Bryn Mawr Art History Program

[arthistorybuff]

I have been trying to finalize my list of schools and I am just wondering...has anyone looked into/heard anything about Bryn Mawr's phd program? That is the one school that I have seen people apply to here but then I don't hear anything about acceptances or rejections. Anybody have an opinion about their program? I am assuming it would be small considering it is a liberal arts college. Just curious. 

 

[condivi]

It's not a bad program, but quite small...and certainly not what it used to be. If you have dreams of getting a tenure-track job at a top school or being a curator at a major museum (which goes for any school not in the top 10), not to mention if you'd mind the absence of a sizable graduate community, I'd think twice. 

Edited September 4, 2014 by condivi

[anonymousbequest]

My only caution would be that there are few faculty members, which means that your choices for a dissertation committee are extremely limited, as is your choice of courses. And if you and your advisor or even another faculty member do not get along, you might be in a difficult situation. If your advisor goes on leave you might also find yourself behind. Definitely ask around about the department culture. I would give this same advice about any of the smaller programs. 

[condivi]

I have friends at Bryn Mawr and I know the program pretty well. My sense is that it's small but excellent. They have a very strong faculty (including Lisa Saltzman, Alicia Walker, and Homay King), and a good record placing graduates. Their students regularly get great internships and fellowships, and the community seems unusually nice. Of course, you would have to want to attend a small college with a tight community and not much emphasis on teaching, and you would have to be a very good fit for a member of the faculty.

 

Good luck with your search and applications!

I'm sorry, but their record for placing graduates doesn't seem to me all that good to me. http://www.brynmawr.edu/gradgroup/alum.html A quick google search of the people at some of the "name brand" schools here reveals that many aren't in tenure track jobs; the rest either are in no name schools or, even worse, don't seem to have jobs. Furthermore, I've been around for a while now, and I've heard of or met very few of their students getting the most prestigious fellowships--CAVSA, Kress, MET, etc. I'm not saying Bryn Mawr isn't a good program, and that the professors aren't highly regarded, and that the students aren't smart. What I am saying, though, is that in this job climate, you're doing yourself a major disservice by not going to a top 10 school. This may not seem important now--you'll be the exception, you'll say--but this is really something to consider. Now, if you're doing this for yourself, and money isn't a consideration, then you'll surely get a good education at Bryn Mawr, or schools of similar relative prestige. 

Edited October 16, 2014 by condivi