Department of Art History and Art

Department of Art History and Art Graduate Student Handbook

Case Western Reserve University, in cooperation with The Cleveland Museum of Art, offers graduate degree programs in art history (MA and PhD) and art history and museum studies (MA and PhD). Some CMA curators serve as adjunct faculty, and graduate research projects under their direction have resulted in exhibitions and publications. The museum studies course and internships provide exposure to issues of connoisseurship, conservation, exhibition planning, and museum education. Committed to training scholars and teachers as well as museum professionals, our programs draw on the collective strengths of a major research university and a world-renowned art museum.

Many classes are held at the CMA, where students have access to the permanent collections and to a rotating schedule of exhibitions. Graduate students also have access to the resources and services offered by the museum's Ingalls Library, http://library.clevelandart.org/. The Ingalls Library is the third largest art research library in the United States, with more than 456,000 volumes, including major art periodicals, auction catalogues and electronic resources. Graduate students have assigned shelves for their research materials and are assigned to individual reference librarians who are able to assist them with their research. The university's Kelvin Smith Library also collects in art and architectural history and contains the Samuel B. and Marian K. Freedman Digital Library, Language Learning, and Multimedia Services Center. The department also operates undergraduate and graduate programs in Studio Art and Art Education in an attractive facility ("The Greenhouse") which is available on request for graduate student functions.

The Cleveland area is rich in cultural resources. CWRU and the CMA are located in University Circle, a Cleveland neighborhood that is home to twenty artistic and cultural institutions. The Cleveland Public Library in downtown is a major research library noted for its John G. White collection of Orientalia. CWRU’s location in Cleveland means that other art museums can be visited easily in a half a day’s drive; CWRU classes often visit the permanent collections and temporary exhibitions in museums in Akron, Oberlin, Toledo, Youngstown, and Detroit.

FUNDING: FELLOWSHIPS AND TUITION SCHOLARSHIPS

The Graduate Program offers financial assistance on a competitive basis annually; these awards are renewable. The major criteria for awarding fellowships and other financial aid are academic excellence and scholarly promise, but need is also taken into consideration. Both MA and PhD candidates are eligible.

One Cleveland Museum of Art Fellowship is awarded each year, and provides full tuition and $12,000. This award requires ten hours per week of museum service, working on a specific museum project initiated by a curatorial department or by the education department. The Cleveland Museum of Art Fellowship is awarded on a competitive basis. With the standard application to the graduate program, applicants should provide an additional essay outlining their interest in this museum fellowship and their qualifications for it. A committee of art history faculty and Cleveland Museum of Art professionals will choose the finalist among the applicants.

Case Western Reserve University Fellowships provide up to full tuition and an annual stipend of up to $12,000. They require 10 hours of work per week as a teaching assistant or research assistant.

Application deadline: January 1, 2012.

Three Cleveland Foundation Gallery internships of $1,500/semester are also available. These entail preparing and staging an exhibition.

OTHER SOURCES OF FUNDING

Information on student loans and work study programs is available from the Financial Aid Office, Yost Hall, Room 417A, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio 44106-7049, phone: 216-368-4530.

Research and travel money is available on a competitive basis to enrolled graduate students. Requests should be submitted in writing to the departmental chair. Students who are delivering papers at the annual meetings of the College Art Association, the Midwest Art History Society and other professional meetings and graduate student symposia are normally given priority.

Pancoast Fellowships are available through the office of the Dean of Undergraduate Studies for women graduate students to fund travel and study abroad. Recent awardees in the Department of Art History and Art have taken summer language programs in Amsterdam, Florence, and Utrecht, conducted qualifing paper or dissertation research in Poland, England, and Belgium, and attended a course on Dutch and Flemish art in the collections of St. Petersburg, Russia.

MASTERS IN ART HISTORY

All students in the MA Program in Art History must follow the Plan B (comprehensive examination) Master's Degree Program as described in the Case General Bulletin.

Requirements for the MA in Art History

The Master's program in art history is designed to provide the student with a broad knowledge of the major art historical periods as well as the historiography and the critical methodologies of art history. Opportunities to investigate art historical problems in some depth are provided in lecture and seminar settings. MA candidates are required to take a minimum of thirty semester hours of course credit, although more than this minimum may be required for students whose undergraduate art history background includes deficiencies. The thirty hours of course work must be taken at the 400 level or higher, and be distributed as follows:

a. ARTH 495: Methodologies (3 hours)
b. Four courses (12 hours), one each from the following areas:

1. Ancient
2. Medieval
3. Renaissance/Baroque
4. Modern and American
5. Asian, African, and Islamic

c. Art History Electives (12 hours)
d. Qualifying Paper (3 hours) see below

At least 3 courses (or 9 credits) must be graduate seminars at the 500 level.

