Art, Art History, and Film
The department offers three majors: Studio Art, Art History, and Film Studies. Students can Major or Minor in each area or choose from a broad range of elective courses. Internships are available in local museums and galleries. For details, inquire at the Art, Art History, and Film department office in Devlin Hall.
Major Requirements: Art History
Art history encompasses the study of images, objects, and buildings from a broad range of historical periods and geographical regions, providing a doorway into many rich and diverse cultures throughout the world. It is about vision in the broadest sense, how people saw themselves in the past, and how we see ourselves in the present and future. Art history understands art as an instrument of power and recognizes its potential for influencing contemporary social issues.
By honing skills of careful observation, critical analysis, historical research, and written communication, a degree in art history provides students with tools to interpret the past in a wide variety of cultural contexts and teaches them how to be more critical participants within our media-saturated world. Through the close study of objects, art history cultivates a greater aesthetic awareness by considering questions of beauty, quality, and value across time and space.
The teaching and research of our faculty cover the arts of Africa, Asia, Europe, the Americas, and the Islamic world, from ancient to contemporary times. Professors actively participate in interdisciplinary collaboration through co-teaching, joint research projects, workshops, conferences, and museum curation. Students are encouraged to think across geographic and disciplinary boundaries by studying the visual cultures of multiple regions and by taking courses in complementary fields, such as studio art, philosophy, sociology, history, and religion.
Art history courses make use of the rich collections of Boston College鈥檚 McMullen Museum of Art and numerous other cultural institutions across the city, including the Museum of Fine Arts, Institute of Contemporary Art, and Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, as well as the built environment of historic Boston. Students frequently engage in summer internships and study abroad, enhancing traditional classroom learning through first-hand experience.
The skills of observing, reading, and writing offered through an art history degree not only enrich life but are fundamental to many future career paths. Alumni of the department have gone on to work in academia, art criticism, architecture, museums, art conservation, cultural preservation, intellectual property law, and at commercial galleries and auction houses. Because art history contributes to the broad intellectual foundation that constitutes a liberal arts education, the skills acquired are also transferable to many areas outside the discipline.
The Art History major requires 11 courses (33 credits):
- ARTH1101 Intro to Art History I: Prehistory to Middle Ages
- ARTH1102 Intro to Art History II: Renaissance to Modern
- 罢飞辞听of the following three courses:聽ARTH2212 East Asian Art and Architecture, ARTH2213 Islamic Art and Architecture, ARTH2250 Introduction to African Art and Visual Culture. (Students may substitute comparable courses in Asian, African, and Islamic art with the permission of the instructor.)
- One Studio Art (ARTS) course or ARTH4314 The Materials of Art and their Conservation
- Elective 1 (2000 or 3000 level)
- Elective 2 (2000 or 3000 level)
- Elective 3 (3000 or 4000 level)
- Elective 4 (3000 or 4000 level)
- Elective 5 (3000 or 4000 level)
- ARTH4401 Seminar in Art Historical Research (must be taken in the fall semester of junior or senior year)
- OPTIONAL Thesis: Students sign up for an Independent Study with a faculty advisor in the spring semester of their senior year. Students who write a senior thesis are eligible for departmental honors.
The Art History major can also be completed with a concentration in Museum Studies, which requires a minimum of 12 courses (36 credits):
- ARTH1101 Intro to Art History I: Prehistory to Middle Ages
- ARTH1102 Intro to Art History II: Renaissance to Modern
- Two聽of the following three courses: ARTH2212 East Asian Art and Architecture, ARTH2213 Islamic Art and Architecture, ARTH2250 Introduction to African Art and Visual Culture
- ARTH4314 The Materials of Art and Their Conservation
- ARTH4370 Museum of Art: History, Philosophy, and Practice Course
- One of the following courses: MGMT1021 Organizational Behavior,聽MGMT2123 Negotiation, MGMT2127 Leadership, MGMT2132 Managing Change,聽MGMT2133 Leading High Performance Teams, MGMT2265 Globalization, Culture, and Ethics
- Elective 1 (2000 or 3000 level)
- Elective 2 (2000 or 3000 level)
- Elective 3 (3000 or 4000 level)
- Elective 4 (3000 or 4000 level)
- ARTH4401 Seminar in Art Historical Research (must be taken in the fall semester of junior or senior year)
Major Requirements: Film Studies
The Film Studies major applies the liberal arts tradition to the present-day culture of images and technologies. Courses in film history, theory, and criticism enable students to become active, selective, and ethical participants in a world progressively more dominated by the media of visual communication.
