When studied through the eyes of art historians and critics, artistic expression be it Hellenic sculpture of the 10th century BCE or postmodern photographic explorations of the 1980s becomes a means for examining culture and civilization. As a humanistic discipline, the history of art emphasizes scholarly investigation and critical analysis, but students also explore studio art. Tufts students take field trips to museums up and down the east coast, and they are often found at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, sketching and making firsthand observations. The MFA is an invaluable resource for art history students at Tufts. The university also offers its own permanent collection, the Tufts University Art Gallery, with works by prominent artists such as Helen Frankenthaler and John Singer Sargent.