Prior to graduation all candidates for the MA in Art History are required to submit a qualifying paper; it may be a seminar or course paper reworked as necessary, or an independent project. The MA qualifying paper, based on individual research, should be the length of a publishable article and conform with the text and footnote format used in the Art Bulletin. The paper is written under the supervision of a faculty advisor, and is read and approved by a second member of the art history faculty. Further information regarding the Qualifying Paper is available online. Three credits registered as ARTH 489 is required.

Candidates for the MA in art history must also demonstrate a reading knowledge of one approved modern language other than English, normally French, German, Italian, or Spanish. The language requirement must be satisfied before the student applies to take the Master's Comprehensive Examination. It may be satisfied in one of three ways:

a. The student may submit evidence of having completed a minimum of six credit hours (two semesters) of college-level language study and achieve a grade of B or higher no later than two years before entering the MA program.

b. The student may complete a minimum of six credit hours (two semesters) of college level language study, achieving a grade of B or better. The language study must be completed by the end of the third semester in the MA program. Credit hours earned for language study may not be counted as part of the thirty hours required for the MA degree in art history. These hours may be taken at CWRU or elsewhere and official transcripts must be provided. Online courses can be used to satisfy this requirement, but the syllabus and final examination must be submitted to the department for approval.

c. The student may take a language examination (offered by the department every November and April. This one-hour examination requires translating a section of an art-historical writing in a foreign language into English; use of a dictionary is allowed. The examination is graded on a pass/fail basis, and grading is based on both the accuracy and length of the translation written by the student. In the event of an unsatisfactory performance, the exam may be taken again or the student may enroll in courses of formal language study as in option b.

After completing thirty hours of course work, students are required to take a MA Comprehensive Examination. This is a two part examination, given over two days, and consists of a slide examination requiring the identification and brief discussion of thirty works of art chosen from all fields of art history, and four essay questions, incorporating materials from at least three of the five areas defined above.

Upon completion of the foreign language requirement, the MA Comprehensive Examination, and the MA qualifying paper, students will be provided in each case with a written evaluation of their performance, with four possible results: a) High Pass, b) Pass, c) Low Pass and d) Fail. A grade of Low Pass (or higher) on both the comprehensive examination and qualifying paper or final internship project is required for the MA degree.

Only those students who achieve an overall evaluation of High Pass or the equivalent (A) on the comprehensive examination AND the qualifying paper or final internship project are eligible to be considered for admission to the PhD Program in Art History or Art History and Museum Studies. In order to apply to one of these programs, second-year MA students at CWRU should submit a statement explaining which field they would like to study and why, and make clear they have discussed this plan with their potential departmental advisor. This faculty member should also submit a letter of support, verifying their willingness to work with the applicant. The statement and letter should be submitted by January 1 to the department's Director of Graduate Studies. The student will also be required to answer two essay questions on the comprehensive exam in the area of study they plan to pursue for the doctorate.

Action will be taken on such applications (including a decision on financial aid) shortly after completion of the comprehensive exam and qualifying paper or final internship project. If accepted, the applicant may defer starting the doctoral program for one academic year if so desired, but the financial aid offer cannot be guaranteed for the next year.

All students are required to maintain good standing in the School of Graduate Studies, i.e. a minimum quality point average of 2.5 at the completion of twelve semester hours or two semesters of graduate study, and a minimum quality point average of 2.75 at the completion of twenty-one semester hours or four semesters of graduate study (For details, see the Case General Bulletin) . If a student receives two grades of C, he or she will be placed on probation. An additional C will require withdrawal from the program.

All requirements for the MA degree must be completed within five years of matriculation, including leaves of absence, excepting leaves for military service or maternity/paternity leave. Formal application for graduation must be filed at the Office of the Dean of the School of Graduate Studies not less than two months before the date of the convocation at which the candidate expects to receive the master's degree. In exceptional circumstances, some requirements may be waived with the permission of the department and/or the Dean of Graduate Studies . All requests for waiver of a requirement must be made formally, in writing, no later than the semester preceding the one in which the waiver is to be applied. Students will be notified in writing by the department chair whether or not the waiver has been granted.

