Welcome

WELCOME FROM THE CHAIR

Thank you for your interest in the Department of Art History at Rice University.  In 2012--2013, our department will consist of ten full-time faculty, one postdoctoral fellow, and, in the Spring, two visiting professors, including one museum curator.  Our program's main areas of focus are modern and contemporary art (including film), and medieval and early modern art in Asia, Europe, and Middle East.  We offer a breadth of methodologies, including theoretical analysis and hands-on investigation of artworks.  

We maintain close connections with Houston museums, especially the Menil Collection and the Museum of Fine Arts, where we offer fellowships that enable students to work with collections and curatorial staff.  Students may also apply for summer travel funds in the U.S. and abroad.  Please be sure to visit Houston’s art museums and explore the fellowships we offer.

The department major offers three different tracks.  In addition to the regular major, students may choose to pursue honors or specialize in the history of architecture.  Some students at Rice who major in art history go on to attend graduate school in the field and achieve professional success as academics and curators. Other majors have chosen a broad variety of career paths, including law, medicine, and business.  In a world that is increasingly dominated by visual imagery, the study of art history provides invaluable training, and art history majors at Rice also develop strong writing and analytical skills.  For the undergraduate major, click here.

This year begins the fourth year of our doctoral program, which has been funded in large part to a grant from the Brown Foundation and generous individual donors.

The Art History department also plays a vital role in introducing the public to research in the field through our conferences and lectures.  Click here to see a list of upcoming events.

Should you have any questions about any of our programs, please contact our Administrator, Lucinda Cannady, at lcannady@rice.edu or the Chair at wolfthal@rice.edu.

Welcome to our website and our department.
Diane Wolfthal

 

 

 


 

 

 


Faculty Spotlights

SusanDr. Shih-shan Susan Huang
Shih-shan Susan Huang’s book, Picturing the True Form: Daoist Visual Culture in Traditional China, has been published by the Harvard University Asia Center in 2012. Her study of the Daoist body and cosmos appear in the Journal of Daoist Studies in two parts in 2010 and 2011, and her chapter on Hangzhou Buddhist illustrated prints appear in an edited volume on early Chinese prints published by Brill in 2011. Her recent lectures and conference presentations include those given at the University of Chicago, Academi Sinica (Taipei), Chinese University of Hong Kong (HK), and Fudan University (Shanghai). »


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Student Spotlights

John & Dominique de Menil Fellowship
Awarded to Emily Nichol


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News & Events

Princes and Paupers: The Art of Jacques Callot


January 31-May 5, 2013


This Spring, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, will present an exhibition on the etchings of Callot, one of the most accomplished printmakers of the seventeenth century.  For more information, see the Events page. 


Judith Roof, Christopher Hight, Gordon Hughes, and John May will present “'Ecologies of Art, Architecture, And Theory” on 4 May 2013 at the Farnsworth Pavillion - Ley Student Center, Rice University.


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Current Courses