# Department of Art History

**Source**: https://arthistory.uchicago.edu/undergraduate/arts-core
**Parent**: https://college.uchicago.edu/academics/core/arts-core

## Arts Core

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Courses in art history that fulfill the General Education requirement in Art, Music, and Dramatic Arts come in three types: Art History 101, Surveys, and Art-in-Context. All share a common goal: to help students develop skills in the perception, comprehension, and interpretation of the visual arts.

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Courses of all types typically encourage the close analysis of particular works, explore the range of questions and methods appropriate to the explication of a given period, culture, genre, or medium, and critically examine the methods of the historical study of art. In addition, all courses foster in students the ability to translate their skills and understanding into verbal expression, both oral and written. Typical course requirements include several writing assignments of varying length, and may also include a midterm and/or final exam.

Art History 101 is a general introduction to art. It addresses materials from a broad range of genres, periods and traditions. Emphasis is less on any particular historical context than on building skills in perceiving and thinking about works of art.

Art History Surveys (numbered 14000 through 16999) focus on the art of a single broad but well-defined period, place, or tradition. These courses involve sustained attention to the cultural or historical context of works of art, usually covering a period of centuries in the history of a given tradition. \
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Art in Context courses (numbered 17000 through 18999) approach the broad issues of the Core by focusing on specific, local cases. These courses relate works to their immediate historical settings—intellectual, cultural, economic or stylistic—the better to understand their specific achievements. \