Art History (ART H)

Program Home Page

CRAIG ZABEL, Head of the Department
229 Arts II Building
814-865-6326
ccw2@psu.edu

Degrees Conferred: Ph.D., M.A.

The Graduate Faculty

Brian A. Curran, Ph.D. (Princeton) Associate Professor of Art History
Anthony Cutler, Ph.D. (Emory) Evan Pugh Professor of Art History
Roland E. Fleischer, Ph.D. (Johns Hopkins) Professor Emeritus of Art History
Hellmut Hager, Ph.D. (Universität Bonn) Evan Pugh Professor and Professor Emeritus of Art History
Heinz Henisch, Ph.D. (Reading) Research Professor Emeritus of the History of Photography
Charlotte M. Houghton, Ph.D. (Duke) Assistant Professor of Art History
Nancy Locke, Ph.D. (Harvard) Associate Professor of Art History
Patrick McGrady, Ph.D. (SUNY, Binghamton) Affiliate Assistant Professor of Art History
Jeanne Chenault Porter, Ph.D. (Michigan) Associate Professor of Art History
Sarah K. Rich, Ph.D. (Yale) Assistant Professor of Art History
Joyce Henri Robinson, Ph.D. (Virginia) Affiliate Associate Professor of Art History
Elizabeth B. Smith, Ph.D. (NYU, Institute of Fine Arts) Associate Professor of Art History
Elizabeth Walters, Ph.D. (NYU, Institute of Fine Arts) Associate Professor of Art History
Kristi Ann Wormhoudt, Ph.D. (Iowa) Affiliate Assistant Professor of Art History
Craig Zabel, Ph.D. (Illinois, Urbana-Champaign) Associate Professor of Art History

Graduate work is offered in the following areas: Ancient, Byzantine, Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, Modern, Contemporary, American, African, and Asian art and architectural history.

Admission Requirements

Scores from the Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) Aptitude Test (verbal, quantitative, and analytical) are required for admission to the Department of Art History. Special emphasis will be given to the verbal part of the GRE scores. Requirements listed here are in addition to general Graduate School requirements stated in the GENERAL INFORMATION section of the Graduate Bulletin.

Candidates with a 3.00 junior/senior grade-point average and a minimum of 21 credits in art history will be considered for admission to the master's program. Lacking these, a promising candidate may be accepted on condition that deficiencies be remedied, but without graduate degree credit. Applicants to the Ph.D. program must have an M.A. in art history or a closely related field. The best-qualified applicants will be accepted up to the number of spaces that are available for new students.

Master's Degree Requirements

Candidates for the M.A. degree are required to complete a minimum total of 36 credits (including a master’s thesis or paper), divided as follows:
a. ART H 551 (3 credits), to be taken during one’s first fall semester
b. 12 credits at the 400 level, of which 3 credits must be taken in four of the five following areas of art history: African/Asian, Ancient, Byzantine/Medieval, Renaissance/Baroque, and Modern
c. 9 credits of 500-level seminars in art history (ART H 551, and ART H 596 may not be used to fulfill this requirement). Each seminar in this 9-credit requirement must be taken with a different faculty member.
d. 6 additional credits in art history at the 400 or 500 level. With the approval of one’s adviser and the graduate officer, 3 credits of this requirement may be a course at the 400 or 500 level outside the Department of Art History.
e. 6 credits of ART H 600 for a master’s thesis or 6 credits of ART H 596 for a master’s paper. ART H 596 may be used only by a master’s candidate for a master’s paper; all other individual studies should use ART H 496.

In addition, candidates must demonstrate a reading proficiency in two foreign languages. One of these languages must be German, and the other being French, Italian, or Spanish. On the recommendation of a student’s adviser, and with the approval of the graduate officer, a student may substitute one of the above-named languages with another foreign language deemed appropriate for a specialized field. Proficiency in one language must be demonstrated before the end of one year of study. A reading knowledge of the second language must be demonstrated before the end of the second year. A master’s examination must also be passed before completing the M.A. degree.

Doctoral Degree Requirements

Thirty additional credits, not including doctoral dissertation research, are required for the Ph.D. At least 24 of these credits must be in art history and 3 to 6 must be in a related area outside art history. At least 9 of the art history credits must be at the 500 level, exclusive of Art History 510 and Art History 596. At the discretion of the candidate’s doctoral committee, the candidate may be required to take additional specialized courses pertaining to his or her major area of study. For students who have received a master’s degree from another university, a reading competency in German and in French or Italian must be demonstrated before the end of one year of study. For the Ph.D., a candidacy examination, a comprehensive examination, and a final oral examination must be successfully completed in addition to the student’s doctoral dissertation.

Student Aid

Graduate assistantships and other forms of student aid are described in the STUDENT AID section of the Graduate Bulletin.

Graduate courses carry numbers from 500 to 599 and 800 to 899. Advanced undergraduate courses numbered between 400 and 499 may be used to meet some graduate degree requirements when taken by graduate students. Courses below the 400 level may not. A graduate student may register for or audit these courses in order to make up deficiencies or to fill in gaps in previous education but not to meet requirements for an advanced degree.

ART HISTORY (ART H) course list

The Pennsylvania State University © 2004

The University reserves the right to change the requirements and regulations listed here and to determine whether a student has satisfactorily met its requirements for admission or graduation, and to reject any applicant for any reason the University determines to be material to the applicant's qualifications to pursue higher education. Nothing in this material should be considered a guarantee that completion of a program and graduation from the University will result in employment.

This electronic Graduate Bulletin is a version of the official bulletin of The Pennsylvania State University. It is suggested that users refer to this electronic bulletin when seeking the latest information about the University's academic programs and courses. Printed versions of the Bulletin are also official copies of the programs, courses, and policies in effect at the time of printing.

DATE LAST REVIEWED BY GRADUATE SCHOOL: 5/17/04

DATE LAST REVIEWED BY PUBLICATIONS: 6/30/05