Art History

[usernameisunknown]

Alright. I'm about to ask a lot of questions that probably seem unrelated. But please, if anyone can answer even one of my questions or provide any kind of advice, you will have made my day 34908 times better.

My problem is this: i have too many interests within the field of art history. Not unlike most undergrads, I took a very wide range of art history classes. And while this process helps many students cull out their likes and dislikes, it only exacerbated my indecisiveness. The classes basically initiated an appetite for many different concentrations of study. I can at least say that I do have an interest in becoming a teacher. I might be completely wrong, but teachers of Art History 101 or AP Art History seem to have a more comprehensive (albeit more shallow) range of study. Does anyone out there know how to go about becoming an AP Art History teacher? Do you need just a regular teaching certificate? And, if I were to try for my Masters, would this open up the opportunities to community college teaching as well as high school teaching?

Also, if in the case that I do try for my masters: how certain do I need to be of my desired concentration before applying to programs?

It seems that most applicants to grad programs have extensive experience (internships and so forth) in the museum/gallery setting. I have taken museum studies courses and a had a few internsgips, but all of these were directly related to my college; (most were required). As an undergrad my interests were geared more to research and writing. Nothing made me happier than to be in the library reading about art. Despite having a wide variet of interests, It was not uncommon that I would become obessed with a certain topic and subsequently neglect my other less interesting classes. Needless to say, my gpa is pretty bad..(a 2.9) I consistenly maintained higher grades in the more advanced classes and lower grades in intro classes. I know, it seems a little odd. Additionally, out of curiousity, i took some classes that i should have dropped after the first week of class, but instead stayed in those classes thinking they might somehow be beneficial to my learning. It turns out that knowing about media arts and design has had no significant impact on my understanding of art history. Nor has operating an electron microscope imbued me with a better understanding of aesthetics. So, being that this is my situation, are addmissions likely to notice things like this and have mercy on my soul? Or will they simply look at the numbers and throw me out?

[usernameisunknown]

Wow greenpen, thanks for the response!

I am interested in hearing more about Teach For America. And congrats on being offered a teaching position with them. I'm guessing it is probably a pretty selective process? I've heard so many say that grad schools are increasingly competitive due to the lack of job oopportunities, so it wouldn't be surprising if TFA is a highly desirable opportunity for many college grads. Have you had prior teaching/volunteer experience?

Thanks again.