Art history PhD programs w/ focus on theory

[ba2923]

Hi there!

Long time lurker but now that I'm actually applying to grad schools this fall I felt the need to come out of the shadows. I just graduated from a well respected small liberal arts college (east coast) with a BA in Art History and Studio Arts. All of my professors in Art History want me to apply to PhD programs in the field (each with their own unique opinions on where to go etc) and I frankly love academia and hope to teach/curate someday. So I'm taking the GRE this week and currently am focusing on trying to get good verbal/written scores for that.

My interest is in postcolonial diasporic visual culture(s) (especially queer art) through intersecting lenses of postcolonial theory, critical race theory, gender/sexuality/queer theory. I wrote my undergrad thesis on Yinka Shonibare and wax print textiles and plan to use one of my chapters as a writing sample. Right now I am considering the following schools - Yale (Kobena Mercer (a major fan)/school of British art), Harvard (Sarah Lewis, Ewa Lajer-Burcharth (feminist theory), Homi Bhabha (post colonial theory and the backbone of my thesis)), Columbia (Kellie Jones, Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak (postcolonial studies),  UCLA (George Baker (critical theory), Steven Nelson, frankly the whole experimental critical theory department). That's it for now but still researching.

I am deeply indebted to theoretical approaches from other disciplines (obviously comp lit is the home of post colonial studies). My question is what is a good home for someone like me? My dream really is Yale because of Mercer but I'm very open. 

Thanks!

[modmuse]

It's really not up to anyone on here to decide if these are good "homes" for you. FWIW it sounds like you've done the groundwork to pick programs well suited to you, and if you make it to the interview phase, you'll be able to feel it out for yourself. 

The one thing I'll mention is that many of these programs are gravitating towards accepting people with MAs versus just BAs. It's not impossible, but with that in mind, you may also want to look into some  terminal, funded MA programs as backups. 

Edited September 13, 2017 by modmuse

[ba2923]

Hi modmuse

Thank you so much for your response. The main reason I'm looking into going directly into a PhD program is that I'm in my late 20s already and my advisors have told me that I don't want to graduate too late with an advanced degree for fear of age discrimination in the job market. That being said I will start doing research into MA programs as backups too so thank you for the advice.

 

Oh I was also wondering how important the math section of the GRE is for these programs? 

Edited September 13, 2017 by ba2923

[hj2012]

Are you only considering art history programs, or are you considering other disciplinary "homes" (e.g. comp lit)? Do you have a specific area of the world that you're working on (e.g. African/African diaspora, Latin America & the Caribbean, South Asian, etc)? You might also consider Chicago, Northwestern, Berkeley.

[ba2923]

I'm focusing on Art History because I love finding ways to clarify and bridge the abstract world of theory with material culture as well as the positions that museums have in opening up knowledge to a general audience. For that reason I really am hoping to find a school where interdisciplinary studies is welcomed. Berkeley was on my list but tbh I am not sure about language requirements and getting into their PhD programs without knowing what kind of language I should learn right now. My guess is that German will be the most useful language for me to learn but I'm not sure. In the same respect I am unsure what area of the world I want to work in. That being said African/African diaspora,  the Caribbean and South Asian areas are really something I am fascinated with in terms of locations dealing with coloniality and especially in terms of the impact on gender/sexuality through that colonial history.

[hj2012]

9 hours ago, ba2923 said:

I'm focusing on Art History because I love finding ways to clarify and bridge the abstract world of theory with material culture as well as the positions that museums have in opening up knowledge to a general audience. For that reason I really am hoping to find a school where interdisciplinary studies is welcomed. Berkeley was on my list but tbh I am not sure about language requirements and getting into their PhD programs without knowing what kind of language I should learn right now. My guess is that German will be the most useful language for me to learn but I'm not sure. In the same respect I am unsure what area of the world I want to work in. That being said African/African diaspora,  the Caribbean and South Asian areas are really something I am fascinated with in terms of locations dealing with coloniality and especially in terms of the impact on gender/sexuality through that colonial history.

While breadth is very important, I would encourage you to narrow your focus for the purpose of PhD applications and think about the language that will be most useful to that body of work. If you're thinking about pursuing jobs in the academy, they are still for the most part "divided" by areas of the world. Essentially all PhD programs are going to require some language component, so if you're starting with nothing I'd consider taking classes at the local community college or something. My sense is that French makes most sense for African/African diaspora/Caribbean, but you should confirm with your advisors.

