Velvet portraits and a video installation from ماه طلعت / Moon-faced shown as part of What Models Make Worlds: Critical Imaginaries of AI in 2023 at the Ford Foundation Gallery. Image courtesy of Ford Foundation Gallery.

How artists can ‘interrupt’ artificial intelligence

Stanford digital media artist Morehshin Allahyari uses AI in her studio and the classroom to bring creative, critical thinking to the use of the technology that is rapidly becoming ubiquitous.

McMurtry Building at night

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The Department of Art & Art History is an interdisciplinary department offering undergraduate and graduate degrees in art history, art practice, film and media studies, and documentary film. 

Art History

Art History is a discipline that strives to understand works of art, architecture, and design from a variety of perspectives, including the original context of their making and reception as well as their subsequent circulation, collection, conservation, and display. As culturally embedded expressions, works of art may yield multiple meanings depending on the kinds of research and interpretive strategies that art historians bring into play. 

Learn more about the Art History program

Art History undergraduate program

Art History graduate program

Art Practice

The Art Practice program on both undergraduate and graduate levels offers production-based curriculum to prepare students for creative careers in the visual arts and to hone their creative capabilities. Access to diverse courses and faculty, cross-disciplinary interaction, and well-equipped labs are among the strengths of this flexible program.

Learn more about the Art Practice program

Art Practice undergraduate program

Art Practice graduate program

Documentary Film and Video

Students in the Documentary Film and Video Program become conversant with the documentary tradition as well as with alternative media and new directions in documentary.  In addition to the training in documentary production, graduates gain substantive research skills in film criticism and film analysis. The MFA degree is designed to prepare students for professional careers in film, video, and digital media, with the qualifications to teach at the university level.

 Learn more about the MFA Program in Documentary Film

Film and Media Studies

The Bachelor of Arts in Film & Media Studies provides students with knowledge of film aesthetics, national cinematic traditions, modes of production in narrative, documentary, and experimental films, the incorporation of moving image media by contemporary artists, and the proliferation of new forms of digital media.

Learn more about the Film and Media Studies program

Opportunities

Photo by Misha Bruk for Stanford University

Now accepting applications

The Department of Art & Art History is currently seeking an Art Practice Technician. This role works closely with faculty, staff, and students to provide day-to-day support of graduate and undergraduate art practice courses in the department.

Upcoming Events

April
20
Date
Monday, April 20, 2026. 5:00pm - 7:30pm
Location
McMurtry Building
355 Roth Way, Stanford, CA 94305
Oshman Hall
April
23
Date
Thursday, April 23, 2026. 12:00pm - 1:30pm
Location
Building 260, Pigott Hall
450 Jane Stanford Way, Building 260, Stanford, CA 94305
Room 252
April
30
Date
Thursday, April 30, 2026. 5:30pm - 7:00pm
Location
McMurtry Building
355 Roth Way, Stanford, CA 94305
Oshman Hall

Current Exhibitions

Date
Thursday, April 16, 2026. 9:00am - Thursday, June 4, 2026. 7:00pm
Location
McMurtry Building
355 Roth Way, Stanford, CA 94305
Bowes Library, 2nd floor. For visitors, please call the circulation desk for…

When all that remains is a conduit of and for memory, subject and objecthood become interchangeable, mutually enlivening the other.

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