MA Art History
MA in Art History
The art history program at CU ¶¶Òõ´«Ã½ÔÚÏß gives students an interdisciplinary foundation in the history of art to prepare them for careers as scholars, museum professionals and related creative professions in the history of art. Its main objective—through graduate seminars, teaching opportunities, museum internships and scholarly fieldwork—is to foster critical thinking about contemporary and historical forms of art as well as visual and material culture.
Areas of specialization include:
- African/Diasporic Visual Studies
- Pre-Colombian/Colonial Latin American Art
- Asian Art
- Contemporary Art
- Critical Theory/Museology
- Latinx Art
Contact
Student Engagement & Success
Students develop their specialized interests from a combination of individual mentoring and collaborative approaches to intellectual inquiry. The program offers a supportive environment committed to debate and experimentation applicable to a variety of career choices. Graduates typically regard their two years in the art history master's program as a formative period of intellectual growth and professional experience.
Our diverse faculty offers a constantly changing curriculum of seminar topics geared to highlight current research and a strong foundation in critical historiography and contemporary critical theory. Students in our interdisciplinary program also take advantage of exciting course offerings in cultural anthropology, classics, history, a wide range of literature programs, ethnic studies, gender and women's studies, art practices, and new media.
Our intimate atmosphere offers exceptional opportunities to work with permanent faculty and distinguished art historians from other institutions through our Visiting Scholars program. This long-standing feature of our graduate curriculum brings four to six leading scholars to campus every year to present their current work in a graduate seminar, public lecture and informal events.
Funding
We offer funding packages to full-time incoming students that consist of a combination of Teaching Assistantships (TA), Graduate Part-Time Instructor (GPTI), fellowships, tuition remission, and stipends. Each year, we offer approximately six Teaching Assistantships, which offer important training in the classroom.
Funding is subject to renewal each year.ÌýFinancial awards are offered to the most outstanding and eligible, new and continuing students in the MA program. Award recommendations are made by faculty. Factors considered include academic performance and potential. The Department and the University also offer modest grants to support conference travel or research trips. Please see theÌýGraduate School FundingÌýfor more information.
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Degree Guidelines
The guidelines are meant to explain, in detail, the information needed to be successful in the MA Program in Art History at CU ¶¶Òõ´«Ã½ÔÚÏß. While this handbook is meant to be all-inclusive, it is not a substitute for all information at the Graduate School/University level, and it is strongly encouraged to maintain a high level of communication with faculty and the art history director of graduate studies regarding policies and regulations of the University of Colorado at ¶¶Òõ´«Ã½ÔÚÏß.
The Department of Art and Art History offers a free-standing MA in Art History. An MA degree must be completed within 4 years of beginning coursework in the graduate program (Graduate School requirement). However, MA students in the Department of Art and Art History are encouraged and offered a plan to complete their degree within two years. These requirements pertain only to the MA degree in Art History. Students pursuing the BA/MA, MBA/MA or MS will not follow the requirements outlined below. A minimum of 30 semester hours must be completed, of which 21 must be completed in residence on the ¶¶Òõ´«Ã½ÔÚÏß campus.
Our MA program offers two tracks. In the research-based MA, students will write a thesis in their last semester. This is typically the track that students will join upon entering the program. However, students may also opt to enroll in or change to the course-based MA track, which does not require a written thesis. This should be decided in consultation with the student’s advisor/mentor and Director of Graduate Studies. Students in both tracks will take the comprehensive review.
If a student chooses to follow the course-based MA track, rather than write a thesis, the student would instead enroll in six credits of coursework in their last semester, perhaps focusing on courses that would help them professionally, for instance, in museum studies or arts administration. The student should consult with their advisor about this additional coursework.
Guidelines
GRE & TOEFL/IELTS
- Permanent US residents:ÌýThe Department of Art and Art History will not reviewÌýGREÌýscores in its evaluation of permanent US residents’ graduate student applications. However, if you wish to be considered for certain merit-based fellowships through the Graduate School, you may need toÌýsubmitÌýGREÌýscoresÌýwith your application.
International students:ÌýInternational students applying to our graduate program must submit GRE scoresÌýand also meet the English Proficiency Requirements as outlined by the Graduate School.
Required:
Theories of Art History: 3 credit hours
Theories of Art History must be taken during the first semester. This course may be taken twice for up to 6 credits hours.
M.A. Thesis (ARTH 6959): 4-6 credit hours (if the student continues in the research-based MA track)
Electives:
Students are required to take five 3-credit 5000 or 6000- level art history courses, for a total of 15 credit hours. Students may choose their five courses from fourÌýout of the following areas:
- African/Diasporic Visual Studies
- Pre-Colombian/Colonial Latin American Art
- Asian Art
- Contemporary Art
- Critical Theory/Museology
- In consultation with your advisor, and when available, Ancient art may constitute an area
At least one 3-credit 3000 level or above course in a department outside of the Department of Art and Art History, which supplements the Major or Minor area of specialization.
Additional courses to meet the 30-credit minimum.
Total Credit Hours: 30
Restrictions:
- No more than 8Ìýhours of independent study credit may be applied toward the M.A.
- Pass/Fail courses do not count toward the M.A.
- ARTH 5087 does not count toward the M.A.
- Students are encouraged to attend undergraduate lecture courses to prepare themselves for graduate seminars and for the comprehensive exam.
All Programs in the Department of Art History require proficiency in languages relevant to the field of study. Students should consult with their advisor regarding the language required for their field at the beginning of their first year. All M.A. students must demonstrate proficiency in one foreign language during their first year of the program. Language exam structure may vary based on the requirements of the faculty member supervising the test.
