We live in a visual world. The study of Art History and Visual Culture provides essential tools for experiencing and understanding humanity's creative achievements.

Studying Art History and Visual Culture develops the mind and vital skills - visual literacy, critical thinking, writing, and speaking - which prepare students to thrive in a wide spectrum of careers. Art History and Visual Culture alumni readily find employment and build careers in museums, galleries, and auction houses around the world, as well as in social media, law, the non-profit sector, marketing, public relations, development and fundraising, education, publishing, and nearly every occupation that requires observation, analysis, and communication. Fairfield’s dedicated alumni are valuable resources for current students and return to campus regularly to give career advice and participate in job shadow programs and intern hiring.

Fairfield’s program in Art History and Visual Culture offers a global curriculum, as well as museum studies courses. Students may choose a traditional Art History and Visual Culture major, or an Art History and Visual Culture major with a concentration in visual arts administration.

Among the many outstanding resources available to students are internships at the Fairfield University Art Museum’s Bellarmine Hall Galleries and Thomas J. Walsh Art Gallery, special visits to major museums in New York and Connecticut, internships at New York and regional museums and cultural organizations, and research using the Fairfield University Arts Museum's collection and the historic Plaster Cast Collection.

Many majors enrich their experi­ence further by spending a semester or year studying abroad, including our specially-designed programs in Florence, Italy and Aix-en-Provence, France.

Students in introductory Art History and Visual Culture courses should be able to meet the following learning goals:

• Have visual literacy and fluency

• Be able to discern and evaluate visual forms of expression

• Have an increased comfort in museum/gallery/cultural settings

and learning outcomes:

• Recognize and analyze paradigm monuments, and monuments related to them.
• Use art historical vocabulary correctly.
• Make meaningful connections between artworks and other examples of human expression within their historical contexts.
• Find, evaluate, and use sources to answer questions and present findings in appropriate written form.

Students in upper-level seminars should be able to show proficiency in the above outcomes, as well as:

• Demonstrate writing and research skills necessary in the field of Art History and Visual Culture.
• Demonstrate creative capacities in oral and written expression.
• Analyze and critically evaluate ideas, arguments, and points of view.