MA IN ART HISTORY AND MUSEUM STUDIES

The master's program in art history and museum studies includes the same broad requirements and objectives of the master's program in art history, with additional study of art museum history, philosophy, and practices, and supervised museum internships. These internships entail work on a specific project to be outlined by the student working with museum personnel, and approved by the departmental museum studies instructor. As part of their internships students have contributed to catalogues and have helped organize exhibitions at the Cleveland Museum of Art. Interns have also worked at the Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland (MOCA), Cleveland Foundation, the Cleveland Clinic and other museums, galleries and corporate collections locally and elsewhere. Upon petition and with prior approval, competitively awarded summer internships at other museums may be applied toward the museum studies degree. Students recently have completed such internships at the Cincinnati Art Museum, the Sarah Campbell Blaffer Foundation, Hirshhorn Museum, and the National Gallery of Art. Basic course, language, and examination requirements are largely the same as for the MA in Art History. However, the museum internships substitute for the qualifying paper, two semesters of museum studies classes are required, and there are 9 (instead of 12) hours of electives required for the degree.

As part of the total thirty-one credit-hour course of study the following courses are required:

The doctorate in art history is awarded in recognition of advanced mastery of a specific area within the discipline. The student must demonstrate the ability to identify an unique problem in the field, perform independent research, and communicate the results in a dissertation.

Admission to the PhD program requires a MA degree from Case Western Reserve or elsewhere and assignment of a faculty advisor. With the assistance of the advisor a planned course of study leading to the PhD will be submitted to the department at the start of the first semester. Full-time students should plan to complete all requirements for the degree, with the exception of the dissertation, within two years of matriculation.

University requirements for the PhD include a minimum of thirty-six hours of course credit, but the department may require additional course work as preparation for the general examination or for the dissertation. The minimum credits are to be distributed as follows:

Doctoral students must demonstrate an ability to read two approved foreign languages useful in art historical research. All language requirements must be completed before the PhD student is allowed to schedule the PhD Comprehensive Examination. German is normally required as one of the two languages for students concentrating in Western art; students concentrating in Asian art must be able to read one Asian and one approved Western language. Both languages must be approved by the department during the first semester of doctoral study. Credit hours earned in language study may not be counted as part of the thirty-six credit hours required for the PhD in art history. The language requirement may be satisfied in the following ways:

a. With the consent of the department, an approved language accepted as part of a MA degree in art history (within three years of matriculation in the PhD program) may be accepted as fulfilling part of the PhD requirements.

b. The student may complete six credit hours of college level study in either or both approved languages and achieve a grade of B or higher within two years prior to matriculation or by the end of eighteen graduate hours of art history. These credit hours may be taken at Case or elsewhere.

c. The student will be examined in one or both approved languages by the Case Modern Languages Department during the first semester of the PhD program. In the event of an unsatisfactory performance, students will be re-examined no later than the following semester.

PhD students are required to pass a written and oral examination before being advanced to candidacy. The examining committee, which consists of three faculty members, is formed by consultation with the student's advisor and must be approved by the department chair. The examination is offered in two areas:

a) Western Art: Students concentrating in Western art will be examined in the area of specialization in which they propose to write their dissertation. Each student must choose a major and minor field. The areas of the examination will be determined by an examining committee, chaired by the advisor,in consultation with the student. Historiography is considered an important component of all PhD exams.

b) Asian: Students concentrating in Asian art will be examined on their general knowledge of Asian art as well as their specialized knowledge of the field of concentration. The content of the examination (which may include philosophy, history, literature, and other relevant subjects) will be determined by an examining committee, chaired by the advisor, in consultation with the student.

Within two weeks after the written examination the faculty committee will examine the student orally. A final evaluation will be based on the student's performance in both the written and oral sections of the examination. Upon successful completion of both phases of examination the student will be advanced to candidacy and may enroll in ARTH 701 PhD Dissertation.

PhD Dissertation

After completing the PhD examinations, the candidate, in consultation with the advisor, will prepare a written proposal for a PhD dissertation which must then be approved by a committee of three members of the university faculty appointed for that purpose and approved by the department chair. The student will present the chosen topic to the faculty and graduate student body in a lecture format, and upon final approval a copy of the dissertation proposal will be placed in the student's file. The department will notify the College Art Association of the dissertation subject and working title in order to protect the research area. The PhD dissertation must be based on individual research and writing and make an original contribution to art historical scholarship.

When completed, the dissertation must be submitted to the department no later than three weeks before the expected defense date, read and approved by a faculty committee of four members, at least one of whom comes from outside the Department of Art History and Art. Interdisciplinary topics may necessitate faculty readers from a wider range of disciplines. If appropriate, an additional specialist outside the University may be included on the dissertation committee. The committee members are chosen by the advisor in consultation with the student and must be approved by the department chair. Before the dissertation can be approved and accepted, it must be successfully defended by the student in an oral examination conducted by the full committee.