Generally, a faculty member chooses reading selections from various subjects that are deemed appropriate. With the aid of a dictionary, students are expected to complete a translation of the text presented for testing. The exam is graded by a faculty member. Students do not need to pass a reading language exam if they have previously and satisfactorily completed coursework with a grade of B or higher equal to three consecutive semesters at the college level.
During the last two weeks of April, students are required to hold a 1-hour meeting chaired by the prospective thesis advisor and 1 or 2 other faculty members with whom the student has taken courses. The first year review focuses on the student’s ability to continue in the program, and preparation for the qualifying exam as well as the selection of a thesis topic,Ìýif the student continues in the research-based MA track. If the student opts for the course-based MA track, they should discuss what types of courses would best suit their professional goals.
The qualifying exam is given to measure the graduate student’s knowledge of art history at the M.A. level. Preparation for the qualifying exam is discussed at the student’s first-year review. The student should take the qualifying exam their third semester in by early November.
Components of the Qualifying Exam:
1. Major Bibliographies:
- The student will write 3 separate bibliographies for three different subject areas related to the thesis project. The advisor will assign five texts on which the student will focus and to which the student will reference in their prospectus. The student will annotate the bibliographies in the summer before the third semester. The student will submit their annotated bibliographies by the 2nd week of the third semester.
2. Minor Bibliographies:
- The student will write 2 separate bibliographies for two different subject areas related to the thesis project. The advisor will assign five texts on which the student will focus and to which the student will reference in their prospectus. The student will annotate the bibliographies in the summer before the third semester. The student will submit their annotated bibliographies by the 2nd week of the third semester.
Preparation for the Exam:
During the first-year review possible topics for the bibliographies are discussed and further determined with reading lists in subsequent individual meetings between the major advisor and the student, and the minor advisor and the student. Three topics will be selected for the major area, two for the minor area. Students should complete the majority of their reading and preparation during the summer prior to the semester of the qualifying exam. Neither the minor advisor or major advisor is required to meet with students over the summer.
The student meets with both their major and minor advisors as arranged between them on an individual basis. The major and minor advisors determine when the student is ready to take the qualifying exam. The major and minor advisors should consult with one another in making a final determination of student readiness for an exam. The qualifying exam occurs by the second week of November in the third semester. It is the student’s responsibility to arrange the date of the exam with each advisor and to reserve a space to take the exam.
At least week prior to the exam:
- Student schedules the exam time and date with consultation with their major advisor and their minor advisor.
- The student notifies the graduate program coordinator of the exam date and time. The student reserves an empty room, such as an unoccupied office or a departmentally scheduled room (330A, 455, 485, 303, or 308).
Two weeks prior to the exam:
- Student submits their 10-15-page prospectus to their major and minor advisor and third thesis committee member.
The day of the exam:
- Student will give a 10-minute presentation on their prospectus.
- The major and minor advisors will engage the student in discussion about the thesis prospectus and bibliographies, focusing on the 10 total texts previously identified as the focus texts.
- Discussion will last approximately 50-80 minutes.
Grading and Notification:
- Grading: The major advisor and minor advisor grade their respective portions of the examination. In consultation with one another, the two advisors determine whether the examinee has passed or failed the exam.
- The student must pass the exam to register for thesis hours.
- The faculty advisors will put the results of the exam in the student’s campus mailbox in a sealed envelope, as well as turn in a copy to the Graduate Program Coordinator to include in the student’s file.
- After successful completion of the qualifying exam, and if the student continues in the research-based MA track.
- All members of the thesis committee must sign the Pre-Thesis Form.
- The thesis advisor will turn the form into the graduate program coordinator, which serves as authorization to enroll the student in thesis hours.
Thesis Defense and Graduation:
- It is the student’s responsibility to thoroughly review the Graduate School’s graduation deadlines and thesis specifications pages. Also, refer to the Master’s Graduation checklist.
- The thesis paper must be submitted electronically to the Graduate School by the deadline.
- Prior to submission, an appointment with a Graduate School advisor should be made to ensure that all the formal requirements are met. A hard copy of the signature page, complete with the Thesis Committee members’ signatures, is submitted to, and remains in the Graduate School.
- It is the student’s responsibility to schedule the thesis defense by the defense deadline given by the Graduate School.
- At the conclusion of the thesis defense, the Masters' Exam Report must be signed by all members of the thesis committee. Majority approval is required to pass the exam in addition to at least two approving signatures on the Thesis paper signature page.
- A hard copy of the final thesis paper is due to the graduate program coordinator by the last day of classes.
Thesis Specifications:
- The student must demonstrate mastery of the relevant scholarship and original scholarly research and writing at the M.A. level in art history.
- The thesis should be based on independent study and analysis.
- The thesis should represent 4-6 credit hours.
- In most cases, the thesis will be the equivalent of a 30-50-page paper, exclusive of endnotes, bibliography, and illustrations.
- The thesis paper must be written according to the specifications outlined by the Graduate School.
- The thesis committee must consist of at least 3 faculty members that have active graduate faculty appointments on file with the Graduate School.
- In consultation with the thesis advisor, the student will select a thesis committee for the thesis defense, an oral examination that consists of not less than 2 members of the art history graduate faculty, including the thesis advisor.
- The committee may include more members and graduate faculty outside the Department or outside the University if approved by the Department of Art and Art History.
- Any changes to the composition of the thesis committee after the pre-thesis review require a petition to the director of graduate studies for art history followed by a vote by the tenured/tenure-track faculty.