Art History and Visual Culture

Bachelor of Arts (BA)

Explore human creativity, imagination and beauty through the arts and visual cultures of the world, past and present.

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Degree

Bachelor

Length

4 years

Faculty/School

Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies

Why study Art History and Visual Culture at UBC Okanagan?

The art history and visual culture program delves into the heart of human experience and identity, and its tangible expressions of cultural values, religious beliefs and political agendas.

Working alongside world-class researchers conducting projects in Africa, South Asia, the Middle East, Europe, Indigenous America, Canada and the contemporary global art scene, students explore and analyze diverse forms of art and visual culture, while focusing on developing critical thinking and writing abilities.

Professors employ cross-disciplinary approaches that draw from literary and cultural studies, gender and women’s studies, history, the digital humanities and anthropology.

Degree Options

Students can pursue a BA degree with either a major or minor in art history and visual culture. Students can declare Art History and Visual Culture as their major at the end of first year.

Undergraduates can also complete a combined major, which can currently be taken with creative writing, cultural studies, or English.

BFA students can complete a minor in art history and visual culture, as well.

Sample Courses

The program offers a variety of global perspectives for exploring art and visual culture with course offerings on the contemporary and historical arts of South Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Europe and the Americas.

These are examples of courses you can enrol in during your studies. View course descriptions for the current academic year. Browse art history and visual culture courses and descriptions in the academic calendar.

ARTH 101: Art & Visual Cultures of the World I
ARTH 115: Popular Music and Visual Cultures

ARTH 202: The Critical Viewer
ARTH 203: Global Contemporary Art

ARTH 301: The Critical Viewer
ARTH 309: Performance Art: Global Perspectives
ARTH 321: Art in Canada 1970 to the Present
ARTH 390: Indigenous Art and Visual Culture
ARTH 323: Creative Activism: Art, Media, and Social Justice
ARTH 385: African Dress and Fashion

ARTH 450: Performance in Africa
ARTH 370: Story and Image Across the Islamic World
ARTH 410: Gender, Art, and Space in the Islamic World
ARTH 395: Renaissance Europe in a Global Context

Plan your academic journey by exploring the undergraduate academic planning guide designed for Bachelor of Arts students.

Explore customized Program Plans designed to support your journey to graduation and beyond.

Careers and Outcomes

UBC degrees are respected by employers around the globe. Program graduates will have the skills to pursue a career in a variety of fields like,

  • Architect
  • Arts administrator
  • Art buyer/consultant
  • Art conservator
  • Art critic
  • Art educator for schools or museums
    Art law consultant
  • Art librarian
  • Curator
  • Estate appraiser
  • Exhibition installation specialist
  • Freelance researcher
  • Museum installation designer
  • Museum or gallery curator or assistant
  • Newspaper/magazine journalist
  • Publishing house editor
  • Reproductions designer
  • University professor
  • Visual and design assistant

Combined with the appropriate blend of electives, the major can be used to pursue a variety of graduate and professional programs in areas such as art history, museum studies, curation, education, library sciences, law, urban planning, architecture, public administration and management.

Admission, Fees, Applying

You could soon be studying at one of the world’s top universities. Be sure to review the content below to prepare for attending UBC Okanagan.

Experiential Learning

Expand your horizons while studying abroad, conducting meaningful research, or working in the community with your UBC colleagues.

Learn more about Co-op, Go Global, Undergraduate Research Awards and other opportunities at Experiential Education.

Students work on individual and group projects, go on cultural walking tours and have the opportunity to curate exhibitions. Students take the skills they learn in class about how to look at artwork out into the world, see the video below that talks about the full circle moments they have when they realize how what they learned in class enriches their life after school.

Global and Close-Knit

At UBC Okanagan, you gain all the benefits of attending a globally ranked, top 5% university while studying in a close-knit learning community. 50% of graduates, from all across the globe, choose to stay in the region.

Discover the Okanagan

A diverse natural region with sandy beaches, beautiful farms, vineyards, orchards and snow-capped mountains, the Okanagan is an inspirational landscape perfect for those seeking leisure or outdoor adventure.

UBC's Okanagan campus borders the dynamic city of Kelowna, a hub of economic development with a population of more than 150,000 people— the fourth fastest-growing population in Canada.