Art History students may want to consider an interdisciplinary minor, which takes advantage of the wide variety of courses available in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences. Students should design these minor programs carefully and be sure to meet with an advisor. Many interdisciplinary minors include courses taught by the Art History faculty.
For students with diverse interests in the material culture of the ancient world. Combines the study of archaeology, literature, art, history, philosophy, myth, and religion. Not limited to Greece and Rome but touches on all the ancient civilizations of the Mediterranean and the heirs of late antiquity such as Byzantium and early Islam.
ARTH courses offered: ARTH 318, 319, 321, 324, 322, 333
Contact: Jacquelyn Williamson, jwilli98@gmu.edu
Offered through the College of Visual and Performing Arts, this minor will be of particular interest to students considering museum or gallery careers or careers with other arts organizations. ARTH courses offered: ARTH 374, 394
Contact: Karalee Dawn MacKay, kdawn@gmu.edu
For students whose interests focus on the humanities and social sciences and Asia's role in global systems and the cultural mosaic of human experience.
ARTH courses offered: ARTH 203, 384, 385, 386
Contact: Byunghwan Son, bson3@gmu.edu
Offers students the opportunity to study one of the rapidly developing ancient cultures of the world. The emphasis is on developing strong language skills: oral communication and the reading of texts.
ARTH courses offered: ARTH 384
Contact: Karl Kuan Zhang, kzhang@gmu.edu
Designed for students who wish to become familiar with Classical cultures and broaden their knowledge of the foundations of Western civilization. The requirements of the minor provide flexibility so students can choose courses that are relevant to their primary interests.
ARTH courses offered: ARTH 321, 322, 333, 399, 420
Contact: Martin Winkler, language@gmu.edu
Designed flexibly to include courses that may already be in a student’s major. It culminates in a capstone course with a studio format in which students with multi-disciplinary backgrounds collaborate and learn by using the design thinking process to explore problems, prototype solutions, and convey their ideas through effective visual, written, and oral presentations.
ARTH courses offered: ARTH 103, 311, 315
Contact: Robert Yi, ryi6@gmu.edu
Stories told in both sacred and secular contexts, along with festivals, foods, music, material objects, and other traditional art forms, continue to influence our lives. This minor offers students tools to explore the compelling meanings within these seemingly simple, everyday cultural texts, and helps them become more aware of the ways these texts are used by individuals and institutions for various goals. Students study folklore and mythology by juxtaposing the multiple viewpoints of anthropology, art history, classical studies, literary studies, and religious studies.
ARTH courses offered: ARTH 102, 319, 321, 322, 382, 383, 384
Contact: Lijun Zhang, lzhang31@gmu.edu
Designed for students interested in the societies, cultures, history, and politics of the Islamic world. It offers students the opportunity to study the many societies that have significant Muslim populations. These societies are not just in the Middle East. They stretch from North Africa to Southeast Asia and beyond. They include Europe as well as North America.
ARTH courses offered: ARTH 320, 382, 386
Contact: Maria Dakake, mdakakem@gmu.edu
Enables students to advance their Italian language skills and to study Italian culture, history, and literature from an interdisciplinary perspective.
ARTH courses offered: ARTH 340, 342
Contact: Kristina Marie Olson, kolson4@gmu.edu
Enables students to advance their Japanese language skills and develop a sound understanding of Japanese culture and history from a global perspective. Students may focus their course work on language or on history and culture.
ARTH courses offered: ARTH 385
Contact: Manako Fujiwara, mfujiwar@gmu.edu
Focuses on the diverse and connected regions, societies, and cultures of Latin America.
ARTH courses offered: ARTH 204, 376, and as appropriate
Contact: chssadv@gmu.edu
Covers the period c. 400-1600, encompassing such cultural touchstones as the survival of the eastern Roman empire in Byzantium, the establishment of the Tang dynasty in China, the spread of Islam in the Middle East, the diffusion of Scandinavian peoples across Europe and western Asia, the growth of the papacy’s political power in Europe, the rise of the Mongol influence in Asia and Europe, and the development of the Mali empire in west Africa—just to name a few. Enables students to discover just how much of our modern world can be traced back to the Middle Ages.
ARTH courses offered: ARTH 320, 333, 334, 335, 340, 386, 430
Contact: Sam Collins, scolline@gmu.edu
Today, more than ever before, Middle East politics have become intertwined with American politics and the lives of many Americans. This minor is designed to equip undergraduates with a firm multidisciplinary grounding in the region, its history, and its international relations.
ARTH courses offered: ARTH 319, 320
Contact: Bassam Haddad, bhaddad@gmu.edu
The minor in AVT requires 20 credits, and offers a core of foundational studies with the opportunity for further study the following areas: drawing, graphic design, new media art, painting, photography, printmaking, or sculpture.
For advising see https://art.gmu.edu/advising/undergraduate/
For those who love history but do not foresee it as their major career focus, a history minor can be a rewarding option. Because of its flexibility, the history minor may also be shaped to augment a variety of majors. You and your adviser decide on a three-course concentration, and then you choose any other history courses you wish to meet the remaining requirements. NOTE: Art History majors are permitted to use 3 credits of 300-level history coursework toward the major.
Contact: Sam Collins, scolline@gmu.edu