Art History

A minimum of 60 credits of approved coursework is required for a Ph.D. in art history. The student’s course of study must be planned in consultation with the program’s Executive Officer or Deputy Executive Officers. As soon as the student has chosen a particular field, he/she should select a specific adviser who is a regular member of the faculty and who will serve as program consultant. Students admitted with a baccalaureate degree will follow a planned program of study that may include courses offered at the Graduate Center, the various University colleges, or other universities.

All students are required to complete one course in Methods of Research and at least one course in each of the following areas: (1) African, Pre-Columbian, Native-American, Asian or Oceanic Art; (2) either Ancient Art or Medieval Art; (3) either Renaissance Art or Baroque Art; (4) Modern Art (European Art, Art of the United States or Latin America).

None of the above course requirements may be fulfilled through Independent Study. Students entering the program with either an M.A. degree or graduate credits taken elsewhere may fulfill some or all of these requirements through previous graduate coursework. At least 18 credits of upper-level seminars are required. Students may receive credit for graduate work taken elsewhere with the permission of the Executive Officer.

Students in the program are required to complete a concentration in a minor field, an area of art history that may or may not be chronologically related to their major field. By completing the minor, students develop research skills in a second area that equips them with professional expertise for teaching, museum work, scholarship, and/or criticism. A minor is defined as at least three graduate courses, one of which must be a seminar.

Upon or before the completion of 45 credits, the student will be required to pass a First (Qualifying) Examination in one of the three general areas of specialization offered by the program. The purpose of the First Examination is to test the student’s general knowledge of the major area of specialization.

The student must demonstrate a reading knowledge of two languages in addition to English. The languages will be chosen in accordance with the student’s area of specialization, with the approval of the student’s advisor and the Executive Committee. Entering students must satisfy one language requirement before the completion of 30 credits and the second before the completion of 60 credits. Students who transfer 30 credits are encouraged to complete one language before entering the program. If not, then they should complete this within one year.

On the completion of course requirements, the student will be required to pass an oral examination in his/her area of specialization and a minor field. In the oral examination the student must demonstrate a mastery of the critical literature as well as a concrete knowledge of the historical material in both the major and minor fields.

The dissertation shall be on a subject approved by the Executive Committee of the doctoral faculty and chaired by a faculty member from within the program. The student will be required to defend the dissertation in an oral examination before an examining committee of the student’s primary advisor, two other faculty members on CUNY doctoral faculty, and a fourth examiner who may be from outside CUNY.