Research-based studies in American and world cinema explore the mutual influence of the films and their respective diverse cultures and historic periods. Familiarity with several of the great films and filmmakers provides a basis for understanding the relationship between contemporary artists and industrial society. Each student will have an opportunity to apply this theoretical knowledge to the experience of film making and exhibition both through programs in scripting, photography, production, and digital editing, and through an extensive internship program in the Boston area.
Students are encouraged to widen and deepen their understanding of the medium through additional courses in Art History, Studio Art, Theater, and Communication. While this Film Studies major provides a solid foundation for further studies and professional involvement in the industry, it also offers the liberal arts student a broad-based preparation for other career options.
For more information, contact Professor John Michalczyk, Director, Film Studies major Coordinator, Devlin Hall 420, 617-552-3895,聽john.michalczyk@bc.edu.
For the major in Film Studies there is a requirement of twelve courses, eight of which must be at the 2000 level or above:
- FILM2202聽Introduction to Film Art
At least two production courses:
- FILM1171 Filmmaking I
- FILM2230 Video Art
- FILM2273 Filmmaking II
- FILM2274 Digital Non-Linear Editing
- FILM2285 Adobe Premier Editing
- FILM3301 Screenwriter
- FILM3303 Advanced Screenwriting
- FILM3310 Working Cinematographer
- FILM3316 Film Directing
- FILM3318 Documenting Performance
- FILM3319 Advanced Digital Media-Moving Images Projects
- FILM3390 Sound Design
- FILM3396 Advanced Screenwriting II
- ARTS1155 Introduction to Digital Arts
- ARTS1161 Photography I
- ARTS2261 Intermediate Photography
- ARTS1156 Photoshop and Illustrator 聽聽聽
Two film history courses and six electives from this selection:
- FILM2216 Philosophy of Comedy: Classical Hollywood Film
- FILM2220 Holocaust and the Arts
- FILM2277 Russian Cinema
- FILM2282 Political Fiction Cinema
- FILM2283 History of European Cinema
- FILM3116 Cinema and Migration
- FILM3304 From Script to Screen
- FILM3305 Italian Cinema: Passion, Politics, and Pain
- FILM3306 Social Issues in Film
- FILM3307 German Cinema: Light and Shadows
- FILM3308 Autobiography in Film
- FILM3309 Nazi Film, Nazi Art: The Power of Propaganda
- FILM3312 World Cinema
- FILM3314 Cinema of the Greater Middle East
- FILM3316 Film Directing
- FILM3325 Comic Film
- FILM3331 Independent American Film
- FILM3332 Maverick Hollywood Directors
- FILM3333 War is Hell: The Combat Film
- FILM3336 Cold War Revisited in Film
- FILM3343 Genocide and Film
- FILM3380 Latin American Cinema
- FILM3381 Propaganda Film
- FILM3382 Documentary Film
- FILM3383 Film Criticism and Theory
- FILM3389 American Directors Series
- FILM3391 American Film Genres
Senior year: One course from the following:
- FILM3394 Documentary Film Production
- FILM3396 Advanced Screenwriter II
- FILM4400+ Senior Project: Thesis, Script, or Film
- FILM4441 Independent Study
- FILM4454 The City in Global Cinema
- FILM4461 Filmmaking III
Major Requirements: Studio Art
The Studio Art program offers a wide variety and levels of classes in drawing, painting, sculpture, mixed media, ceramics, graphic design, digital and darkroom photography, printmaking, video, architecture and digital image-making.聽 The aim of studio courses is to explore and聽 enhance modes of thinking and visual communication though the production of works of art. Emphasis is placed on creating a community of creatives who have the聽 visual, material, and self-awareness, and problem solving skills relevant to a variety to intellectual, cultural , and professional undertakings.
