Art and Art History

Art History

All Art History Majors, Course and Honors, are required to take 9 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.

Art

All Art Majors, in both Course and Honors Programs, are required to take 10 courses to fulfill major requirements:

1. Seven credits of studio art and three credits of art history, which must include ARTH 002  The Western Tradition:
   • ARTT 001  Foundation Drawing, (Or, ARTT 002  First-Year Seminar: Drawing)
   • A level I 2-D course
   • A level I 3-D course
   • A level II course, (2D or 3D)
   • A level II course, (2D or 3D)
   • ARTT 090   Senior Workshop I
   • ARTT 091  Senior Workshop II
2. Art majors can complete an art history minor as well with the completion of 4 art history credits in addition to those required by their art major.

• Five credits in studio art must be completed before entry to ARTT 090 Senior Thesis Workshop I. 
• Students are encouraged to consult with professors and advisors about art history selections relevant to their interests.
• The Senior Art Major is required to mount a one-person exhibition in the school 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 weeks of the spring semester each year.
• There is no course minor in art.

Art History Minor

The course minor in art history will consist of 5 credits in art history; four of the 5 credits must be taken at Swarthmore. Art majors can complete an art history minor with the completion of 4 art history credits in addition to those required by their art major.

Honors in Art History

Requirements for admission to Honors 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. The normal prerequisite for any art history seminar is 2 credits of previous art history course work. Each seminar will be examined in a three-hour written examination and an individual 30-minute oral.
2. An Honors Major in Art History must fulfill the requirements for a 9-credit Course Major.

Minor

An Honors Minor in Art History will take one 2-credit seminar, and must have done at least two other courses in Art History. Only one of those credits can be a transfer credit.

Honors in Art

Requirements for admission to Honors 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 ARTT 030 Senior Workshop I and ARTT 040 Senior Workshop II.
   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.

• 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. Courses taught by regularly returning adjuncts might be applied pending department approval.
• Honors preparations approved in the sophomore year must be adhered to. Any later changes to your program as it relates to 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 2 previous credits in art history, including ARTH 002.
   2. All Majors in Art, whether Course or Honors, must do 3 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 ARTT 001. The distribution requirements for 2-D and 3-D for the Honors Major in Art are the same as those in course.
5. Honors study in Art is comprised of a culminating exhibition of the student’s studio work, with an accompanying artist essay of 3750 to 5000 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.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.
   1. The SHS essay will differ from the artist essay written by course students in that it will integrate the preparations in studio and art history.
   2. For Honors Majors, ARTT 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 ARTT 040 but as Senior Honors Study.
   3. If a student drops out of Honors after the drop/add period in the last semester, the SHS credit will receive a grade of NC. Senior Workshop II (ARTT 040), assuming it had been successfully completed in the Spring, will then be listed on the transcript with the appropriate grade.
   4. WARNING: if a student drops out of Honors, Senior Workshop II 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 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 Art will present to the honors examiners one studio preparation consisting of ARTT 030 Senior Workshop I and ARTT 040 Senior Workshop II.
2. An Honors Minor in Art must fulfill the requirements for the Course Major in studio art (see Major in Art.)
3. During the Spring semester of the senior year a minor will write a 2500 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.

Art

1. Overall average of B 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. Thus, an Art History Major graduating with 32 credits could take no more than 3 additional art history credits beyond the 8 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 3 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 151. Renaissance Rome
• ARTH 164. Modernism in Paris and New York