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Art History and Visual Culture

As studied by art history majors, the Vitruvian Man drawing by Leonardo da Vinci depicts his ideal human body proportions.

 
Interested in an art history major?

Students of art history and visual culture investigate the production, form and reception of images and objects, past and present, from a multicultural perspective. The art history major incorporates painting, sculpture and architecture as conventionally defined by art history and also extends to material culture and a wide range of media. 

Art history and visual culture pose questions about the social, economic, religious, philosophical and psychological influences affecting those who consume, as well as those who produce images and objects. Broadly speaking, this involves how values and beliefs are given material form and how these forms themselves can be interpreted. 

ALUMNI PURSUITS

Graduates with an art history major pursue careers in a range of industries, excelling in jobs that demand deep knowledge of history, culture, art and design. 

Alumni work at: 

  • Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum
  • Detroit Institute of Arts
  • State Office of Historic Preservation
  • Ford's Theatre
  • Iziko Social History Centre
  • College for Creative Studies
  • Bloomsbury Publishing

Alumni work as: 

  • Interpretive specialists for digital media
  • Exhibition assistants
  • Assistant curators of European art
  • Preservation specialists
  • Marketing managers
  • Art handlers and exhibitions assistants
  • Research assistants

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