U.C. Berkeley History of Art

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UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAM, 2007-08

Undergraduate Advisors:
Elizabeth Honig
Advising Hours

Gregory Levine
Advising Hours

Joanna Williams
Advising Hours

The major offers an introduction to the history of the visual arts in Western and Asian culture as well as the opportunity to do specialized study in areas of the student's choice. Fundamentally a humanistic inquiry and often multi-disciplinary in approach, the field provides majors with essential training in those perceptual and historical, research and critical skills needed for many specialized professions. Majors frequently go on to careers in business, law, or the arts as well as graduate study in the History of Art and careers in teaching, museum work, and conservation.

Available for download as pdf files are:
• The Brochure for the Undergraduate Program in the History of Art
(Specific sections of it are also available below.)
• History of Art Studies Abroad Advising Information
• Guidelines for the Preparation in the Honors Thesis

How & When to Declare the Major, Select an Emphasis
Advantages of Declaring Early
Advising & Appointments with Major Advisors
Transfer of Credit
Major Requirements & Special Restrictions
Suggestions for all Majors
Departmental and University Honors
The Minor in the History of Art
Course Descriptions
Details to Remember (Registration, Incompletes, Graduation, Letters of Rec, Appeals)
Undergraduate Association
Requirements

How & When to Declare the Major, Select an Emphasis
Students are admitted to the major only after successful completion (with a grade of C or 2.0) of at least two courses in the History of Art at Berkeley (either lower or upper division). Once these prerequisites are met, students may formally petition to declare the major by making an appointment with an undergraduate faculty adviser at any time during the Fall and Spring semesters. (Students in residence at Berkeley are strongly urged to complete all lower division requirements and one upper division course by the end of their sophomore year.)

Ideally students select their emphasis at the time of declaring the major. Failure to select an emphasis in a timely manner may limit one’s options or lead to the completion of courses that do not fulfill the requirements of a given emphasis. The DE requires especially careful consideration and cannot serve as a “fall-back” in the case of poor course planning. Upon a student’s petition, and for compelling reasons, the Curriculum Committee may grant permission to switch to a different emphasis. Students should also bear in mind the unit cap and other rules established by the College of Letters & Science.

Students who wish to pursue a Designated Emphasis must submit a petition (DE Petition Form) to the Departmental Curriculum Committee that defines the content/concept of the emphasis and articulates its art historical significance. Petitions may be made during the first 3 weeks of each semester. The Committee will evaluate a petition for its fulfillment of major requirements, coherence with the discipline of art history, and fit with the teaching of the faculty in History of Art. The Department will decline to accept proposals that fail to present a feasible plan of courses or intellectually valid topic. Students must consult with an Undergraduate Advisor prior to submitting a petition.

The Designated Emphasis (DE) focuses on a specific topic of art historical inquiry or geo-cultural area, one not directly covered by an emphasis in Western or Asian. The DE may serve to bridge between areas of teaching within the Department and form a foundation for specific work in graduate school or particular areas of professional activity. Examples include: The Archaeology of Art; The Icon in Art; Gender and Representation; Portraiture and Identity; Theory; Globalisms and Art, etc. The emphasis must fulfill the same overall Lower and Upper Division requirements as the Western or Asian Emphasis while bringing together courses at the Upper Division level that fit the art historical rationale and intellectual objectives of the Designated Emphasis. Students should bear in mind that a given semester’s course offerings may lack a course directly relevant to their DE. In consultation with an instructor, a student may propose to direct their work in a particular course toward their emphasis (e.g. a student with a DE in Portraiture may propose to focus on this topic in a course on Elizabethan Renaissance art). Not all courses will lend themselves to such focus, and the faculty is not obligated to adjust assignments or expectations. Permission (instructor signature on the DE Course Form) must be obtained by the student by the end of the 3rd week of the semester. Proposals will be evaluated by the Departmental Curriculum Committee.
Download DE Guidelines Form.
Download DE Petition Course Form

Advantages of Declaring Early
Majors who declare early, especially in the sophomore year, enjoy several advantages:

A more thorough preparation for seminars and time to study more closely with several members of the faculty;
Greater flexibility in coordinating major requirements with L&S) requirements and in planning a sequence of courses that allows study abroad, curatorial internships, independent study, a double-major, and the Honors Program;
Time for a generally higher level of study in the senior year, and opportunity to experiment with and prepare for diverse career opportunities.

Advising & Appointments with Major Advisors
Declared majors must see an Undergraduate Adviser at least once each semester during the registration period (advisors are listed on the Department website, in the Department office, and on the bulletin board outside an advisor’s office). These advising meetings provide majors with the opportunity to work closely with a faculty member who can help them develop an overall program of study well-suited to individual strengths and career goals. The advisers also apprise majors of special courses and opportunities, both in the History of Art Department and elsewhere. Please note that advisers are typically not available during the summer and winter holidays.

