After acceptance into the program, you should schedule an appointment with the Director of MA Graduate Studies (the Director of MA Graduate Studies) to plan your first semester of coursework. All art history faculty members are available for consultation about the academic program, and we encourage you to meet with each of us to discover areas of mutual interest. We look forward to counseling you as you navigate the more intense academic environment of the graduate experience.

Coursework

The MA degree in Art History is composed of 30 semester credit hours of coursework in art history (10 courses at 3 semester credit hours per course) and 6 semester credit hours of Thesis Research (3 semester credit hours per semester after advancing to candidacy). By petition, one optional class in another department related to your field of specialization may be approved as part of the 30-credit hour requirement. Remedial courses in art history or foreign language instruction fall outside the 30-hour requirement. All coursework used to fulfill the MA degree requirement must be numbered at the 5000-level and above. Students in their first year normally enroll in 3 graduate courses per semester (9 credit hours).

In your first semester, you will enroll in ARTH 6800 Critical Theory and Methodology of Art History (meets with ARTH 4000 Good Looking), a class that investigates differing approaches to and perspectives on the study of art history and visual culture, as well as ARTH 6810 Visual Intersections, an interdisciplinary graduate seminar, addressing selected problems, issues, and methods of interpreting and writing about images and objects. You will also enroll in the ARTH 6000-level course that meets with the Senior Seminar. By the end of the first semester, you should be prepared to form the Supervisory Committee that advises you on the remainder of you 30-hour coursework.

In your second semester, you will again enroll in ARTH 6810 Visual Intersections and the ARTH 6000-level course that meets with the Senior Seminar. You may select your third course from any of the ARTH 4000-level lecture courses being offered that semester (request the graduate course number from the professor teaching your chosen course). By the end of your second semester you must submit a qualifying paper (a research paper from one of your courses that has been developed in consultation with a faculty member) to your supervisory committee. After your qualifying paper has been approved, you will be advanced to candidacy. You will submit a proposal of your thesis topic to your committee no later than the beginning of your second year.

In your second year (third and fourth semesters), you will enroll in a combination of directed study credit hours, 6000-level lecture courses, and a total of 6 semester credit hours of Thesis Research (ARTH 6970). Please note that after advancing to candidacy, you must enroll in a minimum of 3 Thesis Research credit hours per semester. At the end of your fourth semester, you will defend your thesis in a public oral examination.

No grade below B- will count toward satisfying the MA requirements, and Credit/ No Credit is not an option for any coursework in art history. You may track your progress through the MA program by reviewing your unofficial transcript--Degree Audit Report, abbreviated DARS (log onto the Campus Information System.)

MODEL CALENDAR OF GRADUATE STUDY

SEMESTER 1	SEMESTER 2	SEMESTER 3	SEMESTER 4
ArtH 6810 Visual Intersections (Theme 1)	ArtH 6810 Visual Intersections (Theme 2)	ArtH 6970 (Thesis Research)	ArtH 6970 (Thesis Research)
ArtH 6000-level Course (Meets with Senior Seminar)	ArtH 6000-level Course (Meets with Senior Seminar)	ArtH 6000-level Course (Directed Study)	ArtH 6000-level Course (Directed Study)
ArtH 6800 Critical Theory/Methods (Meets with ArtH 4000 Good Looking)	ArtH 6000-level Course (Meets with 4000-level UG Lecture Course)	ArtH 6000-level Course (Meets with 4000-level UG Lecture Course)	ArtH 6000-level Course (Directed Study)

Note: Incoming students who have previously taken ArtH 4000 Good Looking will enroll in their choice of one of the ARTH 4000-level lecture courses being offered that semester (request the graduate course number from the professor teaching your chosen course), in lieu of ArtH 6800 Critical Theory/Methods.

Supervisory Committee

Your committee is crucial to your graduate program. It is responsible for helping you shape an effective course of study, preparing and judging the qualifying examination, reading and approving the thesis, and administering the final thesis defense. The committee serves as your chief advocate to the department, the College of Fine Arts, and the Graduate School. You must form a three-member committee by the end of the first semester in residence. In consultation with the Director of MA Graduate Studies, you should approach prospective committee members to discover their willingness and availability to serve. Two of the three (chair and another member) must be selected from University of Utah full-time art history faculty. You are encouraged to consider a faculty member from another department as the third committee member, invited on the basis of special expertise in your declared area of concentration. You will complete a Request for Supervisory Committee form for the signatures of your Supervisory Committee and the Director of MA Graduate Studies. The completed form is to be returned to the department graduate secretary, who will forward it to Graduate Records for approval by the Graduate School Dean.

Upon appointment of the Supervisory Committee by the Graduate School Dean, the chair of the committee will convene a planning meeting with you and the other members. At this time, the committee will review your academic performance and progress, advise on the remainder of the coursework, set the areas of the qualifying exam, and discuss the thesis topic. You may also at this time petition the Supervisory Committee to recommend acceptance of a maximum of nine semester credit hours of non-matriculated graduate coursework, subject to Graduate School conditions. Your committee may identify weaknesses in your preparation and counsel you on ways to rectify them. Once your coursework is approved, any changes must receive an unanimous vote by your committee. You will be expected to inform your Supervisory Committee chair regularly of your progress through the program.

