Art and Art History
Overview
The mission of the department of Art and Art History (AAH) is to educate students in the richness and complexity of the visual arts. Making, critiquing, and historicizing visual culture is essential for informed participation and innovation within local and global cultures. Combining the disciplines of Studio Art and Art History, AAH equips students to explore critically the interplay of culture, history, theory, analysis, and art practice.
We offer a broad range of courses in art history and studio arts. Art history offerings include Asian, Western, and Native American art, visual culture, architecture, and photographic histories. Studio classes emphasize the entwined nature of concept and technique with courses in painting, sculpture, printmaking, installation, digital photography, drawing, and book arts. We also offer hybrid courses combining art making with critical histories and theories of photography, feminisms, race, and class, underscoring our commitment to critical inquiry and the College's mission. The curriculum is integrated in the vibrant art scene of Los Angeles (and beyond) with field trips, community based learning, site specific projects, collaboration with area arts organizations and research, and internships opportunities.
Our curriculum prepares students to become professional artists, art historians, and to work in a broad range of image- and culture-oriented fields. Graduates pursue a variety of professional activities, including: art making and exhibitions in museums and galleries. They perform curatorial work, museum education, and work in libraries, archives, and other non-profit institutions. Students regularly attend graduate programs in fine arts and art history. Our graduates enter a wide range of visual-oriented fields such as architecture, design, imaging in the tech industry, and work at the intersections of art, medicine, and law.
Our program features close personal collaboration between students and faculty, all actively exhibiting, publishing and/or curating professionals. We mentor students in garnering grants for ambitious projects, international research and internships with dynamic arts institutions. Students work closely with their advisors to develop their individual interests and goals, and to plan individual programs of study designed to develop the aesthetic questions, technical skills, and research agendas required for the comprehensive project in the senior year.
Major Requirements
Twelve courses (44 or 48 units, depending on the emphasis) chosen in consultation with the major advisor.
EMPHASIS IN ART HISTORY
Survey courses
Students must select three courses from the list below:
| ARTH 160 | Introduction to East Asian Art | 4 units |
| ARTH 170 | Introduction to Early European Art | 4 units |
| ARTH 180 | Introduction to Later Western Art | 4 units |
| ARTH 190 | American Indian Art History: Contemporary Issues | 4 units |
Upper division
Students must complete three ARTH courses at the 300-level.
Additional electives
Students must complete two ARTH courses at the 200- or 300-level (or equivalent).
Writing Seminars
| ARTH 390 | Seminar in Art History | 4 units |
| ARTH 490 | Senior Seminar in Art History | 2 units |
Breadth requirement
Students must complete at least two courses (8 units) in Media Arts & Culture and/or Studio Art.
*In consultation with the advisor, a student may substitute a course outside the department (such as history, literature, religious studies, politics, or philosophy, preferably related to the topic area of the senior thesis) for one of the art history courses.
EMPHASIS IN STUDIO ART
Beginning courses
Intermediate courses
Students must select two courses from the list below:
Advanced Projects
Students must select two courses from the list below:
| ARTS 310 | Advanced Projects in Painting and Drawing | 4 units |
| ARTS 320 | Advanced Projects in Interdisciplinary Arts | 4 units |
| ARTS 330 | Advanced Printmaking | 4 units |
Senior Seminar
Art History
| ARTH 180 | Introduction to Later Western Art | 4 units |
| ARTH 389 | Modern and Contemporary Art | 4 units |
One Media Arts & Culture (MAC) elective, 4 units
One additional ARTS elective
Additional Information
The sequencing of courses is crucial: students should take beginning and intermediate courses in the Frosh and Sophomore years; 300 level courses (Advanced Projects) in their junior year; and ARTS 490 (Senior Seminar) and any elective studio courses in the senior year. You may not take a required 100 level course as a senior. In addition, the two Art History courses (ARTH 180 and ARTH 389), and one 300 level Advanced Projects course must be completed before the start of the senior year. ARTS 101, ARTS 104, ARTS 106, and ARTS 109 may only be taken as electives and do not count as required beginning courses. Because the maturation of creative ability requires time as well as effort, students who may desire a major in studio art should consult with departmental advisors and begin taking studio courses as early as possible in their first year, and should declare a major early in the sophomore year.
