Art History and Museum Professions, BA
Through interdisciplinary studies in art history, fine art, material sciences, preservation, anthropology, social history, and more, you’ll explore the physical nature of art and the art-making process. This comprehensive approach provides a framework for understanding the histories of artifacts while allowing you to pursue your unique areas of interest.
You’ll also have the option to take a series of technical art history courses, allowing you to examine artifacts, research artists’ materials and techniques, and develop skills essential for careers in art conservation, collections care, art historical research, and curatorial practices.
Our curriculum includes a Global Positioning Studies place-based course, such as Disegno Italia, San Gemini Preservation Studies in Italy, or 19th Century Painting and Photography in France, providing immersive learning experiences in diverse cultural settings.
Additionally, you can opt for a 3+3 accelerated program to earn your BA and JD in Law in just 6 years.
A portfolio review is not required for admission to Art History and Museum Professions.
Your Degree Plan
Survey of Art History 1
ARHS 120
The course examines the history of the visual arts in world cultures from pre-historic periods to the fourteenth century.
Survey of Art History 2
ARHS 160
The course examines the history of the visual arts in world cultures from the fourteenth century to the present.
Studio Art for Art Historians
ART 280
Experiential investigation of art studio practice; guest artist demonstrations. Emphasis on understanding materials, terminology, and artistic processes.
Museums in Action
ARHS 312
Museums in Action explores the many ways in which museums connect with communities. Students will analyze current best practices for encouraging museum visitors to engage with, learn from and experience the objects they have on display. The course includes practical projects, where students will plan and implement components of museum outreach such as tours and public events.
Gallery Studies
ARHS 317
This course provides a hands-on approach to professional gallery management. Beginning with the practical considerations of daily operations, the course covers art handling, condition reports, packing and shipping artworks, installation, lighting, writing exhibition proposals, press releases, and reviews. Other coursework includes readings, written projects, and presentations on contemporary and historical gallery topics and issues.
Modern Art Theory
ARHS 345
The course will examine the development of modern art theory and its relationship to artistic practice. Emphasis will be placed on the critical and theoretical examination of modernism and post modernism.
Contemporary Art History
ARHS 389
This course explores the various artistic movements from World War II to the present. Emphasis will be given to the change from modern to postmodern. Familiarity with images and critical texts is expected.
Collections Care and Preservation of Material Objects
ARHS 412
This course introduces students to the preventive care of collections with a focus on museum policies regarding accessioning/de-accessioning of objects, exhibitions and loans, the transportation and handling of artworks, and more. Students complete a survey of a collection, participate in a mock disaster recovery exercise, and conduct environmental monitoring for nearby collections/exhibition spaces.
Professional Field Experience: Introduction to the History and Craft of Book Bindings
ARHS 451
Through a lecture and workshop format, this course introduces students to the history and evolution of Western and Oriental bookmaking, from the handmade codex to pre-industrialized book-making processes. Students craft four traditional books and in the process learn the materials, tools, sewing structures, and assembly process of the various elements. (San Gemini Preservation Studies, San Gemini, Italy)
3+3 Law Program
This major is eligible for the 3+3 Law Degree Program that allows qualified students to earn a bachelor’s degree and law degree in 6 years instead of 7 years.
Honors
Expand your curiosity and enhance your curriculum through the WVU Honors College. Two programs are offered: Honors Foundations and Honors in Action.
The WVU Difference
What sets this program apart?
- Experiential learning and curatorial exploration available through Art Museum of WVU, Mesaros Galleries, Visiting Artist Lecture Series, travel to regional museums and archives, and interaction with art historians, museum personnel, and art conservation practitioners.
- Technical art history courses available to learn how scientific technologies, including microscopy, ultraviolet, infrared reflectography, X-ray, SEM, and more help to understand objects and inform their best care.
- WVU is a Research University (R1) in the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, at the forefront of research and innovation.
- 3+3 program provides a carefully articulated plan of study for earning both a BA in Art History and Museum Professions and a JD in Law in 6 years.
- Global Positioning Studies courses focus on how place is indelibly imprinted in meaning in locations in the state and region, across the country, and around the world.
- Faculty are dedicated to high-impact mentoring and have won awards for their mentoring, teaching, and advising.
- Art history majors can apply for competitive funding from the Margaret Tavenner Rajam Art History Endowment to support travel to conduct and present their research.
Learn by Doing
Get involved outside the classroom.