The Studio Art major provides students with an opportunity to develop the techniques, visual sensibility, and historical understanding necessary for working with various materials and approaches in contemporary art practice.聽 An exploration of the meanings and ideas generated by the things we make and an awareness of the process of making are essential parts of the program.
An integral part of the Studio Art major鈥檚 undergraduate education is the senior project. Senior majors are given private studio space and work on guided one-year independent project in their concentration, which culminates in the public exhibition of a cohesive body of work and a published catalog.聽
Students interested in majoring in Studio Art should contact Professor Hartmut Austen at austenh@bc.edu or Professor Sheila Gallagher at gallagso@bc.edu
The Studio Art major requires 11 courses (33 credits):
Students must have taken at least six courses in Studio Art prior to their senior year. It is strongly recommended to take Issues and Approaches in the sophomore year after declaring their major or minor.聽
TWO of the following introductory courses:
- ARTS1101聽 Drawing I
- ARTS1102聽 Painting I
- ARTS1104聽 Design: Seeing is Believing OR ARTS1107 Design 1: Foundations
- ARTS1105聽 Making Prints/Making Books: An Introduction to Printmaking and Book Arts
- ARTS1125/UNAS10聽 Innovation through Design Thinking
- ARTS 1138聽 Intro to 3-D: Sculpture聽
- ARTS1141聽 Ceramics I
- ARTS1156聽 Imagemaking: Photoshop and Illustrator (Note: course has been renamed. Formerly Introduction to Photoshop and Illustrator )
- ARTS1161聽 Photography I
- ARTS1163聽 Intro to Digital Photography
- ARTS/EQ1701聽 Art of Creativity
- ARTS/EQ 1702 Masks of Identity and Culture: Multimedia Tactics of Representation
ONE of the following courses:
- ARTH2204 Postwar: Art After 1945
- ARTS2211 Ideas in Contemporary Art
- ARTH2258 Modernism and the Avant-Garde, 1900-1945聽
- ARTH3010 Intro to Contemporary Art, 1975-Present
- ARTH3356 Art Since 1945
All Majors and Minors are required to take
- ARTS2238聽 Issues and Approaches to Studio Art (Note: previous course # was ARTS1103)
Electives
Majors are required to take five electives at the 2000 and 3000 level, two of which must be at the 3000 level.
- Elective 1 (2000 or 3000 level)
- Elective 2 (2000 or 3000 level)
- Elective 3 (2000 or 3000 level)
- Elective 4 (3000 or 4000 level) (not including Senior Project)
- Elective 5 (3000 or 4000 level) (not including Senior Project)
Senior Project
Senior Project is a required year-long course for senior majors taught on Wednesday afternoons.
