Graduate programs in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences

• PhD programs
  • sequential MA-MPhil-PhD program
  • sequential MPhil-PhD program (for students with an MA in art history earned elsewhere)
• MA programs (note: these programs are non-sequential, leading only to the MA. Separate application is required for PhD admission)
  • MA in Modern Art: Critical or Curatorial Studies
  • MA in Art History (e.g., Renaissance art, architectural history, Islamic art, Chinese art, Ancient art, Native American art, and any field that is represented by a faculty member in the Department)

For more information on MA programs in the Department of Art History & Archaeology, go [ here ].

These materials are not available from the Department of Art History and Archaeology but from the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences; applications and bulletins are not available on paper. Please submit your application on-line [ here ].

The bulletin is available on-line [ here ] .

Some application materials, such as transcripts, and writing samples, application fee, etc. will still have to be mailed in.

Application deadline for the PhD program (MA-MPhil-PhD and MPhil-PhD) is December 15.

All application materials must be received by the deadline. Applicants are strongly encouraged to take their GRE test (and TOEFL if required) in sufficient time to ensure that the scores arrive by the deadline. It is recommended that applicants submit all materials at the same time to ensure that the application is complete.

For PhD admission: all applications received by the deadline of December 15 are reviewed by faculty over a period of several weeks in January. Admissions decisions are communicated only by the Office of the Dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences; decision letters from the Dean usually go out around mid-March.

No. All applications must be received by the deadline.

No. All materials should be sent to the GSAS Admissions Office, at the above address. Sending materials to the Department can cause delays in processing the application.

Yes. In fact the majority of first-year students in the PhD program do not enter the program with a Masters Degree in art history. Having an MA does not automatically increase or decrease an applicant's chances for admission. In the first year of this sequential program students without an MA in art history earn the Masters degree and then continue to two more years of coursework. Regardless of previous degrees, all students take the methodological Proseminar and fulfill similar requirements in the first year. Applicants who have or will have earned an MA in art history before matriculation should consult the GSAS regulations on Advanced Standing (and see related question, below).

Yes, this is very important. Although the personal statement should make clear what is the intended field of study (e.g., Ancient, African, Renaissance art, or Pre-Columbian archaeology, or Baroque architectural history, etc.) — all applicants must declare their intended field of specialization on the application under the heading "subfield." You must indicate one of these fields in the application:

• Ancient: Near Eastern, Aegean & Eastern Mediterranean, Greek, Roman
• Arts of Africa and the Pacific
• East Asian Art and Archaeology
• History and Theory of Architecture
• Native American Art
  
• Pre-Columbian Art and Archaeology
  
• South Asian Art and Archaeology
  
• Islamic Art and Architecture

History of Western Art, select one of the following six subfields:

• 19th, 20th , 21st Century Art (including American Art, post – 1914)
  
• American Art, pre – 1914
  
• Italian Renaissance and Baroque
  
• Early Christian, Byzantine & Western Medieval
  
• Northern Renaissance and Baroque
  
• History of Photography

The MFA does not exempt you from the MA. Consult the GSAS regulations on Advanced Standing [ here ] . On the recommendation of faculty in the department, the Graduate School will admit an applicant with Advanced Standing only in the case of an earned MA degree in art history. In such a case the new student begins the program at the level of the second year (although certain first-year requirements still apply) and is not allowed to receive the MA in art history from Columbia. A partial exception to the GSAS policy may be granted to students transferring from other graduate programs of Columbia University. For example, if an MFA student in the School of the Arts at Columbia took a number of art history courses during enrollment in the Visual Arts Division, then, after matriculation in the Department of Art History and Archaeology, that student may be eligible to receive a limited amount of credit towards the MA degree. But the MA in art history would still be required of the student.

There are no generalizations to be made about applicants with a background in studio or other visual arts. All compete on even ground for admission to the PhD program next to applicants without such training. But the Masters Degree in this department is an MA in art history, which in turn is the prerequisite for the MPhil programs of study in art history. So, while the MFA can be for some a valuable component of background preparation for the PhD in art history, the faculty still requires the Master of Arts Degree.