In addition to general advising and coursework approval, advisers must approve all changes in registration, including withdrawals and add-drop changes, certain special study courses (History of Art 193, 194, H195, C196W, 199), and some special programs. Appointments should be made well in advance of deadlines.

Each semester during the Tele-BEARS enrollment period every Art History major must see an adviser to discuss her/his program of study and to obtain an Adviser Code in order to gain access to the
Tele-BEARS system. Appointments are made by signing up on the appointment sheets posted outside the major adviser's office. Students should sign up for an advising appointment prior to their enrollment “phase,” having considered carefully the department’s course descriptions and having planned a schedule of proposed courses to be discussed with the advisor. Special additional office hours are held during enrollment periods, and advisors may decline to provide last-minute advising. Adviser codes will only be given out over the phone or via email if a student is studying abroad or is physically incapacitated. The office staff cannot give out adviser codes.

Departmental undergraduate advisers do not administer or approve coursework or degree requirements in the College of Letters and Science other than the requirements of the major. For L&S requirements, students should make an appointment to see an L&S adviser in 113 Campbell.

Transfer of Credit
Major advisers may credit courses taken at other institutions toward completion of the History of Art major at Berkeley. This process is independent of the transfer of credit toward completion of L&S requirements for graduation. Transfer students should come to their first departmental advising appointment with copies of transcripts from all institutions they have previously attended as well as information about the content and requirements of the courses they wish to transfer. Transfer credit from community colleges is granted only for Lower Division requirements. Coursework from other universities or 4-year colleges and from study abroad may be considered for Upper Division credit. For transfer of credit from study abroad, please see the Department Study Abroad Information sheet. Please note as well the residency requirements under "Special Restrictions for all Majors."

AP Credit: Course credit may be given to students who receive a score of 4 or 5 on the Advanced Placement Examination in History of Art. This credit may be to satisfy one lower division course requirement.

Major Requirements & Special Restrictions
The Undergraduate Major comprises the following distribution of units: Lower Division (16); Upper Division (32): Total (48). For specific requirements by Emphasis, see page 10.

Letter Grade: All courses to be counted toward completion of the major must be taken for a letter grade except for the lower division studio art course and Art History 194 & 199, which may only be taken Pass/Not Pass.
An overall grade point average of 2.0 (C) is required in all courses to be applied to the major.
Summer School: Only one summer school course at UCB or elsewhere may be credited toward completion of the major.
Residency: A minimum of five upper division courses must be taken in the History of Art Department at Berkeley, of which one must be a seminar.
Approval of Other Courses: Except for specific courses named as co-requisites, courses taken in other departments for credit in the major must be approved in advance by a major adviser.

Suggestions for all Majors

Foreign Languages are not required in lower or upper division courses but a reading knowledge of European or Asian languages may be helpful in seminars and other research courses. Students planning on graduate study in the History of Art are urged to develop a reading knowledge of German and French or Italian as early as possible. Special language requirements pertain for graduate study in Ancient and Asian art.
Recommended Course load in History of Art will vary according to the student, course level, and individual course requirements. In general,no more than two History of Art courses per semester are recommended. A student’s final academic year may include a greater number of courses in History of Art, especially if all L&S Breadth Requirements have been fulfilled.
Special Programs, such as study abroad, internships, and double majoring require considerable advance planning. If you are interested in any of these, discuss your plans early with your adviser. Courses taken through study abroad must be discussed in advance with an adviser and will not be formally approved until after completion and until satisfactory documentation has been submitted. In order for courses taken abroad to satisfy major requirements, the breadth and depth of the course, the work demanded, and your performance must all meet Berkeley upper division standards. Your performance will be evaluated by your adviser upon your return to campus to determine whether major requirements have been satisfied. Please see the Department Study Abroad Information sheet.
Students with special intellectual or pre-professional interests may wish to enroll in independent study or research courses (193, 199), in a second seminar (192), or in additional, related courses in other departments. These students should discuss their interests with their advisers as early as possible.

Departmental and University Honors
Honors in Art History: Students with at least a 3.5 GPA in History of Art are eligible for admission into the Honors Program. Candidates for Honors in the History of Art are required to complete satisfactorily, within their senior year, an Honors thesis consisting of at least two semesters of continuing academic work under faculty supervision (usually a seminar, directed research, or independent study course in the first semester plus, in the second semester, H195 Special Study). Those who have completed the program will graduate with Honors, High Honors, or Highest Honors in the Major depending upon their final GPA in all upper division courses taken to fulfill the major requirements. Please see the Department Honors Program Information sheet.

