Art History

The Art History degree program conveys to students research-oriented knowledge and methodological autonomy for the entire field of art history. The central learning goal is to apply art-history analytical procedures and methods that are oriented both towards research and the field.

In terms of content, students deepen their knowledge of art works from the medieval period to the modern and to contemporary periods in both classical teaching formats and practice-oriented sessions such as field trips or exercises before original works of art. The curriculum is supplemented by a module in the field of provenance research, which is understood as trans-disciplinary contextual research across historical periods. In addition, genre and media questions are discussed, evaluated, and artistically appreciated.

Students have the option to prioritize a particular art history period, e.g. Middle Ages, Renaissance to Early Modern, and Modern. They may also add one of the following complementary fields to their study program: History (with focus on medieval or modern history), Romance Studies, Archaeological Sciences (with focus on Classical or Christian Archaeology), Comparative Literature, German Studies, and Museum Studies.

Possible lines of work:

Museums/preservation of monuments and historic buildings/art dealing (galleries, auction houses), exhibitions (curator, lending operations), culture (administrative specialist e.g. in cultural institutions or municipal cultural affairs offices), insurance (appraisals, claims settlement), publishing (editing), academia (research management, teaching/research at universities/research institutions), tourism (art and cultural museums, development of cultural tourism programs), public relations (at cultural institutions, companies), journalism/editing