[modmuse]

On 9/13/2017 at 2:13 PM, ba2923 said:

language requirements

Most Art History PhD programs will want to see that you can at least read in one other relevant language coming in. Most require two these days before allowing you to reach the ABD stage. They're usually French and German, with one being changeable if you're focusing on non-European areas.

Also, re: the MA route -- you can get your MA, work for a bit and then return to do a PhD. Honestly, so long as you have good research and contributions to the field, age discrimination is one of the few things I haven't really noticed in the field.

[ba2923]

Hi Guys

Thank you for such useful information! Was recovering from my first attempt at the GRE (retaking in October to boost my quantative a little more). I've been thinking a lot about area of focus and with a background of growing up in a former british colony I would like to focus on other former british colonies so either Africa/African diaspora or South Asia/South Asian diaspora. I have 8 years of french education but its pretty rusty right now, I had to read some french academic texts during my senior thesis research and while it wasn't like reading English, I could do it.

 

Another reason for wanting to go straight into a phd program is funding. I've been attempting to see through all the opaqueness that surrounds funding in grad school and I dont think I can afford to take on more debt which seems likely if I go into an MA route first. Do you guys know MA programs that are fully funded? Bard Grad Centre looked really promising in terms of what I'm interested in but I'm guessing it'll be VERY expensive.

[hj2012]

30 minutes ago, ba2923 said:

I have 8 years of french education but its pretty rusty right now, I had to read some french academic texts during my senior thesis research and while it wasn't like reading English, I could do it.

This is quite good. You'll have opportunities to brush up on French as a grad student, but you seem well-positioned to take a translation exam (and I would  mention your French education in your SOP). I think you should definitely apply directly to PhD programs and throw in a few MA programs into the mix. Check out earlier threads for funded masters programs:

https://forum.thegradcafe.com/topic/40233-funded-masters-programs-in-art-history/

https://forum.thegradcafe.com/topic/39410-funded-masters/

In your SOP, I recommend that you emphasize one area of the world over the another, and since your senior thesis was on  Yinka Shonibare it might make more sense to talk about African diasporic art & visual culture, though of course you can mention your interest in drawing parallels to other British postcolonies throughout the world. The conversations emerging from South Asian cultural and visual studies are quite distinct -- though related, of course -- to conversations in African/African diaspora cultural and visual studies, FYI.

[artbrute]

From what I know, there's no art history department with as much of a reputation for theory as UChicago. The only thing is, there's few contemporary/race/queer scholars in the department that would match the likes of (and this is my second recommendation) Kellie Jones at Columbia, for example.

[ba2923]

Thank you so much for your responses hj2012 and artbrute. I think I will be adding Williams to my list for sure as well as Oxford and Goldsmiths. Kellie Jones is totally a person I admire and certainly would love to work/study with. So I have another week before my GRE retaking and just have a query about the GRE scores standing in terms of the admissions process. I'm dyslexic and because my diagnosis was so long ago ETS told me that I would need to get re-diagnosed. As I'm in a rural area without much access to these kinds of resources and the time restraints from ETS I was never able to get my normal accommodations to take the exam. I know in many if not all of the applications there is a section for further things the admissions staff should know. It's here that I was planning on describing my difficulty getting test accommodations through ETS.

I've been focusing on the quantitate section since the last time I took it but I know for a fact my verbal and writing would be far higher scores (I got a 5.0 for the writing and a 163 for the verbal). Essentially for these top schools I don't know how much to worry about the Q section for art history. To be frank when I took the exam and was doing the verbal section, reading the large blocks of texts to analyze on a screen without being able to underline/markup, the words were jumping all over the page for me. Of course in the real world I have many techniques for reading and analyzing texts which includes a whole system of highlighting and underlining and marking up texts. In an on screen text format none of that could be adapted. Sorry just kind of freaking out that these schools are not going to consider me due to GRE scores despite having good grades/recs/writing samples/resume. Should I be stressing myself out so much about this?

[mrssalad]

What kind of theory are you specially interested in? A place like Rochester or Chicago seems to have a lot of film/media/cinema theory whereas a place like UW-Madison has a huge emphasis upon environmental studies (Nelson Institute) and Deleuze/psychoanalysis in the art history department. Bryn Mawr and Penn also have some psychoanalysts. 

[ba2923]

Hi Mrs Salad

 

I am interested specifically in post colonial theory, gender/sexuality/queer theory and critical race theory.

 

Thanks for the extra info!

[mrssalad]

Yes! Defiently Rochester (Douglas Crimp) or Jill Casid (Uw-Madison).