Art & Architectural History Graduate Program
Our program focuses on visual culture and critical approaches, engaging the dynamic nature of the discipline at the beginning of the twenty-first century. Once dominated by biographical, connoisseurship, formalist, and iconographical studies, art history is now increasingly inclusive, interdisciplinary, and a self-reflective discourse.
Current critiques of traditional art history have come partly from the introduction of methodological practices developed in a wide variety of fields (anthropology, semiotics, post-structuralism, and feminism), and partly from an examination of the historiographic traditions of the field itself. The discipline has moved away from positivist practice towards a greater theoretical awareness of the interplay of visuality and language in the construction of social relations and historical narratives. As such, art history now locates itself within the broader intellectual landscape offered by other fields in the humanities. The result is not a unified field of art history, but a diverse set of discourses, which can be mapped onto the complex relationship of visual culture and methodological strategies.
The MA program in Art History offers three streams.
All streams require credit for a reading knowledge of a second language.
Course Work Stream Requirements
ARTH 5010 (1.0 credit)
3.0 credits in Course Work
-no more than 1.0 credits in 4000 or 4000/5000 level courses
-no more than 0.5 credit outside ARTH
Research Essay Stream Requirements
ARTH 5010 (1.0 credit)
2.0 credits in Course Work
-no more than 1.0 credits in 4000 or 4000/5000 level courses
-no more than 0.5 credit outside ARTH
ARTH 5908 (Research Essay 1.0 credit)
The Research Essay is approximately 40 pages in length and is written under the supervision of a faculty member with both expertise and an interest in the student’s topic. The topic for the research essay may develop from or be independent of Course Work.
Thesis Stream Requirements
ARTH 5010 (1.0 credit)
1.5 credits of Course Work
-no more than 1.0 credits in 4000 or 4000/5000 level courses
-no more than 0.5 credit outside ARTH
-required to take 0.5 credit outside your field of specialization
ARTH 5900 (MA Thesis 1.5 credits)
The thesis is 60 to 80 pages and is written under the supervision of a faculty member with both expertise and an interest in the student’s topic. To enter the thesis stream, students are required to notify the Graduate Supervisor of their intent to enter this stream at the beginning of their first term of study. The Graduate Committee will determine the student’s eligibility for this stream after one term of study in the case of full-time students and after two terms of study in the case of part-time students. For those admitted to the thesis stream, the deadline for the submission of the thesis proposal to the Graduate Committee is normally no later than April 15 of the first year of study in the case of full-time students and no later than the middle of the fifth term of registration for part-time students.
For further information on the Graduate program in Art History, please contact Ming Tiampo, Graduate Supervisor.