{"id":252,"date":"2020-06-15T04:55:06","date_gmt":"2020-06-15T04:55:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fass.nus.edu.sg\/hist\/?page_id=252"},"modified":"2026-05-12T11:57:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T03:57:10","slug":"art-history","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/fass.nus.edu.sg\/hist\/art-history\/","title":{"rendered":"Art History"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\n\t\t\tArt History Introduction\t<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGraduation Requirements\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCourses (AH)\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRecognised Modules\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t

The Art History Minor: Background, 2016-2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

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\u00a0National Gallery Singapore<\/a>\u00a0and the\u00a0Singapore Art Museum<\/a>. On the strength of its academic reputation<\/em> and student employability<\/em>, 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\u00a0masterplans i.e., Our SG Arts Plans<\/a> (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.<\/p>\n

The Art History Minor: Reset, Refresh, Revamp, 2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

After a nine-year teaching cycle (2017-2026), the Minor programme is revamped with a fresh curriculum which focusses on art history’s core<\/em> topics and its applied<\/em> 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.<\/p>\n

Why Art History?<\/strong><\/p>\n

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\u00a0visual<\/em>\u00a0in 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.<\/p>\n

Why Art History @ NUS?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Key features which distinguish us from Art History programmes offered at other universities internationally:<\/p>\n