- ARTS4498 Senior Project I
- ARTS4473 Senior Project I
You may choose from the following courses:
- ARTS2207 Urban Design: Designing for Complexity and Sustainability* cross-listed with CSOM/BLS *only offered in fall聽
- ARTS2208 Drawing the Figure
- ARTS2210 Intermediate 3-D Space and Form
- ARTS2215 Collage and Mixed Media* next offered fall 2026
- ARTS2223 Painting 2: Observation and Abstraction
- ARTS2224 Painting 2: Bare Naked Approaches聽
- ARTS2216 Photography: Studio Lighting * only offered in fall semester
- ARTS/FILM2230 Video Art
- ARTS2242 Ceramics 2
- ARTS2252 Architectural Design 1* only offered in fall semester
- ARTS 2297 Motion Graphics聽
- ARTS/FILM2285 聽 Adobe Premiere Editing
- ARTS 3306 Drawing 3: Expanded Practice聽
- ARTS 3319 Advanced Digital/Video Art* offered every other year
- ARTS3321 Painting 3: Layered Image
- ARTS 3334聽 Advanced Mixed Media: Material Art*聽 offered every other year聽
- ARTS 3335 Advanced Digital Design with Rhino: Designing Spaces* only offered in the spring semester
- ARTS/FILM2287 Creative Webdesign
- ARTS3330 Pandora's Box
- ARTS3361聽 Intermediate Photo : Concept and Portfolio聽
- ARTS#TBD 聽 New Print/Mixed Media Jams * offered every other year聽
- ARTS3708 聽 Advanced Film Photo * offered every other year
- ARTS3712 Graphic Design 2: Type and Image
- ARTS3385/6 Independent Study * only with permission of instructor.
Note: Course listings are subject to change.聽Please check the Course Information and Schedule on聽www.bc.edu/myservices聽for the most up-to-date schedule of courses.
Senior Project
Senior Project is a required year-long course for senior majors taught on Wednesday afternoons.聽
- ARTS4498 Senior Project I, Fall semester
- ARTS4473 Senior Project II, Spring semester
In addition to the required courses, the following courses are recommended:
- ARTH1101 Intro to Art History: Prehistory to Middle Ages
- ARTH1102 Intro to Art History: Renaissance to Modern
- ARTH2257 Nineteenth-Century Art
- ARTH2258 Modern Art: Nineteenth-Twentieth Century II
- Summer course for enrichment
Additional Stipulations for the Studio Art Major
- No more than two independent studies.
- No more than two courses taken during the junior year abroad or at another institution may count toward the major. Consult with major advisor before going abroad.
- Transfer students should work out credits with their major advisor
- Courses to be counted in the major must be taken for a grade (no pass/fail grades).
- For inquiries about exceptions to these stipulations, please contact the Studio Art Major Coordinator, Professor Sheila Gallagher gallagso@bc.edu.
The Studio Art major can also be completed with a concentration in Architecture Studies, which requires a minimum of 11 eleven courses (33 credits).
Requirements for the Studio Art Major with a concentration in Architectural Studies:
Two of the following intro courses:
- ARTS1101聽 Drawing I
- ARTS1104聽 Design: Seeing is Believing OR ARTS1107 Design 1: Foundations
- ARTS1125/UNAS10聽 Innovation through Design Thinking
- ARTS 1138聽 Intro to 3-D: Sculpture
All Studio Art Majors in the Architectural Studies Concentration are required to take the following three courses:
- ARTS1156聽 Imagemaking: Photoshop and Illustrator (Note: course has been renamed. Formerly Introduction to Digital Arts or Introduction Photoshop and Illustrator )
- ARTS2238 Issues and Approaches to Studio Art (Note: previous course # was ARTS1103), offered every semester
- ARTS2252 Architectural Design 1* only offered in fall semester
Four electives at the 2000 or 3000 level, one of which must be at the 3000 level from following classes:
- ARTS2207 Urban Design: Designing for Complexity and Sustainability * cross-listed with CSOM/BLS *only offered in fall and highly recommended for the Architectural Studies concentration
- ARTS2210 Intermediate 3-D Space and Form
- ARTS2215 Collage and Mixed Media* next offered fall 2026
- ARTS 2250 Graphic Design 1
- ARTS/FILM2287 Creative Webdesign
- ARTS2297 Motion Graphics聽
- ARTS3334聽 Advanced Mixed Media: Material Art *offered every other year聽
- ARTS3335 Advanced Digital Design w/Rhino: Designing Spaces *only offered in the spring semester, highly recommended for the Architectural Studies concentration
- ARTS3330 Pandora's Box
- ARTS#TBD 聽 New Print/Mixed Media Jams *offered every other year聽
- ARTS3712 Graphic Design 2: Type and Image
- ARTS3385/6 Independent Study *with permission of architectural studies advisor, Professor Sheila Gallagher