University Honors are awarded upon the recommendation of the Department to students on the basis of overall GPA as follows: Honors, High Honors and Highest Honors. Requisite GPAs for both Departmental and University Honors change each year.

Maybelle M. Toombs Awards. These awards recognize the potential talent and ability of students based upon their record in the major up to the beginning of the senior year. By that time, the students must have completed at least two semesters of coursework as a History of Art major at Berkeley. Criteria for the award are outstanding grade point average and receiving financial aid. The award carries a stipend payable in the student's senior year.

For the Departmental Citation, presented at Commencement to a graduating senior, the Departmental Award Committee considers grades to be the principal criterion, but it also takes into account the character of the student's overall program, its ambition and depth; the student's ability to sustain a high level of excellence throughout his or her undergraduate work, from the freshman to the senior year, in Art History as well as in other subjects; and the ways in which this broad experience is brought to bear in an Honors Thesis of high quality, one that notably demonstrates the ability to do research in the discipline and a genuine independence of mind and maturity of judgment.

The Minor in the History of Art
The Minor Program in the History of Art is designed to provide a structured and broad program for those students majoring in other disciplines but with a strong interest in the History of Art. The requirements for the minor program are as follows:

Breadth Requirements: Five upper division courses,covering at least three of the six fields of Art History as taught in this department: Asian; Ancient; Medieval; Renaissance; Baroque; Modern. One of the five courses may be a seminar (192); the rest must be lecture courses.

Recommended: Minor program students are also strongly urged to take two lower division survey courses (10, 11, 30, 34, 35, 41, 51, 62, etc.) and one course in the Practice of Art or New Media.

Residency Requirements: A minimum of 3 required upper division courses must be taken at Berkeley.

Grades: All courses to be applied toward the minor program must be taken for a letter grade. An overall GPA of 2.0 is required in all courses applied to the minor.

Note: Work for the minor must be completed within the 130-unit minimum limit for graduation. Courses accepted for a Minor Program may also satisfy L&S breadth requirements. A maximum of one course may be used to satisfy requirements of both a student's major and minor.

Course Descriptions
Regular Courses.
Descriptions of regular courses, seminars, and special topic courses are published by the History of Art Department each semester and are generally available 2-3 weeks before registration. These descriptions (see Department website) are usually more detailed than those in the general catalog and often include prerequisites and information about pre-registration interviews.

Special Topics Courses.
190: Special Topics in Various Fields of the History of Art: Lecture courses by regular and visiting faculty on topics tailored to their research interests that fall outside the published curriculum. See the listings the Department publishes each semester.

Seminars (192 Series).
192: Undergraduate Seminars—Problems in Research and Interpretation. Usually limited in enrollment to 15 students. Seminars are advanced courses focusing on a well-defined topic usually with open questions, methodological problems, and critical issues which students and instructor try to solve together. Although the instructor may do some lecturing, seminars usually depend upon discussion in class where the results of reading and research are presented and analyzed. Enrollment requires instructor approval. Faculty may also require interviews or stipulate prerequisites, e.g. upper division courses in the field or foreign languages (see "Foreign Languages" on page 5). Listings are published each semester.

Independent Study Courses.
The Independent Study/Research Courses (193, 194, H195, C196W, 199) are designed for students wishing to pursue an interest not represented in the curriculum by developing an individual course of study supervised by a faculty member. Study may involve readings, projects, internships, fieldwork, papers, etc. Requires the approval of both the instructor and major adviser and a special form with a description of the project and the means of evaluation.

193: Directed Research—Intended for advanced undergraduates wishing to continue research on topics already begun in a lecture or seminar or to pursue at a high level specialized topics not ordinarily covered in the curriculum. Usually results in a substantial paper.
194: Museum Internship—Study and practical professional experience, usually for no less than ten hours per week, involving a substantial project of a curatorial nature in a museum or in the Visual Resources Collection of the History of Art Department. Jointly supervised by a faculty member and a member of the professional staff of the participating museum or the Curator of the Visual Resources Collection. Internships must ordinarily be arranged well in advance. Note: This course may only be taken Pass/Not Pass.
H195: Special Study for Honors Candidates in the History of Art. See "Honors in Art History" on page 6 for details. Must be taken for 4 units.
C196W: Research Seminar and Practicum in Washington, D.C. This seminar features class meetings and tutorials emphasizing comparative methods, analytical writing, and verbal explication of each project. Requirements include a 25+ page paper incorporating class readings, library research, and application of the internship as primary source material. The course is offered as part of the U.C. Berkeley - Washington Program, a competitive undergraduate research seminar and practicum located in Washington, D.C. While the course is offered for 10.5 units, no more than 8 may count towards a student's major (see Residency Requirements). Pre-approval by the program director and the History of Art major adviser is required.
199: Supervised Independent Study—For students wishing to pursue an interest not represented in the curriculum by developing an individual program of study supervised by a faculty member. Study may involve readings, projects, papers, fieldwork, etc. May only be taken Pass/Not Pass for variable credit; for more advanced research that may be taken for a Letter Grade, see 193 above.

