In the middle of Winter Quarter 2025, 12 undergraduates, 1 graduate student leader, and their Professor, Jamie Nisbet, took a trip to Chicago as part of the Art History Social Hour class (AH 197). AH 197 is for first year students who are new to UCI and serves as an introduction to the department, what kinds of opportunities there are in Art History, and the major as a whole. This trip gave first year students the chance to travel to see art, which is a unique and special experience.
The group did lots of neat things on the trip including eating dinner at the famous Gage Restaurant, staying at the historic Palmer House Hotel, taking an architectural walking tour of the city, and visiting the highly anticipated Chicago Art Institute. In preparation for this trip, the students all researched one famous artwork that is displayed at the Chicago Art Institute, so when they visited the museum, the group got to see the art they learned about in person.
This trip to Chicago was a fantastic first travel experience through the Department of Art History, and for many of the students, it was their first time venturing that far out of the state. This trip gave them a sense of what kinds of phenomenal experiential activities they can participate in during their time at UCI through generous funding from the Steckler Family Initiative in Art History.