Tufts Blogs

When I came to Tufts, one of the subjects I was most excited to study was art history because I had not been able to take an art history-specific course before. BFA students at the SMFA are required to complete 15 credits (usually five courses) of art history. However, what those courses focus on and how they are structured is entirely up to you! Two departments offer classes that fulfill these requirements: the Visual and Material Studies (VMS) and History of Art and Architecture (HAA) departments. While it may seem like these two departments would offer basically the same courses and information, they provide students with two very different ways of approaching the study of art. 

The VMS department is primarily located at the SMFA (most but not all classes are held in the SMFA building rather than on the Medford campus) and, as the name suggests, is focused on the critical inquiry into both contemporary and historical art and how the use of visuals and materials creates meaning in a piece. Rather than focusing on a period or movement in art history, the courses choose a theme and delve into how artists across history have worked with it. This approach allows reflection on changes and continuities in art over time and provides students with valuable context for the art world. My favorite VMS course that I have taken during my time at Tufts was titled ‘Liquidities’ and focused on water as a subject and/or medium in art. The course covered a wide range of artists and time periods, ranging from Indigenous Pacific Islander stick tide maps to contemporary artist Olafur Eliasson’s controversial installation piece ‘Ice Watch’. The final project for the course included an option to create your own art piece involving water, accompanied by a written artist statement. I found the course super engaging, and it was exciting to learn about and study art in such a nontraditional way. 

In contrast, HAA courses are more traditional art history courses. The department is located on the Medford campus, and courses focus on a specific movement or time period rather than a theme. These courses help students develop research and writing skills, as well as art-historical knowledge applicable in academic and professional settings. A final project for an HAA course I took involved curating a museum exhibit on a specific topic from the course. This included choosing artworks, deciding how to arrange them, and writing wall labels and exhibition statements. A course I’ve taken and really enjoyed in the HAA department is ‘Renaissance Rivals’, a course looking at the lives and work of Renaissance masters Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, and Michelangelo. Throughout the course, I learned a lot about Italian Renaissance painting practices and how political and social contexts influenced the art of the day. The HAA courses at Tufts provide a more traditional approach to studying art. 

While different, the VMS and HAA approaches to the study of art are both incredibly valuable and have helped me develop practical skills.