Art and Archaeology

Overview

Hood's Department of Art and Archaeology offers students the chance to study art, archaeology and visual culture with an exceptionally strong faculty. Students who major in art may concentrate in art history, archaeology, studio art or art education. The major prepares students for positions in museums, galleries and other cultural institutions, and offers excellent preparation for graduate school. Field trips to major museums are organized for students taking the initial survey courses as well as for more advanced courses.

Hood mounts exhibitions in its own art gallery, Hodson Gallery, about once a month. The frequent installations offer valuable experience for students, who can assist with every aspect of the exhibition program, including hanging works and helping to select the artists for future exhibits. There is also an annual exhibition of student art work for both undergraduate and graduate students.

Hood students also meet leading art historians, archaeologists and artists on campus. The department organizes lectures, presentations and workshops involving professional artists on a regular basis. Over the past several years, we have presented two lecture series, "The Art(s) of Gender" and "Mapping the Unknown: The Exotic in the Middle Ages"; a panel on archaeology, "Have Trowel, Will Travel"; and frequent presentations and workshops by visiting artists.

Art History

Art history courses at Hood introduce students to art and visual culture from the cave paintings of prehistory to the performance art of today. Because of Hood's location near Washington, D.C., and Baltimore, and the faculty's close ties with major museums in the area, art history students have an unusually rich range of opportunities. Poring over medieval manuscripts with a Walters Art Museum curator, examining Renaissance masterpieces with conservators at the National Gallery of Art and discussing contemporary sculpture with a curator at the Hirshhorn Museum, are all part of a Hood student's education.

Archaeology

Hood is unusual among liberal arts colleges in offering a concentration in archaeology. Archaeology students examine the art, artifacts and culture of the ancient world as well as the field methods of archaeologists today.

Hood students regularly participate in excavations in the United States and around the world, most recently at sites in Italy ( Rome, ostia and Pompeii), Turkey and Belize; one student also took part in an underwater excavation off the coast of Bermuda. U.S. sites include the Monocacy Civil War Battlefield and one of Thomas Jefferson's plantations in Virginia.

Students often receive funding from Hood grant programs to take part in these projects. Hood's archaeologists, Professors Jennifer Ross and Genevieve Gessert, regularly dig in Turkey and Italy. The largest archaeological firm in the United States, Christopher Goodwin and Associates, is located in Frederick, and offers an excellent local internship site for students.

Studio Art

The studio art concentration includes courses in design, drawing, painting, ceramics, photography and printmaking. Students choose to specialize in one of these areas. Hood also offers short workshops and demonstrations in ceramics featuring national and international guest artists. Studio faculty are active professionals, exhibiting their own work widely. Our close ties to the major museums and galleries in the area give students a rich and varied exposure to historical and contemporary art.

Art Education

Students who wish to teach art at the K-12 level should plan to major in art and archaeology with an art education concentration. Students in this concentration receive a strong training in traditional studio media, including design, drawing, painting, photography, ceramics and printmaking, as well as courses in digital media and art history. Students who successfully complete this concentration will receive certification to teach in Maryland upon graduation, as well as reciprocity for teaching in certain other states.

Admission to the Art and Archaeology Major

The program does not require a portfolio review for admission. However, students who have a portfolio of their work are encouraged to present the portfolio to faculty members. It is possible that a review of the portfolio will enable the student to receive credit for an introductory studio art course.

Hood awards credit for AP Art History exams with a score of 4 or 5.

Outside the Classroom

Fred Bohrer, professor of art, has said, "We go where art lives." Art and archaeology is an ideal major for students who love to travel as almost all classes include field trips to major museums in Washington, D.C., and Baltimore. Students also go farther afield: to Los Angeles, Toronto, Boston, New York and Philadelphia to visit museums and to attend the annual meeting of the College Art Association. Students have also visited Europe: one year to Italy, another to France and England. Our students have also held grants to study art in both Europe (Italy, Germany) and Asia (Korea).

Internships

Hood art and archaeology majors have completed internships at the following locations:

Smithsonian Institution
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
Historical Society of Frederick County
Christopher Goodwin Associates (the largest archeological firm in the United States)
National Gallery of Art
The Walters Art Museum
Guggenheim Museum, New York City

Alumnae and Alumni Success Stories

Graduates of Hood's art and archaeology program have enrolled in nationally and internationally known programs to pursue advanced studies. Among the institutions that have accepted Hood graduates are:

Bry Mawr College
Clemson University
Emory University
New York University
Southern Methodist University
State University of New York
The American University
The George Washington University
Tufts University
Tulane University
University of Chicago
University College, Dublin (Ireland)
University of London
University of Maryland
University of Pennsylvania
University of Strasbourg (France)
University of Texas, Austin

Hood graduates are also working in a variety of positions, such as:

Art consultant, architectural firm
Assistant professor of art history, Pacific Lutheran University
Coordinator, Children and Family Programs, Walters Art Museum
Culture resource and research assistant, A.D. Marble and Co.
Graphic designer, MICROS systems
Instructor, Arcadia Center for Hellenic, Mediterranean and Blakan Studies (Athens, Greece)
Reference librarian, National Museum of Art (Smithsonian)

For complete information in our online catalog, click here.

Academics.