JuniusBattius

As I am still within the program (though not for much longer), I’m not at liberty to discuss the fine details, for there is real risk of retaliation. What I can tell you is that student-faculty relations change dramatically between undergrad and graduate school, and in the case of UNC, it’s because faculty view undergrads as monetary resources for the department/university. I know there are a few genuinely kind professors, but much of the placating of undergrads is fabricated to reach enrollment rates, cultivate tuition funds, and appease admin. Undergrads bring in money. Conversely, grad students often cost money. They don’t cost much—they are cheap labor—but they still cost money. And, in a department that is constantly fretting over resources (and, in recent history, brazenly mis-managing them, though that has been tempered), that means that supporting graduate students is, or at least was, envisioned as risky. PhD students are rarely accepted with complete funding packages, and MA students, last I heard, were not going to receive funding at all. But each need it and have asked for more (and more meaningful) support for years. It seems senseless that the only public graduate program in art history within the state, and at the wealthiest public institution, cannot support its students (and absurd when compared to Duke University’s program just up the road). The few opportunities for additional funding support were once referred to as “competitive” on the department website; in reality, these are predetermined based not on merit, but on faculty relations with one another (and sometimes with the Graduate School). This could be acceptable—academia’s myth of meritocracy died off long ago and efforts to conceal that are usually poorly constructed, so I think people have just started to accept that fellowship opportunities, etcetera, are often more about who you know/who your advisor is than anything else—but the program also lacks any substantive form of professional development. There were once workshops for this, but many were unproductive, and a department that is desperate to rake in money also accepts a lot of people who, perhaps, would benefit from more life experience before trying to cross the professional academic threshold. There is also a course, but I found it fully unhelpful and the faculty member teaching it was more interested in mis-informing students who they viewed as competition than in fueling their junior colleagues as they travel down the autobahn of art history. So, students enter a program with few resources, leave with weak experience and CVs, and never really learn what appropriate professional conduct consists of. There is also an emphasis on theater over substance: e.g., if you say absolutely nothing meaningful in very decorative language, you will receive praise; if you say something incredibly insightful with potent language, you will be dismissed. While I am happy to answer further questions in a DM, my first line of advice for anyone considering this program is to keep in mind something that the department definitely does not: through the Freedom of Information Act, UNC emails are a matter of public record. With the right phrasing, you can put in a request for emails exchanged about your career (though the reviewers of these requests are very picky). In line with this, if you feel that something strange is happening to your career, it is not in your head.

Entering my final semester of a PhD at UNC-CH and lurking here to provide insight. If you've applied to this program, please reach out to me.

First of all: I'm so sorry. This, unfortunately, is relatable—I am entering my final semester of my PhD and just cannot bring myself to care about art history after all of the abuse, mistreatment, and brazen lies to recruit students. Every day is a struggle not to quit. Depending on your institution, the ombudsperson may or may not help. At my own, they are useless: they work for, and thus are there to protect, a broken system. The same goes for the Director of Graduate Studies, and the Graduate School. A paper trail can be very useful, but, unfortunately, people who occupy positions of power in academia can be slippery and do not much care for accountability or integrity. It is not common to transfer graduate degrees, but also not unheard of. My suggestion is to re-start elsewhere (I say this having deeply regretted "sticking it out" where I am now). It may feel like a waste of time, but ultimately, if a program is identifiably toxic within the first semester, it unlikely that it is equipping you with useful skills for a career in art history. If faculty have been willing to hurt you for criticizing abusive behavior, they have already shown their cards, which lack integrity and deeply hurt a field that is already suffering. If this feels like too drastic of a solution, I would suggest re-orienting yourself with the program. Ask senior students about faculty. Who is trustworthy? Who isn't? Who has hurt students, and who has helped them? Which courses equipped them with useful tools? Which caused them deep distress? A graduate degree is never worth suffering for, regardless of how much abuse is normalized. It is a piece of paper, not lifeblood, and if the program isn't taking itself seriously, you can't be expected to compensate.

I'm not, however, a friend is and they regularly do not provide graduate student funding there. However, if you'd landed something external, and can deal with a university that is operated by politicians (not even businessmen at this point) instead of scholars, then go for it.

So, I'm a current grad student at UNC with not one, but two department chairs on my committee. I can confidently say that the university does not value grad labor or research, both from personal experience and from the insight that each of them have shared with me. This may not present as much of a problem, but when it comes to institutional opportunities or securing support for any sort of endeavor from within the university, know that things will be slimming down tremendously for graduate students. If the funding you are getting is through the Royster society, you will at least have guaranteed funding with additional benefits, but a big cost of that program is that they expect students to do a lot of theater to make the university look good.