Applicants holding a Master of Arts in such fields as Archaeology, Anthropology, English or Comparative Literature, Film Studies, Liberal Studies, History, etc. — ordinarily are not eligible for Advanced Standing and are required to earn the MA in art history in the first year of study toward the PhD.

All applicants must submit a writing sample. It is a very important component of the application. Typically the writing sample will be an undergraduate senior thesis, a seminar paper, an article or other published work; it should be a critical or scholarly work in art history or a closely related field. Applicants to the MPhil-PhD program (i.e., those with an MA in art history earned elsewhere) should submit their complete MA Thesis or similar sample of graduate-level work. Writing samples should be no more than 30 pages.

for PhD admission: Although interviews are not required as part of the PhD application process, applicants are strongly encouraged to consult with a faculty member in the intended field of specialization. The best time to visit is during the fall semester.

You may call or visit during office hours in the fall term or early in the spring term. Information about office hours is posted on the faculty directory at the start of each term. Office hours are "open hours," that is to say, no appointment is necessary during the period of the office hour, unless so indicated on the faculty directory.There may be a short wait, especially at the beginning and end of a term when students are consulting with their instructors. Some faculty may prefer to set an appointment for you.

Email: If you have specific questions related to your research interests you may direct these questions to faculty via email, but be advised that they get many unsolicited emails each week and it may take time to get any response. Some faculty may prefer to respond only after having met you during their office hours.

How many letters of reference are required? Who should be my referees? Must they be art historians, architectural historians or archaeologists?

Three letters of recommendation are required. Ideally the letters are from professors and scholars who can speak to your abilities and your suitability for graduate study at Columbia. Typically, letters come from art and architectural historians or archaeologists, professors who have taught or supervised the applicant in college or at the Masters level, but a letter from an academic in another discipline, preferably the humanities, would be acceptable. Letters from museum professionals are acceptable. The referee ought to know you well, know your work, and know what your goals are. The letters of reference are an important component of the application.

The Graduate School requires any international student whose native language is not English to demonstrate English proficiency in one of two ways: An applicant may 1) submit recent, i.e., from the past two years, scores of the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or, 2) take the English Placement Test administered by the American Language Program at Columbia. (Call 212-854-3584 for an appointment.) International students who have received an undergraduate (BA) degree from an institution in which English was the medium of instruction, do not have to submit TOEFL scores.

For PhD programs: Reading knowledge of two or three foreign languages is strongly recommended for applicants. Consult the MPhil Programs of Study in the GSAS Bulletin for information about language proficiency requirements in the program [ here ]. Demonstration of proficiency in at least one language will be required during the first year of study. Most MPhil programs require two beyond the one language used to satisfy the MA degree requirement. In all cases the languages required for the PhD is determined in consultation with the faculty advisor. In some cases it can be as many as five languages, depending on the field of specialization.

General: Applicants are not tested on language proficiency as part of the application process. All applicants are asked to give a brief report of their language proficiency on the main application form. The critical writing sample may also demonstrate some level of proficiency. To meet the requirements given above, all new students are expected to be proficient with languages when they begin the program. Students can pursue language studies after matriculation. Language courses may not be applied towards any degree in the department. Please note that language skills are an absolutely essential component of graduate education. Applicants without language proficiency in the intended field of study are at a disadvantage in the admissions process, and new students find, upon matriculation, that lack of language proficiency hinders progress in coursework, as assigned readings may be in foreign languages.

Campus tours are offered by the Visitors' Center. The Visitors' Center is located in Room 213 Low Memorial Library, just inside the main front door. Low is the domed building at the center of campus. The phone number is 212-854-4900.

Prospective students are often welcome to sit in on a class in the Department of Art History and Archaeology. Large lectures are the best option—consult the class schedule or contact the department office for suggestions. It is a courtesy for visitors to introduce themselves to the instructor and ask permission to sit in on a class meeting, even a large lecture. Ordinarily, prospective applicants do not sit in on seminar classes but with the prior permission of the instructor it may be possible.

In a very few instances during the process of evaluating applications, faculty may determine that an application that is not ready for the PhD program would be suitable for the non-sequential MA program. In those cases usually the DGS or the Student Coordinator will contact the applicant to find out if they are interested in such a course. Applications rejected for the PhD are not automatically re-considered for the MA. Therefore, those applicants to the PhD who are keen on studying in this department whether for a terminal MA or for the sequential MA-MPhil-PhD, whether on fellowship or not, and who would like such re-consideration should meet with faculty in their field.

