Ph.D. Program

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Areas of Concentration

The Art History Department offers the Ph.D. in American art, architecture, and popular culture; Early Modern art; East Asian art; Late Gothic and Northern Renaissance art; Islamic art and architecture; Greek and Roman art and archaeology; Modern/Contemporary art (including 19th, 20th and 21st century art, film, and photography) and South Asian art and architecture.

It is the intent of the Department that all course work and preliminary exam preparation will be completed within two years after commencing the Ph.D. program. The Graduate School imposes a five-year time limit for finishing the Ph.D. following the successful completion of the preliminary written and oral exams. While the Graduate School has established this five-year deadline, Departmental funding is a separate issue determined by each student's funding package. For further details, see the Graduate School Catalog. Information on petitioning for an extension of the time is contained in Appendix B.

Language Requirement

Ph.D. students are required to attain a reading knowledge in two languages appropriate to the student's program. The language requirements can be satisfied in the following two ways:

Students successfully complete a course such as “Reading French in the Arts and Sciences” or “Reading Italian for Graduate Students” and the department offering the course certifies that the student has completed the requirement. To do this, a form must be submitted to the graduate school from the language department in which the course was taken.
The Department of Art History certifies that the language requirement has been met by one of the following: the successful completion of appropriate Continuing Education and Extension courses; the successful completion of the “1986 Second Language Requirement” of the College of Liberal Arts, University of Minnesota (equivalent of four semesters of course work); or the successful completion of language courses at another institution. To do this, a form must be submitted to the graduate school from the Art History Department.

Degree Program Form

During the second year of study, the Degree Program Form is filed with the Graduate School. The Degree Program form must be filed at least one semester prior to the preliminary oral examination.

Degree Program forms can be obtained online at http://www.grad.umn.edu/current_students/forms/doctoral.html. Two forms are necessary: 1) Degree Program Transmittal and Degree Program Committee Form and 2) Degree Program Course Work. Degree Program Forms are completed with the guidance of the DGS, in consultation with the student’s proposed adviser.

Advisers/Examining Committee: Students should contact proposed advisers and committee members to obtain their commitment to participate on the Examining Committee. Members of the Committee should be familiar with the student and his/her work. The Examining Committee consists of a minimum of four members: three faculty members from Art History and one or two from the outside minor or supporting program. One member from Art History must reflect the area of primary concentration and one must reflect the area of secondary concentration. The student's adviser cannot serve as the chair of the Final Oral Examination Committee; however, the adviser can chair the preliminary examinations. The adviser from the secondary concentration serves as one of the two remaining art history members. Instructors whose courses are art historical in content may not serve as examiners from the minor or supporting program.

The Committee is the same for the written and oral preliminary examinations.

Course Work: The Degree Program Course Work Form lists all course work that will count toward the 54 credit degree requirement. It reflects completed course work with grades and proposed course work for the remaining terms of registration. The form also details the primary and secondary concentrations and the fulfillment of the language requirement. (To apply transfer course work from other institutions or CEE, consult “Instructions for the Degree Program Form” and the Graduate School Catalog.

The Degree Program Form will be presented to the Director of Graduate Studies, who will approve the primary and secondary concentrations.

Any change in the Degree Program form (such as a change in the list of courses taken) must be requested on a Graduate School Petition form, with the exception of substitutions on the examining committee. Substitutions must be approved by the DGS, in consultation with the academic adviser. The DGS then reports the change to the Graduate School.

Course Requirements

Credits and Distribution

The student, in consultation with the adviser and other relevant faculty members, designs a program that incorporates the following requirements:

54 credits of course work--a cohesive selection related to the student's primary and secondary concentrations.

Primary Concentration: at least 18 credits of course work must be completed in one area of Art History.
Secondary Concentration: at least 9 credits of course work must be completed in another area of Art History.

Minor or Supporting Program: at least 6 credits (of the 54) must be taken outside the Department of Art History.

Minor: at least 6 credits must be taken in a single field outside the Department of Art History. The field must be related to Art History, but cannot be art historical in content.
Supporting Program: a supporting program consists of a minimum of 12 credits, which may be from more than one discipline outside the Department. 6 credits may be art historical in content; however, they must be outside the student's primary area of concentration. The other 6 credits of the supporting program must not be art historical in content.

