About the Department of the History of Art and Architecture

The Department of the History of Art and Architecture (HA&A) offers BA, MA, and PhD degrees in art history, as well as an interdisciplinary museum studies certificate. Our students and faculty members explore global history, culture, and society through art and architecture from antiquity to the present day. Courses are aligned with faculty research and examine visual and material cultural production from Asia, the Americas, Europe, and the Mediterranean.

Within this global range one finds a stimulating variety of individual faculty research interests. HA&A is especially well-known for its focus on the art and architecture of the Pacific Rim, the Americas and East Asia in particular, as well as the Mediterranean world. In addition to these regional foci, the Department has faculty research clusters in urbanism and architecture; museum, curatorial, and exhibition studies; and modern and contemporary art.

HA&A is the hub for the history, theory, and criticism of visual culture within the UO College of Design. Students and faculty also maintain deep connections with the broader research university through collaborations with related disciplines such as anthropology, media studies, women’s and gender studies, history, philosophy, and literature.