One of the following Art or Architectural History courses:
- ARTH1107: History of Architecture (World Architecture)
- ARTH2204 Postwar: Art After 1945聽
- ARTS2211 Ideas in Contemporary Art
- ARTH2258 Modernism and the Avant-Garde, 1900-1945聽
- ARTH2251: Modern Architecture聽
- ARTH2267: Salt Box to Skyscraper: American Architecture 17th-20th centuries
- ARTH3311: Greek Art and Archaeology
- ARTH3314: Egyptian Art and Archaeology
- ARTH3332: The Age of Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael and Beyond: Sixteenth-Century Art in Italy
- ARTH3344: Venetian Art and Architecture
- ARTH3346: Architecture in East AsiaARTH3347: The Age of the Baroque: Seventeenth-Century Art in Italy
- ARTH3010 Intro to Contemporary Art, 1975-Present
- ARTH3356聽 Postwar Art Since 1945
Senior Projects:
- ARTS4498 Senior Project I, Fall semester聽
- ARTS4473 Senior Project II, Spring semester聽
We also recommend that students in the Architecture Studies Concentration take additional courses in art history and engage in career discovery in the form of summer courses and internships and independent studies with professionals. Please contact Professor Sheila Gallagher, Advisor for the Architectural Studies Concentration, for advising or questions: gallagso@bc.edu.
Art History Minor
The Art History minor requires six courses (18 credits):
- ARTH1101 Intro to Art History I: Prehistory to Middle Ages
- ARTH1102 Intro to Art History II: Renaissance to Modern
- One of the following three courses: ARTH2212 East Asian Art and Architecture, ARTH2213 Islamic Art and Architecture, ARTH2250 Introduction to African Art and Visual Culture
- Elective 1
- Elective 2
- Elective 3
At least two of these electives must be at or above the 3000 level, and at least two must come from one of the following categories:
- Ancient/Medieval
- Renaissance/Baroque
- Nineteenth/Twentieth Century
- Asian
- African
- Islamic
- Museum Studies
The Art History minor also requires a copy of a research paper written in one of the Art History elective courses. To satisfy the requirement, the paper must have received a grade of B or above.聽Please submit the paper to Professor聽Aurelia Campbell.
Courses counted for the minor must be taken for a grade, not pass/fail. At least 15 credits (five courses) in the minor program must not be used to fulfill any other major or minor.
Film Studies Minor
The Film Studies minor enables students to develop a basic awareness of film as a contemporary medium of communication.
Requirements include FILM2202 Introduction to Film Art, then one production course, and one course in history or criticism. A selection of three additional courses as electives from the offerings of the Film Studies Program allows the student to pursue individual interests and develop a level of competence in one particular area, such as filmmaking, digital editing, scriptwriting, photography, history of film, or film criticism.
Students interested in the Film Studies minor may contact the Director, Professor John Michalczyk, Film Studies minor Coordinator, Devlin Hall 420, 617-552-3895,聽john.michalczyk@bc.edu.
Studio Art Minor
The minor in studio art offers students the opportunity to pursue a course of study in ceramics, creative thinking, design, drawing, mixed media, painting, photography, or sculpture.聽There are features of the minor program that resemble, in an abbreviated way, aspects of our major studio program that we have found to be successful. The required Senior Minor Project class, for example, will function analogously to our major鈥檚 Senior Project.聽Students can focus on one medium, choosing from ceramics, design, drawing, painting, photography, or sculpture.聽Mixed media allows for an exploration in multiple media combined. The creative thinking minor聽is for those majoring in other disciplines interested in expanding their skill set as creative and critical thinkers through experiential learning. Instead of concentrating in one medium, the mixed media and creative thinking minors involve taking a range of courses.聽The course structure of the minor aims at having the individual student develop the artistic techniques, critical thinking and creative skills, and conceptual visual sensibility necessary for working as an artist today. Students are encouraged to declare the Studio Art minor before their senior year. Students who are interested in declaring the minor should contact聽Prof. Hartmut Austen.
