considering graduate study in art history, it is strongly advisable to choose a series of courses that will provide geographical and historical breadth.

Studio Art

All art majors, in both Course and Honors Programs, are required to take 11 courses to fulfill major requirements:

1. Seven credits of studio art:
   • STUA 001 Foundation Drawing, (or, STUA 001B First-Year Seminar)
   • Studio art course in a 2-D medium
   • Studio art course in a 3-D medium
   • One studio art elective
   • Junior Workshop (spring semester of junior year)
   • STUA 030 Senior Workshop 1
   • STUA 040 Senior Workshop 11
2. Four credits of art history, which must include ARTH 002 The Western Tradition.
3. Studio art majors can complete an art history minor as well with the completion of four art history credits in addition to those required by their studio art major.

Notes:

• Five credits in studio art, including the distribution in 2-D, 3-D, and Junior Workshop must be completed before entry to STUA 030 Senior Workshop 1.

The 2-D, 3-D, and advanced credit requirements must be taken at Swarthmore.

• Students are encouraged to consult with professors and advisers about art history selections relevant to their interests.
• The senior art major is required to mount a one-person exhibition in the College gallery representing a culmination in their studio work. This exhibition and accompanying artist statement, of no less than 2500 words, is the comprehensive examination for the art major.
• Senior exhibitions are scheduled during the last few weeks of the spring semester each year.
• There is no course minor in studio art.

Art History Minor

The course minor in art history will consist of five credits in art history; four of the five credits must be taken at Swarthmore. Studio art majors can complete an art history minor with the completion of four art history credits in addition to those required by their studio art major.

Honors in Art History

Requirements for admission to the Honors Program 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 2-credit preparations, consisting of three 2-credit seminars or two 2-credit seminars and a 2-credit thesis (see ARTH 180). The normal prerequisite for any art history seminar is two credits of previous art history course work. Each seminar will be examined in a three-hour written examination and an individual 30-minute oral examination.
2. An honors major in art history must fulfill the requirements for a nine-credit course major.

Minor

An honors minor in art history will take one 2-credit seminar, and must have taken at least two other courses in art history. Only one of those credits can be a transfer credit.

Honors in Studio Art

Requirements for admission to the Honors Program do not differ from those for admission to the course major. Students will be expected to maintain an average of B+ or better in all courses in studio art.

Major

1. An honors major in art will present 2 preparations in studio art and 1 preparation in art history.
2. Each of the two studio preparations will consist of two paired studio courses. The examiner of each preparation will receive the syllabus for both courses and slides representing the body of work produced in them and will examine the student in an individual oral examination of 30 minutes.
   1. One preparation pair will consist of STUA 030 Senior Workshop 1 and STUA 040 Senior Workshop 11.
   2. The second pair might consist of an intermediate and an advanced course in a specific medium, or two courses with a different approach to the same medium, (ex: Pottery and Ceramic Sculpture, Drawing and Life Drawing), or, two related courses, (ex: Ceramic Sculpture and Sculpture, Drawing and Photography, Drawing and Works on Paper, Drawing and Painting)

All preparations for honors must be approved in advance by the department.

Notes:

• Studio courses taken at an institution outside of Swarthmore cannot count towards an honors studio preparation.
• Only courses taught by regularly teaching faculty in studio art can be applied toward a preparation. Department approval must be sought for credit from courses taught by regularly returning adjuncts.
• Honors preparations approved in the sophomore year must be followed. Changes to the academic program, as they relate to honors preparations, must be approved by the department.

3. The preparation in art history will consist of one 2-credit seminar.
   1. The prerequisite for any art history seminar is two previous credits in art history.
   2. All majors in art, whether course or honors, must do 4 credits of art history work. Studio faculty may recommend particular art history courses as most relevant to a student’s studio interests.
4. Honors candidates in art must fulfill the course major requirements. The prerequisite for all studio work, unless waived, is STUA 001. The distribution requirements for 2-D and 3-D for the honors major in studio art are the same as those in course.
5. Honors study in studio art is comprised of a culminating exhibition of the student’s studio work, with an accompanying artist essay of 3,750 to 5,000 words. Some of this work may figure in the selections of work presented for one or both of the course pairs described above, but the rationale for inclusion in the exhibition will differ. The artist essay will be sent to both examiners of studio preparations. A revision of a paper written previously for the art history preparation, will be sent to the art history examiner.
6. The senior honors study essay will differ from the artist essay written by course students in that it will integrate the preparations in studio and art history.
7. For honors majors, STUA 040 will count outside the major for purposes of calculating the 20-course rule, since it serves as senior honors study. It will be listed on the transcript not as STUA 040 but as Senior Honors Study.
8. If a student drops out of Honors after the drop/add period in the last semester, the Senior Honors Study credit will receive a grade of NC. Senior Workshop 11 (STUA 040), assuming it had been successfully completed in the spring, will then be listed on the transcript with the appropriate grade.
9. Warning: if a student drops out of honors, Senior Workshop 11 no longer counts as outside the major, but as within. A student who has taken 12 other credits within the department, and who is graduating with the minimum of 32 credits will then have 13 in the major and only 19 outside. Honors studio art majors should be especially careful to take enough credits outside the department if they contemplate withdrawing from honors.

Minor

1. An honors minor in studio art will present to the honors examiners one studio preparation consisting of STUA 030 Senior Workshop 1 and STUA 040 Senior Workshop 11.
2. An art minor in studio art must meet the same course requirements as the course major in studio art (see above).
3. During the spring semester of the senior year a minor will write a 2,500 word artist essay to be sent to the examiner, along with the relevant syllabi and slides for the two-credit preparation.

Art History

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.

Studio Art

1. Overall average of C or better in all courses taken during the two semesters preceding the time of application. For a double major the overall average must be B.
2. Completion of at least one course in art history and one course in studio art at Swarthmore with grades of B or better.
3. A student may be asked to present a portfolio as evidence of ability to see, describe, and analyze visual phenomena critically.

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.

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 credits. Thus, an art history major graduating with 32 credits could take no more than three additional art history credits beyond the eight art history credits that are required for the major. But an art history major could take as many more studio credits as desired.

For art majors, the required four credits in art history count within the major, but additional credits in art history count outside the major.

Seminars

Unless otherwise noted, the prerequisite for all seminars is two courses in art history.

• ARTH 136. Word and Image in Japanese Art
• ARTH 147. Visual Narrative in Medieval Art
• ARTH 151. Renaissance Rome
• ARTH 164. Modernism in Paris and New York