The Graduate Art History Program
at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst

Graduate Program Director: Monika Schmitter

GUIDE to the MASTER OF ARTS PROGRAM in ART HISTORY

Bartlett HallThe purpose of the Master of Arts Program in Art History is to provide a course of study for advanced art history students that will allow them to develop a high degree of professional competence and a broad foundation for further work in the discipline.

Enrollment in the Program does not exceed 30 students. There are presently 7 full-time art history faculty on the Amherst campus. This small size and advantageous student/faculty ratio give the Program many strengths. Founded in 1969, the M.A. Program offers the only publicly-funded graduate art history degree in New England. We prepare students for doctoral study and provide professional training for many careers, including museum and historical society work, governmental programs in the arts, the art market, journalism, and teaching at all levels.

Acceptance in the Program

Applicants to the M.A. Program submit an application form, two letters of recommendation, transcripts of academic work, and GRE scores. A faculty committee evaluates this information, giving priority to the candidate’s overall academic background in the humanities, foreign language competency, letters of recommendation, and motivation and interest.

All those admitted to the Program should complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) in order to determine eligibility for financial aid, including work study. In their first semester students are not normally awarded departmental assistance, but often receive it for their three subsequent semesters. Eligible entering students may also receive support through the Office of Minority Graduate Student Recruitment and Retention.

Degree Requirements and Guidelines

  1. A minimum of 30 credits are required for the M.A. degree.

  2. At least 5 art history graduate seminars (700-level) must be completed. One of these is the Graduate Methods seminar (Art His 781), which is to be taken during the first year of study in the Program. It is offered every fall.

  3. A full-time course load as defined by the Graduate School is 9 credits. If a student is holding a teaching assistantship, auditing a number of courses, or studying for the Comprehensive Exam, 6 credits may qualify as full-time. The Graduate Program Director (GPD) must approve all proposed courses of study.

  4. The Master’s Program requires students to complete one graduate course in each of the following areas: Ancient, Medieval, Renaissance/Baroque and Non-Western. Two courses in Modern are also required, selected from 2 of 3 fields: American, European and Architecture. Among these courses must be four lecture courses taken for credit from four different areas. These areas are Ancient, Medieval, Renaissance/Baroque, Non-Western and Modern. The other two distribution requirements may be satisfied by audits or seminars.

  5. One course (3 credits) taken outside art history may be counted toward the 30 hours for the degree. This course may not be in a foreign language, except at the literature level, or in studio art. Many graduate students do take foreign language or studio art courses in addition to their 30 degree credits. Students are encouraged to take advantage of the many courses at the University and the Five Colleges in related fields such as History, Philosophy, English, and Classics.

  6. Students should note that while formal audits may be used to satisfy 2 distribution requirements for the M.A., ordinarily such an audit will not provide a level of expertise adequate for answering essay questions in that area of the comprehensive exam. The minimum standard for an audit is regular attendance, with no absences. Official audits that appear on the transcript are taken with the permission of the instructor. Students should be sure to check with the individual instructor to determine what constitutes an audit in each case. Furthermore, while the graduate school allows for a change from graded credit to an official audit up until the last day of classes, the student must have the permission of the instructor and be passing the course. Students holding departmental assistantships must earn 6 credits. Audits do not earn credit.

  7. No more than 6 credits of Independent Study may be counted toward the 30 hours for the degree, although students are encouraged to pursue individualized work.

  8. The University allows transfer of up to 6 credits of graduate work from another institution or 6 credits done as a non-degree graduate stude nt on campus (provided that the student registered for the course through the Graduate School.) The individual petition to the GPD accomplishes the transfer.

During Counseling Week each semester students consult with the GPD about their schedule. The GPD will help students to balance their level of preparation and interests with the general requirements and pattern of offerings.

Foreign Language Requirement

For most careers in art history, a knowledge of foreign languages, especially French and German, is extremely important and often a fundamental requirement. Students in the M.A. Program are expected to read in a foreign language in connection with their academic work, especially in seminars.

A reading knowledge of French or German must be demonstrated in order to receive the M.A. degree, and a language examination must be passed before the student is eligible to take the M.A. Comprehensive Examination. In special cases, students may petition for recognition of another language, directly related to research in their field of interest, in fulfillment of the requirement.

The written examination requires translating a selected passage of art-historical writing from French or German into English. The passage must be translated in one hour without the use of a dictionary. The GPD administers the examination in French and German once each semester on Registration Day. All students are required to take the examination during their first semester and subsequently until they have passed it. The faculty in making teaching assistantship awards considers language proficiency.

Students who do not pass the exam at once are required to take for credit or officially audit a language course during their first semester. They must continue to take language courses or other concrete steps toward learning a language until the requirement is met.

Any student who has passed a graduate level literature course in French or German at the University with a grade of B or above will be exempt from the language examination. Faculty must approve graduate literature courses taken at other institutions.

Comprehensive Examination for the M.A.

At the beginning of the semester during which a student plans to take the Comprehensive Examination, the student must notify the GPD in writing. At the same time, the student will declare a major area of concentration and select three members from the faculty as an examining committee with one serving as chairperson.