The Studio Art minor requires six courses (18 credits):
- ARTS2238 Issues and Approaches to Studio Art (Note: former course # was ARTS1103)
ONE聽of the following introductory courses:
- ARTS1101聽 Drawing I
- ARTS1102聽 Painting I
- ARTS1104聽 Design: Seeing is Believing OR ARTS1107 Design 1: Foundations
- ARTS1105聽 Making Prints/Making Books: An Introduction to Printmaking and Book Arts
- ARTS1125/UNAS10聽 Innovation through Design Thinking
- ARTS1138聽 Intro to 3-D: Sculpture聽
- ARTS1141聽 Ceramics I
- ARTS1156聽 Imagemaking: Photoshop and Illustrator (Note: course has been renamed. Formerly Introduction to Photoshop and Illustrator )
- ARTS1161聽 Photography I
- ARTS1163聽 Intro to Digital Photography
- ARTS/EQ1701聽 Art of Creativity
- ARTS/EQ1702 Masks of Identity and Culture: Multimedia Tactics of Representation聽
One Art History class from the following courses:
- ARTH2204 Postwar: Art After 1945聽
- ARTS2211 Ideas in Contemporary Art
- ARTH2258 Modernism and the Avant-Garde, 1900-1945聽
- ARTH3010 Intro to Contemporary Art, 1975-Present
- ARTH3356 Art Since 1945
- ARTH1101 Intro to Art History: Prehistory to Middle Ages
- ARTH1102 Intro to Art History: Renaissance to Modern
- ARTH2257 Nineteenth-Century Art
Electives and Senior Project:
- Elective 1 (1000 or 2000 level)
- Elective 2 (2000 or 3000 level)
- Elective 3 (3000 or 4000 level)
- ARTS3328 Senior Minor Project
The聽three electives should be concentrated in one of the following areas:
- Ceramics/Sculpture
- Design/Graphic Design
- Digital Art/Video
- Drawing
- Painting
- Photography
- Mixed Media (electives in different media)
Additional stipulations for the minor:
- Students are allowed only one independent study in their field of concentration
- Courses to be counted for the minor must be taken for a grade (not pass/fail)
- Students who wish to strengthen their minor are strongly encouraged to take additional offerings in their field of concentration
Students who are interested in declaring a minor can contact Professor Hartmut Austen, Director of Undergraduate Studies, austenh@bc.edu
Information for First-Year Majors
First-Year Art History majors should take ARTH1101 Art from Prehistoric Times to the High Middle Ages with ARTH1103 Art History Workshop. First-Year Studio Art majors are advised to select two studio courses from ARTS1101, ARTS1102, ARTS1104, ARTS1107, ARTS1150, ARTS1155, or ARTS1161 before taking ARTS1103. First-Year Film Studies majors should take FILM2202 Introduction to Film, a required foundation course to ground the student in film language, history, and criticism.
Information for Study Abroad
The Boston College Art, Art History, and Film Department offers study abroad options for Art History, Film Studies, and Studio Art majors.聽
The Art, Art History, and Film Department believes strongly that study abroad is worthwhile, exposing students to not only other cultures but other forms and traditions of artistic expression. At the same time, it cautions students to consider their growth and development in their specific major and to integrate study abroad with their chosen area of concentration in consultation with their department advisor.
For further information, contact:
- Director of Undergraduate Studies for Studio Art Professor Hartmut Austen, austenh@bc.edu
- 聽Director of Undergraduate Studies for Art History, Professor Oliver Wunsch, wunshco@bc.edu
- Director of Undergraduate Studies for Film, Professor John Michalczyk,聽john.michalczyk.1@bc.edu