BA in Art History, History of Architecture Specialization, degree requirements

The History of Architecture Specialization within the Art History major certifies that students have completed the coursework and training required to meet the minimum requirements necessary to apply for graduate degree programs in architecture (typically Masters of Architecture) at many of the nation’s leading institutions in this field. Students will develop a wide-ranging knowledge of how architecture and the built environment has varied in aesthetics and functionality across time, geography, and culture. Students will develop analytical skills through academic writing as well as photography and drawing, thereby gaining familiarity with the conventions of both architectural history and architectural representation. Artistic skills, particularly in drawing, are honed through required studio art coursework. Calculus and physics courses are also required, grounding students in the mechanics of structural design. Several Art History course options delve deeply into the social impact and ethics of architectural design – such as the effects of human architecture on the natural environment and how architecture has been used as a tool of oppression and marginalization – preparing students to face those challenges creatively and productively in their future architecture careers.

The History of Architecture track in the Art History major is particularly ideal for these career paths:

  • Architect Note: students will also need to complete a Masters of Architecture (M.Arch) degree after their SMU Art History BA.
  • Interior design.
  • Architectural historian, either in academia or in historic preservation work.
  • Urban planning and urban design, in government, non-profit, or private practice.

Foundation Courses. Foundations courses include the three-part introductory survey sequence (ARHS 1300, ARHS 1301, and ARHS 1302), which provide an overview of major art historical developments from prehistory to the present. Students are required to take one of the survey courses (ARHS 1300, ARHS 1301, or ARHS 1302) to fulfill 3 credit hours of the Foundations requirement. This requirement can also be fulfilled with ARHS 1303 or ARHS 1304 (which are primarily used for AP or transfer credit).

In addition to 3 credit hours of Foundations fulfilled by the survey, students must take ARHS 1306: Introduction to Architecture

Temporalities/Challenging the Canon Courses. Temporalities courses are upper-level (3000, 4000, or 5000 level) art history courses that offer frameworks for a broad understanding of temporal dimensions: a duration of time, the power of some areas over others, the telescoping of past into present and vice versa, or questions of recurrence across time. The objects and narratives that constitute the history of art are in constant flux. Historically, our discipline has focused on artworks, artists, and ways of seeing that emerged from the European tradition and has privileged the viewpoints of individuals who were (among other things) white, male, heterosexual, and wealthy. Courses with the Challenging the Canon designation explore artistic objects and traditions that challenge the validity of such an exclusionary canon and narrow perspective.

History of Architecture Courses. History of Architecture courses are art history courses that focus primarily or exclusively on architecture, the built environment, structures, and human interventions into the landscape. Of the 12 credit hours required, only 3 credit hours can be taken at the 1000 level.

Research and Methods. All Art History majors are required to take ARHS 4399 - Research and Methods in Art History. Students are encouraged to take this course before enrolling in another advanced (4000 level) Art History course.

Required Seminar. These small, advanced (4000 level) art history classes are reading and writing intensive and offer the occasion to think critically and carefully about the dynamics of historical change and to engage with issues and debates in art history.

Calculus and Physics. Calculus and physics courses give students foundational training in the mechanics of structural design. Students are required to take 3 credit hours of Calculus, either MATH 1337: Calculus I or MATH 1340: Consolidated Calculus. Students are required to take 3 credit hours of physics lecture: either PHYS 1303: Introductory Mechanics or PHYS 1307: General Physics I (Mechanics). Students are also required to take 1 credit hour of physics laboratory: PHYS 1105: Mechanics Laboratory. Note that the Physics department requires the Physics lecture and lab to be taken concurrently (in the same semester).

Studio Art. Artistic skills, particularly in drawing, are honed through required studio art coursework. Students are required to take 6 credit hours of studio art. One of these courses (3 credit hours) must be an ASDR (drawing) course.

Minimum required grade: Only courses passed with a grade of C- or better will count toward the major in art history. Courses passed with a grade below C- may count toward other, elective requirements in a student's degree plan.

SMU Degree Requirements

An SMU undergraduate degree requires a minimum of 120 credit hours and must include completion of the University's Common Curriculum, one major and a combination of electives and/or other majors or minors. Completion of certain majors requires more than 120 hours to finish the degree. The credit hours within this curriculum are distributed as follows:

Requirements for the Major

Foundations (6 Credit Hours)

One course from the following survey courses:

Temporalities (6 Credit Hours)

3000 or 4000 level courses in Art History. 3 credit hours must cover a period pre-1700 C.E. and 3 must cover a period post-1700 C.E.

3 of these 6 credit hours must have a Challenging the Canon designation.

ARHS History of Architecture Courses (12 Credit Hours)

No more than 3 credit hours at the 1000 level.

List of Courses:

  • ARHS 1319: Architecture of the Islamic World
  • ARHS 1322: Architecture of the Ancient Americas: Aztec, Maya, and Inca
  • ARHS 3320: Medieval Art and Architecture
  • ARHS 3322: Heaven on Earth: Art, Order, and Environmentalism in the Islamic Garden
  • ARHS 3329: Paris Art and Architecture I
  • ARHS 3330: Renaissance and Baroque Architecture
  • ARHS 3333: Italian Art and Architecture
  • ARHS 3338: Spanish Art and Architecture
  • ARHS 3346: Paris Art and Architecture II
  • ARHS 3347: Longhouse to Land Art: A History of the American Built Environment
  • ARHS 3351: British Art and Architecture
  • ARHS 3353: American Art and Architecture I
  • ARHS 3356: Modern Architecture
  • ARHS 3363: Art & Architecture of Brazil
  • ARHS 3374: American Art & Architecture II
  • ARHS 3377: Art/Arch Hispanic New Mexico

Research and Methods (3 Credit Hours)

Seminar (3 Credit Hours)

  • One seminar course at the 4000 or 5000 level

 

Mathematics (3 Credit Hours)

  • MATH 1337: Calculus I
  • or
  • MATH 1340: Consolidated Calculus

Physics (4 Credit Hours)

  • PHYS 1105: Mechanics Laboratory
  • and either
  • PHYS 1303: Introductory Mechanics
  • or
  • PHYS 1307: General Physics I (Mechanics)

Studio Art (6 Credit Hours)

  • 1 ASDR (studio art, drawing) course
  • and
  • 1 additional studio art course (any discipline/medium)

Total for the Major (BA in Art History, History of Architecture Specialization) Only: 43 Credit Hours