Art History Assessment Site

Introduction to the Art History Program

The art history major program at Seaver College prepares students for the global, connected, and dynamically changing world of the 21st century. Art history majors learn to place art in its comprehensive historical context, to assess art and the field of art history critically and analytically, to master research, writing, and presentation skills, and to foster community engagement in art through outreach and education.

About the Art History Program

In preparation for leadership roles in art history and related areas, our program challenges students to examine works of art from multiple perspectives, encouraging students to develop an appreciation for diverse cultures and the vital role that art plays in human expression across time and space.

History of the Art History Program

The Art History Program, which is housed in the Fine Arts Division at Seaver College, is relatively young, with the inception of the art history major and minor in fall 2003. Given the demand for an art history major and minor from Seaver students and prospective students, the importance of art history to Seaver College’s focus on liberal learning, the importance of art historical training to our Studio Art majors, and the close proximity of Pepperdine University to the museums, galleries, and other cultural institutions of Los Angeles that provide excellent teaching and internship resources, it was deemed that an art history major and minor would benefit Seaver College.

Prior to the development of the art history major, the Fine Arts Division offered five survey-level art history courses to support the studio art major. These courses were first taught by an adjunct professor, Sonia Sorrell, who was hired as a full-time member of the faculty in 1992. When Professor Sorrell was needed to teach one of the three Humanities courses required for all Seaver students and to take the position of Chair of the Fine Arts Division, an adjunct, Cynthia Colburn, was hired to cover the art history surveys. Not long after the art history major and minor were developed, Professor Colburn was hired full-time and now coordinates the Art History Program.

When the art history major was first developed, the requirements included 9 units of lower division courses, 28 units of upper division art history courses, one of which must be ARTH 590 Senior Thesis, and 12 units of upper division electives chosen from an approved list of courses or in consultation with the art history faculty advisor. The lower division requirements (also requirements of Pepperdine’s General Education curriculum) were deemed appropriate as the lower division requirements for the major. 

Quality Assurance: Each degree program should employ sufficient faculty such that there is a capacity to design and deliver the curriculum (CFR 2.5). Curriculum design and implementation should involve evaluation, improvement, and promotion of student learning and success (CFR 2.5). Thus, faculty are responsible to exercise effective academic leadership on a consistent basis to ensure that the program's quality and educational purposes are upheld (CFR 2.6). Student support and co-curricular programs and services of sufficient nature, scope, and capacity go hand-in-hand with the degree programs for promoting students' academic, personal, and professional development (CFR 2.13).  - WSCUC 2023 Handbook, Standard 2