Best schools for MA/PhD concentration in East Asian Art? :)

[jwehope]

I got my BA (Creative Writing/Literature/Psych) ~6 years ago and I've recently decided I really want to work in a museum, preferably as a curator, and I'm very interested in pursuing an Art History MA and/or PhD with a concentration in East Asian art. (which, yes, I know will be a lot of work and very difficult bc I studied in different fields and I've been out of school for a bit. plus some programs require previous related course work which I don't have!)

Of course the problem is so many schools focus on the Western canon and many of them only have one (or NONE at all!!) faculty member specializing in East Asian art. I know it's really important to find a school that jives with your interests and it's so frustrating reading through these professors' profiles and looking at their published work and hardly seeing anything to do with East Asian art. Especially because some of these schools pumped out experts in the field, but I suppose faculty have either left or retired.

Does anyone have any suggestions on universities that have a really good concentration in East Asian art? Or just any professors you've liked or heard about? US preferred, but I'll take any suggestions at this point. Any knowledge of Korean art or ancient East Asian art concentration are especially preferred! 

Thank you!<3

[PhDApplicant23]

You should look at UMass Amherst for their MA in art history. Do you have previous training in Chinese/Japanese/Korean. Have you thought about Korean being one of the more hirable East Asian fields? What is your primary nation of interest within East Asia? There are many great programs, particularly if you look at East Asian studies rather than art history. Language training is going to be the most crucial piece here in terms of acceptance. Message me if you have any questions or need any direction with how to position your application! I wish you the best of luck. If you have this summer in advance, apply to a language program - although I know this is often cost prohibitive! It’s so hard!!!! But I am definitely here to help :)

[Dreams]

And to build on the above post, there is indeed funding out there for language study for U.S. students if you want to make yourself more competitive.  Critical Language Scholarship, Boren, Luce, and many more.  

[jwehope]

On 1/14/2023 at 8:46 PM, PhDApplicant23 said:

You should look at UMass Amherst for their MA in art history. Do you have previous training in Chinese/Japanese/Korean. Have you thought about Korean being one of the more hirable East Asian fields? What is your primary nation of interest within East Asia? There are many great programs, particularly if you look at East Asian studies rather than art history. Language training is going to be the most crucial piece here in terms of acceptance. Message me if you have any questions or need any direction with how to position your application! I wish you the best of luck. If you have this summer in advance, apply to a language program - although I know this is often cost prohibitive! It’s so hard!!!! But I am definitely here to help

Thank you very much for the university suggestion! I'll definitely look into them!! I unfortunately don't have very much previous training in any Asian languages, which I know is really detrimental to my acceptance to certain programs. The classes always conflicted with required courses for my BA and now working full-time it's hard to find classes that fit with my schedule. I know learning will take more time but I'm very eager to put in the work! I didn't know that Korean was one of the more hirable East Asian fields! That's super interesting!

tbh I'm pretty equally interested in China/Japan/Korea. For China I'm more interested in ancient art/archeology. For Korea: ancient art and modern art, though particularly the rise of modern art in Korea. And Japan I'm most interested in ancient art, and manga and it's trends and relationship with the rest of the world over the years. I'm also just generally interested in the three countries' influence on each other and the similarities/differences between their art. I'm also very, very much interested in the concept of storytelling through art, whether it's actual stories or history or the artist's life as depicted through art.

I've been looking into East Asian studies because it sounds like it's the area I'm most interested in and I think it would be a good jumping point to getting into a PhD with an East Asian art concentration, but like I said before, I'm really at a disadvantage since I barely know any Chinese/Japanese/Korean.

Thank you very very much for your help again, I really appreciate it!! (also sorry for the really late reply! I didn't get a notif of a response!)

 

 

Edited January 19, 2023 by jwehope

[jwehope]

On 1/15/2023 at 5:09 PM, Dreams said:

And to build on the above post, there is indeed funding out there for language study for U.S. students if you want to make yourself more competitive.  Critical Language Scholarship, Boren, Luce, and many more.  

thank you so much for the suggestion!!

[PhDApplicant23]

3 minutes ago, jwehope said:

Thank you very much for the university suggestion! I'll definitely look into them!! I unfortunately don't have very much previous in any Asian languages, which I know is really detrimental to my acceptance to certain programs. The classes always conflicted with required courses for my BA and now working full-time it's hard to find classes that fit with my schedule. I know learning will take more time but I'm very eager to put in the work! I didn't know that Korean was one of the more hirable East Asian fields! That's super interesting!

tbh I'm pretty equally interested in China/Japan/Korea. For China I'm more interested in ancient art/archeology. For Korea: ancient art and modern art, though particularly the rise of modern art in Korea. And Japan I'm most interested in ancient art, and manga and it's trends and relationship with the rest of the world over the years. I'm also just generally interested in the three countries' influence on each other and the similarities/differences between their art. I'm also very, very much interested in the concept of storytelling through art, whether it's actual stories or history or the artist's life as depicted through art.

I've been looking into East Asian studies because it sounds like it's the area I'm most interested in and I think it would be a good jumping point to getting into a PhD with an East Asian art concentration, but like I said before, I'm really at a disadvantage since I barely know any Chinese/Japanese/Korean.

Thank you very very much for your help again, I really appreciate it!! (also sorry for the really late reply! I didn't get a notif of a response!)

 

 

That's okay. If I were you I would lean into the lack of language training as a point for what you want to get out of a program in your application. Look for programs that have opportunities (such as Foreign Language Area Studies Fellowship) that will give you money and time to learn the language(s)! I know you will succeed!

[jwehope]

1 minute ago, PhDApplicant23 said:

That's okay. If I were you I would lean into the lack of language training as a point for what you want to get out of a program in your application. Look for programs that have opportunities (such as Foreign Language Area Studies Fellowship) that will give you money and time to learn the language(s)! I know you will succeed!

Thank you so so much for the suggestion!! This honestly helps so much I really appreciate it! ❤️