The
history of art is different from other historical disciplines in that it is
founded on direct visual confrontation with materials that, while objects of
the past, are concretely present. We concentrate on architecture, painting,
sculpture--the richest visual expressions of culture. Since works of art embody
human experience, we use the work of all other disciplines to understand them,
such as social history, perceptual psychology, engineering, psychoanalysis,
and archaeology. Because of its concentration on the visual experience, the
Art History major increases one's ability to observe and to use those observations
as the basis for critical thought.
