The twenty-four courses available for students pursuing a major or minor in this program cover all areas of Western art including contemporary American art and a survey of Chinese and Japanese art. Majors are advised to develop a minor in a related discipline such as studio art or design, literature, social or political history, or archaeology.

In addition, several art history courses contribute to interdisciplinary programs in the School of Liberal Arts including medieval, American, and Italian studies.

The program provides a broad perspective that prepares students to enter graduate school in art history or seek certain types of employment related to the field.

Career opportunities are varied and include teaching at the college or high school level or working in an art museum as curator, research assistant, or perhaps in a museum's education department. Graduates also exhibit and sell works by current artists in art galleries. Others who have related interests such as in architecture may choose to enter the field of historic preservation or in writing, the field of journalism.

Art history is the study of art created in the past by individuals from various cultures and parts of the world. The art historian seeks to interpret and understand works of art of many types, ranging from the monumental to small scale, by learning about artists' lives and their societies.