Undergraduate programs

The school offers the following undergraduate degree options: B.A., B.S. in Art History, B.A., B.S. in Art & Design, B.A., B.S. in Cultural History of the Arts, B.F.A. in Art Practice, and B.F.A. in Graphic Design. 

Degree Maps and Learning Outcomes

Undergraduate Admission Requirements

Art Major and Minor Degree Requirements

Art History—B.A./B.S.

Art & Design—B.A./B.S.

Cultural History of the Arts B.A/B.S.

Art Practice—B.F.A.

Graphic Design—B.F.A.

Art History Certificate

Art History Minor

Minor in Art Practice

Design Management Minor

Minor in Graphic Design

Minor in Sustainable Fashion

Cultural History of the Arts - B.A./B.S.

This innovative flexible degree allows students to study the histories of music and art across cultures and time. We explore the important ways cultural history both reflects and shapes society, and by incorporating both musical and art history these connections can be made even more deeper and more nuanced ways.

The B.A. or B.S. in Cultural History requires 60 credit hours total, of which:

minimum 20 credit hours in Art History, Music History, or Theater History

minimum 52 credit hours need to be upper level courses (300-level or higher)

ArH 401 Advanced Research Workshop and additional research-intensive courses such as a seminar are strongly recommended for all students in this program, and would be taken as part of your upper level course requirement.

Students should note when planning their coursework both that some of the upper level courses they are considering have prerequisites. Due to the general education requirements, you will not be able to use any of  the cluster courses that could be applied towards this major to satisfy the University Studies cluster requirement.

Course Offerings:

Ar 360	Arab Cinema	4
ArH 106	Introduction to Visual Literacy	2
ArH 204	Art History: The Ancient World	4
ArH 205	Art History: The Medieval World	4
ArH 206	Art History: The Modern World	4
ArH 329	Islamic Art: Major Themes and Periods:	4
ArH 337U	Nature into Art	4
ArH 355U	Medieval Monsters	4
ArH 356U	Early Medieval Art and Architecture	4
ArH 357U	Byzantine Art and Architecture	4
ArH 358U	Representing Medicine and Magic in Medieval Art	4
ArH 359U	Gothic Art and Architecture	4
ArH 360U	The Art of War: Representing the Crusades	4
ArH 381U	19th Century Art	4
ArH 382U	19th Century Art	4
ArH 383	Western Art in the 20th Century	4
ArH 384	Western Art in the 20th Century	4
ArH 385	Western Art in the 20th Century	4
ArH 392	History and Contemporary Issues in Photography	4
ArH 398	Contemporary Art	4
ArH 401	Research	0-12
ArH 415U	Issues in Asian Art	4
ArH 426U	African Art	4
ArH 431U/WS 431U	Women in the Visual Arts	4
ArH 432U	Issues in Gender and Art	4
Art 322U/TA 322U	History of Dress I	4
Art 323U/TA 323U	History of Dress II	4
BSt 353U	African Women in Film	4
BSt 356U	Cuban Film: Politics and Culture	4
BSt 363U	African Cinema and African Cultures	4
Des 290	Histories of Graphic Design	4
Eng 383U/WLL 383U	Topics in Comparative Literature, Film, and Comics	4
Fr 105	French Film	1
Fr 305	Topics in French Film	4
Fr 445	Representations of War in French Cinema	4
Heb 361	Israel through Film	4
Hst 297	History through Film	4
Hst 497	Film and History	4
Jpn 361U	Japanese Literature Through Film	4
Mus 105	Introduction to Music Theory	3
Mus 203	Music in the Western World	4
Mus 205	Listening	1
Mus 231	Survey of Popular Music Since 1950	4
Mus 274	Introduction to World Music	4
Mus 355U	Jazz History	4
Mus 356U	Jazz And American Culture: How History Shaped Our Music, Then and Now	4
Mus 360U	The Guitar: its History and Music	4
Mus 361U	History of Rock Music I (1950-1970)	4
Mus 362U	History of Rock Music II (1970-Present)	4
Mus 363U	The Music of the Beatles	4
Mus 365U	Film Music	4
Mus 366U	New Orleans: Jazz and Culture in the Storyville Era	4
Mus 367U	The Music of Nashville: From Honky Tonk to Hip-Hop	4
Mus 368U	Motown: Detroit’s History and Music	4
Mus 369U	Music and Social Change	4
Mus 374U	World Music: Africa and the Middle East	4
Mus 376U	American Musical Traditions	4
Mus 377U	World Music: Latin America and the Caribbean	4
Rus 331U	Russian Film Topics	4
Soc 456	Sociology of Horror Films	4
Span 430	Major Topics: Ibero-American Film	4
TA 101	Theater Appreciation	4
TA 369U	Women, Theater, and Society	4
TA 471	Theater History: Periods and Topics	1-4
TA 472	Theater History: Major Figures	1-4
Tur 361U	Turkey through Film	4

Note that other upper level  architectural, art, film and music history classes offered at PSU might be applied to this degree, if you get  prior approval from the Cultural History of the Arts program coordinator.

Total Credit Hours: 60