Art History, University of Toronto

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Art History, University of Toronto

The official page of the Department of Art History, University of Toronto. The Department of Art History is located in the Sidney Smith Hall Building.

The Department of Art History at the University of Toronto is devoted to investigating the ways in which individuals and civilizations have expressed themselves through the ages in architecture, painting and sculpture, printmaking, photography, and the various arts of design. Founded in 1934, it was the first model for such department at a Canadian university and has achieved an international repu

tation for scholarly and creative excellence. The Department offers both graduate and undergraduate degrees in Art History, exploring a wide chronological and geographic scope, ranging from the Bronze Age to the present, from Europe to Asia to the Americas. Extensive library resources, on-campus art collections, and a Federated Academic Digital Imaging System (developed completely within the Department of Art History and now used widely at other Canadian Universities) are enhanced by access to the country’s most vibrant, diverse, and well-represented art community.

08/12/2026

FAH380: This Woman’s Work: The Role of Women in Art History 🎨💁‍♀️

Wednesdays at 3-5 PM this Fall!

Who were the muses, makers, and patrons behind the canvas? Uncover the women who shaped art history.

Enrol in FAH380 on ACORN Now. 🏫

A&S Breadth: Cultural Representations (1)

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This course will explore the presence of in the world of by examining the role of women as creators, as subjects, as collectors, and as patrons. will investigate these conceptual functions within various geographic contexts including, Italy, France, England, Spain, and the Netherlands, covering a period from ca. 1300 to the 17th century. The course will look at various media such as illuminated manuscripts, paintings, tapestries, ceramics, jewellery & lace, and prints & drawings.

08/07/2026

*NEW* INTERNSHIP OPPORTUNITIES: Three new Fall-term 2026 internship opportunities in Art History have just dropped! 📣
Earn course credit (FAH481H1), learn new skills, and make professional connections. 🖼️

Apply today for your chance to work with:
corkingallery
Franz Kaka
Steelcase Art Projects

Applications due by August 19, 2026. See the link in bio for details! 🔗

07/31/2026

FAH275H1: From Diagram to Data: The History of Visualization 🗺️

Whatever you're studying, you're already fluent in diagrams - so here's your chance to learn where they came from. Enrol in FAH275H1 on ACORN Now. 🏫

Breadth Requirements: Creative and Cultural Representations (1)

07/21/2026

WATCH: University of Toronto Department of Art History Chair, Prof. Joseph Clarke, sat down with CBC News this month to talk all things 24 Sussex Drive — diving into the future of the PM’s official residence as the National Competition to restore this iconic building is set. 🏠🇨🇦

Tune in to hear his take on preserving history while reimagining what’s next. 🍁

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ARCHIVE: Read Prof. Clarke’s 2023 case for saving 24 Sussex Dr. Link in bio 🔗

07/14/2026

TEACHING RESOURCE: In their latest collection of free education resources Futurum Careers explores archaeology with University of Toronto Department of Art History's own Professor Carl Knappett! 🏺

"What can pottery from the past teach us about containment today?"

In a storeroom on the coast of the Greek island of Crete, a team of archaeologists is attempting an almost-4000-year-old 3D jigsaw puzzle. These archaeologists are piecing together pottery fragments they have excavated from the Minoan site of Palace and Landscape at Palaikastro - PALAP. By restoring these ancient pots and vases, the team is shedding light on Bronze Age society and asking questions about what ‘containment’ means today. 🧑‍🏫

Link in bio 🔗

07/10/2026

*NEW* COURSE: FAH 389: Art History and the World of Work: Navigating Diverse Professions! 🧑‍🎨👨‍💼🧑‍🏫

Coming Winter 2027!

FAH 389 presents a critical examination of the range of professions within reach of art history students. Through a series of thematic modules, students will learn about the cultural sector and the types of careers available (for example, architectural historian, archivist, appraiser, conservator, curator, educator, heritage professional, and publisher), and in workshops and assessments will learn how their skills, competencies, and disciplinary knowledge can be applied in practice. A special feature of this course will be guest speakers from across the arts and interactions with professionals in workplace settings. 🖼️🏢

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📍Details: ttb.utoronto.ca
📝 Enrol now on ACORN

06/19/2026

Another France course is in the books! 🇫🇷 This summer, FAH381 took a wonderful group of students through four weeks tracing antiquity across France, led by Profs Björn Ewald and Christina Katsougiannopoulou — two weeks in Paris 🗼 and two in the Roman south. 🏛️

The Paris leg brought students face to face with the ancient Mediterranean in the great collections of the Louvre and beyond 🏺, before the group headed south to where the Roman world still stands in the open air: the Maison Carrée and amphitheatre at Nîmes, the theatre and arch at Orange, the monuments of Arles, and the soaring Pont du Gard. ☀️ A memorable term spent learning to read the ancient world not just in museum cases but in the streets, stones, and landscapes that hold it. ✨

A special thank-you to the students for the two beautiful ceramic plates they painted in Nîmes and gifted to Björn and Christina — a testament to their creativity and artistry. 🎨

Congratulations to a terrific group of students! 🎓

06/17/2026

Haunting Presences and Visceral Reactions: Black Bodies, White Marble

We were thrilled to invite Professor Angelica Pessarini to share her outstanding research at University of Toronto Department of Art History graduate EDI Lunch on April 24, 2026.

Professor Pesarini's talk examines the haunting afterlives of Alessandro de’ Medici, the first Duke of Florence. It explores how Alessandro’s body and tomb have been subjected to racialized processes of erasure and symbolic cleansing aimed at restoring dominant historical narratives. Focusing on the tomb’s materiality, the analysis traces forms of bodily resistance articulated through haunting and racialized regimes of forgetting that continue to resonate in the present. In dialogue with and inspired by contemporary AfroItalian artistic production, such as Daphne di Cinto's short film "Il Moro", the talk argues that these spectral presences prompt us to imagine new modes of remembrance and futurity, and to reclaim genealogies that have long been suppressed.

Angelica Pesarini (Angie Pesarini) is an Assistant Professor in Race and Cultural Studies/Race and Diaspora and Italian Studies at the University of Toronto. Her work expands the field of Black Italia by examining the intersections of race, gender, identity, and citizenship, and decolonial approaches to history and memory. As a scholar-activist, she is actively engaged in the Italian anti-racist movement and is researching the impact of Black Lives Matter in Italy.

Thank you everyone who joined us, especially Professor Pesarini for sharing her insightful research and engaging discussion.

06/15/2026

☀️ SUMMER COURSE FEATURE ☀️

Still looking to fill your Sub-Session II schedule? Join University of Toronto Department of Art History for ‘FAH 448: International Art Since 1940’ with CI Lauren Barnes!

In this course, students will develop their own imaginary exhibitions based on the course content and their own research. The focus will be on global modernisms and global contemporary art, examined through the lens of exhibition histories with exhibition visits to the Art Museum at the University of Toronto and MOCA Toronto, and tours with curators!! 🖼️

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📍Details: ttb.utoronto.ca
📝 Enrol now on ACORN

📸: Les magiciens de la terre, retour sur une exposition légendaire (Centre Pompidou) by dalbera (CC BY 2.0).

Address

100 St George Street
Toronto, ON
M5S3G3

Website

https://arthistory.utoronto.ca/

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