Do You Capitalize Art History?

Art|Art History

Art history is a broad category of academic study that focuses on the analysis, interpretation and understanding of art objects and their historical and cultural context. It is an interdisciplinary field that combines history, anthropology, archaeology, material culture studies, and more. As such, it can encompass many different topics, including the study of ancient civilizations and their artworks; the impact of religion on art; the development of art movements; the interplay between politics and art; and much more.

The question of whether or not to capitalize art history is somewhat complicated. In general, capitalization should be used for proper nouns – those referring to specific people or places – but not for generic nouns like “art history” or “history of art.” That said, there are some contexts in which it may be appropriate to capitalize these terms.

For example, when referring to a specific course or program within an educational institution (e.g., “I am taking Art History 101 this semester”), it would be appropriate to use capitalization. Additionally, when using these terms as part of a title or heading (e., “The History of Art in Ancient Greece”), capitalization would also be appropriate.

When writing about art history in general academic contexts (think essays or research papers), it is best to stick with lowercase letters for these terms unless there is a specific reason for capitalizing them. In other words, unless the context calls for it (as described above), using lowercase letters for “art history” is preferable.

In conclusion, capitalizing art history should generally only be done when referring to a specific course/program/title that requires it – otherwise lowercase letters are preferred when writing about this topic in academic contexts.