Loria Center, Rm. 251, 203.432.2668
http://arthistory.yale.edu
M.A., M.Phil., Ph.D.

Chair
Milette Gaifman (Loria 557, 203.432.2687, milette.gaifman@yale.edu)

Director of Graduate Studies
Nicola Suthor (Loria 655, 203.432.7210, nicola.suthor@yale.edu)

Professors Carol Armstrong, Tim Barringer, Marisa Bass, Edward Cooke, Jr., Milette Gaifman, Jacqueline Jung, Pamela Lee, Kishwar Rizvi, Nicola Suthor, Mimi Hall Yiengpruksawan

Associate Professors Craig Buckley, Jennifer Raab

Assistant Professors Nana Adusei-Poku, Alexander Ekserdjian, Joanna Fiduccia, Morgan Ng, Quincy Ngan, Catalina Ospina

Fields of Study

African art; African American art; American art; Asian art; British art; Byzantine art and architecture; Caribbean art; colonial Latin American art; contemporary art; eighteenth-century art; film and media; Greek and Roman art and architecture; history of photography; Native North American Art; Islamic art and architecture; Italian Early Modern Renaissance art and architecture; material culture and decorative arts; medieval European art and architecture; modern architecture; modern art; Netherlandish, Dutch, and Flemish art; nineteenth-century art; Northern Renaissance art; Pre-Hispanic art; seventeenth-century-European art and architecture; Slavic art.

Special Requirements for the Ph.D. Degree

All students must pass examinations in at least two languages pertinent to their field of study, to be determined and by agreement with the adviser and director of graduate studies (DGS). One examination must be passed during the first year of study, the other not later than the beginning of the third term. During the first two years of study, students typically take twelve term courses. In March of the second year, students submit a qualifying paper that should demonstrate the candidate’s ability successfully to complete a Ph.D. dissertation in art history. During the fall term of the third year, students are expected to take the qualifying examination. Candidates must demonstrate knowledge of their field and related areas, as well as a good grounding in method and bibliography. By the end of the second term of the third year, students are expected to have established a dissertation topic. A prospectus outlining the topic must be approved by a committee at a colloquium by the end of the third year. Students are admitted to candidacy for the Ph.D. upon completion of all predissertation requirements, including the prospectus and qualifying examination. Admission to candidacy must take place by the end of the third year.

The faculty considers teaching to be an important part of the professional preparation of graduate students. Students are required to complete four terms of teaching. This requirement is fulfilled in the second and third years. Students may also serve as a graduate research assistant at either the Yale University Art Gallery or the Yale Center for British Art. This can be accepted in lieu of one or two terms of teaching, but students may accept a graduate research assistant position at any time after the end of their first year. Application for these R.A. positions is competitive.

Combined Ph.D. Programs

History of Art and Black Studies

The Department of the History of Art offers, in conjunction with the Department of Black Studies, a combined Ph.D. in history of art and Black studies. Students in the combined-degree program must take five courses in Black studies as part of the required twelve courses and are subject to the language requirement for the Ph.D. in history of art. The dissertation prospectus and the dissertation itself must be approved by both History of Art and Black Studies. For further details, see Black Studies.

History of Art and Early Modern Studies

The Department of the History of Art offers, in conjunction with the Early Modern Studies Program, a combined Ph.D. in the History of Art and Early Modern Studies. For further details, see Early Modern Studies.

History of Art and English

The Department of the History of Art also offers, in conjunction with the Department of English Language and Literature, a combined Ph.D. degree in History of Art and English Language and Literature. The requirements are designed to emphasize the interdisciplinarity of the combined degree program.

Coursework In years one and two, a student in the combined program will complete sixteen courses: ten seminars in English, including The Teaching of English (ENGL 9090) and one course in at least three out of four designated historical periods (Medieval, Renaissance, eighteenth–nineteenth century, twentieth–twenty-first century), and six in history of art, including HSAR 5500 and one course outside the student’s core area. Up to two cross-listed seminars may count toward the number in both units, reducing the total number of courses to fourteen.

Languages Two languages pertinent to the student’s field of study, to be determined and by agreement with the advisers and directors of graduate studies. Normally the language requirement will be satisfied by passing a translation exam administered by one of Yale’s language departments. One examination must be passed during the first year of study, the other by the end of the third year.

Qualifying Paper History of Art requires a qualifying paper in the spring term of the second year. The paper must demonstrate original research, a logical conceptual structure, stylistic lucidity, and the ability to successfully complete a Ph.D. dissertation. The qualifying paper will be evaluated by two professors from History of Art and one professor from English.

Qualifying Examination Written exam: addressing a question or questions having to do with a broad state-of-the-field or historiographic topic. Three hours, closed book, written by hand or on a non-networked computer. Oral exam: given one week after the written exam, covering four fields, including two in English (question periods of twenty-five minutes each, covering thirty texts each, representing two distinct fields of literary history) and two in history of art (twenty-five minutes each, fields to be agreed on in advance with advisers and DGS). Exam lists will be developed by the student in consultation with faculty examiners.

Teaching Two years of teaching—one course per term in years three and four—are required: two in English (up to two sections per course) and two in History of Art.

Prospectus The dissertation prospectus must be approved by both English and History of Art. The colloquium will take place in the spring term of the third year of study. The committee will include at least one faculty member from each department. As is implied by its title, the colloquium is not an examination, but a meeting during which the student can present ideas to a faculty committee and receive advice from its members. The colloquium should be jointly chaired by the directors of graduate studies of both departments.

First Chapter Reading Students will participate in a first chapter reading (also known as a first chapter conference) normally within a year of advancing to candidacy (spring term of year four). The dissertation committee, including faculty members from both programs, will discuss the progress of the student’s work in a seminar-style format.

Dissertation Defense The hour-long defense is a serious intellectual conversation between the student and the committee. Present at the defense will be the student’s advisers, committee, and the directors of graduate studies in both English and History of Art; others may be invited to comment after the committee’s questioning is completed.

History of Art and Film and Media Studies

The Department of the History of Art offers, in conjunction with the Film and Media Studies Program, a combined Ph.D. in the History of Art and Film and Media Studies. Students are required to meet all departmental requirements, but many courses may count toward completing both degrees at the discretion of the directors of graduate studies in History of Art and Film and Media Studies. For further details, see Film and Media Studies.

The Center for the Study of American Art and Material Culture

The Center for the Study of American Art and Material Culture provides a programmatic link among the Yale faculty, museum professionals, and graduate students who maintain a scholarly interest in the study, analysis, and interpretation of American art and material culture. It brings together colleagues from a variety of disciplines—from History of Art and American Studies to Anthropology, Archaeological Studies, and Earth and Planetary Sciences—and from some of Yale’s remarkable museum collections, from the Yale University Art Gallery and Peabody Museum to the Beinecke Library. Center activities will focus upon one particular theme each year and will include weekly lunch meetings in which a member makes a short presentation centered on an artifact or group of artifacts followed by lively discussion about methodology, interpretation, and context and an annual three-day Yale-Smithsonian Seminar on Material Culture.

Master’s Degrees

M.Phil. See Degree Requirements under Policies and Regulations.

M.A. Students who withdraw from the Ph.D. program may be eligible to receive the M.A. degree if they have met the requirements and have not already received the M.Phil. degree. For the M.A., students must successfully complete eight term courses and have proficiency in one required foreign language. Candidates in combined programs will be awarded the M.A. only when the master’s degree requirements for both programs have been met.

Program materials are available online at http://arthistory.yale.edu.

Courses