what can you do with a phd in art history

Department of Art History

The doctoral program in art history typically involves two years of coursework, the completion of a qualifying paper, preliminary exams in three fields, a dissertation prospectus, and a dissertation. Following their coursework, students also learn to teach by serving as a teaching assistant for faculty-taught undergraduate courses and taking the department’s teaching colloquium. After advancing to ABD status, students research and write their dissertation, usually combining time in Chicago with traveling abroad.

Course Requirements

In general terms, the doctoral program requires two years of full time coursework. Students typically enroll in three courses each quarter during their first two years, and courses are selected with the guidance of the student’s doctoral advisor and in consultation with the Director of Graduate Studies in the department.

All students take the Proseminar and the COSI Objects & Materials seminar in the Autumn and Winter Quarters, respectively, of their first year. Among the other 18 courses required for the doctoral degree are two courses each for distribution requirements and for the student’s minor field. The qualifying paper, completed by the end of Winter Quarter of the second year, is researched and written within the framework of two Qualifying Paper Reading Courses typically supervised by the doctoral advisor and/or another faculty member. Finally, students enroll in a Preliminary Exam Directed Reading Course in the Spring Quarter of their second year.

All students must demonstrate competency in languages determined by their chosen field. Depending on the language and level, up to three language courses may be counted toward the total number of courses required for the degree.

Given the department's strong history of and continuing commitment to interdisciplinary inquiry and intellectual formation, the doctoral program allows for as many as 8 of the total 18 courses required for the PhD to be taken outside the Department of Art History.

In their third year, students are required to take the Teaching Colloquium and Dissertation Proposal Workshop offered yearly by an art history faculty member. These courses do not count toward the 18 courses required for the PhD. Students also prepare for and take their preliminary exams, and typically hold their first teaching assignments in their third year.

Upon successful completion of all coursework requirements, the qualifying paper, the relevant language requirements, and the preliminary exams, each student prepares a dissertation proposal that must be approved by three committee members. Upon that approval and an administrative review of the student's file, the student formally advances to the status of “PhD Candidate” and “ABD” status.

In subsequent years, students research and write the dissertation while further developing their teaching skills (in keeping with the doctoral program’s teaching requirement). Following the submission and successful defense of the dissertation, the doctoral degree is conferred. The current expectation, in general terms, is that completion of the PhD in Art History requires approximately seven years, but time to degree will vary: some students may graduate in less than seven years, others may find they need an additional year.

While all doctoral students must fulfill the requirements sketched above, the different fields of art historical study that are represented in the Department of Art History each have their own particular scholarly requirements. With the aim of providing graduate students with the most rigorous formation in their chosen area of specialization, the department has made various structural provisions to ensure that students can receive the additional training required by their chosen field (including additional language study, training in specialized research skills, and curatorial formation). As these scholarly requirements vary from field to field, so too—within limits set by the Department of Art History and the Division of the Humanities—the pace of each student’s progress through the doctoral program will necessarily be shaped by the requirements of his/her chosen area of study, in consultation with the art history faculty.

Students should refer to the Graduate Student Handbook   for details on all requirements.

Joint and Dual PhDs

Select students may pursue joint PhD degrees with art history and another department or program. Joint PhD programs at the University of Chicago are of two types, "standing" and "ad hoc."

A standing joint degree program has been established between Art History (ARTH) and the Committee on Theater and Performance Studies (TAPS). It allows students to complement their doctoral studies in Art History with a program of study in TAPS that reflects their particular training and interests, encompassing both academic and artistic work. Students apply to this standing program at the time of their application to the University, which is submitted to the art history department.

Students may petition for an ad-hoc joint PhD with another department or program according to guidelines set by the Humanities Division . Generally, admitted students must separately meet the requirements of both programs, but any overlapping requirement need only be met once if each department would otherwise consider it met were that student not in the joint degree program. Recent art history students have completed joint PhDs with Cinema and Media Studies and with Social Thought.

Under a new initiative , some students may simultaneously pursue PhD studies at the University of Chicago and at a degree-granting institution of higher learning in France, leading to two PhD degrees – one from each of the two institutions. Students approved for this initiative pursue a specific course of study depending on their research and professional interests, must satisfy all the requirements of both doctoral programs, and must write and defend a single dissertation that meets the requirements for each degree.

Master of Arts Program in Humanities

Masters-level study in Art History is offered through the  Master of Arts Program in Humanities . Sstudents build their own curriculum with graduate-level courses in any humanities department (including in the Department of Art History) and complete a thesis with a University of Chicago faculty advisor. Typically a one-year program, some students pursue the “Two Year Language Option” or TLO to pursue additional foreign language study. 

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The doctoral program at the University of Pennsylvania provides students with broad training in the history of art and its critical approaches, yet also focused training in their selected fields.  Students completing the Ph.D. are well prepared for teaching positions at the university and college level and for curatorial positions in museums and galleries.  Faculty work closely with Ph.D. students to outline an appropriate course of study and mentor students while preparing them for assistantships, curatorial internships, and other career orientations.

Admission to the program is by application to the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences, which administers full fellowship packages to all admitted students.  (See the "Admissions" page on this site.)  Both B.A. and M.A. students are eligible to apply.  Students normally pursue coursework over their first three years and, once admitted to Ph.D. candidacy (following their area exams), devote their time thereafter to dissertation research and writing.  Students entering the program with an M.A. may chose to accelerate their coursework at Penn to gain candidacy to the Ph.D. more quickly.

Students generally take three seminars in each semester; some of that coursework includes also pedagogical instruction when the student serves as a Teaching Assistant. To ensure a broad understanding of art's history, the Department asks students to take three seminars focusing on periods prior to 1750 and three after.

Further details regarding the graduate program may be found in the  Graduate Bulletin .

PhD in Art History

The University of Minnesota's Doctoral Program in Art History is a fully funded PhD program that trains scholars who go on to careers in universities, colleges, museums, and other arts institutions throughout the nation and the world. The Department of Art History is an exciting place to ground yourself in the theories and methods of art history, to pursue interdisciplinary work, and to develop a global perspective on the discipline.

Our current faculty and institutional strengths support specialization in the following overlapping fields: East Asian art, Modern European art and visual/material culture, Islamic art (including the medieval Persianate world and the Ottoman, Safavid, and Mughal empires), the global early modern in Europe, the Atlantic world, South Asia, Italian Baroque art, North American art and visual/material culture, film and photography, and contemporary art and theory.

As a major research university located in a thriving urban center, the University of Minnesota has much to offer students of the visual arts. On campus, the Weisman Art Museum, designed by architect Frank Gehry, features an outstanding teaching collection, stimulating exhibitions, and an active programming schedule. Beyond the University, you will find in the Twin Cities a lively arts community and world-class art institutions including the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, the Walker Art Center, and the Guthrie Theater.

