Career Tools & Internships
What can I do with a degree in Art History?
Nichole Rawlings ’10 served as the Gallery Director at Brenau University in Gainesville, Georgia from 2012-2022.
An art history degree from Elon prepares you for an array of postgraduate opportunities. Art history alumni have gone on to graduate programs in art history and museum studies as well as work in the fields of art journal publications, art practice, visual culture, museums, international studies, and history, among others. The art history faculty place mentoring and advising at the center of the experience of our major and minor, working with students as they move through the curriculum to better integrate their coursework, internships, study abroad, and professional development opportunities.
Access to the Student Professional Development Center at Elon
In addition to faculty expertise, current Art History students and alumni have access to Elon’s Student Professional Development Center (SPDC). At the SPDC students can receive career advising, help with resumes and cover letters, search for jobs, internships, or graduate programs, find resources to help with the transition to a first job or between jobs, as well as create business and calling cards.
Resources for Art History Students:
What does a resume emphasizing my studies in Art History look like?
Resume from a 2010 grad who works in a university art gallery
Resume from a 2009 graduate who works in an education department in a museum
Internships in Art History
Elon art history students have landed internships in some of the most prestigious museums and art galleries in the country including: Sotheby’s in London, Christie’s Art Auction House, Pace Prints Gallery in New York, the Archives of American Art, The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, The High Museum, The Mint Museum, The Carrack, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Virginia Fine Arts Museum, The Smithsonian American Art Museum, Reynolda House, The North Carolina Museum of Art, and the Phoenix Art Museum.
Whom to contact at Elon?
- Art History Faculty
- Student Professional Development Center
Register for Internship Credit – ARH 481: Internship in Art History (1-4 SH)
Request a recommendation for an internship from the art history faculty.
Sarah Timm ’09 stands in Hagia Sophia, Istanbul
Graduate Studies in Art History
Although the Art History major is only 10 years old our alumni have been accepted into top graduate programs for Art History, Art Criticism, Museum Studies, Industrial Design, Fashion Design, Law, and Information, and Library Science. Students have attended programs at:
- American University
- Northwestern
- Indiana University at Bloomington
- Cornell Univeristy
- Emory Univeristy
- The University of Colorado at Boulder
- Virginia Commonwealth University
- Drexel University
- Florida State University
- University of Virginia
- NYU Steinhardt
- The University of California at Riverside
- Sotheby’s Institute of Art in London
- Stonybrook University
- University of the Arts in Philadelphia
- New York University
- Chatham University
- University of California at Berkeley
- Northwestern University
- The University of South Florida
Request a recommendation for graduate school from the art history faculty.
Yes, Art History majors do find jobs!*
Beth Morris curates “Moving Earth,” a 2016 exhibit on the creation of the British Landscape in the Memorabilia Room at the Yale Center for British Art.
Yes, Art History majors do find jobs after graduation! We also know this to be true because our alumni have great jobs in and outside of the field. ARH@Elon alumni are lawyers, copy editors, project managers, university gallery directors, investment managers, librarians at Yale, creative directors, managers of interpretation (yes, that’s a real job!), teachers, principals, the regional associate director of admissions for Elon (ahem!), marketing and communications managers, interaction designers at Red Hat, pop-culture critics, digital marketing specialists, co-owners of small businesses, data collection specialists, and one of our majors has a job so top secret we can’t even tell you about it. Look for our alumni on LinkedIn. *and the field is growing!