SMU

[nutella]

Does anyone have any thoughts about Southern Methodist University's graduate program in art history (for the MA)? 

[Joan Callamezzo]

It's a VERY small program, and not especially prestigious, but I have heard amazing things about SMU! Their funding situation sounds incredible, and IIRC they even have summer funding available to MA students. I've also heard that it's a generally supportive and positive environment as well. 

[codex_seraphinianus]

SMU's terminal MA has a great track record of graduates going on to fellowships/jobs at major institutions (the Getty, the National Gallery, the Dallas Museum of Art) and PhD programs at Harvard, Michigan, UCLA, USC, and UT-Austin, etc. And considering how small class years are, this is actually an incredibly high percentage, probably higher than you would see at some of the so-called "prestigious" programs.

SMU's MA program almost always provides full tuition with a stipend all four semesters for admitted students. There is a considerable amount of funding so that MA students can travel for their thesis research, and ample opportunities to get funding to attend conferences, etc. If you are looking to go on to the PhD, it will make a difference for admissions committees to see that other institutions have invested in you, rather than you just having paid for your degree.

Many of the name-brand terminal MA programs often do not have this level of funding for MAs. Its funny, there are some programs out there that have a reputation for prestige, but when you actually look at those institutions, none of the MA students are funded and they are paying $15k per semester for classes that are lectures (yes, 100-person lectures at the graduate level), with a corresponding amount of rigor (i.e., not really training you to be successful at the doctoral level), and few opportunities to work closely with faculty.

The SMU program IS small, but that means every class is a seminar designed such that students get tons of one-on-one mentoring, and by the end have produced a work of significant original research which can then be translated into a conference presentation or publication (and this kind of experience can be very helpful in preparation for higher levels of academia.)

[Redrum]

I did my M.A. in Art History at SMU and loved it so much I stayed for the Phd. The classes are small, and you get a lot of individual attention. There are a lot of funding opportunities to conduct research outside the U.S, and also to participate in conferences. During my time in the M.A. program I traveled to Cuba, Brazil, Miami, NYC, Bloomington IN, and Urbana-Champaign, all with SMU funds. In addition, my colleagues who graduated this past year are currently employed in paid internships at the DMA and the Getty Museum of Art in Los Angeles. 

I am not sure what Joan means with "not especially prestigious," but I can tell you that I usually present in conferences next to students from Yale, Columbia, The Art Institute of Chicago, etc.  The program is small on purpose; you really don't want to go to an institution where you have to fight for your advisor's attention with 10 other students. I invite you to google my name and see for yourself. If you have any more questions, I'll be glad to help. 

Best,

Asiel Sepúlveda.

 

Edited October 21, 2015 by Asiel Sepulveda
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[Joan Callamezzo]

 

I did my M.A. in Art History at SMU and loved it so much I stayed for the Phd. The classes are small, and you get a lot of individual attention. There are a lot of funding opportunities to conduct research outside the U.S, and also to participate in conferences. During my time in the M.A. program I traveled to Cuba, Brazil, Miami, NYC, Bloomington IN, and Urbana-Champaign, all with SMU funds. In addition, my colleagues who graduated this past year are currently employed in paid internships at the DMA and the Getty Museum of Art in Los Angeles. 

I am not sure what Joan means with "not especially prestigious," but I can tell you that I usually present in conferences next to students from Yale, Columbia, The Art Institute of Chicago, etc.  The program is small on purpose; you really don't want to go to an institution where you have to fight for your advisor's attention with 10 other students. I invite you to google my name and see for yourself. If you have any more questions, I'll be glad to help. 

Best,

Asiel Sepúlveda.

 

SMU is a great program but the reality is, that it may not help you on the job market or when competing for fellowships in the same way that going to Yale/Harvard/IFA/etc will. It's not necessarily fair or right, but name recognition and program prestige are a huge part of academia. 

Regarding your point on program size, you will be hard pressed to find a "large" PhD program. MA programs, sure, but not PhD. My program is on the slightly larger side, but no advisor has more than 7 or 8 students who are all spread out over multiple years. It's also great having an advisor with multiple students because you can bounce ideas off of each other and work together. 