We are committed to supporting graduate students intellectually, professionally, and financially. The interdisciplinary programming of the Institute for Advanced Study and other campus centers provides many opportunities to exchange ideas with colleagues in other fields. You will encounter opportunities to curate exhibitions on campus and in the community and you will enter into a graduate student community that is remarkably active in presenting papers, both nationally and internationally. The Department of Art History's graduate student professionalization workshop meets several times each semester to discuss such topics as teaching methods, journal and book publishing, CV preparation, and the job market outlook.

All accepted students are fully funded. Students are guaranteed five years of funding through a combination of teaching assistantships, research assistantships, and fellowships. Assistantships provide an annual stipend, a full-tuition scholarship, and health insurance. In addition, every year the department nominates students for collegiate- and university-wide recruitment, predoctoral and dissertation write-up fellowships that provide additional stipend and release from TA-ing. Students who win external fellowships are allowed to save a year of their UMN funding for a sixth year.   

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Visit CLA’s website for graduate students to learn about collegiate funding opportunities, student support, career services, and more.

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• Ph.D. in Art History & Visual Culture

The Ph.D. Program in Art History & Visual Culture is committed to preparing you for advanced research in the global visual cultures of the past and present. The Department recognizes that visual literacy plays an increasingly important role in contemporary society. Art, architecture, mass media (television, video, film, internet), and urbanism all work through reference to visual and spatial conventions. We strive to provide you with the necessary tools to understand objects and archives and with the skills to interpret visual and material culture for the benefit of the broader community. We invite applications from highly qualified students interested in careers in research, teaching, and criticism.

Requirements for a Ph.D.

• 12 to 15 courses (excluding language courses), of which at least 10 are taken from the Art, Art History & Visual Studies department
• 2 to 4 courses taken from other departments at Duke
• Language proficiency in at least two foreign languages
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• Also review Ph.D. Program Guidelines attached below
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MA or PhD in Art History

The graduate Art History programs at UT, comprising the MA in Art History and the PhD in Art History, are among the nation’s largest and most distinguished, with nearly twenty full-time faculty members who are leading scholars in their fields and represent a diversity of critical and methodological outlooks. Students in Art History are regularly honored with prestigious awards and fellowships, and alumni from this program lead successful careers at colleges, universities, and museums worldwide.

The programs’ expansive scope comprises courses covering a wide range of periods and cultures of art, while areas of special concentration are represented by several active research centers. Interdisciplinary study and collaboration play a vital role in the program. Additionally, research is enhanced by access to the many resources available across campus including the Blanton Museum of Art, one of the country’s leading university art museums; the university’s notable library system; and cultural archives such as the Harry Ransom Center.

Eligibility

Applicants to the Master of Arts Program are expected to have completed a broad range of undergraduate coursework in art history (18 hours in art history are recommended) and related fields. MA students will be required to demonstrate proficiency in reading/translating one contemporary language other than English prior to beginning the fourth semester in residence.

Program Tracks

Four MA tracks are offered:

• General (allows students to cover diverse historical areas of art history)
• Ancient (Western and Non-Western)
• Medieval to Early Modern

Program of Work — General Track

Program of Work — Specialized Track

Specialized tracks.

Example Program Plan

Language Requirement

MA students must have reading/translation competence in at least one modern language in addition to English. The additional language will be relevant to the student’s areas of study and will allow the student to understand the scholarship of their field. The language will be determined in consultation with the Graduate Adviser and the choice is subject to ratification by the Graduate Studies Committee.

The choice of language is flexible but must be decided in consultation with one’s advisor/committee chair or the Graduate Adviser if an advisor has not yet been selected. Language courses cannot count toward fulfillment of the requirement for six hours of coursework taken outside the department (supporting work or Minor).

The language exam requirement must be fulfilled in one of the following ways:

• 4 semesters of college-level language courses passed at grade B or above. Advanced placement credit can count towards the required number of courses.
• Departmental exam to test translation proficiency in French, Spanish, Italian, German, and Portuguese (and other languages as petitioned by students) administered 3 times each year (beginning and end of fall semester, and once during spring semester). Exams are graded by at least 2 faculty members. Language exams will be administered to students who wish take it in a given semester. The exam proceeds simultaneously, in a single location and time that works for all. This requirement can be fulfilled in one of the following ways, and must be satisfied by the end of the third long semester in residence.
• To compensate for the exceptional difficulty involved, students who plan on qualifying in a language other than the traditional European languages may be allowed to do so. Permission may be granted after consultation with the Graduate Adviser and after petitioning the faculty to substitute an instructional course in that language in place of a supporting (i.e. out-of-department) course.

Thesis Colloquium

During the semester of enrollment in Thesis research (ARH 698A, 3 hours), usually in the third semester of residence and after the completion of 18 hours of coursework, the student presents a topic for faculty approval in a Thesis Colloquium. Enrollment in ARH 698B Thesis (3 hours) may take place only after an approved presentation.

• In the first year, no later than the end of the Spring semester, the student will contact an Art History faculty member about supervising the thesis and initiate a discussion about possible topics.
• Students are encouraged to interview faculty in their area of specialization in order to find a faculty supervisor/committee chair. Students and supervisors must be in alignment to accommodate their professional goals. Failing to find a supervisor will result in termination from the program.
• The wise Art History Master’s student will take advantage of the summer following the first year to develop and research a topic or possible topics with the goal of being ready to schedule the colloquium in the early part of the Fall semester.
• If the colloquium is not held, a grade of Incomplete is assigned; a final grade will be assigned when the colloquium is held during the next long semester.

Refer to the handbook for details regarding the processes involved with submitting the final thesis and applying for graduation.

Program Handbook

Applicants to the Doctoral Program must have an MA in art history or an MA in a related field with substantial coursework in art history at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Applicants completing the second year of a Master’s program are also eligible to apply.

Program of Work

The Doctor of Philosophy degree requires at least thirty hours of coursework beyond the MA degree. Course requirements include:

• A minimum of five graduate seminars in at least two of the department’s chronological groupings of western and non-western art: Ancient; Medieval to Early Modern; and Modern
• Nine hours of supporting work, normally consisting of two graduate seminars outside the Department of Art and Art History in areas related to the major field, and one graduate reading course outside the Department of Art and Art History often taken in the context of preparation for the qualifying examination. All of these courses must be taken for a letter grade.
• A minimum of six hours of dissertation research and writing

Further requirements include reading/translation competence in at least two contemporary languages in addition to English, a dissertation colloquium, written and oral qualifying examinations that admit the student to doctoral candidacy, the dissertation, and the oral defense of the dissertation. PhD students who are employed as Teaching Assistants must enroll for one term in ARH 398T Supervised Teaching in Art History , a pedagogy seminar that meets one hour per week. This course does not count toward completion of the degree.

