Art History Introduction

The Art History Minor: Background, 2016-2026

The Art History Minor was initiated in 2016 as a unique three-way collaboration between the Department of History at the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (NUS), and two world-class museums with the largest Singaporean and Southeast Asian modern and contemporary art collections, the National Gallery Singapore and the Singapore Art Museum. On the strength of its academic reputation and student employability, the programme has ranked consistently among the top five art history programmes globally (2023-2026). Through its deep commitment to capacity-building and partnerships, the programme contributes to Singapore’s arts and culture masterplans i.e., Our SG Arts Plans (2018-2022) (2023-2027). Thus, despite being a very young undergraduate minor, it has emerged as a strategic programme in Singapore’s local arts’ education ecosystem.

The Art History Minor: Reset, Refresh, Revamp, 2026

After a nine-year teaching cycle (2017-2026), the Minor programme is revamped with a fresh curriculum which focusses on art history’s core topics and its applied dimensions. To this end, the programme features courses which introduce students to the pre-modern, modern, and contemporary art traditions of Singapore, the region, and the world; all the same, the programme offers brand new courses which equip students to analyse the commercial, legal, material, scientific, and technological aspects of artistic production and consumption across human societies. As a result, the Minor programme reaffirms its commitment to hone students’ creative, critical, and interdisciplinary thinking.

Why Art History?

History of Art or Art History primarily entails a close reading of visual materials and related objects such as painting, sculpture, architecture, ceramics, textiles, and manuscripts, among others, to unlock their context-specific social, technological, political, and theological meanings. Unlike other disciplines, the visual in art history serves as the starting point and primary document for a deep reading which leads to an interdisciplinary enquiry. Art history’s emphasis on visual literacy and critical thinking becomes relevant to an increasingly visual world, which requires constant decoding and interpretation, whether in the interest of geo-politics or our commitment to building inclusive and sustainable societies.

Why Art History @ NUS?

Key features which distinguish us from Art History programmes offered at other universities internationally:

  • Our Curriculum and Pedagogies
    • Our curriculum is committed to teaching local Singaporean and regional Southeast Asian art histories in a globally connected framework.
    • Our curriculum and pedagogies familiarize students with Singapore's museums and institutional collections.
    • Our curriculum and pedagogies decentre standard Euromerican collections, textbooks, and methodologies to adopt a highly inclusive, diversified, and post-colonial content and approach.
    • Our curriculum is situated and taught within a rich network of disciplines, thus enhancing art history’s inherent interdisciplinarity.
    • Our pedagogies adopt in-person and experiential learning with as much ease and creativity as technology-integrated and blended learning.
  • Our Ties with Museums
    • Students enjoy access to island-wide collections, exhibitions, archives, and programmes.
    • Students enjoy access to our own University Museum’s collections and pedagogies.
    • Students avail of robust internship opportunities to comprehend how classroom-based learning applies in an actual museum or industry setting.
  • Beyond the Classroom
    • We activate museums, galleries, exhibitions, biennales, and artist studios throughout the semester for teaching and learning purposes.
    • We curate overseas field-based learning opportunities with artists and curators.
    • We expose our students to thought leaders in the field.

Career and Industry Pathways

Our programme nurtures candidates for allied sectors such as museums, art galleries, heritage projects, auction houses, private and corporate art collections, mega exhibitions, art fairs, and public festivals. Furthermore, it equips students to translate art historical learning in varied settings such as family offices, art advisories, and wealth management, ministries, statutory boards, and policy work, media and publishing, artificial intelligence and technology, law, intellectual property, and copyright, international relations and diplomacy, among others.

Convenor: Dr Priya JARADI | hispmj@nus.edu.sg

Teaching Team: Prof Maurizio Peleggi, A/P Emmanuel Mayer, Dr. Priya Jaradi


Art History Minor on Instagram

NUSarthistory

Global Rankings

Re-Framing Art Histories: Distinguished Scholars’ Series

Lecture 1: Anne F. Rothenberg Professor of the Humanities at Harvard University, Professor Homi K. Bhabha (14 January 2023, National Gallery Singapore).

Lecture 2: Professor Emerita of Social and Critical Histories of Art at the University of Leeds, Professor Griselda Pollock (22 November 2025, National Gallery Singapore)

Launch of the Art History Minor (2017)
https://www.nus.edu.sg/newshub/news/2017/2017-04/2017-04-24/ART-stonline-24apr.pdfNational Gallery Singapore
https://www.nationalgallery.sg/about/news/press-room/nus-national-gallery-singapore-launch-minor-art-history