Global Positioning Studies
Through the School of Art and Design’s Global Positioning Studies initiative, you can choose to earn credits from a number of education abroad and field study courses. Faculty-led courses are offered abroad in the Disegno Italia and San Gemini Preservation Studies programs in Italy and a 19th Century Landscape Painting and Photography course in France.
Field study courses offer the opportunity to study the works of Frank Lloyd Wright and Andy Warhol in person. Students experience visits each semester to leading museums and art conservation facilities that include the Cleveland Museum of Art and the Museum of Contemporary Art, the National Gallery and Smithsonian Museums in Washington, D.C., and Pittsburgh’s Carnegie Museum of Art.
Research Opportunities
You’ll have opportunities to conduct undergraduate research and gain professional experience through the Research Apprentice Program, Summer Undergraduate Research Experience, professional field experiences and internships, and present research at the annual WVU Undergraduate Research Symposium, National Undergraduate Humanities Research Symposium, SECAC, and other venues specific to your research interests.
Our undergraduates have also had their research published in “Mountaineer Undergraduate Research Review,” “The Macksey Journal,” “Clio: WVU Art History Research Journal,” been a lead author of catalog entries for the Society of Architectural Historian’s online “Archipedia,” and written catalog entries and contributed research to files of the Art Museum of WVU.
Among their many accolades, our students have been endorsed for the Rhodes Scholarship; been Benjamin A. Gilman International, McNair, and Hazel Ruby McQuain Scholars; Phi Beta Kappa inductees; WVU Foundation Outstanding Seniors; and Robert F. Munn Library Scholars and Eberly Scholars.
Student Organizations
We have an active student-run Art History Club formed to bring together a community open to any student interested in art and its history. They have visited museums together, attended panel discussions and senior capstone presentations as a group, set up study nights and writing evenings, watched art-themed movies, had art-making workshops, are beginning a mentoring program, and are publishing a student-run peer-review research journal, “Clio.”
Professional Organizations
Current Art History and Museum Professions majors can get a head start on their professional career by joining one of the following organizations:
Their student membership is paid for by the Margaret Tavenner Rajam Art History Endowment.
- Art Museum of WVU
- Cincinnati Art Museum, OH
- Jacob Lewis Galleries, NYC
- Jewish Museum of Maryland
- Image Permanence Institute, Rochester, NY
- Museums of Old York, ME
- Pittsburgh; Art Museum of WVU
- Pharmacy Museum of WVU
- The Mattress Factory and Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, PA
- Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, MD
- WV Governor’s Intern
- Critical thinking
- Creative problem-solving and decision-making
- Strong writing and verbal communication proficiencies
- Adapting content and expressing it clearly for different audiences
- Analyzing visual media and material objects
- Listening and reading closely and asking insightful questions
- Formulating strong evidence-based arguments
- Applying critical judgment to form well-reasoned interpretations
- Developing broad cultural, historic, and aesthetic knowledge
- Conducting comparative analyses
- Analyzing and evaluating information
- Rigorous research of primary and secondary sources
- Organization and time management
- Interpersonal skills and collaboration
Careers and Outcomes
How does this degree prepare students for a career?
Art, Drama, and Music Teachers, Postsecondary
May Require Graduate Degree
Median Salary: $80,190
Possible Job Titles: Art Professor, Music Professor, Professor, Theater Professor
Agents and Business Managers of Artists, Performers, and Athletes
Has a Bright Outlook
Median Salary: $96,310
Possible Job Titles: Agent, Booking Agent, Talent Agent, Theatrical Agent
Secondary School Teachers
Median Salary: $64,580
Possible Job Titles: English Teacher, Mathematics Instructor (Math Instructor), Social Studies Teacher, Teacher
Archivists
Has a Bright Outlook
May Require Graduate Degree
Median Salary: $61,570
Possible Job Titles: Archivist, Records Manager, Registrar, State Archivist
Curators
Has a Bright Outlook
May Require Graduate Degree
Median Salary: $61,770
Possible Job Titles: Collections Curator, Collections Manager, Curator, Museum Curator
Museum Technicians and Conservators
Has a Bright Outlook
Median Salary: $47,460
Possible Job Titles: Conservator, Objects Conservator, Paintings Conservator, Preparator
Tour Guides and Escorts
Has a Bright Outlook
Median Salary: $36,660
Possible Job Titles: Docent Historical Interpreter, Museum Guide, Tour Guide
Careers in Cultural Institutions
BA Art History and Museum Professions graduates are well-equipped for a multi-faceted career of collaboration with conservators, conservation scientists, curators, and museum professionals. They enhance the world’s ability to care for its art and material culture.