Language Requirement

In the Art History graduate program, you must show standard proficiency in at least one foreign language approved by your supervisory committee. This requirement may be satisfied in one of two ways:

1. Obtain a Language Verification form from the Department of Languages and Literature (1400 LNCO, 801-581-7561), issued with submission of a transcript showing completion (B or better) of a fourth-semester language course (e.g. French 2020 or the graduate version, French 7700)

or

2. Receive a passing score on the Modern Language Assessment (MLA) exam at the Testing Center (498 SSB, 801-581-8744)

One copy of the proficiency certification should be filed in Graduate Records and another copy in your file in the Department of Art and Art History (161 Art Bldg). Coursework required for language proficiency does not fall within the art history 30 credit hour requirement.

Proficiency certification should take place in the second semester of graduate work.

Qualifying Exam

Before beginning thesis research and in order to be advanced to candidacy by the Dean of the Graduate School, you must submit a qualifying paper that is approved by your supervisory committee. The qualifying paper must demonstrate competency in graduate level art historical research and critical writing necessary for a thesis research project. All incompletes and failing grades must be rectified before the paper is submitted. Approval of your qualifying paper will permit you to apply for candidacy; if your paper is not approved by your committee, you may resubmit it with revisions one time. It is not possible to submit a qualifying paper a third time. The Supervisory Committee chair shall complete the Report of the Comprehensive Examination for the Graduate School and inform you in writing of the results of your paper, with a copy of the letter placed in the student's file. At that time, you may contact the Director of MA Graduate Studies about thesis hour registration.

Admission to Candidacy

Upon passing your exam, you should also complete the Application for Admission to Candidacy (Master's) form for the signatures of your Supervisory Committee and the Director of MA Graduate Studies..

It is due in its final form in the Graduate Records Office at least one semester, and no earlier than one year, before your planned date of graduation.

Prospectus

Upon admittance to candidacy by the Dean of the Graduate School, you shall present a prospectus to your Supervisory Committee for approval. The function of the prospectus is to identify the thesis topic, outline the appropriate research methodology, and convey how the topic fits into the field of art history. A preliminary bibliography should accompany your prospectus.

Travel Awards

A competitive art history scholarship has been established through the Etta Keith Eskridge Foundation endowment. The fund is used for travel by art history graduate students engaged in thesis research. Eligibility requirements include admission to candidacy and approval of your prospectus. The travel award is not intended to defray the full costs of a research trip but to provide substantial assistance as you complete thesis research.

The Graduate School Research Supplemental Travel Award is available to graduate students who will present thesis research at a professional conference. Application is made through the Graduate School, and up to $500 may be granted, to be matched by department funding. Other awards are also available, such as the Reza Ali Khazeni Memorial Scholarship, for student research and study abroad related to thesis research. Please contact the Director of MA Graduate Studies for further information.

Thesis requirement

The MA candidate must write a thesis on an approved, specialized topic appropriate to the field of Art History and will enroll in ARTH 6970 Thesis Research (minimum 6 semester hours). The thesis should demonstrate independent research and the use of scholarly methods of historical and critical interpretation. Although your committee chair is your principal advisor during the thesis, you should keep all committee members regularly informed of your work-in-progress. A copy of your penultimate draft, with photocopies of the photographs/images, should be submitted to each committee member one month before a public oral examination date, which is set by the Supervisory Committee chair. As per Graduate School policy, a thesis defense is always open to the public; you and your committee chair must ensure that notices are properly posted two weeks before the oral defense date. Following a successful defense, the Supervisory Committee chair will submit a completed Report of the Final Examination (Master's) to the department graduate secretary.

The thesis must adhere to the guidelines in the Graduate School's A Handbook for Theses and Dissertations. We encourage you to use it in the preparation of all your drafts. The handbook also contains a description of the procedure to submit the thesis to the Graduate School. Please make sure that you have scheduled sufficient time to obtain permission letters to reproduce images of works of art under copyright protection. The thesis office requires six weeks to ascertain that a defended, committee-approved thesis meets formal scholarly standards. At the time of delivery of the final draft of your thesis to the thesis editor, official photographs and letters of permission for the images must be in hand. You will not graduate until this process is completed.

Minimum Registration

By University policy, you must maintain minimum registration (Fall and Spring) of three semester hours per semester until you complete all requirements for the MA in Art History. During your thesis preparation, you must register for at least three semester hours (ARTH 6970 Thesis Research) each semester until, and including, the one in which you schedule your thesis defense. After admission to candidacy, three hours of ARTH 6970 is considered full-time. Summer terms are not included in this requirement. You do not have to register for any course after you have defended your thesis, but will not graduate until all Graduate School requirements are satisfied.

If you do not maintain minimum registration or submit an official Graduate Student Request for Leave of Absence for approval by the Graduate School, your Supervisory Committee will be terminated and you will be put on inactive status by the Graduate School. You would need to reapply to the Graduate School Admissions Office to reactivate your file. Graduate Records maintains your permanent file.

Master's Program and Thesis Calendars

Our program is designed to be completed in two yeas. The Graduate School requires that all work for the master's degree be completed within four consecutive calendar years.The Graduate School web site contains additional information on successful and timely completion of your degree requirements. It includes calendars of deadlines for students wishing to graduate in a specific semester.

See the Master's Program Calendar.

See the Thesis Calendar.

Do not hesitate to contact the the Director of MA Graduate Studies with any questions or concerns.