Dissertations in art history must conform to University rules concerning format, quality, and time of submission, and two copies of the accepted dissertation will be deposited in the University Library. Students must also guarantee microfilm reproduction of the dissertation before certification of the doctorate. Regulations concerning the dissertation are published in the Case General Bulletin.

Initial enrollment in ARTH 701 establishes the start of the five-year limit. Normally, all requirements for the PhD must be completed within a period of five consecutive calendar years, including leaves of absence, excepting leaves for military service or maternity/paternity leave. In exceptional circumstances, additional time may be granted with the permission of the department and the Dean of Graduate Studies, and some requirements may be waived. All such requests must be made in writing, no later than the semester preceding the one in which the waiver is to be applied. Students are notified in writing by the department chair whether or not the waiver has been granted or more time allowed.

The Museum Studies Program is offered to a limited number of candidates on the doctoral level. The program combines the academic requirements of a PhD with practical museum training and is designed to provide experience in connoisseurship, conservation, and art education as well as a planned program of academic course work and independent research.

Students in the Museum Studies Program are required to take a minimum of thirty-eight hours of graduate study as follows:

During the two-semester internship, the student will be assigned to one or more department(s) in the Cleveland Museum of Art for supervised study and practice that will be evaluated by a member of the Joint Faculty in Art History. The dissertation subject is normally related to some aspect of art museum research; it may take the form of a special collection or exhibition catalogue, but it must satisfy the scholarly standards of the department and the University. Any student who has not taken ARTH 495: Methodologies, or the equivalent, will be required to do so as part of the nine hours of electives. Students must also satisfy all other requirements for the PhD degree in art history,including the prerequisites for admission, foreign languages, written and oral field examinations, residency, and other regulations published here or in the Case General Bulletin.

ADMISSION

Admission to the master's program presupposes an undergraduate major in art history, or a minimum of thirty semester hours in art history. Normally deficiencies in this basic requirement must be made up, without graduate credit, before admission to full standing. With the approval of the department, undergraduate courses in subjects directly related to the study of art history may be accepted as satisfying the minimum admissions requirement, but such approval must be requested in writing and obtained in advance.

Admission to the PhD program presupposes a Masters degree in art history or its equivalent, including a reading knowledge of one approved modern language. Students whose records do not demonstrate the satisfaction of these requirements at the MA level, or whose MA was not awarded within five years prior to application for admission, may be required to pass a qualifying examination and/or foreign language examination administered by the department before being admitted to full standing in the PhD program.

Applicants should request that their Graduate Record Examination scores (GRE) be sent directly to CWRU. A minimum GRE score of 153 on the verbal reasoning section is required.

All applicants whose native language is not English, or who have not received a degree from an English-speaking university, must take the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL); the required minimum score is 600 if paper-based, or 100 if Internet-based.

Students who do not meet the minimum requirements for admission to full standing may apply for admission with provisional standing. This will permit them to enroll in undergraduate or graduate level courses to make up deficiencies after which they may be admitted to full standing. Studens with provisional standing are required to take 3 different courses with 3 different faculty members. In such cases, with department approval, credit earned (with a grade of B or better) may be applied toward the MA and PhD degrees. Further information on provisional standing may be found in the Case General Bulletin .

In addition to the regular graduate school application forms, applicants to the graduate program in art history are required to submit written samples (typically copies of term papers) which, in their opinion, represent their best work. Applicants to the master's program should submit two undergraduate papers, at least one of which should be in art history. Applicants to the doctoral program should submit two papers written during their matriculation for a master's degree or a thesis, if completed by the time of application. These papers help the department in the evaluation of applications. Letters of recommendation which highlight aspects of the student's academic and scholarly potential are also required.

A maximum of six semester hours of graduate credit may be accepted for transfer from another institution. These credits must have been earned within five years prior to matriculation at Case and passed with grades of B or higher. Transfer credit may not be substituted for the seminar requirement. Requests for transfer credit must be made in writing when applying for admission.

Course work taken at other institutions beyond the MA level is not normally accepted for transfer credit toward the PhD. Under some circumstances students may petition for an exception, but transfer credits do not normally satisfy any part of the seminar requirements, the dissertation requirement, or the residency requirement.

For further information:
Department of Art History and Art
Mather House
Case Western Reserve University
Cleveland, Ohio 44106-7110
Telephone: (216) 368-4118
Fax: (216) 368-4681
E-mail: dxt6@case.edu