Art History
Available as a major or minor
Sail up the Nile. Worship in Rome. Stroll the boulevards of Paris. Study art history and archaeology to explore the rich visual and material legacy of cultures from ancient Egypt, Renaissance Italy and modern France. Whether in the classroom, on May Term, or studying abroad, travel to different places and times as you discover some of the most spectacular contributions to the history of civilization.
Curriculum & Courses
Sample Course Offerings
ARTH 151: Art, Culture & Society
ARTH 256: Baroque: Popes, Kings & Busin
ARTH 391: Ancient Egyptian Arts
Learn By Doing
We offer many firsthand learning opportunities for our students.
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We offer semester- or year-long international exchanges with more than 50 schools around the world, including Egypt, Israel, Belgium, Chile, Morocco, France, Denmark, Germany, Australia and Japan.
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Completing an Independent Study project is an excellent way to provide students with a specialized study in a particular area of art history and archaeology.
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Roanoke students have the opportunity to travel broadly with faculty and most of our students take advantage of this. All of our faculty lead month-long trips where they teach and travel with students.
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Research opportunities start right here at Roanoke College. Students work one-on-one with faculty, participate in archaeological digs, and gain hands-on experience in our Living History Lab.
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Majors are invited to exhibit their own work, as well as experience the work of world-class artists in gallery exhibitions.
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Many students at Roanoke College expand their knowledge and skill sets in the field of fine arts through internship experiences off campus. Art history majors have found meaningful internship experiences with local and national organizations.
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Students have a unique opportunity to study literature, history, and society during the summer at St. Anne's College, University of Oxford in England.
Pouring Themselves into Interesting Work
Art History major Jacob Friedrich received a Jones scholarship to learn how to excavate at an archaeological field school at Cahokia, IL. Cahokia is an urban settlement of the 13th century AD - the largest settlement north of Mexico. It's one of only 23 UNESCO Word Heritage sites in the US.
Brieanah Gouveia's was awarded a travel scholarship to study the ancient Greek collection at the Met. Her project "Slaves, Foreigners, Barbarians: Class and Ethnicity in Athenian Law and Life" looked at how different types of foreigners were depicted on pottery and in sculpture.
Brieanah Gouveia's was awarded a travel scholarship to study the ancient Greek collection at the Met. Her project "Slaves, Foreigners, Barbarians: Class and Ethnicity in Athenian Law and Life" looked at how different types of foreigners were depicted on pottery and in sculpture.
Caitlin Wright interned for the Castletown Foundation in Dublin, Ireland. "Hosted by the Irish Architectural Archives, I worked directly with a conservator to surface clean and assess the condition of Castletown House's paper collection. One of the documents in the collection dated to 1598 and held the seal of Queen Elizabeth the First. I didn't clean that document, of course, but I did get to hold it!"
Caitlin Wright interned for the Castletown Foundation in Dublin, Ireland. "Hosted by the Irish Architectural Archives, I worked directly with a conservator to surface clean and assess the condition of Castletown House's paper collection. One of the documents in the collection dated to 1598 and held the seal of Queen Elizabeth the First. I didn't clean that document, of course, but I did get to hold it!"
Caitlin Wright interned for the Castletown Foundation in Dublin, Ireland. "Hosted by the Irish Architectural Archives, I worked directly with a conservator to surface clean and assess the condition of Castletown House's paper collection. One of the documents in the collection dated to 1598 and held the seal of Queen Elizabeth the First. I didn't clean that document, of course, but I did get to hold it!"
Roanoke students join professor on archeological dig in Egypt
Several Roanoke students have gone digging for ancient artifacts in Egypt alongside Art History Professor Leslie Warden, a leader of archeological digs in this part of the world. Warden is one of few Egyptologists in Virginia. In Egypt, she has unearthed pottery and stone tools that reveal the presence of an ancient industrial zone. She hopes that during an archeological dig, Roanoke students gain experience in the field and an appreciation for studying small clues of life left behind from ancient civilizations.
Study Abroad
Art historians learn through travel
Roanoke students experience great art firsthand in a May Term trip to Turkey.
Roanoke students experience great art firsthand in a May Term trip to Turkey.
Roanoke students experience great art firsthand in a May Term trip to Turkey.
Roanoke students experience great art firsthand in a May Term trip to Turkey.
Brieanah Gouveia visiting the palace of Frederick the Great in Germany and getting a full dose of Rococo art and architecture.
Roanoke students experience great art firsthand in a May Term trip to Turkey.
Brieanah Gouveia visiting the palace of Frederick the Great in Germany and getting a full dose of Rococo art and architecture.
Roanoke students experience great art firsthand in a May Term trip to Turkey.
Brieanah Gouveia visiting the Bauhaus in Germany.
Roanoke students experience great art firsthand in a May Term trip to Turkey.
Roanoke students experience great art firsthand in a May Term trip to Turkey.
Careers & Outcomes
Roanoke research project inspires grad study of the history of fashion and textiles
The 5,000-year-old funeral garb of Pu-abi, a queen in the Sumerian city of Ur, captivated Bella Moritz ’22 so much when she was at Roanoke College that she decided to recreate the elaborate ensemble for her art history honors thesis.
As she designed a Fintel Library installation to present her research, Moritz knew she’d found her purpose – and a path to graduate school.
Now, Moritz is wrapping up her final year at the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) in New York City, where she is completing a master’s degree in the history, theory and museum practice of fashion and textile studies. She and her classmates have just opened an exhibition about the history and symbolism of the humble bow and its journey from shoelaces to the highest levels of personal style.
“I know that I would not be where I am today without Roanoke,” she said. “I got so many opportunities to do hands-on, one-on-one guided research and self-guided research, and I got funding to support those projects.”
After earning her master’s, Moritz hopes to land a position doing exhibition design or garment conservation with a museum in the nation’s capital.
Our grads land exciting jobs after Roanoke
Faculty
News
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The awards recognize professors for outstanding work in service and teaching.
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Educators across campus are advancing research and contributing expertise to nationwide discussions.
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In this month’s Alumni News, Maroons working in the museum world talk about the role Roanoke College has played in their success.
