History Degrees Online

The faculty in the School of Art offer a program with a major in art leading to the M.A. with concentrations in art education and art history.

Degree Requirements
The degree program requires 30 credit hours, including a minimum of 21 hours in art history, with at least 12 of these earned in 500-level seminars. At least one course must be taken in each of the four core areas:
Non-Western.
Ancient/medieval.
Renaissance/baroque.
Modern.

Satisfactory completion of ARS 501 Methodologies and Art History is required during the first semester of residence. The remaining hours include ARS 599 Thesis, approved electives and other courses specified by the faculty.

Admission Requirements
Graduate College online electronic application: Students applying to a degree program such as the Ph.D. program and the scholarly publishing certificate program are required to submit two separate applications (an application for the degree program and one for the certificate program).

Transcripts: Submit official transcripts to the Graduate College. The Department of History will accept unofficial copies.

GRE scores: A report of the scores received on the GRE must be submitted to the Graduate College. Scores should be no more than five years old.

Letter of application: Address a letter of about 500 words in length to the history department explaining the applicant’s interest in graduate study at ASU, the geographic and thematic areas of emphasis the student is planning to pursue, and a statement of career goals. Upload the letter into the online application.
Résumé: The applicant must upload a resume into the online application.

Data form: The applicant must upload a data form into the online application.
Writing sample. The applicant must submit a sample of written work. The writing sample may be an article (published or unpublished), a research paper, or any other extended sample of the applicant’s expository skill no longer than 35 pages in length. Longer writing samples should not be submitted without first consulting the graduate director. Large files should be submitted as .txt files.
Assistantship application: The application form for a graduate assistantship is optional.
Reference letters: The applicant must submit at least three letters of reference from faculty or others qualified to speak to the suitability for graduate study.

Students applying from outside the United States whose native language is not English must follow Graduate College guidelines demonstrating English language proficiency. See http://graduate.asu.edu/admissions/international.html#credentials.

The Ph.D. in the history and theory of art is a collaborative program with the University of Arizona in Tucson, Ariz. The emphasis is on interdisciplinary methodologies and electronic technologies to prepare students for teaching and museum careers.

Degree Requirements
The Ph.D. requires 60 credit hours beyond the M.A. or 90 beyond the B.A. The 42 credits of Ph.D. course work include:
Twelve credits in the major area of emphasis.
Nine credits in a minor area within art history.
Six interdisciplinary credits (courses outside of art history).
Six hours of Ph.D. core courses (ARS 691 Methodologies and ARS 692 Technologies).
Nine credits of electives.
The remaining 18 credits are research (ARS 792) and dissertation (ARS 799).

A student may elect to have a second minor in an area outside art history. In this joint program, all Ph.D. students are required to take courses by faculty at both Arizona State University and the University of Arizona.

The department of history provides students with opportunity to understand life in the present by comparing and contrasting it with the rich and varied experiences of people who lived in the past. It also trains the mind to think on many levels, using analytic skills required for balanced reflection. It provides excellent training in the assessment and interpretation of evidence and requires the development of strong writing skills.
The department has moved from offering primarily American and European history courses, to offering Asian, Russian, and Latin American additions.
Most faculty have published at least one book.
Almost one-third of history majors are education concentrators planning to teach.

Career Opportunities
Graduates in art history at the bachelor’s level find employment opportunities in commercial art galleries, entry-level jobs with art publications and in museums. A graduate degree is essential for professional jobs; a master’s degree prepares individuals to teach at the community college level or to gain entry into museums, auction houses and publishing companies. The Ph.D. is a necessity for employment as a university or college teacher, and for responsible administrative posts in the museum and publishing world.

Graduation Requirements:
Completion of HIST 2763 or HIST 2773 or POSC 2103
English Proficiency (Grade of C or better in ENG 1003 and ENG 1013)
2.00 GPA in Major
2.00 GPA at ASU
2.00 GPA Overall
Maximum of 31 credit hours via correspondence, extension, examination, PLA, Military or similar means; CLEP (30 hrs max)
45 JR/SR Hours after completing 30 hours
124 Total Credit Hours
18 of last 24 hours must be ASU-Jonesboro courses
Minimum of 57 hours from 4-year institutions
32 Resident Hours if completing second degree and first degree was not from ASU-J

The Department of History offers Bachelor of Arts degree in history, which prepares graduates for entry level employment such areas as government, public or community service, and business, as well as for pursuit of graduate study in history and other professional programs. The curriculum in public history prepares graduates for post graduate study, as well as entry-level employment in the non-profit sector and various cultural enterprises. A minor in history offers students the opportunity to strengthen their research and writing skills and to better understand the development and functioning of modern society.

Special Programs
Honors: See the course description for HIST 4990 - Senior Thesis in History with a grade of B or better. See department for policies and application.

Brunswick Center: The bachelor’s in history is offered in the evenings at the Brunswick Center (Georgia Coastal Community College) - except for HIST 3500, HIST 4500 and the seminar courses. These requirements must be completed on campus. The bachelor of general studies with a history concentration is also available.

The Master of Science in Historic Preservation program combines the disciplines of Design, Conservation, Planning and History, beginning with an intensive first semester and continuing through courses that stress real-life experience. Since t he field is highly interdisciplinary and career opportunities can open up in any part of the profession, the curriculum provides an interdisciplinary combination of theory and practice taught by the city’s leading preservationists. Graduates of the program find jobs as preservation planners and consultants for restoration architects, historic interior designers, historic site managers, historic building materials consultants, contractors, site interpreters, preservation researchers, and advocates.

The program has also offered biennial Study Trips to Ireland and China, where the school is involved in the restoration of the 13th century Southern Silk Road town of Weishan, Yunnan province.

