Art History

Faculty: Faculty of Arts
Degree options:

• Bachelor of Arts, major
• Any degree, minor

Other degree options that might interest you:

• Any degree, minor in Museum and Curatorial Studies
• Bachelor of Fine Arts
• Bachelor of Arts, major or minor in Fine Arts

Courses in art history at Mount Allison range from an introduction to art and its contexts to more focused examinations of specific time periods, movements, and issues surrounding the visual arts.

You will be able to explore:

• Canadian and Indigenous art
• museum and curatorial studies
• contemporary art
• women and gender in art
• specialist courses in 19th and 20th century art

Upper year advanced seminars offer you the opportunity to take a more focused and critical approach to topics like:

• modern to postmodernism
• feminism and gender
• museum studies
• museums and education
• collections and collecting
• curating and critical writing
• arts and archives
• independent studies in specialized subjects
• museum and gallery practicums

If you choose to major in art history, you will be encouraged to do an independent study essay on a specific area of interest as part of your degree.

Find a list of about art history courses in the academic calendar – art history.

Not sure about the difference between a major, a minor, and an honours?

Popular career paths for art history graduates include:

• museum or gallery curator
• art historian
• visual artist
• conservator/restorer
• professor/academic
• arts administrator
• museum art director
• art dealer/appraiser
• art therapist
• exhibition designer
• librarian
• archivist
• editor
• tourism/cultural industry administrator

Alumni spotlight

Mireille Eagan ('04)
Bachelor of Arts, art history
Curator of Contemporary Art, The Rooms

"[The Sackville Arts Community] is a very special, vibrant arts community that’s so supportive. You really do carry a part of the Mount Allison and Sackville communities with you wherever you go."

»  Creating a space to talk about art — Award-winning curator Mireille Eagan ('04) brings Atlantic art to the forefront 

“Small class sizes allow for quality group discussion and your professors always have time for questions! Overlapping credits with the Classics, English, History, and Philosophy departments encourages an interdisciplinary approach within your degree. The strong connection with the Fine Arts department and Owens Art Gallery was a particular draw to me as an art history major and fine arts minor.”

Grace McLean (’19)
Art history, minor in fine arts
Fredericton, NB

"Majoring in art history at Mount Allison provided me not only with a solid knowledge in the conventional history of art, but also in modern practices of museum and curatorial studies. These courses helped me connect my interests in art and business over my time at Mount Allison. Being able to learn these modern practices in the actual art world within a small program is very rare and I appreciate the fact that the art history program is diverse in its curriculum. It has really assisted in my plans for future study and work in this field."

Runa Nishiyama (’19)
Art history and classical studies, minor in museum and curatorial studies
Tokyo, Japan

“There are many students who choose to minor in art history because of how well this discipline complements other programs. It is this versatility that makes the art history program so unique; its subject matter can be applied to a variety of other programs including, but not limited to, English, anthropology, history, and classics.”

Leanne Gaudet ('13)
Double major art history and history
Summerside, PEI

Owens Art Gallery

Opened to the public in 1895, Mount Allison’s Owens Art Gallery is the oldest university art gallery in Canada and is an invaluable resource to art history students. The gallery’s collection contains 3,200 works of art, including paintings, photographs, prints, sculpture, and multi-media work by established Canadian and international artists. One of the featured permanent exhibitions is devoted to the work of renowned Canadian artist – and Fine Arts alumnus – Alex Colville ('42). Changing exhibitions highlight contemporary and historical art by regional, national and international artists. The gallery also presents a variety of artists' talks, workshops, and special events throughout the year.

Several other art galleries are also located in the community, including Colville House on the Mount Allison campus, the Struts Gallery and Faucet Media Arts Centre, START — Mount Allison’s student-run art gallery, and the Fog Forest Gallery.

Fine Art Conservation Lab

The Fine Art Conservation Lab at Mount Allison is a significant resource within the Owens Art Gallery – it provides facilities and equipment for the documentation, preservation and treatment of artwork from the Gallery's collection and offers important mentoring opportunities for Mount Allison students who wish to work with the gallery's Fine Art Conservator. This is the only paintings conservation lab in New Brunswick.

Student employment opportunities

At the Owens Art Gallery students work at the front desk, assist with family programing and undertake placements in the Fine Art Conservation Lab.

Faculty spotlight

Anne Koval
Professor, Fine Arts

Independent curator in historical and contemporary art, art historian, and poet

» Student-curated art exhibitions open on campus as part of Fine Arts seminar class