Doctoral students must have reading/translation competence in at least 2 modern languages in addition to English. These languages will be relevant to students’ areas of study and will allow individuals to undertake primary research and understand the scholarship of their chosen field.

Language courses cannot count toward fulfillment of the requirement for 9 hours of coursework taken outside the department (supporting work or minor). Each language requirement can be fulfilled in one of the following ways, and must be satisfied before advancing to doctoral candidacy:

• Four semesters of college-level language courses passed at grade B or above. Advanced Placement credit can count towards the required number of courses.
• Departmental exam to test translation proficiency in French, Spanish, Italian, German, and Portuguese (and other languages as petitioned by students) administered twice per semester. Exams are graded by at least two faculty members. Language exams will be administered to students who wish take it in a given semester. The exam proceeds simultaneously, in a single location and time that works for all. The choice of language is flexible but must be decided in consultation with one’s adviser.
• Confirmation of completion of a modern language requirement from the student’s Master’s program.

To compensate for the exceptional difficulty involved, students who plan on qualifying in a language other than the traditional European languages may be allowed, after consultation with the graduate advisor and after petitioning the faculty, to substitute an instructional course in that language in place of a supporting (i.e. out-of-department) course.

Dissertation Colloquium

The Colloquium is intended to be an informal conversation with the faculty concerning the topic, its feasibility, and potential pitfalls that might affect the student’s ability to complete it successfully.

The Dissertation Colloquium is held during the third or fourth term of the student’s residence and after the completion of at least 18 hours of coursework. A week before the scheduled Dissertation Colloquium, the student presents to the Graduate Adviser for Art History and the faculty a written prospectus, prepared with the help of the dissertation adviser.

The topics for the qualifying examination are also set at the Colloquium, and the examining committee is determined. At this time, the composition of the dissertation committee is also discussed. The student must complete the Qualifying Examination by the end of the next long semester following the Colloquium.

Qualifying Examination

The student will be examined in four areas: at least two broad areas of expertise and one or two focused areas with the possibility of one area being directed by a faculty member outside the Department. All of these exams will be written and must be completed within a one-week period. In consultation with each faculty member on their examination committee, students will schedule three-hour time periods during which they will take the written exams.

At least two weeks before the examination, the student will confirm with the Graduate Coordinator the date and time of each examination and the name and email address of any examiner not on the Art History faculty. The student will determine the order of the questions. The Graduate Coordinator will solicit questions from each examiner.

Within several days of the completion of the last written examination, a two-hour oral examination on the same topics will follow with the entire examining committee. During this exam the examining committee will question the student about the exam questions. To schedule the oral examination, please use the same process used for scheduling the Colloquium. The student's performance on these exams will be ranked "Pass" or "Failure." For additional details and procedures, please refer to the Graduate Handbook.

Once the student has completed all program requirements and passed the qualifying exams, the committee supervising the dissertation is formalized in the doctoral candidacy application process.

Learn more about completing the Application for Doctoral Candidacy →

• After admission to Candidacy for the doctoral degree, the student must stay in continuous enrollment in dissertation hours each spring and fall until the degree is completed.
• Students doing research abroad while in doctoral candidacy may be eligible for Independent Study and Research status.

Example Topics

Below are examples of past qualifying examinations topics. Please note that these can include both general subjects and topics related to a particular student’s dissertation research:

Medieval Art

• Northern Renaissance Art
• French Court Culture and Patronage (possibly an outside the Department question)
• Fourteenth-Century Manuscript Illumination

Modern/Contemporary European Art

• European Art, 1890–1945
• Art of the United States, 1945–1985
• Art and Philosophy of Language (Examiner: Art History Dept.)
• Little Magazines and Literary Modernism (Examiner: English Dept.)

Dissertation

The dissertation must make an original contribution to scholarship. It normally requires fieldwork of at least a year’s duration. The Dissertation Committee directs the student during the completion of the dissertation. Defense of the dissertation (Final Oral Examination) before at least four members of the Dissertation Committee is a University requirement; the dissertation supervisor must be physically present for the defense to take place.

Learn more about submitting the request for the Final Oral Examination →

Refer to the handbook for details regarding the processes involved with submitting the final draft, defending, and applying for graduation.

• Current Graduate Students

Funding resources at the MA level, such as scholarships and in-state tuition waivers, are limited and awarded on a case-by-case basis. Each semester, MA students may apply for positions as a Grader for a large introductory/survey or upper-division class. Once assigned to grade for a course, the Grader must attend all lectures and grade all exams and assignments for the course. The number of Grader positions varies each year, and the salary is based on the number of students in the class. A few MA students also may be awarded Teaching Assistant positions, when these are available, again on a case-by-case basis.

The faculty’s goal is to support all admitted PhD students with a combination of Teaching Assistantships, Assistant Instructor positions, Graduate Research Assistant positions and scholarship funds so they can earn their degree with as little outside cost as possible.

A limited number of Graduate Research Assistant positions may be available each semester to both MA and PhD students.

All applicants are considered for financial support; it is not necessary to apply or request separately.

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• Join our PhD Art History Program (VA76)

Ph.D. Art History Program (VA76)

The Department of Visual Arts offers a PhD in art history, theory, and criticism with specializations in cultural areas in which faculty do research (VA76). Offering a distinct alternative to other PhD programs in art history, our program centers on a unique curriculum that treats the study of art past and present—including fine art, media and new media, design and popular culture as part of a broad inquiry into the practices, objects, and discourses that constitute the art world, even as it encourages examination of the larger frameworks—historical, cultural, social, intellectual, and theoretical—within which the category “art” has been contextualized in the most recent developments in the discipline. This program is also distinctive in that it is housed within a department that has been for many years one of the nation’s leading centers of art practice and graduate education in studio, media, and—most recently—digital media. The offering of the PhD and MFA is based on the department’s foundational premise that the production of art and the critical, theoretical, and historical reflection upon it inherently and necessarily participate in a single discursive community. This close integration of art history and art practice is reflected in the inclusion of a concentration in art practice within the PhD in art history, theory, and criticism.

To Apply:   https://connect.grad.ucsd.edu/apply/

Application Opens:  September 6th, 2023 for the Fall 2024 application cycle

Application Deadline:  December 6th, 2023 for the Fall 2024 application cycle

Interdisciplinary Specializations

Students within the PhD program who are interested in the opportunity to undertake specialized research may apply to participate in an interdisciplinary specialization. Students accepted into a specialization program would be expected to complete coursework in addition to those required for their PhD program. The department offers interdisciplinary specializations with the following campus programs.