COMBINED EMPHASIS
Four introductory courses
Students must complete two course in Studio Art and two courses in Art History from the lists below:
| ARTH 160 | Introduction to East Asian Art | 4 units |
| ARTH 170 | Introduction to Early European Art | 4 units |
| ARTH 180 | Introduction to Later Western Art | 4 units |
| ARTH 190 | American Indian Art History: Contemporary Issues | 4 units |
Six courses at the 200- or 300-level
Students must select three courses in studio art and three in art history.
Senior Seminar
| ARTS 490 | Studio Senior Seminar | 4 units |
| | Or | |
| ARTH 490 | Senior Seminar in Art History | 2 units |
SECOND-STAGE WRITING REQUIREMENT
All students majoring in the department must successfully complete the second-stage writing requirement by completing a junior-year 300-level course, with a grade of C or better, as follows:
Studio Arts:
| ARTS 301 | Writing Art and Writing As Art | 4 units |
| | Or | |
| ARTH 389 | Modern and Contemporary Art | 4 units |
Art History:
Combined Emphasis:
Students will complete one of the above 300-level courses determined in consultation with the student’s Academic Advisor.
HONORS
A student with an overall GPA of at least 3.2 and 3.5 in the major who has demonstrated excellence in departmental courses can submit a proposal for an honors. For the Studio Art emphasis, the proposal is submitted in the fall of senior year for completion in the spring of senior year. For the Art History emphasis, the proposal is submitted in the spring of junior year, for completion over the course of the senior year. For further information, consult your faculty advisor on honors requirements and timelines in your particular program.
Minor Requirements
EMPHASIS IN ART HISTORY
Five art history courses (20 units); at least three must be 200-level courses or above.
EMPHASIS IN STUDIO ART
Five courses (20 units) in the department including any four studio courses and one art history course. No more than three 100-level courses. Studio courses must be selected from more than one professor.
Exchange Program with the Art Center
Occidental students may take courses in the Art Center at Night Program at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. See the College Catalog section on the
Art Center Exchange program available only to full-time Oxy students. These classes can count towards general college units for graduation but cannot fulfill AHVA major or minor requirements without pre-approval of the AHVA faculty advisor.
Courses
Art & Art History Courses:
Art History
Studio Art
Faculty
Regular Faculty
Mary Beth Heffernan, Chair
Professor, Art and Art History
B.F.A., Boston University; M.F.A., California Institute of the Arts; Fellow, Whitney Museum of American Art Independent Study Program, 1995
Linda Besemer
James Irvine Distinguished Professor, Art and Art History
B.A., B.F.A., Indiana University; M.F.A., Tyler School of Art
Eric Frank
Professor, Art and Art History
B.A., Dartmouth College; M.A., Syracuse University; Ph.D., New York University
Amy Lyford
Professor, Art and Art History
B.A., Pomona College; M.A., Boston University; Ph.D., U.C. Berkeley
Linda Lyke
Professor, Art and Art History
B.A., M.F.A., Kent State University
Nancy Marie Mithlo
Associate Professor, Art and Art History; Chair of American Indian Studies at the Autry Museum of the American West
B.A. Appalachian University; M.A., Ph.D. Stanford University
Kelema Lee Moses
Assistant Professor, Art and Art History
B.A., University of Virginia; M.A., Ph.D. Pennsylvania State University
Yurika Wakamatsu
Assistant Professor, Art and Art History
B.A., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; A.M., Ph.D., Harvard University
On Special Appointment
Sandra De la Loza
Part-Time Non-Tenure-Track Assistant Professor, Art and Art History
B.A., U.C. Berkeley; J.D., M.A. Cal State Long Beach
Diana Linden
Part-Time Non-Tenure-Track Assistant Professor, Art and Art History
B.A., City University of New York; M.A., Williams College; Ph.D., City of University of New York
Susanna Maing
Part-Time Non-Tenure-Track Assistant Professor, Art and Art History
B.A., U.C. Berkeley; M.F.A., U.C. Los Angeles
Jocelyn Pedersen
Part-Time Non-Tenure-Track Assistant Professor, Art and Art History
B.A., Cal Poly San Luis Obispo; M.A., University of Iowa, Center for the Book; M.F.A., U.C. Santa Barbara
Ross Rudel
Part-Time Non-Tenure-Track Assistant Professor, Art and Art History
B.A., Montana State University; M.F.A., U.C. Irvine
Sybil Venegas
Part-Time Non-Tenure-Track Assistant Professor, Art and Art History
B.A., Rutgers; M.A., Ph.D. U.C. Riverside
David Weldzius
Part-Time NTT Assistant Professor, Art History & Visual Arts
B.F.A. University of Illinois, M.F.A. California Institute of the Arts