Art History Study Abroad Opportunities

Study abroad programs complement art history studies

We encourage you to consider study abroad programs, especially those that help students master foreign languages. With faculty approval, you can receive credit toward the art history major and minor for art history courses taken on non-Fordham study abroad programs.

We are particularly excited about courses offered by Fordham faculty within our programs in London, Rome, and elsewhere.

Summer in Rome

Art and Architecture of Rome (ARHI 3316) (4 credits)
This course examines the art, architecture, and culture of Rome over the various epochs of the city’s history: ancient, medieval, Renaissance/Baroque, through to the contemporary period. Rome once ruled the entire Mediterranean world, and its cultural legacy looms large in Western civilization. Indoor class time for this course is minimal; Rome is our classroom and participants’ primary mode of exploration is on site visits to monuments, museums, churches, and galleries. Out-of-town excursions will be taken as well. (This course satisfies the fine arts requirement of the core curriculum or, depending on the focus of a student’s independent project, the ancient/medieval, Renaissance/Baroque, or modern requirement for the art history major or minor.)

Summer in London

London Monuments: Power, Protest, Public Space (ARHI 2527)
For centuries, London was the seat of the British Empire, which spanned all corners of the globe and perpetrated devastating histories of colonialism, violence, and enslavement. Today, it is one of the most multicultural and ethnically diverse cities in the world, a reality ineluctably linked to its imperial past. This course explores how these intertwined histories are made visible in the built environment, with specific focus to the city’s many monuments – from the statue-filled halls of Westminster Abbey to high-profile commissions by contemporary artists including Yinka Shonibare, Kara Walker, and Lubaina Himid. Why and for whom do monuments matter? How have they historically revealed and obscured larger structures of power? And how do audiences and publics respond to, protest, and refuse their presence today? Put simply: what is at stake in the construction of a monument, or conversely, its toppling? We will examine these questions through a series of object-based case studies and in-person site visits in order to better understand the place of monuments in modern life: in relation to the afterlives of colonialism and slavery, and more urgently, the promise of more equitable anti-colonial futures.

Art and Architecture in London (ARHI 3480)
London is one of the most exciting cultural capitals of the world. Its museums, churches, and monuments will supply the rich resources for our art historical studies. While the emphasis will be upon the modern era from the late 18th century onward, earlier museum treasures and major architectural monuments will provide deep historical background for our study of the modern period. Class lectures will be supplemented by visits to The British Museum, the Courtauld Institute of Art, the National Gallery, Tate Britain, Tate Modern, the Victoria and Albert Museum, along with galleries and auction houses.

This course satisfies the fine arts requirement of the core curriculum, or the modern or elective credit for the art history major.

See the international study abroad program for more details.