Also offered as a Bachelor’s/Master’s Pathways
The M.A. in Art History provides students with training in art history, theory, and methods to prepare them for careers in art collections, education, and cultural institutions, as well as for further graduate study at the Ph.D. level. Courses are offered in art and architecture from antiquity to the present. We see art history as an integral part of social and cultural history in a global context, and our classes are interdisciplinary in scope. The major is unique in featuring small, intensive seminar-style courses. Students receive individual attention from an active, award-winning research faculty, who expose students to the most recent methodological and theoretical approaches in the field. Coursework can be supplemented by international travel and study-abroad programs sponsored by the School of Art and Art History. The Contemporary Art Museum, Graphicstudio Institute for Research in Art and the Kennedy Family Visiting Artist/Scholar program are all valuable resources contributing to course content, study and possible internship opportunities in the program.
The degree provides an excellent foundation in graduate level art-historical analysis, research, and writing, an outstanding springboard for either continuing graduate studies at doctoral level to become a university professor, or professional work in a variety of arts fields including museums, non-profit and commercial galleries, libraries, education, and publishing. Some of the positions in the arts held by our graduates include: museum curator, museum registrar, non-profit art gallery director, commercial art gallery director or administrator, museum educator, museum director, art critic, art librarian, visual resources professional, corporate art collection curator, state arts agency administrator, university administrator and program director, art history instructor K-12 and college, or tenured university professor.
M.A. Art History students are guided by the art history faculty in selecting their area of research after completing a year of graduate study. This major features an endowed chair in modern and contemporary art history.
Accreditation:
Accredited by the National Association of Schools of Art and Design.
Major Research Areas:
Ancient, Late Medieval, Renaissance, Early Modern, Nineteenth Century, Twentieth Century, Contemporary, Islamic.
Admission Information
Must meet University Admission and English Proficiency requirements, as well as requirements for admission to the major, listed below.
For priority consideration: The electronic application and fee payment for USF Graduate Admissions must be completed by the posted priority admission deadline (http://www.grad.usf.edu/programs/search_all.php) at https://secure.vzcollegeapp.com/usf/. All other application materials must be submitted online at https://usf.slideroom.com/#/login. All official transcripts must be postmarked by the posted priority admission deadline and sent directly to the Office of Graduate Admissions.
Applications will be accepted to June 1, but submissions after January 15 are less likely to receive scholarships and funding.
Application requirements:
- Research paper, written in English, dealing with a topic in art history or a related discipline.
- Three letters of recommendation from people who can assess the applicant’s academic ability, ideally from professors who have taught the applicant and are familiar wtih the applicant’s research and classroom participation.
- Short essay of one to two pages explaining the applicant’s research interests and goals for graduate study in art history. A personal interview by the art history faculty may be requested.
- Admission is competitive. Fulfillment of the admissions requirements does not guarantee acceptance into the program. All submitted application materials are reviewed by the art history faculty to assess academic potential.
Undergraduate Deficiencies in Art History
- Students pursuing graduate studies in art history, who do not have an undergraduate degree in art history may be required to take additional classes preliminary to acceptance.
- Exceptions can be granted only with consent of the art history faculty.
Pre-Requisite Language Requirements
Applicants are expected to have reading knowledge of the foreign language most relevant for study and research in the area of interest through one of the following options:
1). Completion of two semesters of a beginning undergraduate foreign language course, with at least a “B” in both courses
2) Completion of the GSFLT (Office of Graduate Studies Foreign Language Test) with a score of 450 or above.
3) Completion of a proficiency exam in which they translate, from a foreign language into English, materials relevant to their particular disciplines. The form of these proficiency exams should be devised by the appropriate language professors.
4) Graduate courses taken to fulfill the language requirement may count toward up to eight hours of electives required for the Major.
Applicants should consult with the Department to determine the language appropriate to their scholarly interests and the best option for meeting the pre-requisite requirement.
Transfer of Credit
There is no automatic transfer of non-degree seeking student credit or graduate credit earned at other institutions or from other graduate majors in the University towards M.A. degree requirements. The School of Art and Art History has designated a six-hour limit on all credit taken as non-degree seeking student status. Any transfer of credit or non-degree seeking student hours to be used toward M.A. degree requirements are only granted after a faculty review at the time the student has been accepted into the M.A. major.