Art expresses the depth and breadth of what it means to be human.

Through courses covering many time periods and cultures, art history students learn how art is made and how it relates to social, theoretical, and historical issues and circumstances.

The art history faculty are experts in many fields and pride themselves on being lively lecturers and active scholars. In many classes, art history students examine works of art directly at the Middlebury College Museum of Art. 

Students in the Middlebury College Museum of Art.

Museum of Art

The Middlebury College Museum of Art  is an integral educational and cultural component of Middlebury College. Its collection of several thousand objects ranges from antiquities to contemporary art and includes distinguished collections of Asian art, photography, 19th-century European and American sculpture, and contemporary prints. Works from the permanent collection and special loan exhibitions are on display throughout the year, and they regularly sponsor lectures, gallery talks, films, school programs, and family workshops. The museum also maintains the College’s collection of 25 works of public sculpture sited in various locations around the campus.

Beyond the Classroom

Learning continues outside the classroom. From department dinners with major art history rock stars and field trips to Boston and New York to openings at the Middlebury College Museum of Art and student gallery talks in the “Off the Wall” lecture series, opportunities abound. Many art history majors participate in the Museum Assistants Program (MAP), belong to the Student Friends of the Art Museum (FOAM), and work as interns at the museum or local arts institutions.