Resources

The University of Michigan offers several exceptional resources for art historians on campus. The Francis W. Kelsey Museum of Archaeology, housing ancient art and archaeological materials, and the University of Michigan Museum of Art are both important collections of original artifacts as well as active teaching institutions. History of Art classes frequently meet in the museums and students work directly with museum objects; opportunities also exist for students to assist with exhibitions and other museum programs. The Fine Arts Library, housed in Tappan Hall, is a major research collection of books and periodicals from around the world in addition to up-to-date on-line and CD-ROM resources; the Eleanor Collins Visual Resource Collections is not only one of the best teaching collections of slides and photographs in the United States, but also contains significant research holdings in Asian art.

Other collections of interest to students include the extensive archives of prints, drawings, photographs, and maps at the William L. Clements Library of Americana and New World Studies, the Bentley Historical Collections specializing in the history of Michigan, and the Taubman Medical Library.

The Detroit Institute of Arts, the Toledo Museum of Art, the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village, and the Cranbrook Museums of Science and Art are within an hour's drive and frequently included in field trips. History of Art classes have also scheduled visits to special exhibitions in Cleveland, Chicago, and Washington, DC.

Helicon, the department's undergraduate association, sponsors a variety of activities such as films, museum trips, speakers, and social events. All History of Art concentrators are eligible to join; notices of meetings and events are posted on the bulletin board in the Tappan Hall lobby.