The department conducts training to analyze/interpret works of visual art in a comprehensive manner based on a variety of methodologies, including approaches from the history of styles and ideas, sociocultural analysis, and critical philosophy, and psychoanalysis. The focus of the undergraduate curriculum is on systematically learning basic methodologies in the academic field, especially aesthetics, art history, and art studies. It is a unique characteristic of Hongik University to have the Department of Art Studies—which is close to the humanities—in the College of Fine Arts. This allows students to develop an artistic eye that encompasses the backgrounds of visual art creation, aesthetic perspectives, art history, art criticism, and the theories of formative arts. They also learn a vivid sense of the art scene and trends within contemporary art.

The major activities of the department include regular cultural field trips focusing on domestic and foreign art exhibitions and cultural heritage, as well as academic programs that reflect every student’s academic interests. In addition, students hold exhibitions organized on their own and develop practical skills through placement.

After graduation, they enter graduate schools in specific majors such as aesthetics, fine arts, art criticism, and formative arts, or become researchers at museums and art administrators. Personal activities include art history research, art reviews, as well as curatorships to plan/operate art exhibitions, and professionally working for magazines, newspapers, and TV related to art and culture.

The freshmen course is a core curriculum, or basic foundation course. This consists of an introduction to art history and an introduction to aesthetics, among other subjects. Emphasis is put on the study of foreign languages, which are essential to the study of the aforementioned fields in the semesters to come. The sophomore and junior curriculum are designed to teach related fields either periodically or theoretically. Students can customize their curriculum into diverse or specialized studies based on their interest or career needs after graduation. In their senior year, students can take upper-level seminars in iconography, East Asian arts and ideas, postmodernist theories, monographic studies, semiotics and diverse disciplines in art history, art theory, and aesthetics. Curatorial and other diverse internship programs are considered useful for those desiring direct experience in both not-for-profit and for-profit art institutions and galleries.