• Anthropogeny:   for students with an interest in human origin
• Critical Gender Studies:   providing specialized training in gender and sexuality
• Interdisciplinary Environmental Research : for students interested in environmental solutions

Application Requirements

All applicants must satisfy the following to be considered for admissions to our department:

Completion of a four-year Bachelors degree or equivalent: 

• 3.0 GPA minimum or 'B' average
• Submission of unofficial transcripts required 

English Language Proficiency:

• Demonstrated English language proficiency is required of all international applicants whose native language is not English. Non-native English language speakers may either display proficiency by meeting the minimum speaking scores listed below or can be exempt from the test scores requirement if they received a degree from an institution which provides instruction solely in English. Please refer to the following link for more information regarding the degree from an institution exemption: English Language Proficiency .
• TOEFL iBT speaking scores of 26-30
• IELTS speaking scores of 8-9
• PTE speaking scores of 84-90

Letters of Recommendation:

• Minimum of 3 recommendations required
• Letters of recommendation should come from individuals, preferably previous professors, who can best explain why you are prepared and would be successful in rigorous academic studies at the graduate level.

Statement of Purpose:

• 750-1000 word limit, not to exceed 3 pages
• Focus your Statement of Purpose on the reasons you are interested in attending this graduate program. You can include the research you hope to pursue within our program and give the Admissions Committee a sense of who you are and what you hope to accomplish. The statement should be well organized, concise, and completely free of grammar, punctuation, and spelling errors.
• Writing Sample
• 2000 word Research Statement

Portfolio Requirements

Writing Sample (4000-8000 words):

Examples include: senior honors thesis, MA thesis, or other research or critical paper, preferably in art or media history.

Research Statement (2000 words maximum):

The Research Statement should explain the research that you wish to pursue within our program. There may be some overlap between the Research Statement and Statement of Purpose however these should be viewed as two distinct prompts that will give the Admissions Committee a greater sense of who you are and what you would accomplish at UC San Diego.

File Names for Portfolio Items:

Please name your files, with your Last Name, First Initial underscore and the document type. So if my name was Terry Triton, I would have the following File Names:

Graduate Student Research

Check out our annual Research Colloquium . PhD students who have recently advanced to candidacy present their research to the local community. Please explore the recent work completed within the department, in addition to the Faculty and Graduate Student personal pages. 

2023 Research Colloquium

2022 Research Colloquium

2021 Research Colloquium

2020 Research Colloquium

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PhD Art History Admission

The Department welcomes graduate applications from individuals with a broad range of life experiences, perspectives, and backgrounds who would contribute to our community of scholars. Review of applications is holistic and individualized, considering each applicant’s academic record and accomplishments, letters of recommendation, and admissions essays in order to understand how an applicant’s life experiences have shaped their past and potential contributions to their field.

University Application Materials

The application for admission as well as general information about applying is available from the Graduate Admissions website; please visit  Graduate Admissions  to apply. Prior to applying you must first determine if you are eligible -  application eligibility (undergraduate degree requirements) . International applicants, please also see  Bechtel International Center  and Graduate Admissions  International Applicants  for more information and any additional application requirements. Prospective students may apply beginning in late September (please verify the precise date on the  Graduate Admissions  website). The following documents are required by the university and can not be waived; please click on the links for more detailed information about each:

Letters of Recommendation : Three letters of recommendation are required. The department does not accept applicant recommendation via a letter service (i.e. Interfolio or other service). It is the applicant's responsibility to ensure that letters are submitted to the electronic application by the published deadline. Please only submit three letters.

Transcripts : Upload a scanned copy of your official transcript(s) with the online application. Applicants must upload transcripts from every post-secondary institution attended as a full-time student and for at least one academic year. Transcripts from current degree programs also need to be submitted.

Statement of Purpose : You must indicate in the first sentence of your SOP the name of the program to which you are applying and the area you wish to study (e.g. PhD in Art History – Modern). The Statement of Purpose should describe succinctly your reasons for applying to the proposed program at Stanford, your preparation for this field of study, research interests, future career plans, and other aspects of your background and interests which may aid the admissions committee in evaluating your aptitude and motivation for graduate study. Applicants can include and mention faculty members, with overlapping research interests whom they would like to work with and why, in their statement of purpose. The Statement of Purpose must be: 1,000 words or less; single-spaced; formatted with 1-inch margins and 12-point, Times New Roman font.

Application Fee : The application fee $125, is non-refundable, and must be received by the application deadline (fee waivers are available to eligible students. Please see  Graduate Fee Waivers  for more information). The Department does not offer fee waivers outside of the process at the Graduate Fee Waivers page. Please do not contact the department requesting to waive the application fee.

GRE Scores: Graduate Record Exam (GRE) General Test is no longer required for admission to the Department of Art & Art History.

TOEFL Scores : Required when first language is not English; IELTS is not accepted. Please note that the department can NOT waive the TOEFL requirement. If you wish to submit a request for TOEFL waiver, please see  GRE and TOEFL Requirements . It is the applicant's responsibility to ensure that the scores are submitted to the electronic application by the published deadline.  (Note: To bypass the entry of TOEFL scores in the application, enter a future test date. You can add in the additional information section of the application that you have received a waiver from Graduate Admissions.)

Online Application

* Please note all application materials, once submitted as part of your application, become the property of Stanford University. Materials will not be returned and copies will not be provided for applicants nor released to other institutions. Please keep a copy for your records. Re-applicants must submit new supporting documents and complete the online graduate application.

Writing Sample Requirement

In addition to the University application materials listed above, applicants in Art History are required to submit a writing sample.  You should upload your writing sample along with your online application (only one writing sample will be accepted). It should be 20 pages maximum, including illustrations and bibliography – neither papers over this limit nor entire Master’s theses will be accepted.

Start Your Application

For admission in Autumn Quarter of the next academic year, all required application materials, including your test scores and recommendation letters, must be received on-line by no later than  December 1 at 9:00 pm (PT).

Note: The Graduate Admissions period opens in late September each year for applications to be submitted by the published deadline in December (for matriculation beginning in the following academic year). After April 15th each year, the Graduate Admissions period is closed, and the online application will reopen during the following September.

Selection Process

Application review takes place between mid-February and mid-March; applicants are notified by e-mail of their status around March 15th. Accepted students are admitted for the following Autumn Quarter; no applicants for mid-year entrance will be considered.  You will be contacted via e-mail regarding your application status after the deadline; please do not contact the Department in this regard. Applicants who are chosen as finalists for admissions are asked to make themselves available for an individual interview by faculty via Skype.  Admitted prospective students are invited for a campus visit intended to introduce them to faculty, current graduate students, and to members of the larger Stanford community involved in the arts.  Library, museum and other facilities are part of this introduction to the PhD program in Art History at Stanford.