Also - I would NEVER post my full name on a website like this, but that's just me!

[CradGafe]

Another SMU MA alum here, graduated a few years ago. Was very happy with the program, got placed at the National Gallery for a year internship the year after finishing, and entered a top ten PhD program (going by the general consensus rankings in an AH grad cafe thread) the year after that. My particular advisor also has a great track record with her MA students. I haven't kept up with the most recent year, but I think for my year and the two years following, every one of her MA students was placed in a paid year-long internship at either the National Gallery of Art or the Getty.

And yeah, SMU certainly doesn't have the name recognition of Harvard or Yale, but what it lacked in name, I think it more than made up for in opportunities resulting from small classes, full-funding, close relationship/ mentorship with advisors and faculty, funding for travel during the MA, and general conviviality amongst cohorts and faculty. And I'm of course biased, but I think an MA from SMU can be worth a lot more than one from the IFA (though, some people can and do get a lot out of one from the latter). 

To quote Joan Calamezzo (Huge Pawnee Today fan, keep doing you) from another thread:

I think that admission to Columbia/IFA MA should be thought of as a rejection. The programs, while attached to prestigious departments, are not themselves prestigious. [...] Correct me if I'm wrong, but has anyone actually even seen or heard of someone getting rejected to IFA or Columbia MA? The reason the program is so small is because no one wants to spend that kind of money on what is essentially an academic door prize. My undergrad advisor got his PhD at Columbia in the early 90s, and he remembers even back then there were two classes of students at the program - the PhD students who were dotted on by faculty and staff, and the underclass of MA students who were put up with for the simple fact that they were basically funding the PhD students' tuition.

Not saying I agree with all of that, but I have heard such things elsewhere and also know of folks not accepted to SMU MA and going to IFA MA. 

But to the point, I found SMU to be a great program and every bit as rigorous as other programs I have visited or been a part of, including the Phd program I am currently in. In some ways, even more so (I was given Warburg in gothic script to translate for my German language exam, and a portion of the exam was without dictionary). So yeah, a full endorsement of the program from this alum. It of course depends on what your area is and whether there is someone there to work with, but if there is someone at SMU to advise you, I highly recommend applying.

I do not envy you in your applying; may the odds be ever in your favor!

 

 

[Joan Callamezzo]

 

Another SMU MA alum here, graduated a few years ago. Was very happy with the program, got placed at the National Gallery for a year internship the year after finishing, and entered a top ten PhD program (going by the general consensus rankings in an AH grad cafe thread) the year after that. My particular advisor also has a great track record with her MA students. I haven't kept up with the most recent year, but I think for my year and the two years following, every one of her MA students was placed in a paid year-long internship at either the National Gallery of Art or the Getty.

And yeah, SMU certainly doesn't have the name recognition of Harvard or Yale, but what it lacked in name, I think it more than made up for in opportunities resulting from small classes, full-funding, close relationship/ mentorship with advisors and faculty, funding for travel during the MA, and general conviviality amongst cohorts and faculty. And I'm of course biased, but I think an MA from SMU can be worth a lot more than one from the IFA (though, some people can and do get a lot out of one from the latter). 

To quote Joan Calamezzo (Huge Pawnee Today fan, keep doing you) from another thread:

Not saying I agree with all of that, but I have heard such things elsewhere and also know of folks not accepted to SMU MA and going to IFA MA. 

But to the point, I found SMU to be a great program and every bit as rigorous as other programs I have visited or been a part of, including the Phd program I am currently in. In some ways, even more so (I was given Warburg in gothic script to translate for my German language exam, and a portion of the exam was without dictionary). So yeah, a full endorsement of the program from this alum. It of course depends on what your area is and whether there is someone there to work with, but if there is someone at SMU to advise you, I highly recommend applying.

I do not envy you in your applying; may the odds be ever in your favor!

I totally agree with you CradCafe about the MA! I got my MA at a school essentially identical to SMU in terms of program size, faculty support and ranking. 9.5 times out of 10 I would advise someone to do an MA at SMU over Columbia or IFA.