Art, Art History, and Film

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’s 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
• Two of the following three courses: 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 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, MGMT2123 Negotiation, MGMT2127 Leadership, MGMT2132 Managing Change, 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, 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 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    
  

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.  The aim of studio courses is to explore and  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  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.  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’s 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. 

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. 

TWO of the following introductory courses:

• ARTS1101  Drawing I
• ARTS1102  Painting I
• ARTS1104  Design: Seeing is Believing OR ARTS1107 Design 1: Foundations
• ARTS1105  Making Prints/Making Books: An Introduction to Printmaking and Book Arts
• ARTS1125/UNAS10  Innovation through Design Thinking
• ARTS 1138  Intro to 3-D: Sculpture 
• ARTS1141  Ceramics I
• ARTS1156  Imagemaking: Photoshop and Illustrator (Note: course has been renamed. Formerly Introduction to Photoshop and Illustrator )
• ARTS1161  Photography I
• ARTS1163  Intro to Digital Photography
• ARTS/EQ1701  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 
• ARTH3010 Intro to Contemporary Art, 1975-Present
• ARTH3356 Art Since 1945

All Majors and Minors are required to take

• ARTS2238  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 
• 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 
• 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 
• ARTS/FILM2285   Adobe Premiere Editing
• ARTS 3306 Drawing 3: Expanded Practice 
• ARTS 3319 Advanced Digital/Video Art* offered every other year
• ARTS3321 Painting 3: Layered Image
• ARTS 3334  Advanced Mixed Media: Material Art*  offered every other year 
• ARTS 3335 Advanced Digital Design with Rhino: Designing Spaces* only offered in the spring semester
• ARTS/FILM2287 Creative Webdesign
• ARTS3330 Pandora's Box
• ARTS3361  Intermediate Photo : Concept and Portfolio 
• ARTS#TBD   New Print/Mixed Media Jams * offered every other year 
• ARTS3708   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. Please check the Course Information and Schedule on www.bc.edu/myservices 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. 

• 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  Drawing I
• ARTS1104  Design: Seeing is Believing OR ARTS1107 Design 1: Foundations
• ARTS1125/UNAS10  Innovation through Design Thinking
• ARTS 1138  Intro to 3-D: Sculpture

All Studio Art Majors in the Architectural Studies Concentration are required to take the following three courses:

• ARTS1156  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 
• ARTS3334  Advanced Mixed Media: Material Art *offered every other year 
• 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   New Print/Mixed Media Jams *offered every other year 
• 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 
• ARTS2211 Ideas in Contemporary Art
• ARTH2258 Modernism and the Avant-Garde, 1900-1945 
• ARTH2251: Modern Architecture 
• 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  Postwar Art Since 1945

Senior Projects:

• ARTS4498 Senior Project I, Fall semester 
• ARTS4473 Senior Project II, Spring semester 

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. Please submit the paper to Professor 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.

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. 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’s Senior Project. Students can focus on one medium, choosing from ceramics, design, drawing, painting, photography, or sculpture. Mixed media allows for an exploration in multiple media combined. The creative thinking minor 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. 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 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 of the following introductory courses:

• ARTS1101  Drawing I
• ARTS1102  Painting I
• ARTS1104  Design: Seeing is Believing OR ARTS1107 Design 1: Foundations
• ARTS1105  Making Prints/Making Books: An Introduction to Printmaking and Book Arts
• ARTS1125/UNAS10  Innovation through Design Thinking
• ARTS1138  Intro to 3-D: Sculpture 
• ARTS1141  Ceramics I
• ARTS1156  Imagemaking: Photoshop and Illustrator (Note: course has been renamed. Formerly Introduction to Photoshop and Illustrator )
• ARTS1161  Photography I
• ARTS1163  Intro to Digital Photography
• ARTS/EQ1701  Art of Creativity
• ARTS/EQ1702 Masks of Identity and Culture: Multimedia Tactics of Representation 

One Art History class from the following courses:

• ARTH2204 Postwar: Art After 1945 
• ARTS2211 Ideas in Contemporary Art
• ARTH2258 Modernism and the Avant-Garde, 1900-1945 
• 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 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. 

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
•  Director of Undergraduate Studies for Art History, Professor Oliver Wunsch, wunshco@bc.edu
• Director of Undergraduate Studies for Film, Professor John Michalczyk, john.michalczyk.1@bc.edu