Art History: A Foundation for the Study of Art

Art History at Monmouth University forms an integral part of the foundations for all studies of art, photography, animation, and design. Students examine art in relation to history, religion, politics, and more to understand how artworks do not just record events or an artist’s state of mind. Rather, art is a visual language, and artworks serve as sites where political, social, and cultural beliefs are constructed and reconstructed through the making, viewing, and describing of art.

In addition to participating in class lectures and discussions, Monmouth University students repeatedly analyze works of art in person. Opportunities to do so include viewing numerous rotating art exhibitions on campus, examining objects from Special Collections in the Guggenheim Library, and working with pieces from the Permanent Collection, which includes art by Salvador Dali, Francisco Goya, William Hogarth, Jacob Landau, and other Roosevelt Artists. Contemporary artists regularly visit campus and interact with students. Recent guests include Wafaa Bilal, Hasan Elahi, Coco Fusco, and Sheryl Oring. And Monmouth University sponsors many opportunities to travel and study in nearby New York City and Philadelphia or abroad.

Students from any major who are interested in a more in-depth study of art history can complete the 18-credit Art History minor. For additional information about Art History at Monmouth University, contact Dr. Corey Dzenko at cdzenko@monmouth.edu.

Image Caption
From left: Monmouth University students dictate postcards to the presidential candidates as part of Sheryl Oring’s project I Wish to Say (photo credit: Nikole Jessica Ghirardi); detail of an artwork by Roosevelt Artist Jacob Landau; Monmouth University students visit the Noguchi Museum in Queens, New York, with the student art club (photo credit: Prof. Mark Ludak).