The major areas are:

Ancient
Medieval
15th-16th centuries throughout Europe
17th-18th centuries throughout Europe
14th-17th centuries in Northern Europe
15th-18th centuries in Italy
American (Colonial to World War II)
European, 1780 to the present
19th century in Europe and America
20th century in Europe and America
Islamic
Other areas may be selected with faculty consent

There is no thesis requirement for the M.A. in Art History. Rather, there is a series of examinations offered twice a year, beginning in the first week of November and April. (In 2006 and thereafter, the spring exam will begin the last week in March.) The written examination is in two parts. The first part is the Comprehensive Examination, with four sections: (1) a take-home Methodology essay; (2) 30 slide identifications; (3) 2 slide attributions, chosen outside the major field; (4) 3 essays outside the major field. A file of sample examinations is available to students in the Art History Office.

Please note: no portion of the exam can be rewritten, but a student may retake the exam once. Students must earn a minimum of 240 points out of 300 (a grade of B) on the 30 slide identifications and also a B on both attributions and all 3 essays to pass the exam. We strongly counsel students not to respond to questions for which their sole preparation is based on an undergraduate course or an audit. This exam will be read by various faculty committees.

The second part of the written examination is the major area exam, composed and read by the student’s own committee. This consists of two essay questions selected from a list of 4-6. In exceptional cases, students who have carried a research project to a sufficient state of completion may be nominated by a faculty member to submit a “publishable paper” in place of the written area examination. The art history faculty as a whole must approve such a project.

Usually within a week after taking the written examination, the student will arrange with the committee for the oral examination. The oral examination normally consists of roughly 40 minutes of questions from the general field and 20 minutes of questions in the candidate’s area of concentration.

Library Resources

The University has arranged the 9th floor of the W.E.B. DuBois Library as an Art Library. The collection is strong, containing around 70,000 volumes. These books have limited circulation and may also be set aside on the 9th floor for individual study and easy reference. The libraries at Amherst, Mount Holyoke, and especially Smith College compliment the University’s holdings. Delivery of books not available at the University can be requested through Five College Delivery (FCD). Graduate students at the University have access to these libraries and other major art libraries in New England, such as the Clark Art Institute Library in Williamstown, Massachusetts. Since the University is part of a large Boston-based consortium of Massachusetts schools, students have ready access through interlibrary loan to great numbers of books in addition to the over two million items on the Amherst campus. The excellent University Interlibrary Loan Service is heavily subsidized so the cost to the borrower is minimal.

Computer Facilities

The Art History Program has its own computer lab, open during slide library hours. When not in use by a class, these computers are available to graduate students for word processing or to access the World Wide Web. The Office of Information and Technology (OIT) must issue a password for access to the campus network of public computer labs and printing facilities. There is a public computer lab on the ground floor of Bartlett Hall, available for use by OIT account holders on weekends and evenings, as well as additional MAC and PC labs located in the W.E.B. DuBois Library. OIT also staffs a Help Desk located in the Lederele low rise, specializing in software problems, but they also provide other services such as PC maintenance, upgrading RAM and solving various other hardware problems.

Resources in the Five Colleges Consortium

Courses in art history or a related field taken at Amherst, Hampshire, Mount Holyoke, and Smith Colleges can be included in a student’s program and counted as the equivalent of a 600-level course at the University, provided that they are above the introductory level and the instructor verifies completion of graduate work in writing. The Five College System allows an unusual breadth of course offerings and areas of faculty specialization. Graduate students are required to consult with the GPD before registering for Five College courses.

Opportunities for Foreign Study

The University supports a number of foreign exchange programs in which graduate students may participate. Particularly suitable because of strong course offerings in art history or related areas are the summer program at Oxford and the academic year exchange available through the Freiburg/Baden-Württemberg Program. The latter allows graduate study in art history at reasonable cost at the universities of Freiburg, Karlsruhle, Stuttgart, and Tübingen, among others. Many other opportunities are available through the International Programs office on campus. Students who expect to complete the M.A. Program in two years should not consider foreign study.

Museum Studies and Internships

The Art History Program is committed to offering students special opportunities in museum-related areas. A Museum Studies Seminar is regularly offered, taking full advantage of the rich and varied collections in New England. The University has internship arrangements with the museums at Amherst, Mount Holyoke, and Smith Colleges; these awards are competitive and carry both a stipend and tuition waiver. The Museum of Fine Arts and George Walter Vincent Smith Museum in Springfield, the Worcester Art Museum, and the Wadsworth Athenaeum in Hartford also provide valuable internship possibilities. Graduate students have also completed internships at Historic Deerfield and other area historic sites, and have won places in competitive summer internship programs at major museums in Boston, New York, and Washington.

The University supports an art gallery with a permanent collection, especially strong in 20th century works on paper. The Gallery mounts a number of significant contemporary exhibitions during the year, often composed of site-specific works. Several recent M.A. candidates have served as research assistants in the Gallery. Student-run galleries on campus provide opportunities for students interested in producing exhibitions. From time to time, campus galleries offer internships that carry a stipend and tuition waiver. More than 40 percent of our graduates have successfully pursued museum work after finishing the degree.

