No future for art history - Art history degree could soon be history at McMaster

The art history degree could soon be history at McMaster as the university considers redirecting resources to meet growing demand for a broader fine art program.

But the proposal, announced this month, is not sitting well with a "small but mighty" group of art history majors concerned their field could be under threat as budgets tighten across the academic landscape.

While McMaster's dean of humanities, Suzanne Crosta, respects their spirit and their point, she said the numbers make it clear the university must make better use of resources by integrating its studio art program with art history and opening it to more students by creating two new degrees -- a bachelor of fine arts and a master of fine arts.

Demand for spaces in the standalone art history program has dwindled to the point where only seven students chose the specialty this year, Crosta said.