Arnold J. Kemp

First Comes Dark Notes

On View: October 1 - December 6

2023-2024 Newsletter

This annual publication captures the dynamic year we've had in the department, highlighting key moments, achievements, and events that shaped our community.

McMurtry Building at night

Subscribe

Receive email announcements regarding upcoming lectures, exhibitions, and film screenings. 

McMurtry Building atrium at day

Greater diversity and inclusion in the Department of Art and Art History

We are committed to building an equitable, antiracist, and non-discriminatory environment that empowers all students, staff, faculty, and community members.

Main content start

The Department of Art & Art History is an interdisciplinary department offering undergraduate and graduate degrees in art history, art practice, film and media studies, and documentary film. 

Art History

Art History is a discipline that strives to understand works of art, architecture, and design from a variety of perspectives, including the original context of their making and reception as well as their subsequent circulation, collection, conservation, and display. As culturally embedded expressions, works of art may yield multiple meanings depending on the kinds of research and interpretive strategies that art historians bring into play. 

Learn more about the Art History program

Art History undergraduate program

Art History graduate program

Art Practice

The Art Practice program on both undergraduate and graduate levels offers production-based curriculum to prepare students for creative careers in the visual arts and to hone their creative capabilities. Access to diverse courses and faculty, cross-disciplinary interaction, and well-equipped labs are among the strengths of this flexible program.

Learn more about the Art Practice program

Art Practice undergraduate program

Art Practice graduate program

Documentary Film and Video

Students in the Documentary Film and Video Program become conversant with the documentary tradition as well as with alternative media and new directions in documentary.  In addition to the training in documentary production, graduates gain substantive research skills in film criticism and film analysis. The MFA degree is designed to prepare students for professional careers in film, video, and digital media, with the qualifications to teach at the university level.

 Learn more about the MFA Program in Documentary Film

Film and Media Studies

The Bachelor of Arts in Film & Media Studies provides students with knowledge of film aesthetics, national cinematic traditions, modes of production in narrative, documentary, and experimental films, the incorporation of moving image media by contemporary artists, and the proliferation of new forms of digital media.

Learn more about the Film and Media Studies program

Upcoming Events

December
3
Date
Tuesday, December 3, 2024. 4:30pm - 6:00pm
Location
Building 200, History Corner
450 Jane Stanford Way, Building 200, Stanford, CA 94305
305
December
4
Date
Wednesday, December 4, 2024. 6:30pm
Location
McMurtry Building
355 Roth Way, Stanford, CA 94305
Oshman Hall

Current Exhibitions

Date
Tuesday, November 26, 2024. 9:00am - Wednesday, November 27, 2024. 7:00pm
Location
McMurtry Building
355 Roth Way, Stanford, CA 94305
Bowes Art & Architecture Library

Bowes Library’s Autumn 2024 exhibition, SCRABrrRrraaNNG! The Explosion of Futurist Poetry, explores the unique history of Italian Futurist poetry during…

News

Senior Sydney Kaminski is bringing back floral corsages, which were popular fashion accessories that students wore to Big Game a century ago. | Andrew Brodhead