Overview

The Library’s art, art history, photography, and architecture collections primarily support research and instruction of art history students and faculty. Resource selection and retention is largely driven by faculty research interests and the curriculum. Faculty selections and course readings are prioritized.
Art history majors are required to take one course in a related discipline such as studio art, artifacts in history, material culture, chemistry and art, science of art, or philosophy of art; or, alternatively, a team-taught interdisciplinary course co-taught by one art history faculty member.
The major and minor in art history are offered through the department of history. More information about the art history program is available on the history department's website.

Departments/programs/subject areas supported

The art history program offers courses on ancient art, medieval art, Renaissance art, contemporary art, U.S. visual arts, art of Ireland, art of Philadelphia, gender, sexuality and visual culture, visual and material cultures, women in art, history of photography, and history of architecture. The humanities department also offers courses on architectural history and sacred architecture.

Resources Collected

The Library collects materials on all chronological periods with an emphasis on Western Europe and North America

  • Scholarly monographs in electronic and print formats (academic and art presses preferred)
  • Academic journals in electronic format (peer-reviewed preferred)
  • Electronic image resources
  • Major indexes to art, art history, and architecture journals

Resources and materials collected selectively or by request

  • Audiovisual materials (by request only)
  • Exhibition catalogs and catalogues raisonnés of selected artists
  • Academic journals in print format (only if electronic formats are unavailable or if their image quality is inferior)
  • Encyclopedias, companions, and handbooks (electronic formats strongly preferred)
  • Academic primary source collections (electronic formats preferred)
  • Foreign language monographs and journals (by request only)

Resources not collected

  • Microform
  • Non-Villanova theses and dissertations
  • Conference proceedings

Collaborations within the library

The Library’s art, art history, photography and architecture collections support a range of disciplines outside the art history program including, but not limited to, the Humanities department, the Augustine & Culture Seminar, and the studio art program.

Subject Librarian

Laurie Ortiz Rivera

Last updated: 8/25/2022