Senate Document Number 4704S

Date of Senate Approval 04/08/04

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Statement of Faculty Senate Action:

APC Document 38:         Requirements for a major in Art with a Concentration in Art History

Effective Date: Fall 2004

Add: On pg 59, before entry for Art with Teacher Licensure

Bachelor of Arts with a Concentration in Art History
The study of art history provides a broad-based, interdisciplinary understanding of visual culture's relationship to the philosophical, sociological and political developments of human history. The discipline's emphasis on visual analysis, research, critical writing, and oral communication makes it appropriate for students considering careers in law and journalism, or as arts professionals in museums or galleries, as well as for students planning on graduate studies in art or art history. Students will complete 36 hours composed as follows:

I. Required courses in the concentration--36 hours, including 6 hours from ART 100, 101, or 103; ARTH 201, 202, 480; 12 hours of 300-400 level ARTH courses with at least 3 hours from Ancient/Medieval: 310, 320; 3 hours from Renaissance/Baroque: 330, 340; 3 hours from Modern/Contemporary: 355, 360, 365; 3 hours from Non-Western: 380, 385: and 9 hours of approved courses outside the department (see Art Department Guidelines).

II. Other departmental requirements:

a. Senior competency is demonstrated by either passing the Art Department Comprehensive or completing an Undergraduate Research Project in Art History. These are offered every semester.

b. Each degree candidate must demonstrate both oral and computer competency by successful completion of ARTH 480.

Impact:
The proposed curriculum will allow students interested in the study of art history to develop mastery of the subject and its methods sufficient for graduate study or for entry into a career in the arts profession. The emphasis on critical thinking, research and communication skills that is essential to the study of art history would also prepare students who are interested in art, but considering professions outside of the field. Expanding the department's art history component will substantially enhance the curriculum of art majors concentrating in studio art, allowing them to recognize their own position within a broader history of visual culture and changing aesthetic concerns. The concentration will not affect present University requirements; rather the proposed curriculum will build on and augment other areas of study at UNCA. The concentration will also provide an important link to the community's rich milieu of art resources and practicing artists. The region's historical emphasis on craft traditions offers an exciting area for future development in the art history concentration. The dearth of art historical scholarship on the history of craft and the substantial need within museums and the academy for experts in the field suggests UNCA could become an important training ground for future scholars in the area of craft study.

Start-up resources for this proposal were secured through two major grants, one of which will continue through Spring 2005. The faculty resources necessary to implement the concentration in art history have been identified: Dr. Virginia B. Spivey and Dr. Dorothy Dvorsky-Rohner are the faculty responsible for delivering the curriculum. Additional faculty in the Classics and Philosophy departments have also expressed interest in teaching courses within the art history curriculum, and the possibility exists for drawing adjunct faculty from degree holding specialists in the region. Future growth of the concentration, however, would necessitate the hire of additional faculty. An art historian specializing in non-western art would be preferable for the next tenure-track hire in the concentration. This position would complement current faculty interests in ancient and modern art to round out the curriculum in art history, and would serve as an important addition to the entire University community.

Rationale:
The concentration in art history will fill an academic need that has existed at UNCA for many years. This is the second time the art department has presented this proposal to APC. Although the previous proposal was favorably reviewed, APC required the department to have a Ph.D. whose primary responsibility would be to oversee all aspects of the concentration in art history. The Art Department's recent hire of a full-time art historian with a doctorate motivates this current proposal. Within a liberal arts curriculum, students should gain understanding of the historical role of the visual arts to reflect and shape cultural values. While art has played a role in the Humanities core at UNCA, art objects have served primarily as illustrations of a particular culture's accomplishments and belief systems. The concentration in art history will supplement the use of visual art in Humanities and other departments across campus by encouraging students to recognize broader relationships between the aesthetic and philosophical concerns of artists and patrons, and historical change in all areas of culture. The discipline also teaches students to analyze and interpret visual representation: in an age where we are literally bombarded with thousands of images each day, such critical skills are fundamental. Finally, the study of art history is integrally related to the University's mission "to connect the traditional liberal arts fields through interdisciplinary studies." As we begin to implement the new Integrated Liberal Studies curriculum, courses in art history will contribute an additional perspective to the exploration of ideas that can only serve to enhance our students' education in the liberal arts.