Applicants should consult the GSAS Application and the Office of Financial Aid for information about financial assistance including fellowships, loans, and work-study, see [ here ]

PhD students: Fellowships are awarded to PhD students in recognition of academic achievement and in expectation of scholarly success. Only the very strongest applications to the PhD program are recognized with an offer of fellowship assistance in the first year. Continuing students in good standing, including those who were not offered a fellowship for the first year, are eligible to apply for Fellowships in Teaching and dissertation research, and in fact the Graduate School has moved in recent years towards better and more complete funding of its PhD student body. All of the department's 2nd- and 3rd-year students in good standing are fully funded Fellows in Teaching. Applicants are encouraged to apply for non-Columbia funding as well (i.e. Ford, Mellon, Javits.) All PhD Students who receive a fellowship, either from Columbia or elsewhere, are required to assume Teaching or Curatorial Assistant positions. See “teaching” below.

Refer to the GSAS Bulletin for regulations on registration, satisfactory academic progress and the completion of degree requirements.

The Department offers a very limited number of courses beginning after 5pm. Consult the class schedule for updates. Given that the PhD Proseminar is offered only during the day, and that most department courses are offered between 10am and 4pm, it would not be possible to earn a degree exclusively with evening coursework.

The Summer Session of the School of Continuing Education and Special Programs includes several courses in art history each year. A limited number of these are graduate-level, i.e., 4000-level and above. See [ here ]

It varies widely. The normative time is seven years. Currently the Department does not provide statistics on time-to-degree. The length of time that it takes depends on a number of factors not all of which are predictable at the outset: student achievement in coursework and languages, on the oral examination, and in teaching; faculty advising and sponsorship; outside funding; and the dissertation topic itself. Students whose topic requires extensive archival research abroad may require a little more time than another student whose research is more easily accomplished in residence at Columbia. Students in certain fields may find that outside funding can be difficult to obtain. And of course "real life" has a way of intruding on such a lengthy endeavor as doctoral study.

The field of archaeology has a long and illustrious history in this department and in recent years the program has grown. We expect the trend to continue with the new leadership of Profs. Zainab Bahrani, Francesco De Angelis, Holger Klein and Joanna Smith and the continued leadership of Profs. Natalie Kampen and Esther Pasztory. The opportunities for the study of archaeology at Columbia extend beyond this department. The Departments of Anthropology, Classics, Historic Preservation, History, Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures, and other departments and centers offer a variety of specialties, and in many cases students will take courses and find advisors in adjacent departments. A centralized resource for archaeology at Columbia is found [ here ].

For prospective applicants to a PhD program in archaeology, it may be difficult to determine which program or department is most appropriate. Since the optimal course may depend on your field of interest — whether Pre-Columbian, Aegean Bronze Age, Classical, Near Eastern, Egyptian, Middle Eastern, etc. — the single most useful avenue of investigation is to consult with faculty whose work interests you, whether in the Department of Art History and Archaeology or in another department. So the first step is to familiarize yourself with the faculty areas of specialization. If the professor you wish to consult is unavailable, consult the Director of Graduate Studies in the appropriate department or departments.

No. For the Visual Arts Division (painting, sculpture, etc) and The Film Division contact the Columbia University School of the Arts http://www.columbia.edu/cu/arts/

For media studies we suggest The New School University here in New York http://www.nsu.newschool.edu/04d_ma.htm

or William Patterson University of New Jersey http://www.wpunj.edu/coac/

No. Try the Teachers College program in Arts Administration http://www.tc.columbia.edu/academic/arad/

or the Museum Anthropology MA Program from the Department of Anthropology
http://www.columbia.edu/cu/anthropology/

or the graduate program in museum studies at New York University http://www.nyu.edu/gsas/program/museum/

• Consult the Department of Art History and Archaeology website
  • http://www.columbia.edu/cu/arthistory/
• Review the application and Bulletin on the GSAS web site
  • http://www.columbia.edu/cu/gsas/
• Visit the Department in Schermerhorn Hall and Avery Library; consult faculty, meet students, and ask questions of Department staff.