Art History
The Art History program aims to provide student majors with a strong historical and theoretical understanding of the visual and material environment created by humankind. Art history is founded on the premise that artifacts embody, engage, and shape the beliefs and values of the persons, groups, and societies who made, commissioned, and used them. Students will learn to document and interpret changes in human society by taking works of art and other objects of material culture as their primary sources. They will also critically analyze and interpret written texts to help reconstruct and illuminate the contexts—social, economic, political, philosophical, and religious—in which artifacts were produced, used, and understood.
2026 Public Events
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Art History Faculty News
July 2026:
Three Cheers for Art History: Book Award and Publications
The new month brings good news to the Art History Program as Professor Katherine Kuenzli’s co-authored book, The Belgian Friendship Building, won an award!
Booklaunch, the United Kingdom’s quarterly on books and publishing, recently announced its Architectural Book Awards. Now in their fourth year, the awards are judged anonymously and intended to recognize outstanding books in architecture and related fields.
The Belgian Friendship Building was a joint winner in the category, Best Architectural History Book of 2026.
“We are so happy to have this recognition for the incredible story we unearthed that at times appalling and at other times inspiring. I learned more from this project than from any other I have undertaken,” Professor Kuenzli said.
The book took Professor Kuenzli from Ghent University Library's Boekentoren in Belgium to the Library of Virginia in Richmond, to attend invited events where she cast light on the complexities of the building’s history. Check out an interview by the publisher with the authors to find out why there is more to the story in The Belgian Friendship Building!
Earlier in May, Professor Talia Andrei published her richly illustrated first book, Sacred Journeys and Institutional Rivalries, and Professor Okechukwu Nwafor welcomed his second book, Exit of a Hero. Browse the Faculty Bookshelf to learn more about their publications!