Art History, PhD

Location(s): Main Campus

The art history doctoral program aims to foster innovative teaching and research and to develop scholars, teachers, museum curators, and heritage and planning professionals capable of interpreting the role of art, architecture, visual culture, and cultural production in both the historical past and our shared present. Because of its programmatic links with other research centers and graduate programs within the university, the program offers a unique opportunity to graduate students wishing to undertake innovative studies of a cross-disciplinary nature, with a stress on the development of critical theoretical and historical perspectives in relation to the visual arts, media, architecture, planning, and the wider built environment, in local, national, and global contexts.

Core to the program is the close working relationship between faculty and students. Students engage in advanced studies and research in fields including theory and criticism, the social history of art, feminist interpretations of art, architectural history, the study of museums and art world institutions, and media studies, from the early modern period to today.

Admission Requirements

The doctoral program admits qualified applicants who wish to continue beyond the master’s level in one or more areas of current faculty strengths. Students coming from other fields may have to supplement the minimum course requirements with additional art history courses to carry out their programs of study.

Students coming to the doctoral program from other Binghamton University degree programs must have either a master’s degree in the history of art, architecture, or visual culture or a degree in a cognate discipline with training that links effectively with one of the department’s areas of specialization.

Applicants for admission to graduate work in art history are required to submit college transcripts, an example of original written work (e.g., a publication or paper submitted in an advanced graduate course), three letters of reference, and a statement of research interests.

Students who are not citizens or permanent residents of the United States must also submit proof of English proficiency (such as TOEFL, IELTS or PTE Academic scores). International students who have received a college or university degree from an institution in the United States, the United Kingdom (England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, or Wales), Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, or certain Canadian provinces are not required to submit TOEFL, IELTS, or PTE Academic scores. All international students must provide immigration forms guaranteeing financial support.

Program Requirements

Course Requirements

Students pursuing the PhD in art history must take a minimum of 34 graduate credits. The course of study must include:

Seven graduate courses (28 credits) including at least six art history seminars, the latter taken with at least four different faculty members in the Art History Department
ARTH 500 : Theories and Methods (4 credits; required in the first year)
ARTH 501 : Professionalization (1 credit; required in the first year)
ARTH 699 : Dissertation (at least 1 credit, as required to maintain registration after admission to candidacy)

In addition to the work completed for their courses, students are expected to pursue a coherent program of readings in preparation for their comprehensive examinations.

Students who have taken a graduate-level seminar in theory and methods as part of their MA degree may petition to waive ARTH 500. Students should submit a waiver petition along with the course syllabus to the director of graduate studies, who will then bring the petition to the full faculty for consideration. Waiver is not guaranteed and is dependent on faculty consensus that the course meets departmental standards.

If a student wishes to take either a course outside the department or an independent study with an Art History Department faculty member for credit, the student must submit a petition to the director of graduate studies who then brings the petition to the full faculty for consideration.

Comprehensive Examination and Timeline to Degree

The comprehensive examination comprises one written exam and one oral exam. The written exam is six hours in length and in person, covering the student’s field of specialization and administered and assessed by a committee of three faculty members (including the advisor) in the Art History Department, selected by the student. The oral exam is two hours in length and in person, focusing on both answers to the written exam and the student’s dissertation proposal, circulated to the committee at least three weeks in advance of the oral exam. The committee assesses both parts of the exam on a pass/fail basis. In the case of a failed exam, a student may retake the exam once.

Unless exceptional circumstances arise, the comprehensive examination should be completed within four semesters of commencing the program. Students who do not complete the examination within five semesters of commencing the program will receive a grade of U (unsatisfactory) for ARTH 698 until the examination has been passed. In clear cases of extenuating circumstances, students may file a petition for an extension.

Students are officially admitted to candidacy for the doctoral degree upon satisfactory completion of the comprehensive examination. Candidates for the doctoral degree must maintain registration continuously until all degree requirements are completed. While the Graduate School allows a maximum of five academic years following admission to candidacy for the completion and defense of the dissertation and conferral of degree, the department assumes most students will take considerably less time to complete the degree. To facilitate efficient movement through the program, the student will submit a proposed timeline to degree as part of the dissertation prospectus. This timeline to degree will be used by the student and the committee as a framework to ensure effective use of time to degree.

Foreign Language Requirement

Students will demonstrate facility with at least one foreign language through the citation of relevant texts in that language in the doctoral dissertation, in consultation with the thesis advisor.

Dissertation Committee

The student must select a dissertation advisor no later than the last day of the third semester of enrollment and notify the director of graduate studies in writing. In conjunction with the advisor, who chairs the committee, the student must select two additional committee members from the Binghamton University graduate faculty, at least one of whom must be a faculty member in the Art History Department. In extremely rare cases, off-campus specialists in the subject area may be invited to serve, though no honorarium can be offered for such services. Upon constitution of the committee, the student notifies the director of graduate studies, who records the committee composition in department files in conjunction with the department administrator.

Dissertation Proposal

The dissertation proposal details the proposed research project and serves as the basis for the dissertation. The student must submit a formal, written proposal for dissertation research on an approved topic, outlining in detail the scholarly problem the project will address, the method of inquiry to be conducted, and the relevant literature on the subject. The dissertation committee must accept this proposal, which the student defends during the oral portion of the comprehensive examination. A copy of the approved proposal must be submitted to the director of graduate studies after successful completion of the comprehensive examination who will then coordinate with the department administrator to place the proposal on file in the department.

Dissertation Defense

A successful dissertation demonstrates the student’s ability to handle significant problems in the history of art, architecture, visual culture, or the built environment in a critical and scholarly manner and makes a meaningful contribution to the discipline. Once the dissertation committee has accepted the final draft of the dissertation, the student defends it in an oral examination that is open to the public. The dissertation defense is conducted by the student’s dissertation committee along with an outside examiner, recommended by the advisor to the Graduate School and, if approved, appointed by the dean of the Graduate School. The final dissertation must be submitted electronically in accordance with Graduate School regulations, while a bound hard copy must be provided by the student to the department.

Additional Information About the Program

For more information on the Art History PhD program, please refer to the Art History Department website. To apply to the Art History PhD program, please visit the University Admissions website.