Thesis Credits: a student is required by the Graduate School to enroll for at least 24 thesis credits (8888) while writing the dissertation.
Graduate course work from the M.A. program may be applied to Ph.D. requirements. Students arrange for courses to be listed on the Ph.D. Degree Program Form in consultation with their adviser and the DGS. All credits applied must be approved by the DGS. Consult the Graduate School Catalog for additional details on credit transfer to the Ph.D. program.

The Graduate School requires five semesters of full-time registration for Ph.D. students.

Preliminary Exams

The student must pass preliminary written and preliminary oral examinations in order to proceed with work on the dissertation. There are at least four goals of the examinations: 1. they allow the student to show comprehensive knowledge of issues in his/her fields of interest; 2. they should demonstrate critical thinking about important issues in the history of art and relevant fields; 3. they should demonstrate the student’s capacity to think critically in relation to the prevailing literature, to find the limitations and strengths of particular texts, to place different texts in conversation, and to take up and support positions relative to the views of other scholars; 4. they offer the opportunity for students to take stock of what they have studied and to think systematically about what they have learned so that they can fill in gaps and intellectually organize ideas and issues.

The Written Exam

The written exam is a two week, take-home exam, which consists of three essay questions to be given to the student at the beginning of the exam period. One of these should be written by the student’s adviser, the other two questions may be written by a combination of other faculty members from the student’s committee. For example, a student in consultation with his or her adviser might find it most useful to have questions from all three of the committee members in the art history department, or s/he may want to have the outside member write one of the questions. This should be determined by the adviser in consultation with the student. The content of the exam should be focused on the student’s coursework, and the questions should allow the student to show a comprehensive knowledge of issues appropriate to his/her field(s) of study. Each essay should be approximately 10 pages double spaced in 12 type font, and should include footnotes/endnotes and/or a bibliography.

The Examining Committee consists of a minimum of four members. At least three members are drawn from the Faculty of the Art History Graduate program; two of the members should be professors with whom the student has taken courses; one member of these should represent the secondary field in art history. The remaining one or two members are drawn from Graduate faculty outside the Department of Art History. Any faculty member who is an affiliate member of the art history department may serve as an inside member or an outside member, but not both at once. The role that an affiliate member may serve on Ph.D. committees is determined by the specific nature of their graduate appointment. For more information about affiliate faculty, contact the DGS.

Preparing for the Written Exam

The student should first discuss with the adviser the intent to take the examinations approximately one semester in advance.

At least 8 weeks before the exam is scheduled the student should personally contact each member of the committee and discuss the material for which the student will be responsible on the exam. The student and faculty collaboratively produce a bibliography for each of the areas of the exam from which questions may be drawn.

About 6 weeks before the proposed exam date the adviser should contact the other committee members about whether they will need to prepare questions.

About 4 weeks in advance of the exam date, the advisor should collect questions from the other members of the committee and compose the examination, which s/he must then submit to the Graduate Studies Committee, via the DGS, for approval.

Taking the Written Exam

Following the completion of the written exam, the answers will be given (either in hard copy or digital form) to all of the members of the Examining Committee for review. A hard copy must be placed in the student’s permanent file in the art history office.

The Chair of the Examining Committee must give the entire committee at least seven working days to read the written exam; once all the committee members have read the exam and deemed it passable, the advisor and DGS sign the Preliminary Written Examination Report. Once this form is filed in the Graduate School (and a photocopy kept in the student’s permanent file), the student may take the oral exam.

Preparing for the Oral Examination
In order to schedule the oral examination, students must demonstrate to the Graduate School that they have passed the written examination by filing the Preliminary Written Examination Report. Once the student files this form, s/he must officially schedule the oral by submitting the Preliminary Oral Examination Scheduling form to the Graduate School. Once the oral is scheduled, the student will be issued the Preliminary Oral Examination Report from the Graduate School. This form lists the official members of the Examining Committee, and each member signs the form at the conclusion of the oral examination. Once the form is signed, a copy is kept in the student’s permanent file in the art history office, and the original is sent to the Graduate School as evidence that the student has passed both the written and oral portions of the preliminary examination.

