The Art History community at Florida State University warmly welcomes you to the 2025–26 academic year. Whether you are a student, alumnus, faculty member, or a prospective scholar, we are excited to share this year’s news and opportunities with you. A highlight of the fall semester will be our Alumni Day celebration in October, and a number of academic and social events throughout the year will offer the chance to connect, exchange ideas, and enjoy being part of the FSU Art History and College of Fine Arts community.
The semester opened with a graduate orientation and luncheon for our ten new MA students and five new doctoral students. The department also hosted the annual Art History BA Fair, where all current and interested students learned about our programs, resources, and recent career placements. The pizza social that followed allowed students and faculty to get to know each other outside the classroom. More opportunities for gathering this semester are listed below, as well as groups and resources to help you stay connected.
LEFT: Graduate students at the orientation lunch; Director of Museum & Cultural Heritage Studies Mora Beauchamp-Byrd with new MCHS students; Undergraduate students at the Fall BA Fair social in the Art & Design Library.
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Coming this fall in the department and the college:
9/19 – Fall Research Forum: Doctoral students will present papers they are taking to academic conferences later this semester.
9/20 – Kickoff with CFA: Family Weekend community activities at MoFA with the College of Fine Arts.
9/25 – Conversaciones with the Curators: Personalized tour of the Museum of Fine Arts exhibition “Conversaciones: Latin American Indigenous Art” with the curators, Dr. Kaylee Spencer and Dr. Michael Carrasco.
10/20 – Art History Alumni Day: Campus tours, class visits, social gatherings, and an awards ceremony for this year’s Alumni Award honorees.
The Symposium Committee is pleased to announce the keynote speaker for our 42nd annual Art History Graduate Symposium in the spring: Claudia Brittenham, Professor of Art History and Race, Diaspora, and Indigeneity and Director of the Center for Latin American Studies at the University of Chicago. The committee is busy now planning events and preparing the call for papers for the conference, which will be held on March 6–7, 2026, and preparing to publish papers from the previous Symposium in Athanor in the winter. Recap and Photos: Symposium 41
The annual Museum & Cultural Heritage Studies Forum examines recent approaches to developing engaging, inclusive, and innovative approaches to museum public programming and cultural heritage and preservation initiatives. In April 2026, the 5th Annual MCHS Forum will focus on recent, innovative curatorial practices at art museums.
Art History student organizations are instrumental in keeping us connected and making our events succesful. The new officers of the graduate and undergraduate Art History Associations (AHA and UAHA) are planning a variety of academic and social activities for the coming year. Follow @arthistoryfsu on Instagram for the latest news and events, and visit our Committees & Groups page for organization information.