Funerary Relief with Busts of Popillius and Calpurnia, Getty Museum
Undertake journeys into visual culture

Academics

The Department of the History of Art and Visual Studies at Cornell University prepares students to undertake journeys into visual culture through traditional areas of study such as ancient, Medieval and Renaissance art, as well as through the integration of recent fields of theory and research. Students explore the history of cultural interactions as manifested in visual culture both inside and outside the West, from antiquity to present.

Explore Academic Opportunities

Course Listings Undergraduate Program Minor in Visual Studies Graduate Program Current Graduate Students Graduate Field Handbook

Note on teaching during COVID in the Department of History of Art:

History of Art is a discipline that depends on the viewing and discussion of images. Due to technical constraints in many of our classrooms, faculty and instructors are often unable to project their lectures via Zoom in accompaniment to physical teaching. For the same reason, recording lectures for viewing later is also not always possible.

Students missing classes due to COVID precautions are advised to keep up with the syllabus, readings, and other Canvas and library resources available to them, so as not to fall behind during their physical absence from class.

Upcoming Events

Mar 12
Wednesday 04:30 PM

Land into Landscape: Art, Environment, and the Making of Modern France 

Olin Library 107
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Emma Amos. Stars and Stripes, 1992. Laser transfer photography, oil on paper Gift of Sylvan Cole, Jr., Class of 1939. 2001.022. Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art

History of Art Majors' Society Exhibits:

From 1991 to 2018, the History of Art Majors’ Society (HAMS) provided a way for Cornell history of art majors to enhance their knowledge about the discipline of art history beyond the classroom.  These students met at the Johnson Museum one evening each week throughout the academic year to develop an annual exhibition drawn from the permanent collection and to research, write, and publish an accompanying exhibition brochure. 

Browse recent exhibits via the links below:

Department News

Person sitting near a window, reading a book. There is snow outside

Your December 2024 reads

This month’s featured titles include a history Harlem by a government alum and a prof’s memoir about his education under Apartheid.

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Image caption:
Funerary Relief with Busts of Popillius and Calpurnia, A.D. 1–20. Roman. Marble. 65 × 96 × 24 cm. Object Number: 71.AA.260. Getty Museum
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