The Art and Art History Department recognizes that the Supreme Court issued a ruling in June 2023 about the consideration of certain types of demographic information as part of an admission review. All applications submitted during upcoming application cycles will be reviewed in conformance with that decision.

Knight-Hennessy Scholars

Join dozens of  Stanford School of Humanities and Sciences  students who gain valuable leadership skills in a multidisciplinary, multicultural community as  Knight-Hennessy Scholars (KHS). KHS admits up to 100 select applicants each year from across Stanford’s seven graduate schools, and delivers engaging experiences that prepare them to be visionary, courageous, and collaborative leaders ready to address complex global challenges. As a scholar, you join a distinguished cohort, participate in up to three years of leadership programming, and receive full funding for up to three years of your PhD studies at Stanford. Candidates of any country may apply. KHS applicants must have earned their first undergraduate degree within the last seven years, and must apply to both a Stanford graduate program and to KHS. Stanford PhD students may also apply to KHS during their first year of PhD enrollment. If you aspire to be a leader in your field, we invite you to apply. The KHS application deadline is October 11, 2023. Learn more about  KHS admission .

PhD Degree Requirements

The doctoral degree (PhD) in Art History consists of 27 credit hours of core and elective coursework plus doctoral research, and normally takes four-five years to complete.  Admission to the PhD program is open to students with an MA in art or architectural history and to exceptionally qualified candidates with a BA in art or architectural history or a closely related field.

• Students admitted to the PhD program without an MA must complete a total of 48 credit hours. The course distribution requirements for the first two years are identical to those for the standalone MA program . Students in the PhD program do not write MA Theses.
• Students admitted to the standalone MA or MA/MSLS-MSIS programs who wish to continue to the PhD and have the support of a potential advisor must submit a full application to the PhD program via the Slate system in the semester before the conferral of their master’s degree(s).
• Students admitted to the PhD track without an MA may change their degree intent to the standalone MA program in their third or fourth semester at the urging of their advisor and the DGS. In these cases they will complete a formal MA thesis, which will mark the culmination of their study in the department.

Course Work (for students entering without an MA)

• 6 credit hours in courses designed to prepare them for professional work in art history: A required Writing Seminar (ARTH 991) and a Professional Development Course that is strongly recommended. The Writing Seminar will be devoted to structuring an argument, assessing primary and secondary sources, and conducting a sustained writing exercise. The goal of the Writing Seminar is to prepare for writing their dissertation prospectus, which will be completed in the spring following the semester for which they are enrolled in 991. The Professional Development Course will be offered in spring semesters and will address, among other topics: grant writing; submitting articles for publication; copyright and permissions; conference presentations; writing a CV; etc.
• 42 credit hours of courses in content areas, for a total of 48 credit hours when combined with Methods and the Writing Seminar. At least eight of the courses (24 credit hours) should be graduate seminars (700 level or above); up to four of the courses may be taken in relevant content areas outside the department (see below for addition of an External Minor).
• 6 hours in advanced seminars (900 level) in the major field
• 3 hours in a course related to the secondary exam field (400 level or above or a directed reading course at 700 level with the examiner)
• 3 hours in a course related to the methodological exam field (400 level or above or a directed reading course at 700 level with the examiner)
• 6 hours in other seminars (700-900 level)
• Completing Ph.D qualifying exams and prospectus defenses in the spring semester of the third year of graduate study. This should prepare PhD candidates to apply for travel and research grants in the following fall of the fourth year of study.

Coursework for students in the PhD track, then, could include:

YEAR 1 Semester 1 Methods Course Seminar Seminar or Content Course (refers to courses at the 400-600 level)

Semester 2 Seminar Seminar Seminar or Content Course

YEAR 2  Semester 3  Seminar Seminar Seminar or Content Course

Semester 4 Seminar Seminar Seminar or Content Course

YEAR 3  Semester 5 Writing Seminar Seminar Seminar or Content Course

Semester 6 Professional Development Course (strongly recommended) or Content Course 994 Exams/Prospectus Defense

Course Work (for students entering with an MA in Art History or closely related field)

• 27 hours (9 courses) plus at minimum 9 hours of doctoral research credit hours
• Methods Course and Writing Seminar optional, may be recommended depending on student’s previous work
• 12 hours (4 courses) required as seminars (700 level or above)
• 6 hours (2 courses) allowed outside department courses (see below for addition of an External Minor)
• 3 hours in a course related to secondary exam field (400 level or above or a directed reading course at 700 level with the examiner)
• 3 hours in a course related to methodological exam field (400 level or above or a directed reading course at 700 level with the examiner)
• 6 hours in seminars (700-900 level)

Coursework for students in the PhD track who enter with the MA could include:

YEAR 1 Semester 1 Methods Course or Seminar Seminar Seminar or Content Course (refers to courses at the 400-600 level)

Semester 2 Seminar Seminar Content Course

YEAR 2  Semester 3 Writing Seminar Seminar Content Course

Semester 4 (and beyond) Professional Development Course (strongly recommended) or Content Course 994 Exams/Prospectus defense

External Minor

PhD students may choose to complete a formal External Minor, which consists of at least three (but may be as many as five) additional courses in a field related to her/his area of specialized study (such as, communication studies, women’s studies, history, or medieval studies). The student must secure prior approval of the minor department, and a copy of the proposed courses to be taken must be signed by both departments and entered in the student’s permanent record in the Department of Art and the UNC-Chapel Hill Graduate School.

Language Requirement

PhD students are required to demonstrate proficiency in 2 languages (other than English). The first language will be the language that fulfilled the M.A. language requirement. The second language should be appropriate to the area of study, and will be determined in consultation with the student’s advisor, the Director of Graduate Studies, and the graduate committee. Some fields require additional languages and students should study these languages as necessary. Competency in the second language will be determined following the same guidelines as those of the M.A. language requirement.

Preliminary Doctoral Exams

PhD students take both the written and the oral Preliminary Exams during the semester after the PhD course work is completed. Most PhD students will take the Preliminary Exams during the spring semester of their second year in the PhD program. Those students pursuing an External Minor will take the Preliminary Exams during the fall semester of their third year.

• Written Exams. Students take the written exams over the course of a one-week period. Students who fail the written exams may repeat them only once. These exams are taken in three parts: first (major) area of study (six hours), second area of study (six hours), and methodological/thematic area of study (six hours).
• Preliminary Oral Exam. An oral exam will take place within two weeks of the written exam. The oral will be on the content of the written exam and may also include a defense of the dissertation prospectus. The examining committee will consist of at least three members who must be full-time active graduate faculty or adjunct teaching faculty  in art history.
• Dissertation Prospectus . Ph.D. students defend their dissertation prospectus orally. If the dissertation prospectus is not defended in the oral exam, this defense should take place within four months of the written exams. At least two weeks before the prospectus defense, the student submits a dissertation prospectus to his or her dissertation committee, which should consist of five faculty members, three of whom must be permanent members of the UNC-CH art history faculty.