Located in the School’s Sharp building (Holabird and Roche, 1903) in the center of downtown Chicago, near many of the early commercial landmark buildings, the MSHP program has its own studios, office, and resource center with Internet-connected computers. A laboratory for materials analysis, several computer labs, and the School’s library are all housed in the Sharp building. The nearby museum of the Art Institute has extensive collections in areas of interest to students in historic preservation-the departments of architecture, European and American decorative arts, Asian art, and textiles. The museum’s Ryerson and Burnham Libraries furnish world-class research facilities in art, architecture, and decorative arts. As part of the requirements for graduation, students take an internship with a preservation/restoration group for a total of 210 hours, anytime before graduation. Internships offer students practical experience working for preservation agencies, restoration architects and designers, or building conservationists. The internship can also be taken as an elective for credit. Candidates must have earned a bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution and completed three prerequisite courses: architectural drafting, art history survey, and architectural history. Prerequisite classes must be completed and transcripts sent to the admissions office before beginning the program.

Curricular requirements
Please note that these curricular requirements are effective for Fall 2008. Total Credit Hours 66

Critical and Policy Studies 15
Communication/Rhetoric/Modes of Presentation (3) (See below for details.)

Current Issues: one graduate seminar (5000 or above) from either Art History or Arts Administration that concerns contemporary issues in one of the following areas: theory, issues in criticism, or historiography (3) See below for details.

ARTSAD 5010 Colloquia and Visiting Artist Programs (3)
ARTSAD 5005 Arts Organizations in Society (3)
ARTSAD 5007 History of Art History or ARTHI 5008 History of Art Criticism(3)

Management Studies 9
Choose from:
ARTSAD 5017 Financial Management (3)
ARTSAD 5012 Marketing for Arts Organizations (3)
ARTSAD 5019 Managing Arts Organizations (3)
ARTSAD 5039 Fundraising and Proposal Writing (3)
ARTSAD 5025 Project Management (3)

Fieldwork 6
ARTSAD 5050 Arts Administration Internship (3)
ARTSAD 5030 International Field Study (3) (See below for details)

Art Historical Studies 24
5000-level Graduate seminars in Art History, Theory, and Criticism (12)
19th- and 20th-century Art History courses or seminars at the 4000-6000 level (12
Electives (studio, seminar, or art history) 6

Thesis research and writing
ARTHI 5999/ARTSAD 6085 Thesis Tutorial I (3)
ARTHI 6999/ARTSAD 6095 Thesis Tutorial II (3) 6

Completion of the Thesis

Additional requirements and specifications
1. Critical and Policy Studies courses: A list of courses that satisfy the requirements for “Communication/Rhetoric/Modes of Presentation” and “Current Issues” are available each semester from the Departments.

2. International Field Study: ARTSAD 5030 International Field Study is a crucial component of the Arts Administration and Policy graduate curriculum, and all program students are strongly encouraged to enroll in it. A student must consult with the Arts Administration Program Chair to waive the class and arrive at a suitable alternative.

3. Art History Distribution Requirements: From the Graduate Seminars and Additional Courses in Art History, at least one course (3 credit hours) must be taken from the list of courses designated nineteenth-century art history and at least one course (3 credit hours) designated early-twentieth-century art history. A list of courses that satisfies this requirement is available from the Department of Art History, Theory, and Criticism every semester.

4. Completion schedule: Students have a maximum of five years from entry into the program to complete coursework and submit a final, approved thesis (this includes time off for leaves-of-absence). If the thesis remains incomplete after the end of Thesis II, the student must pay a continuation fee each subsequent semester in order to retain active status.

5. Full-time status minimum requirement: 9 credit hours per semester.

Artists must be able to talk and write about their own work, and to think about other artists’ work in relation to their own. Many students find a great resonance between critical thinking about the art of their own time and the critical choices involved in their own art making.

The department consists of a core of full-time faculty and a larger group of part-time faculty from other departments in the School, the museum, and the Chicago area. Art History faculty are in close contact with the studio areas. As teachers and advisers, they are available to students for discussion of studio work. Students will find studio faculty teaching courses on issues in twentieth-century arts, and art history faculty giving critiques in the studios, bridging what might otherwise be an artificial gap between art history and art making. This integration of theory and practice is one of the special characteristics of the School.

Faculty of the Department of Art History, Theory and Criticism teach not only the traditional history of art through period, region and style, but are continually exploring the process of art making: the connection between what artists convey (content) and how they convey it (form); the way new technologies and materials create new techniques; and how artists themselves change in changing societies.

The department’s curriculum includes classes in individual media: the history of photography, film, video, performance, textiles, ceramics, costume, printmaking, and others. While the department emphasizes the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, its curriculum includes courses on Asian, African, Oceanic, African American, Latin American, Caribbean, and Native American art. Numerous courses are based on themes, concepts, and issues such as the artist in society, the grotesque, realism, art and politics, naive imagery, and popular arts and culture.

At the more advanced level, courses are offered in theory and criticism. These courses, with their emphasis on research, writing, and critical evaluation of writings on art, enable students to develop their own critical and theoretical points of view. These courses sharpen the verbal, analytical, and presentation skills needed to present artwork or to pursue a concurrent career in museum or gallery work, writing criticism, collecting or cataloguing artworks, or teaching art history.

Foreign travel has always been one of the richest sources of inspiration for artists. Study trips to foreign countries, sponsored by the art history department, are often offered during the summer and/or winter interim sessions. These trips offer a structured art historical experience in a foreign culture with sufficient freedom for students to explore, photograph, and sketch on their own.