​​Imagine walking in Rome like a real Roman, hunting for objects in Beijing like a Chinese local, or working at the Pergamon in Berlin for a summer. Picture giving a gallery talk at the Musée D’Orsay in Paris, drinking tea and conversing about murals at the Todaiji Temple in Kyoto, receiving a well-deserved fellowship at the Prado in Madrid, or decoding archives at the Hermitage in St. Petersburg. Foreign language fluency allows you to work around the globe.
University of Delaware art history majors can now earn a second major in a foreign language, but with reduced workloads and course requirements. Unlike regular double majors, each joint major has reduced coursework and credit requirements, with four to 12 fewer credits depending on the joint major. The departments of Art History and Languages, Literatures and Cultures spent three years developing the program, which offers joint majors in art history and a choice of nine language areas:
Art History–Ancient Greek and Roman Studies
Art History–Chinese Studies
Art History–German Studies
Art History–French Studies
Art History–Italian Studies
Art History–Japanese Studies
Art History–Spanish Studies
Art History–Russian Studies
Art History–Three Languages
The program expands international career opportunities for UD students and prepares them for graduate studies. It also increases their chances of acceptance for summer fellowships and post-graduate internships in national and international museums and organizations. The United Nations and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) prioritize multilingualism and cultural diversity, as shown in these videos: One World, Many Languages and Language Matters.
Vimalin Rujivacharakul​ Ph.D.​, associate professor of art history and the department's director of undergraduate studies, collaborated with departments and units across campus to launch the nine new joint majors in art history and foreign languages. She also collaborated with the Biden School of Urban Policy to create two new 4+1 programs (ARTH+M.A. in urban affairs and public policy and ARTH+M.A. in public administration), generating more channels for UD undergraduates to pursue master's degrees. Rujivacharakul worked with the following faculty in the Department of Languages, Literature, and Culture:​
Persephone Brahams, professor of Spanish and Latin American and Iberian Studies
Deborah Steinberger, associate professor of French and comparative literature
Haihong Yang, associate professor of Chinese
Chika Inoue, instructor of Japanese
Nancy Nobile (retired), associate professor of German
Laura Salsini, professor of Italian
Julia Hulings, assistant professor of Russian
Meghan McInnis-Dominguez, associate professor of Spanish
Tyson Sukava, assistant professor of classics
About the Department of Art History
The Department of Art History at the University of Delaware is dedicated to education and research in the history of the visual arts. It has an established national and international reputation as the home of leading specialists in the field. It is also a hub for accessing important art centers in the Mid-Atlantic region. With special strengths in American and European art and architecture, the department offers an expansive coverage of the arts and culture of historical periods internationally, from Greco-Roman antiquity to the present. Broader geo-cultural fields are covered as well, such as Chinese, Latin American, and African art.
The Department of Art History is committed to undergraduate education for majors and non-majors and to training graduate students who will be competitive at the higher reaches of their discipline as educators, museum curators, and scholars. Its undergraduate program includes the general major, nine double majors, two minors, honors degrees, and an option for majors to earn an M.A. degree through the 4+1 program. For graduate students, the department offers M.A. and Ph.D. degrees.
Article by Vimalin Rujiwacharakul, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Art History
Images courtesy of Rohan Reddy
September 7, 2023