Guidelines for the PhD exams and prospectus can be found  here .

Dissertation and Final Oral Exam

After passing the preliminary doctoral exams, the student begins work on the dissertation. Once the dissertation is completed and approved by the advisor and dissertation committee, the student defends the finished dissertation. Doctoral students have eight calendar years from the date of first registration in the PhD Graduate School to complete the PhD. For doctoral students, there is a minimum residence credit requirement of four semesters, and at least two semesters must be earned through continuous full-time registration on the UNC-Chapel Hill campus.

Program details, including a sample timetable for progress through the degree, can be found  here .

For further information, the applicant should write to the director of graduate studies for art history.

FINAL DEFENSE & SUBMISSION: IMPORTANT DATES

The precise deadlines are set every year, and can be found on the Graduate School’s ‘Graduation Deadlines’ page here .

Mid-February: Deadline to apply to graduate in ConnectCarolina

March  – Last month in which to schedule the defense. The oral defense must be scheduled no later than 2 weeks prior to the mid-April final submission deadline

Mid- April – deadline, final submission of electronic doctoral dissertations and master’s theses

May (generally 2 nd weekend) Doctoral Hooding Ceremony University Commencement Ceremony Degree Award Date for May graduates

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General Information

The PhD program in the Division of Art History prepares graduates for university-level teaching, curator positions at major museums, and independent research in the field. Before beginning work for the PhD, students should have completed a master's degree in art history. Requirements for the degree include 60 credits of coursework beyond the master's degree and research capability in at least two foreign languages.

Preparation

Applicants to the PhD program must have a master's degree in art history or a related field combined with course work in art history. Applicants need not have an undergraduate major in art history but should have a solid record of art history course work. In our program we define a “solid record” for our undergraduate majors as 55 quarter credits of art history classes distributed among major fields of study offered in our department. This figure should serve only as a general reference point, however; we do not expect all applicants to have exactly the same background and course distribution as our undergraduate majors. Studio art classes and work experience in art-related fields can enhance your application but, in most cases, will not substitute for a good background in art history course work.

Financial Support

Each year the Division of Art History offers two fully funded five-year PhD packages, which are typically comprised of a combination of fellowship support and teaching assistantships.

Information about other financial support opportunities can be found under Graduate Support .

More about the Art History PhD

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Everything you need to know about studying a PhD in Art History

Part of arts, design & architecture.

Art History is a specialised branch of history that studies the evolution of culture through artistic productions such as paintings, sculptures, architecture, and the graphic and decorative arts. One of the broadest fields in Humanities sciences, the Art History discipline studies methodologies and critical theory, analysing contemporary issues in the practice and display of art. Art History is related with other disciplines like History, Philosophy, and the Visual Arts.

Some subjects of Art History courses cover Greek art, medieval art and architecture, topography of modern Rome, history and aesthetics of photography, as well as contemporary artistic movements.

Art History students develop skills in the critical analysis of art works. Students cultivate visual literacy and appreciation for aesthetics. You will be able to determine the period a work of art belongs to and will gain insight into detecting fake creations. You will also gain interpretative skills and technological abilities related to visual communication.

Art History graduates pursue diverse careers in settings such as: colleges and universities, archives and libraries, museums, auction houses, art galleries, preservation firms, or historical societies. They can engage in jobs like artist representative, museum curator, art advisor, gallery archivist, and more.

View all PhDs in Art History . Keep in mind you can also study an online PhDs in Art History .

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PhD in History of Art

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The PhD in History of Art is a three year research degree offering the opportunity for independent research under the supervision of an expert departmental member of staff. The Department of History of Art has expertise and welcomes candidates in many areas of history of art and architectural research, but is unable to offer places to candidates for whom no supervisor is available.  Applicants are admitted who meet the course requirements and whose research interests match those of an available established University Teaching Officer. The Department does not offer a taught PhD programme, unlike, for example, many North American Universities.

As well as the research and skills training programme offered by the Department, candidates have the opportunity to attend appropriate courses in associated skills, such as modern languages, palaeography, the use of bibliographic and other databases, and computer skills.

Course Structure & Examination

The PhD in History of Art is a three year programme which commences in October each year.  It is also available on a five year part-time basis.  Students submit their dissertations of not more than 80,000 words (60,000 words for the MSc degree) at the end of their third full-time year (or part-time equivalent) and will be invited to attend an oral examination which will usually take place during the three months following the submission of the dissertation .  The dissertation and the general field of knowledge within which it falls is orally examined by two examiners.  At least one of the examiners will be external to the University.

The programme involves minimal formal teaching. Students will usually have their supervisors confirmed before they have begun their course in October and will typically meet for 45 minutes on a fortnightly basis during term time.  A bespoke programme is evolved by the student in conjunction with their supervisor and will include attendance at the Department’s programme of research seminars and other relevant graduate courses. Attending lectures is optional but students are strongly encouraged to take advantage of lectures offered in the Department, their college and other departments and faculties relevant to their research topics.

As well as the research and skills training programme offered by the Department, students have the opportunity to develop their research skills by attending numerous courses, such as those related to the use of bibliographic resources and other databases, and specific computer skills. Informal opportunities to develop research skills also exist through mentoring undergraduate students and other opportunities presented by fellow students and members of staff.

Students will be provided with feedback via supervisions and their supervisor's termly reports which are available to them via their self-service pages on CamSIS.

Annual Review of Work

Students undertake an annual review of their work throughout their programme which is realised in different ways;  for example, the production of a report or undertaking a presentation. The purpose of the reviews is to ensure that students are on track to submit a successful dissertation by the submission deadline. The first review also serves as a registration exercise, for which students have to submit a report of 10,000 words which is orally assessed by two assessors. The purpose of this exercise is to determine whether the student is suited to the demands of PhD research and to address any concerns if there are any. 

Examination

Students submit a dissertation, of not more than 80,000 words (60,000 words for the MSc degree) . The dissertation and the general field of knowledge within which it falls is orally examined by two examiners. At least one of the examiners will be external to the University.

At a Glance

Course length and dates:

3 years full-time/5 years part-time, October start.

Examination:

A dissertation, of not more than 80,000 words. 

Academic requirement:

A 1st class or a high 2i honours degree and a Masters degree with distinction (if a distinction category exists) in History of Art or a related discipline. 

English language requirement:

See Postgraduate Admissions Office . 

Applications accepted from:

The preceding September.

