Welcome from the Faculty

Welcome to the Art History Department at UIC!

To get a sense of the adventurous nature of what UIC Art History is and what we do, try asking yourself these few questions. Why do things look like they do? What do you think is beautiful or ugly? Why? What if the person sitting next to you disagrees? Why would they? And what do those differences of opinion say about your respective backgrounds, training, and values? What about the meaning of things? Someone sees a can of soup as a can of soup. Someone else sees it as a painted masterpiece, or an example of excellent mid-century design. For some, the Mona Lisa is a painting, for someone else, it’s a postcard. Why not draw a mustache on it? What about Chicago, Mumbai, Berlin, or Istanbul? What makes these places different and why? Is it a mere matter of available resources, or did someone decide they should be a certain way? Why does the transportation system tend to favor industry? Who gets to go where?

If you have a smart phone in your pocket, you have in your hand millions of images, each made by someone or many someones. The world needs experts in how those images work, what they do, how they persuade, or don’t, and their deep history. In your Art History classes, you see one kind of art historian in the person of your professor. But the things art historians understand (images in an image-based society) mean there are folks with BAs in Art History in government, industry, advertising, marketing, design fields, education, entertainment, and (even!) the art world as critics, poets, academics, and museum people. Like any liberal arts department, the UIC BA in Art History teaches students to read critically, investigate fairly, and write persuasively. But in Art History, you’ll also develop a global perspective on visual culture, art and architecture as the expression of communities across time, place and media.

Both our MA and  PhD programs are unparalleled in their rigor and excellence.  We are proud to have students funded through Fulbright, Mellon, Getty and UIC Fellowships. Naturally, these degrees prepare students for academic and curatorial posts in universities, colleges and museums, but they do so much more! Art History students are moving into new areas: publishing, development, urban planning, education fields, and auction houses are increasingly employing art historians at the highest levels. We make every effort to help students figure out where they fit in this changing scenario.

Through whichever program you join our community, the Art History Department at UIC is a hive of knowledge making, with faculty and students working on the big questions of why the visual, built, designed, and mediated environments have certain qualities, reflect some values and not others, and succeed or fail at expressing the aspirations of their makers. Across time and across the world, the global movement of human beings has continuously reshaped the physical world. Art History describes this transformation and the art historian is the story teller who travels the globe rendering the story. Welcome to the adventure! Drop in. Say Hi. See you soon.

-Hannah Higgins, Professor, Art History