Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine, is ranked by the 2010 "US News & World Report" as having the top art history program in the country. The university is a nationally renowned college of liberal arts and sciences.
The art history program at Bowdoin College offers courses that focus on art in historical, social, religious, and philosophical contexts. Students study the formal aesthetics of the artwork, but also how art is reflected in the cultures and personalities of those that produced them. Courses in the program feature chronological survey courses focusing on different periods of history ranging from the Middle Ages to the Italian Renaissance. Courses also focus on entire cultures such as Japan and their relationship to art. Students take courses through classroom lectures and discussions. The Bowdoin Museum of Art is available for students to utilize as well as trips to Boston art museums. The Pierce Art Library offering 18,000 volumes of the college's collection of books on art, art history and photography is also at the students' disposal. Students that have graduated from the art history program at Bowdoin College have gone on to work for Sotheby's, the Brooklyn Museum, and the Corcoran Gallery of Art.
The 2010 "US News & World Report" ranks Brown University as the second best art history program in the country. Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, is a member of the Ivy League and is the seventh-oldest college in the United States.
The art history program at Brown University is housed in the Department of History of Art and Architecture. Students study visual culture from the ancient world through the present as well as receiving an interdisciplinary education focusing on methodologies and practices in the world of art history. Students focus on museum studies and the study of objects. The Museum of the Rhode Island School of Design has a partnership with art history students at Brown University providing them learning and enrichment as well as internships.
Undergraduate students in the program learn about chronological periods and cultures in art in lecture courses and seminar settings. Graduate students focus on professional training in the history of art and architecture in a Doctoral program. The constant theme throughout undergraduate and graduate study is the relationship between art and architecture.
Columbia University is ranked within the top five art history programs according to the 2010 "US News & World Report". The university is in New York City and is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York.
The art history program at Columbia University is in the Department of Art History and Archaeology. Students studying art history at Columbia University are learning in the greatest cultural city in the United States and are surrounded by museums and galleries. The art history curriculum at the university focuses on different cultures. The program is interdisciplinary allowing students to study the central role of the visual arts on religion, politics, gender relations, urbanism, and other aspects of the human experience. Coursework on art in Africa, Oceania, Native America, the Near East, and East Asia is a major theme and focus of Columbia University's art history program. Archaeology also plays a major role in the curriculum and department.
Undergraduate art history students at Columbia University learn about critical study in art as well as the particulars of art, archaeology, and architecture. Students also begin to use analytical and synthetic skills while analyzing and understanding works of art and their relation to history. Graduate students focus more on a specific concentration in art history ranging from Renaissance art to Chinese art, which prepares them for the Ph.D. program in art history.
Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, is a member of the Ivy League. The college is liberal arts focused and private. It is ranked by the 2010 "US News & World Report" as having one of the top five art history programs.
The undergraduate art history program at Dartmouth College is focused on learning and understanding about the material culture of diverse peoples, places and periods. The program's goal is to introduce students to the histories of architecture, painting, sculpture, and graphic arts while teaching about historical and thematic problems in relation to the art. Students also have the opportunity to study abroad in a foreign study program in Rome exploring the world of art and history in Italy. The Department of Art History's Visual Resource Center is also available for the students to experience slides and photographs of works of art and architecture.