Application Deadlines:

The final deadline for applicants seeking funding is early January, for the exact date, please see the Postgraduate Admissions website. Even if you are not seeking funding, we strongly recommend that you submit your application by this date, as no applications will be accepted once this competitive and popular programme is full.

If places are still available on programmes beyond this deadline; self-funded applicants will continue to be considered until the final deadline in May, for the exact date please see the Postgraduate Admissions website No applications will be considered after this deadline.

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Fully Funded PhD Programs in Art History

As part of my series on  How to Fully Fund Your PhD , I provide a list of universities that offer fully funded PhD programs in Art History. Through a PhD in Art History, you could work as an Art Director, Writers and Author, Postsecondary Art Teacher, curator, and many more.

Fully funded PhD programs provide a funding package for full-time students that includes full tuition remission and an annual stipend or salary for the three to the six-year duration of the student’s doctoral studies. Funding is typically offered in exchange for graduate teaching and research work that is complementary to your studies. Not all universities provide full funding to their doctoral students, which is why I recommend researching the financial aid offerings of all the potential Ph.D. programs in your academic field, including small and lesser-known schools both in the U.S. and abroad.

You can also find several external fellowships in the  ProFellow Database  for graduate and doctoral study, as well as dissertation research, fieldwork, language study, and summer work experience.

Would you like to receive the full list of more than 1000+ fully funded programs in 60 disciplines? Get your copy of our FREE Directory of Fully Funded Graduate Programs and Full Funding Awards !

PhD Programs in Art History Offering Full Funding

University of california, los angeles.

(Los Angeles, CA): The UCLA Department of Art History offers four and five-year funding packages to selected incoming students that consist of a combination of fellowships and Teaching Assistantships (currently $28,000 per year plus registration fees/tuition).

The University of Chicago

(Chicago, IL): The annual stipend for art history Ph.D. students is $32,000 over 12 months. Students also receive full tuition and health insurance premium coverage. Funding is granted to students in good academic standing for the duration of the program. Art history Ph.D. students typically serve as teaching assistants. Research and conference travel grants are available at various stages.

Columbia University

(New York, NY): All admitted students receive full funding, including tuition and stipend. Standard fellowships are for five years and involve teaching or other types of department service during at least three of the five years. Students are very often successful in obtaining further support from competitive fellowships offered by Columbia and other competitions.

Florida State University

(Tallahassee, FL): Doctoral applicants are automatically considered for teaching assistantships with full tuition waivers for a minimum of three years. Applicants may also be nominated by the department for prestigious University fellowships offered each year to a select number of incoming graduate students with outstanding scholastic records.

The Graduate Center, CUNY

(New York, NY): Nine students are admitted per year to the Ph.D. Program in Art History. Of these, seven will be awarded Graduate Center Fellowships (GCFs) and two will be awarded tuition-only Fellowships. The GCFs are a five-year package of $26,128 per year (including healthcare).

University of Minnesota

(Minneapolis, MN): All accepted students are guaranteed five years of funding through a combination of teaching assistantships, research assistantships, and fellowships. Assistantships provide an annual stipend, a full-tuition scholarship, and health insurance. Students who win external fellowships are allowed to save a year of their UMN funding for a sixth year.

Northwestern University

(Evanston, IL): The Graduate Program in Art History offers a full-time Ph.D. and the Department provides its Ph.D. students with full financial aid for five years as well as travel grants for conference presentations and archival research.

The University of Texas at Austin

(Austin, Texas): The faculty’s goal is to support all admitted Ph.D. students with a combination of Teaching Assistantships, Assistant Instructor positions, Graduate Research Assistant positions, and scholarship funds so they can earn their degree with as little outside cost as possible.

Tulane University

(New Orleans, LA): Students in the Ph.D. program are fully funded. The student may wish to seek additional funding from other sources to support graduate study, research travel, and hosting visiting lecturers.

Washington University in St.Louis

(Saint Louis, MO): Students accepted into the Ph.D. program who remain in good standing are guaranteed six years of full funding in the form of University Fellowships, with an annual stipend of $28,152 (2021-22) and full tuition remission. Advanced Ph.D. students may also offer summer courses through University College to gain valuable independent teaching experience.

Need some tips for the application process? See my article  How To Get Into a Fully Funded PhD Program: Contacting Potential PhD Advisors .

Also, sign up to discover and bookmark more than 1900 professional and academic fellowships in the  ProFellow database .

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Related Posts:

• Fully Funded PhD Programs in History
• Fully Funded PhD Programs in School Psychology
• Fully Funded Master's Programs in History
• Fully Funded PhDs in Teaching English as a Second Language
• Fully Funded PhD Programs in Mathematics

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The Job Market for Young Academics Was Already Bleak—Then the Pandemic Hit. Here’s How Art-History Grad Students Are Coping With the Fallout

"All of this is profoundly anxiety-producing," says one PhD candidate.

It was a tweet from New York governor Andrew Cuomo this past March that alerted Anna Ficek, a PhD candidate in art history at the City University of New York’s Graduate Center, to the fact that her classes would be moved entirely online for the rest of the semester—and possibly longer.

The first shockwaves felt by many students in her department were the closures of libraries and archives, eliminating their physical workspaces and access to reading materials. Then came news that internships and job offers had been rescinded, and what were already slim career prospects narrowed into microscopic ones.

Even under normal circumstances, the career path of an art historian is notoriously competitive and arduous, involving years of research and training only to face off against countless other highly educated job seekers for increasingly low-wage, low-security teaching jobs.

Now, the pandemic has exacerbated the situation for PhD students and recent graduates alike. Those who are still in school may face indefinite delays in completing their research; those graduating in 2020 are looking at “a drastically reduced job market,” according to John Clarke, an art history graduate adviser at the University of Texas at Austin.

Ficek isn’t sure that she’ll be able to complete her studies at all. She is from Australia and her student visa expires in January 2022.

“I don’t think I will finish by then and I’m worried about how I will apply for a new visa, especially once I have run out of institutional funding,” she says.

Students before the era of social distancing at the New York Public Library. Photo by Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto via Getty Images.

The Day the Libraries Closed

The closure of libraries has forced many students to choose between abandoning their research altogether or extending the length of their studies while they wait out the pandemic. Some have even tried amassing their own historic book collections to keep working.

“I’ve tried to grow my personal library as much as I can, but with some key volumes priced at over $100, and some historical sources going for over $1,000, it is impossible on a graduate student salary,” Ficek says.

Beyond access to research materials, the library also provided “air conditioning and stable internet, none of which I have at home,” says Zsofia Valyi-Nagy, an art history student at the University of Chicago. “The university administration’s insistence that we should all be able to continue our work as per usual is extremely unrealistic.”

One doctoral student at New York University’s Institute of Fine Arts (IFA), who wished to remain anonymous, said that the program is known for “object-based art history”—which poses a particular problem during the pandemic.