Our grads have been hired for careers in cultural institutions such as:
- American Victory Ship & Museum, FL (Director of Guest Experience and Public Outreach)
- Andy Warhol Museum, PA (Art Preparator and Art Currier)
- Archives of American Art of the Smithsonian Institution, D.C. (Archivist for Digital Initiatives)
- Crozier Fine Arts, D.C. (Inventory Specialist and Art Handler)
- The Greenbrier for Carleton Varney, Dorothy Draper, and Co., WV (Manager, Curator’s Office)
- George Washington’s Mount Vernon, VA (History Interpreter)
- Helena Anrather Gallery, NYC (Director)
- Love Hope Center for the Arts, Fayetteville, WV (Executive Director)
- Morven Park, VA (Director of Education)
- Paul Kasmin Gallery, NYC (Gallerist)
- Pennsylvania State University (Conservation Staff Assistant)
- Philadelphia Museum of Art, PA (Project Manager of Exhibitions)
- Princeton University Art Museum, NJ (Exhibitions Project Manager)
- Smithsonian Renwick Gallery and Smithsonian American Art Museum and National Portrait Gallery, DC (Sales Lead Manager)
- Space Telescope Science Institute at Johns Hopkins University, MD (Digital Archivist)
- Tamarack: The Best of West Virginia (Creative Development Associate)
- The Phillips Collection, D.C. (Membership Associate)
- Thunder Bay Historical Museum Society, Canada (Archives Assistant)
- Wiebold Studio, OH (art conservation)
Other Career Options
Our graduates also use their humanities training to good effect in other endeavors and are gainfully employed in law, higher education, secondary education, special education, fundraising, marketing, and healthcare.
A selection of positions include:
- AmeriCorps (WVU Jackson’s Mill, Clio Foundation, New River Gorge National Park and Preserve, Appalachian Forest National Heritage Area, Beverly Heritage Center in Elkins, WV)
- Attorney at Fish and Richardson Attorneys at Law
- Graduate Advisor at American University
- Director, Research Experiences at American Public University
- IMINT Course Developer International Intelligence Training Center at the United States Air Force
- Information Technology Specialist at the Dept. of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons - FCI Cumberland
- Senior Production Artist and Photo Retoucher
- Development Coordinator and Grant Writer at Special Love
- Client Services Representative at ViaGen
- Regional Building Information Modeling (BIM) Manager at CannonDesign
Graduate School Options
The Art History and Museum Professions curriculum meets the most stringent qualifications necessary to apply to graduate school. Graduates will excel in high-demand careers and be prepared for elite graduate programs in art and object conservation, ethnographic and archaeological materials conservation, historic preservation, technical art history, art history, museum studies, library and archival sciences, art appraisal, art law, and authentication.
Some of our grads have continued their studies at:
- American Public University
- American University
- Boston College
- Case Western Reserve
- Central Michigan University
- Emory University
- Johns Hopkins University
- Loyola University-Chicago
- Simmons College
- Sotheby’s
- Syracuse University
- Temple University
- University of California, San Diego
- University of Cincinnati
- University of Colorado, Boulder
- University of Florida, Gainesville
- University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana
- University of Notre Dame, MD
- University of South Carolina
- University of South Florida
- University of Western Ontario
Places and Spaces
See where you’ll study, research, and create.
Art Museum of WVU
Canady Creative Arts Center
West Virginia and Regional History Center
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Student Life
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Admission Requirements
To be admitted to the Art History and Museum Professions major, first-time freshmen must meet WVU's first-time freshman admission requirements. Interested in transferring? Review the transfer admission requirements.
Tuition and Aid
How much does Art History and Museum Professions at WVU cost? And how can you save?
Tuition and Fees
Estimated rates are available on our tuition website. Anyone who is not a current West Virginia resident, including international students, will be charged non-resident rates.
Ways to Save
Beyond scholarships, here are other ways to reduce your cost of attending WVU.
Financial Aid
The most important step toward funding your future with financial aid for the Art History and Museum Professions, BA is submitting the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA.
Start at Another WVU Campus
You can start your career with WVU at another campus and transfer to WVU Morgantown.
Transfer Articulation Agreements
To simplify the transfer process, we have formal agreements with certain institutions. These agreements outline the courses you should take to prepare for transferring to WVU.
Review the full list of transfer articulation agreements to see if your institution is listed.
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