Research
There is no shortage of research topics for students interested in taking their study of art and art history to the next level. Faculty members are enthusiastic mentors who are eager to deepen students’ understanding of particular subject areas that they may have only covered peripherally in the classroom.
Research Fellowships
There are University grants for student research as well as summer research fellowships to fund independent scholarly or creative projects. In addition, many of our students successfully apply for undergraduate research grants to fund the costs of preparing for the Senior Exhibition, such as materials, framing and photo documentation expenses.
Recent research topics that students have pursued include:
- Curating the University Museum’s exhibition “Sacred and Sensuous: Hindu Art from the Collection”
- “The Influence of Japanese Philosophy and Culture on Karatsu and shoki-Imari Potteries of the Edo Period”
- “Conflict as Fashion: the Cultural and Power Relationships Visible in the Art of Nouveau Kimono of Greater Taisho Era Japan”
- “Economics of Aesthetics: Neoclassical Charleston and Philadelphia Furniture, 1790-1815”
- “Art for a Decade: The Young British Artists of the 1990s
- The Age of Devotion: Stained Glass by Marc Chagall”
- “Engaging Experience: Reconciling Subject and Object in the Early Paintings of Gustave Caillebotte”
- “Performance, Intent, and Aspiration in the Self-Portraits of Francisco de Goya”
Independent Study
Independent studies are individually designed programs conducted under faculty supervision. Independent studies cannot be substituted for required courses in the art history major.
Independent studies in studio art are encouraged once the student has taken foundation-level and intermediate classes in the department. Faculty-student collaborations are also encouraged. For example, a student may assist the faculty member working on a large studio project (i.e., sculpture casting) for credit or as part of a summer research project.
