ELLENSBURG, Wash.- Central Washington University (CWU) will begin offering a Bachelor’s Degree in Art History starting in the fall of 2023.
“There are a lot of students who are excited about art history—more than you might think,” said Erika Pazian, a CWU assistant professor who has been developing the curriculum since she arrived on campus in 2021.
CWU was the only public university in Washington that did not offer an Art History major before the announcement of the new program.
The new program features 29 required credits, according to a CWU press release announcing the degree program, including Surveys in European Art, Art Beyond the West, Recent Art, and Methods and Theories of Art History—all of which will be taught by Pazian and Professor Ellen Avitts.
One of the goals of the new Art History BA program is to “globalize the curriculum,” so that the instruction is not centered around only art from the United States and Europe.
“We want our students to receive a global education so they can see themselves in the art we are talking about,” said Pazian.
Three CWU students, Ivy Shearer, Joshua Collins, and Van Parsons will be graduating with art history degrees next spring and the programs first freshman, Elle Seidensticker will start in the fall according to the University.
