Rethinking the Theory and Methods Art History Course

For years, many art historians have been engaged in a discipline-wide effort to redesign the survey course by opening the traditional canon to more diverse artists and artworks, while also proposing new teaching methods that are more inclusive and engaging. However, fewer disciplinary discussions have reassessed another important course – the theory and methods course. Usually offered in the final year of an undergraduate degree or at the beginning of an MA/PhD program, the theory and methods course traditionally introduces students to “classic” texts (Vasari, Panofsky, Greenberg, etc) that often end up reinforcing the Western narratives that our newly decolonized survey courses were carefully designed to break down. These courses aim to teach the methods of art history, but it can be unclear to students how these texts can be applied to their research, especially on topics from outside of the Western canon. This panel invites speakers to address how they have re-envisioned methods courses and their place in art history curricula. Questions of interest include, but are not limited to: How can we decolonize the content of methods and theory courses? What theoretical and historiographic texts are actually useful to students as they form nascent research agendas? How can students be taught the skills necessary to comprehend difficult theoretical texts and then apply them to their own work? Can we envision a version of the methods and theory course that is useful to all art history students, not just those who plan to go on to graduate study?