Hi! I hope your applications go well. Chiming in to say that UNC has not done a commendable job of caring for their current graduate students during the pandemic. If the Art History Department does offer funding for incoming graduate students, it is usually in incomplete packages (e.g., a year of funding for a masters, three out of five years for a PhD). MANY of their current and past students have had to prolong their careers even before COVID because of a lack of financial support. There are some opportunities for additional funding, but resources there are limited and don't look to be improving. For example, some graduate students who received additional funding have had their Spring pay reduced because it is "considered COVID support" (a pay reduction that, in previous years, did not happen). Unfortunately, there also just aren't enough faculty. Many have been lost (due to headhunting, retirement, and death) over the past few years and few have been replaced. So, the remaining faculty are overworked, and there is an increasing trend of (unpaid) labor being shifted onto graduate student shoulders. If there is someone there who you are dead-set on working with, reach out to them and inquire with their graduate students. Some people are happy there and feel confident in their training, and you might be, as well. Unfortunately, that experience isn't universally shared, but it is special when it happens.

One of my former students is at John Cabot. The program offers incomparable access to actual artifacts, but from what I understand, there is little support from the program director/advisor (doesn't even answer emails). It seems like a great opportunity if you can develop a strong bond with your colleagues, but perhaps isn't great if you go in without some pre-existing knowledge of art-historical/museum practices. I would suggest digging into Methods & Theories of Art History by Anne D'Alleva and The Elements of Academic Style: Writing for The Humanities by Eric Hayot to help equip you with some useful tools. As a current PhD student, I wish I would have known about these a long, long time ago.

I would like to offer this suggestion: If you are considering UNC Chapel Hill, please, please, please speak with a grad who is advised by a faculty member you aim to work with.

my advisor doesn't care about my work, doesn't respect graduate students/treats them like slave labor, writes me incoherent letters of recommendation, and -- to top it all off -- STILL hasn't published since 2015

Sorry for the lengthy delay in response. The semester started off relentlessly. I just passed my comprehensive exams and prospectus defense this past Spring. In theory, all I need to do now is write my dissertation. This seems impossible to do without feedback, which I don't predict I will get. I'm also concerned about what this advisor's letter of recommendation looks like - they've claimed that I received a fellowship because of their letter in the past, but said letter was turned in late and I went into the interview extremely prepared anyway. It's very... uncomfortable.

I'm at UNC-Chapel Hill right now (started shortly after Dr. Sheriff's passing) and it has been... an experience. Feel free to message me about it - I can answer lots of questions.

Hi all. I've been in a confusing situation with my advisor for the past few months. I am worried that they are leading me down the wrong scholarly paths or, for lack of a better phrase, on wild academic goose chases. Some of this is venting, but it's also helpful for contextualizing my issues, and I would appreciate any advice that you might have. For some time, they have been urging me to publish a paper that I wrote for one of their classes. The paper was bad. Very bad. But, I wanted to trust this person and appreciated the encouragement, so I continued researching it in what little spare time I had. As soon as I passed my exams, I set to work on synthesizing my research and revising the paper to make it something sensible, meaningful, and substantial. I sent several drafts to my advisor in hopes of getting feedback, but if I received any at all, it was superficial or vague ("This paragraph is nice," "You want to use a $100 word here when a 69 cent word works just fine," and "You need to write for a broader audience," as examples). Finally, feeling a bit defeated, I sent a draft to a trusted peer, who gave me meaningful criticism and feedback. I employed it, and then asked my advisor which journal I should be submitting this thing to anyway. Their response was that I should send it to the Big Name Journal in my field, which was anxiety-inducing to me, but I sent it. And, as I had anticipated, it was rejected. Which didn't upset me, but... ... upon informing my advisor of this (via text message, as they are virtually unresponsive to my emails and not dependable for meetings), I received a wave of texts criticizing my theoretical approach and how I need to "write differently" and "re-orient [my] head." None of these criticisms were made by the journal - in fact, their remarks directly contradicted the approaches I learned from my advisor's classes. So, I told my advisor that I need more specific criticism from them and that I don't want to publish in this journal right now because I'm a young scholar and my work isn't quite mature enough for such a publication. They went completely silent. They are presently overseas, which understandably causes delays in communication. My emails to them have gone largely ignored, but they have emailed me about pedicures and nights at the bar with their colleagues, and messaged me on WhatsApp to request that I run errands for them on campus. To top everything off, they asked me to nominate them for a teaching award when they return to the US this Fall, and I know that if I don't do it, their behavior could worsen. I don't know what to do - I am horrified that this person is just stringing me along because they are contractually obligated to have graduate students. I've already passed my exams so it seems pointless to try to transfer out or acquire a different advisor. Is there any way that I can maneuver this person into caring about my scholarship beyond a superficial degree?

Would you happen to have any suggestions for an individual moving to the area and hoping to keep rent beneath $600/month? I am fairly certain that I will need to bite the bullet and get roommates to stay within my budget, but even the smallest of studio spaces would be acceptable, too.

Oh my gosh, yes. I was feeling so hopeless, especially after a personal tragedy the day before! I am so stoked to enter this academic climate.

I was accepted to UNC with full funding! So excited. Now, to configure everything for a move!