Art History at UMass Lowell is responsible for teaching aesthetic and visual literacy in all its forms by relying on the tradition and discipline of art history. The faculty of Art History seeks to serve the students of the University as a whole, as well as the greater regional community.
The Art History program stresses the development of analytical and critical thinking skills and of intelligent appreciation. The acquisition of analytical and critical thinking skills introduces the students to the analysis and interpretation of works of visual art, as well as to the subjective matters of taste and patronage in historical eras. Within art history the material defined as visual arts has extended beyond canonical works to encompass commercial and popular imagery, including graphics, photography, film, video, television, and computer art, in sum multimedia.