For more information on internships, see our FAQ on internships.

Teaching Assistantships and Fellowships

Between 10 and 15 Art History Program teaching assistantships are available to graduate students each semester. These are normally awarded to students who have completed at least one semester. Assistantships involve 10-15 hours of work per week and carry stipends normally between $2,700 - $3,300 per semester, plus a full tuition waiver, waiver of most other fees and partial payment of the University health fee. Qualified students receive support for three of their four semesters in the Program.

Assistants are normally assigned to the following courses:

Art History 100 and 110, a two-semester survey in which the TAs lead discussion sections and grade written work.
Art History 115 – Introduction to the Visual Arts, for which grading and advising are required.
Art History 322-Modern Art, in which assistants lead discussions and grade written work.
Qualified graduate students also assist in Art History 370 - the Junior Year Writing course.

Assistantships are available for the support of the undergraduate General Education curriculum in the Dorothy Perkins Slide Library; for these, computer skills are helpful. Additional teaching assistantships are available in the University Writing Program and various foreign language departments.

Duties of teaching assistants are specified at the beginning of each semester (see the sample TA expectations form on page 11 of this booklet.) The TA Handbook for Art History was compiled in 2001 as an aid for new TAs. Suggestions for subsequent editions of the handbook should be directed to the GPD. A written report on each teaching assistant is placed in the assistant’s file at the end of each semester. A student who fails to complete work for an incomplete grade within the following semester is not allowed to hold an assistantship, since the faculty’s policy is that assistantships are assigned to students making satisfactory progress towards the degree. Students who fail the language exam three times will not receive an assistantship for the same reason.

Each year the Graduate School awards a limited number of fellowships. These involve no teaching duties and include a tuition waiver and stipend of approximately $6,000. They are highly competitive; seven of the faculty’s nominees since 1989 have been recipients of these award.

Review of Work Standards

The entire faculty reviews and evaluates the work of all graduate students during the semester. University regulations specify that to remain in good standing a 3.0 average (with no grade lower than C in courses taken toward meeting the 30 credit requirement) must be maintained. In the Art History Program a grade of BC or below is considered an unsatisfactory performance.

The grade of INC (incomplete) is given when a student has failed to complete all assigned work satisfactorily by the end of the semester. This grade is given in limited circumstances, and only for compelling reasons, either personal or academic. Once the grade of INC is given, the student’s top academic priority is to complete the work involved. Students with three or more incompletes may not register for additional courses and may not take the Comprehensive Examination until all INC’s are completed and erased from the record.

Career Opportunities

Graduates of our program have gone on to careers in many fields. Some have taken advanced degrees in art history or conservation before teaching at a university level or working in museums. Others have taught at the secondary and college levels. Our graduates have also become art editors, art librarians, slide curators, art dealers, and advocates of government programs.

Job opportunities are posted regularly, and faculty make a special effort to inform students about appropriate positions and give them suitable recommendations. The Graduate Newsletter published annually gives a good idea of the jobs and careers in which our alumni have excelled over the years. From time to time, the Program sponsors lectures by alumni who are happy to talk with current students about their career experiences.

Research Possibilities

The Graduate School has funded research travel by graduate students whose applications are supported by the student’s department or program. The Art History Program has two internal funds named for two deceased Alumni: The Stephen Keye Fund for conference travel, and the Maura Donohue fund for research travel.

Visual Collections

The Art History Program maintains significant collections of visual materials. The Dorothy Perkins Slide Library, administered by our slide librarian, Lee Bridegam, is a large and comprehensive collection of slides for teaching. The program is also actively engaged in a federally-funded grant using images on CD-Rom and on the World Wide Web.

Graduate Student Life

While the primary efforts of graduate students focus on academic activities, the Program, University and Five College community provide enormous opportunities for social and cultural enrichment. The University’s extensive programs are available to all students at reduced cost. Departmental social events vary from receptions following lectures to traditional potluck dinners held once a semester. On campus, the Alumni Lounge in Bartlett Hall forms the focus of social activities and serves as a lunch and study room for both graduate students and faculty. The Graduate Student Senate supports a wide variety of programs and activities for graduate students. More information can be found in the pages of the Graduate School Bulletin.

Other Resources

The Graduate School of the University of Massachusetts Amherst publishes the Graduate Student Handbook. It is an invaluable guide regarding the policies and procedures of the University Graduate School. Containing key information regarding such topics as which forms to file, statutes of limitations, committee information, deadlines and timelines. It is provided to all students confirming admission to the University’s graduate programs.

Teaching assistants are members of the Graduate Employee organization (GEO), a union that publishes its own guide for members.

In addition to the tips in the Art History TA Handbook, you may wish to consult the TA handbook produced by the Center for Teaching on campus. The Center for Teaching also organizes an annual Teaching Assistant Orientation every fall, which provides the opportunity to meet key administrators, senior TAs and faculty to gain important skills and to begin to feel a sense of membership within the larger University community of scholars.


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