Details to Remember

Registration
Once you have declared your major in History of Art, an appointment with an adviser is required every semester in order to discuss and approve your academic program. The office staff cannot approve Tele-BEARS course selections or Add/Drops or give out adviser codes. Appointments should be made early, especially if you are unsure of what courses you plan to take. Students who do not make early arrangements for appointments take the chance of not being able to see an adviser before the registration deadline. Advisers are generally not available during the summer. See the website of the Office of the Registrar for information and late fees. At the beginning of each semester, the advisers will hold special office hours during the first and second weeks of classes to approve adds, drops or other changes in your program. Sign up for an appointment with an adviser.

Incompletes
Incompletes must be made up within the deadlines indicated below. When the work is completed, you must complete a "Petition to Remove Incomplete" form at Sproul Hall, pay the required fee at the Cashier's Office, and then give it to the instructor along with your completed coursework; the instructor will then assign a grade and submit the form to the Departmental Office, where it will be sent to the Records Division at Sproul for processing.

Deadline for submitting completed work for Fall Incompletes: First day of instruction of the following Fall semester. Deadline for submitting completed work for Spring/Summer Incompletes: First day of instruction of the following Spring semester.

Incompletes in H195: If you are doing an Honors thesis during your final semester and receive an Incomplete and you do not need the Honors thesis course to satisfy major or L&S requirements, you will graduate without receiving Honors in History of Art. If the Honors course is required to complete major or L&S requirements, receiving an Incomplete grade will lead to the removal of your name from the degree list and automatically prevent graduation.

Graduation Procedure

A degree check in L&S: A degree check from the Office of Undergraduate Advising in L&S (113 Campbell) should be done the semester before you graduate to make sure you have completed L&S requirements.
Departmental Adviser's approval: In order for students to be cleared by the Department for completion of the major, all categories on the major advising form must have the adviser's initials as approval for coursework taken.
Contact the Office of the Registrar in Sproul to confirm that you have completed requirements for Subject A, American History & Institutions, and American Cultures.
Placing Yourself on the Degree List: You must declare your candidacy to graduate during the semester in which you plan to meet all your degree requirements. You can do this through Tele-BEARS when you enroll for classes for your final semester, or by filing in person at the Office of the Registrar in the first five weeks of your final semester (fee imposed after the third week).

Letters of Recommendation

Students should plan to request letters of recommendation from those faculty members with whom they have studied most closely, especially in seminars and other special study courses. General letters of reference for employment, internships, or graduate school/professional programs, may be placed on file with the Career Center (2111 Bancroft).

Graduate Study

Students who anticipate applying to graduate schools should discuss their plans with their adviser or with the faculty member whose field most closely corresponds to their interests. If you plan to begin graduate study in the fall after your graduation from Berkeley, you will have to prepare applications in the fall of your senior year. Most schools have deadlines in December though February, especially if application is made for both admission and fellowship support. Arrangements should also be made in the fall of your senior year for taking the Graduate Record Exam or other graduate entrance exams that many schools require.

Brochures, Announcements, and Files

Announcements and brochures on graduate study, internships, work experience, fellowships, study abroad, training programs, and special lectures and symposia are posted on the Departmental bulletin board or kept in files you may look through during regular office hours (9-12; 1-4). If you are interested in a particular program and need more information, your adviser may be able to help you.

Appeals

If, at any time, a student has a complaint, the Department has an "Undergraduate Grievance Procedure" that should be followed. A copy of this procedure may be obtained from the Undergraduate Assistant. Its purpose is to permit students in the History of Art Department to resolve complaints at the departmental level prior to filing complaints pursuant to the Berkeley Campus Student Grievance Procedure.

Undergraduate Association: The History of Art Undergraduate Student Association is an official campus group that exists to serve the interests of the department's majors. In the past, the Association has compiled an internship directory, hosted a student-faculty brunch, sponsored special lunchtime talks with faculty and graduate students, and assisted in organizing career seminars. All majors are invited and encouraged to participate in the Association. If you would like more information please leave a message in the Association's mailbox in 416 Doe or see the Undergraduate Assistant. Click to go to HAUGA Website.
Note: This brochure, major forms, and other Departmental information can be found at the History of Art website.
History of Art Major Requirements: