If you’re a fan of the “Da Vinci Code”, listen up! Many people don’t realize that the field of criminal justice can incorporate many different interests and hobbies—namely, art history.

The first master’s program in international art crime has recently opened in a small town in Umbria, Italy. Classes focus on international organized crime, art history, criminology, museum security, and forgery. The classes complement each other to form a three-month master’s program that is attempting to cater to a growing interest in the field. Thanks to news reports on looted art and art thieves in film (such as “Ocean’s Twelve”, which involves the theft of four important paintings), the profession is gaining an increasing amount of attention. Even police forces are getting involved by creating special art criminal justice squads to prevent art thievery. Even the F.B.I. has an Art Crime Team!

The master’s program is funded by the Association for Research Into Crimes Against Art, which works on art protection and recovery cases. Noah Charney, the director of the program, said that the time was ripe “for academic study to help inform future police enforcement.”

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