Course load
The Department of Art History and Archaeology defines a "full-time" course load as 9 hours per semester. This is less than the 12 hours required by most departments, but the intensive reading and writing components of our graduate courses necessitates this smaller load. The smaller course load implies the deep and intensive study that gives our students their professional advantage. As such, students should plan on extensive reading, and budget time for writing and revising drafts of their papers.

Research Papers
M.A. students are required to write at least four substantial research papers, three of them during the first two semesters. Only two of these papers may be in one field.
Students should place two papers in their file before February 1. Having papers in students' files gives the faculty more material to evaluate their capabilities when conducting the annual review of continuing students in late February to early March.

Languages
At the M.A. level, we require students to demonstrate reading proficiency in one language (German, French, or Italian for western art). There are two ways of demonstrating proficiency.
The first way is a departmental examination verifying that students can use at least one relevant language in research. The department schedules these language exams during registration for the first semester. If needed, the student may arrange a retest later during the first semester or early in their second semester. The second way to demonstrate proficiency is by completing a "reading knowledge" course with a grade of B+ or better. The department will generally subsidize the cost of enrollment. Any student embarking on this path should remember that a 9-hour course load in our department plus a 3-hour language course constitutes a very demanding schedule.
Ph.D. candidates in western art are required to prove proficiency in two languages by the end of their first year. One of these languages must be either French or German; proficiency in both is strongly encouraged.
Language requirements for students in Chinese and Japanese fields differ.

Doctoral Dissertation and Ph.D. Qualifying Exam
Ph.D. qualifying exams in the Department of Art History and Archaeology are intended to test the student's general knowledge as well as mastery of his/her area or areas of specialization. To this end, exams are tailored to the individual student, and can be both general and highly specific. There are both written and oral components; the amount of time devoted to each component is determined by the exam model preferred by the faculty advisor.
Usually a student will have an approved dissertation topic and committee at the time of the examination.
Exams are taken at the completion of course work, that is, at the end of the 4th or beginning of the 5th semester following the M.A. degree. Thus, for example, a student may take exams in the spring, at the end of the last semester of coursework, or possibly early in the fall, thereby having a summer to study. As a general rule, students are advised not to devote more than approximately two to three months to studying for the qualifying exam.

Review Procedure for Candidates Applying for Admission to the Ph.D. program
The following steps constitute our second-year review procedures for students who are completing a M.A. degree and applying to continue in the Ph.D. program:

1. Prior to completion of the master's degree, the candidate will have successfully passed one language exam, and will have on file in the departmental office three samples of scholarly writing completed for two different faculty members.

2. The student will submit a formal letter requesting admission to the Ph.D. program. The letter will include a statement of the student's area of study and the faculty member/s who will act as mentors and dissertation director. A memo from the same faculty members agreeing to said sponsorship will accompany the student's letter.

3. Admission to the Ph.D. program is contigent upon the successful completion of the Master's degree, including Master's thesis. The thesis will be read by three faculty members and accepted as evidence of the student's ability to conduct Ph.D. level work and promise to complete the degree successfully. Students should apply for admission into the Ph.D. program by letter during the Spring semester of their final M.A. year.

4. The full faculty will vote that the student has successfully completed the requirements above and should be admitted to the Ph.D. program.

Ph.D. Qualifying Exams
Qualifying exams in the Department of Art History and Archaeology are intended to test the student's general knowledge as well as mastery of his/her area or areas of specialization. To this end, exams are tailored to the individual student, and can be both general and highly specific. There are both written and oral components.

Usually a student will have an approved dissertation topic and commitee at the time of examination.

Exams are taken at the completion of coursework, that is, at the end of the 4th of beginning of the 5th semester following the M.A. degree. Thus, for example, a student may take exams in the spring, at the end of the last semester of coursework, or possibly early Fall, thereby having a summer to study. As a general rule, students are advised not devote more than approximately two months to studying for the qualifying exams.

The department utilizes two basic formats or "models" for the examination. The choice of model is up to the principal adviser in consultation with the student. Each option has both written and oral components.

Oral Model:
A. An oral exam consists of one major and two minor fields, or two major fields. A field is defined broadly (e.g. Renaissance, Japanese art, Modern architecture) and is intended to test the scope as well as the specificity of a student's knowledge. Fields are defined by the advisers in consultation with the student. The oral exam is administered by at least three professors, and lasts between two and three hours. Each examiner will ask the student general and specific questions for approximately 30-45 minutes.
B. The student will write a research paper on one topic selected form a list of topics submitted by the examiners. The paper will be due two weeks from the date the student selects the topic.

Written Model:
A. The student will take written exams on one primary field and two secondary fields, or on two primary fields as defined by the advisers in consultation with the student. As above, fields are defined broadly (e.g. Renaissance, Japanese art, Modern architecture) and are intended to test the scope as well as the specificity of a student's knowledge. Generally, the written exams are given over two consecutive days: one day (6 hours) for the primary field, and one day for two secondary fields (3 hours each).
B. Following the reading of the written examination, all members of the student's committee will examine the student orally on the strengths and weaknesses of the written exams.

The choice model and alterations in the above procedures will be made in comsultation with the candidate's adviser and with the approval of the Ph.D. committee.

While qualifying exams may sound intimidating, the student should consider it an opportunity to master the discipline. It may well be the last time in your busy graduate and professional career that you can devote yourself full-time to studying...to reading and filling in those gaps.

Doctoral Dissertation Guidlines
For Further Information on the Graduate School of Arts and Science's guidlines for Doctoral dissertations, please click here.