COMPREHENSIVE EXAMINATION
All Sewanee students must pass a comprehensive examination ("comps") in their major prior to graduation. Comps for art history normally take place early in the Easter term over two days, a Friday afternoon and Saturday morning.
The comp consists of four parts:
Part I. Identification of Major Monuments from the History of Western Art
Students are presented with twenty pairs of slides. From each pair, students must choose one to identify and discuss, taking care to place the artwork within its historical, cultural, and stylistic context. Students have five minutes for each work; this section lasts one hour and forty minutes.
Monuments are selected from works listed on the time lines at the start of each chapter on Western art in Frederick Hartt’s survey book Art: A History of Painting, Sculpture Architecture.
Part II. Analysis of Unknown Artworks
A pair of slides showing two artworks not discussed in any classes will be projected. Students will write a short essay on one of these artworks. In this short essay, students should attempt to place the artwork within a particular culture and period. The work’s apparent medium and function should also be addressed. If appropriate, an artist and a possible title should be suggested as well. Students will have fifteen minutes for this section.
Part III. Term Identification
Students must provide short definitions of forty art historical terms, names, and concepts. Ninety minutes are given for the completion of this section.
Part IV. Two Essays Based on Upper-Division Coursework
Students write two essays within a time limit of ninety minutes for each essay. The essay questions emphasize major art-historical trends considered in both lower- and upper-division courses.
A Blackboard site has been designed to assist majors with their preparation for comps.
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