In advance of the oral examination, which can be held anytime from two weeks to two months after the written exam, students must prepare a dissertation prospectus. The exact format of the prospectus may vary, but it should be about 15 pages in length and contain the following: 1. a literature review in which the student lays out the current literature on his/her topic; 2. a statement on methodology in which the student explains the primary methods s/he will use in researching and writing the dissertation; 3. a brief summary of the project, which positions its goals in relation to the current literature and situates the project intellectually; 4. chapter summaries, which sketch out the form that the dissertation will take and indicate how it will be organized; 5. a plan of work, in which the student provides a proposed timeline for researching and writing the dissertation, including what archives, libraries, museums, or archaeological sites, s/he plans to visit.

Oral Examination

The preliminary oral examination allows the Examining Committee to evaluate the student's readiness to proceed with writing the Ph.D. thesis. The exam may address the written exam and its relation to the area(s) of specialization, or the minor or supporting program; however, the focus is primarily on the subject of the dissertation. The oral exam is taken after the successful completion of the written examination.

Students preparing to take the oral exam must schedule it with the Graduate School (316 Johnston Hall) at least one week in advance of the exam date. This is done by filing the Preliminary Written Examination Report and the Preliminary Oral Examination Scheduling form. The student is also responsible for scheduling the oral exam with members of the Examining Committee. All assigned members of the Examining Committee must be present for the exam to be considered valid. If special circumstances arise, immediately consult the Department and the Graduate School (see the Graduate School Catalog). For further details on the exam, particularly on committee voting and passing requirements, consult the Graduate School Catalog or see the Graduate School website.

Upon the successful completion of the oral examination (pass, or pass with reservations), the student is considered an official candidate for the doctoral degree.

The Preliminary Oral Examination Report must be filed with the Graduate School within 24 hours after the oral takes place.

Ph.D. Thesis

The thesis must demonstrate originality and ability to conduct independent investigation. The results of the research must embody a contribution to knowledge in the field and must be presented with a satisfactory degree of literary skill.

When submitting the Degree Program form, or not later than the first semester after completing the preliminary oral exam, the Thesis Proposal Form is to be filed with the Graduate School. The form consists of three parts: Thesis Proposal Transmittal, Thesis Proposal Title, Thesis Proposal. The forms can be obtained from outside 316 Johnston Hall and details of the proposal content can be found at the Graduate School website.

Graduate School specifications on the preparation and format of the Doctoral Thesis can be found on line at http://www.grad.umn.edu/gsss/forms.html

Thesis Review

Refer to the Graduate School Catalog for information on procedures for review of the Ph.D. thesis by Final Oral Examination Committee members. The thesis must be certified as ready for defense prior to the Final Oral Examination.

Thesis Reviewers must be notified at least two weeks in advance that the thesis will be ready for review on a certain date. Additionally, the reviewers must be given two weeks to review the thesis before the final oral examination.

The thesis title page is to be filed with the Graduate School at least two weeks prior to the final oral examination. Filing the title page consists of submitting a copy of the title page as it will appear in the final copy of the Ph.D. thesis. When the title page is filed, the student will receive the Thesis Reviewer's Report.

The Thesis Reviewer's Report is filed with the Graduate School at least one week prior to the final oral examination. Further information on the faculty who may serve as Thesis Reviewer is contained in the Graduate School Catalog.

When the Thesis Reviewer's Form is picked up from Johnston Hall the student should also obtain: A Survey of Earned Doctorates, a Microfilm Agreement, the Application for Degree, and additional graduation information.

Two copies of the bound thesis and the Thesis Abstract are submitted to the Graduate School on the last working day of the month to graduate in that month. The student's adviser signs the Thesis Abstract Form.

Questions? Call the Graduate School at (612) 625-2306.

Final Oral Examination (Thesis Defense)

The final oral examination by the student is scheduled with the Graduate School at least one week in advance.

The final oral examination will cover the thesis topic.

The Final Oral Examining Committee consists of a minimum of four members. The committee includes three thesis readers, one of whom must be outside the Art History Graduate faculty, and one examiner. The student's adviser cannot function as the chair of the Final Oral Examination Committee.

The Final Examination Report Form should be received by the Graduate School on the last working day of the month in order to be able to graduate in that month.

Questions can be answered by the Graduate School staff at (612) 625-0168.

Public Presentation

At the commencement of the thesis defense, the student is required to give a 20-minute oral presentation on the thesis. This presentation is open to the public. Announcements should be posted in Heller Hall and in other relevant places at least one week in advance

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