Students in Dr. Sara Orel's ART 428 Topics in Art History:  Museums & Collecting course install works in the popular "Cabinet of Curiosities" exhibit in the Ruth Towne Museum and Visitors Center on campus.  Photo Credit:  Sara Orel.

The Art Department has been hard at work this year on updating and revising a number of curricular areas, including the Foundations Program, and a variety of degree programs.  As part of that, a number of revisions have been made to the Art History major.  Information about that follows here:

Revisions and expansions made by the Art Department to the Art History major will be available to students as of the 2013-2014 academic year (and the 2013-2014 catalog).  Our hope is that these revisions will make the Art History major attractive for more Truman students, including double  majors, and that will also provide more appropriate opportunities for students not necessarily interested in pursuing a Ph.D. in Art History.  The number of required hours will be lowered from 44 to either 40 or 39, and the specific number of hours will depend on which “track” students choose to follow.  As of the fall of 2013, there will be two tracks to the Art History major: a Thesis track (40 hours of coursework), for which the culminating project is a two-semester senior thesis on a topic of the student’s choice (those students who are interested in graduate work in Art History, for example, may want to choose this track); and a Praxis track (39 hours of coursework), which will emphasize the practical application of the Art History major (those students who are interested in Arts Administration or Arts Education, for example, may want to choose this track). 

For both tracks within the Art History major, students will continue to do an Outside of the Classroom Experience (OOCE).  Students choosing to follow the Thesis track may choose from such opportunities as studying abroad, archaeological excavation, or an Art History-related internship.  Students on the Praxis track are required to complete an internship; their capstone course will focus on research on current trends and issues in their chosen internship field, evaluation of the internship experience, and professional preparation such as resume writing, interviewing, and job and career exploration.  Truman offers a variety of international internship opportunities, so students doing the Praxis track may still have a valuable overseas experience. 

Students on both tracks will take ART 101: Art Studio Foundations I (Design-Enhanced Drawing), and may count one additional studio class toward their Art History required coursework.  Those who are interested in pursuing additional Studio courses are encouraged choose to minor in Art Studio or double major in Art (Studio or Visual Communications).  

Complete information and degree worksheets will be available when the 2013-14 academic year catalogue is released sometime this coming summer.    

Please do not hesitate to direct questions about the changes in the major to either of the full-time faculty members in Art History:  Dr. Sara Orel (Program Coordinator;  orel@truman.edu) or Dr. Julia DeLancey (delancey@truman.edu).

Please do not hesitate to contact Prof. Rusty Nelson (Art Department Chair;  rlnelson@truman.edu) with any questions about the updates to other areas in Art Department programming.