Click each Minor for an overview:
- Minor—History of Art & Architecture
- Minor—Architecture & Urban History
- Minor—Museum Studies
- Minor—Game Studies
For more information about the University's requirements, consult the UCSB General Catalog 
. If you have additional questions, contact the Undergraduate Advisor, arthistory-ug-arthi@ucsb.edu 
.
History of Art & Architecture Minor
More information to come.
Architecture & Urban History Minor
The Architecture & Urban History Minor is for students who are interested in the history of the built environment and wish to acquire focused training in architectural and urban history. It is designed to provide a solid “pre-professional” education for students interested in pursuing careers in architecture/planning/conservation of the built environment. The Minor encompasses the historical investigation of the full range of the built environment from the interior and building scale to the scale of the city, landscape, and region. It addresses the process of planning and construction as well as the material, social, political, and environmental factors that enable the production of the built environment. Grounded in the analysis of architectural drawings, urban plans, on-site investigation, architectural imaging, archival documents, and theoretical texts, students acquire an understanding of how the representations of the built environment relate to practice and the user’s experience of built space. The objective of the Architecture & Urban History Minor is to focus on the importance of architecture, planning and urban history in the larger current discourse about the environment.
Museum Studies Minor
Museum Studies is an interdisciplinary academic field that examines the influential and multifaceted role that museums and related institutions play in society. The minor is designed for students majoring in disciplines other than Art History, offering them training relevant to career paths at different types of museums—anthropology, archaeology, art, history, science, and technology, among others—and providing them with a formal credential. The courses that students take guide them in developing an informed and critical perspective on the work done in museums by addressing the history, functions, practices, and ideologies of museums and collections of various kinds through time and across the globe. What students learn in the classroom is complemented by the practical experience they gain in internships, which allow them to explore museum and related professions firsthand.
Game Studies Minor
Game Studies is an interdisciplinary minor and students can take classes from a range of different departments (Film and Media Studies, English, HAA, Writing, Communications, psychology and brain sciences, computer science). The minor is for students who are interested in game studies (of all types) and wish to acquire focused training in the visual and material culture, history, theory, development, programming, narrative, and production of games. This minor encompasses the investigation of games from a range of different perspectives, including the aesthetics of games, the cultural and historical context surrounding games, the social, political and economic implications of games, and the design (visual and narrative) of games.
It relates to History of Art & Architecture since games have always been an intrinsic part of visual and material culture, and are becoming increasingly prominent in the collections and exhibitions of art museums (MoMA, SAAM, etc.); many of the skills that students build in art history courses – for example, close looking, formal analysis and cultural contextualization—lend themselves to the study of games, and these analytical skills can be used both in the classroom and in the workplace.
This minor is designed to leverage two key strengths across the University: the range of game-based courses offered in different departments, and faculty expertise in preparing students for professional careers relating (directly or indirectly) to game studies, both in academic settings and in the workplace. The minor will give students concrete, marketable skills in script writing, programming, modeling, team work, festival entry (among others). Students who undertake a minor in Game Studies will be well-prepared to choose from among a number of career paths that benefit from this interdisciplinary training.