The institute “has no replacement for studying the object,” the student says. “Those finishing up their dissertations, looking to defend in the fall, are unable to consult sources, verify citations, etc., with the closure of library resources. All of this is profoundly anxiety-producing, and hanging over all of us is the specter of the complete collapse of the job market in all sectors of academia and the arts.”

As a result, more than 55 IFA doctoral students addressed a letter in late April to the school’s faculty requesting that the administration increase financial support by granting emergency funds and waiving fees; extend library privileges to post-graduates to support them as they enter the job market; and lengthen students’ time-to-degree (the number of years candidates take to complete their PhDs).

A representative for the IFA declined to comment on the students’ demands, but told Artnet News in an email: “The impact that COVID-19 has had on the academic world is of great significance, as it is in every aspect of our lives. We are still working through what it will look like in the fall.”

The facade of Yale’s Art Gallery, courtesy of Flickr.

The End of Research Trips

International travel is a key component of many art history students’ research, and many programs have rigorous foreign-language requirements.

“I was supposed to hold a nine-month Fulbright fellowship to conduct research abroad for my dissertation,” says Valyi-Nagy, who is writing about the 96-year-old artist Vera Molnar, who lives in Paris.

“Despite her groundbreaking work in computer art, Molnar doesn’t use email or video chat, so the primary purpose of my trip was to spend time with her in her studio, conducting interviews and working through her archive together. At the risk of sounding macabre, I can say that time is not exactly on our side.”

Emily Markert, a graduate student in the curatorial practice program at the California College of the Arts in San Francisco, says that she had a research trip to Los Angeles canceled in April, “and the grant money will not be available to me next semester. I had to accept that there would be holes in my final term paper research.”

And Soffia Gunnarsdottir, a doctoral candidate who is studying Greek art at Yale University, tells Artnet News that her plans to conduct on-site research at archaeological sites and museums across the Mediterranean are on hold “indefinitely.”

“I need to rethink how I can complete my project on time with limited access to my objects of study,” she says. “At this point, I would say my progress will be delayed by a year, if not more.”

University of Texas, Austin students discussing Sonya Clark’s Madam C.J. Walker (2008). Photo courtesy of Blanton Museum of Art.

Making a Bad Job Market Worse

Historically, most students earning PhDs in art history have planned to become university professors. But in recent years, many top museum curator and director jobs began requiring candidates to have advanced art history degrees, too.

Today, doctoral programs often emphasize one career path or the other. “There are some that poo poo the curatorial path because it’s seen as ‘subpar,’ but we’re eager to have students go into both careers and we encourage them to keep both doors open,” says Christine Mehring, chair of the University of Chicago’s art history department and an adjunct curator at the Smart Museum of Art.

Both career paths are highly competitive, though academic jobs, in particular, have long been declining in terms of wages, job security, and benefits.

“The number of tenure-track faculty jobs has decreased dramatically and have been replaced with adjuncts or lecturers who have one or two classes, but don’t have the job security or intellectual freedom that tenure offers,” says Claudia Brittenham, a professor of art history at the University of Chicago.

“A much more likely path now involves doing a postdoc for a couple years, and then maybe another one, then a visiting assistant professorship, or taking a job that doesn’t work and trying desperately to get out of it. So you have this extended period of uncertainty, moving every year,” Brittenham says. “It’s hard to plan a life under those circumstances. And every year that it continues, it makes things worse for the next year.”

The shutdown has forced universities and museums across the country to slash budgets, leading to job cuts and a backlog of eligible job seekers.

Earlier this month, CUNY laid off thousands of adjunct faculty and staff, spurring its labor union to sue the university for allegedly violating its obligations under the CARES Act, the pandemic stimulus package that awarded the university $251 million in relief money.

Representatives for the union, PSC/CUNY, did not respond to requests for comment.

The CUNY Graduate Center in New York. Courtesy Wiki Commons.

The University of Chicago, meanwhile, put a hiring freeze on new administrative staff positions and said it would be “slowing” academic hiring. There are currently three open positions in the art history department, and “we’re not expecting to search” for candidates, Mehring says.

“The job markets are drying up in both academia and museums,” says Mehring, who estimates that five to seven students in her department had job offers rescinded. “That is a very devastating situation to be in—when it can take six to eight years, you worked this entire time, you get a job offer, and then it gets taken away? I cannot even imagine what that feels like.”

Fortunately, two of the students have since had their offers reinstated: One who was doing a postdoc and lost a tenure-track position had it reinstated for the following year; another had a museum position withdrawn and then re-offered.

Markert says she spent much of February applying for summer internships at museums and arts organizations in New York.

“By mid-March, nearly every institution to which I had applied announced the cancellation or postponement of their internship programs,” she says. “Not only is an internship a requirement for my program, but this was to serve as a key building-block for career development, providing hands-on experience and the opportunity to make valuable professional connections. The loss of this experience—and the potential stipend that would have come with it—has been a great source of anxiety.”

To make matters worse, all of these job seekers are now part of employment backlog, which was a growing problem for the field even before the pandemic.

“They’re compounding effects,” says Brittenham. “Every year, there are more students than jobs. That creates a backlog for the next year, then there’s this ‘credential creep,’ where you have applications for a tenure-track professorship with someone who has a three-year postdoc and a bunch of articles, compared to someone who’s just finishing a PhD, so then the credentials just amplify and amplify.”

The lion statue with a mask in front of the Art Institute of Chicago. Photo: Joel Lerner/Xinhua via Getty.

Creative Coping Strategies

Some universities are finding creative ways to aid students during this period of unprecedented hardship.

For students who were no longer able to work their on-campus jobs after lockdown, for example, the University of Chicago created paid off-campus internships. For art history students, Mehring approached curators and conservators at the Field museum and the Art Institute of Chicago and told them the school had students who needed work, and that the university would pay them.

Many institutions agreed, and Mehring was able to place students into new internships. “They’re just over the moon,” she says.

The university is also expanding its humanities teaching fellowships, which Mehring describes as “semi-postdocs.”

Graduates who have completed their PhDs can spend up to two years teaching at the university, while they apply for permanent positions and, perhaps, work on publishing their dissertation as a book. The university is adding about a dozen of these fellowships.

Other students are reevaluating the job market and beginning to look outside the traditional fields of employment for art historians.

“We have a student who’s now working in academic affairs,” Brittenham says. “Students are also moving into publishing and foundations.”

But those aren’t necessarily less competitive fields. “The challenge is getting out of a circuit where there’s not a lot of compensation and a lot of competition.”

Rachel Corbett

Deputy editor.

Eileen Kinsella

Senior market editor, the best of artnet news in your inbox., related articles.

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