Art History

Master's Degree Program

Graduate opportunities

Art historians enhance our understanding of art and its place within society through their research. Studying the art and architecture of diverse world cultures and periods, they examine the historical, social and cultural significance art holds for its creators and users.

Administered by the Department of Art Education and Art History, our Master of Arts degree in Art History is a gateway to careers in museums and galleries or graduate study in preparation for an academic career. You can choose course work that focuses on:

• Visual and material culture of the late antique and medieval periods in Europe, the Islamic world and South Asia
• Visual and material culture in the Middle East, Europe and the Americas from the 16th to the 21st centuries
• Historiography, methodology, and theory of art and visual and material culture since 1900

Within these areas, you work with faculty members whose interests and expertise intersect on such issues as colonialism, postcolonialism, geography, ritual and spatial analysis, race, gender, and sexuality. Our faculty members have distinguished themselves through quality teaching, research, and numerous publications and presentations. Their specializations include:

• Art of the Americas
• European art
• Islamic art/Middle Eastern art
• South Asian art

They are also affiliated with a number of areas across the university, including Women’s Studies, the Medieval Renaissance Consortium, Middle Eastern Studies, and the Contemporary Arab and Muslim Cultural Studies Institute.

Our Art History program offers:

• Intensive study of global artistic productions and their impact on developments in history and visual culture
• Advanced seminars and independent research projects with nationally and internationally recognized faculty members
• Opportunities to present papers at conferences or to engage in fieldwork abroad
• Exposure to guest lectures and programs with distinguished scholars
• Certification in art museum education or arts leadership

The college

The College of Visual Arts and Design is one of the nation’s most comprehensive visual arts schools and one of the best in the Southwest. Its facilities include:

• The Visual Resources Center with 65,000 digital images and more than 1,000 films
• Computer labs with new technology and cutting- edge hardware and software
• The Cora Stafford Gallery, providing 2,200 square feet of exhibition space
• Specialized classrooms, studios and galleries
• The UNT Art Gallery, which offers 2,500 square feet of exhibition space and a permanent collection of 182 works with a lending collection of 974

You may participate in the wide variety of cultural and career options available throughout the Dallas-Fort Worth region. We are in close proximity to the African American Museum, Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Trammel and Margaret Crow Collection of Asian Art, Dallas Museum of Art, Kimbell Art Museum, Meadows Museum, and Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth.

Attending UNT

Admission requirements

You will need to meet the admission requirements for the Toulouse Graduate School as well as submit the following items to the College of Visual Arts and Design:

• 500- to 750-word statement of purpose indicating your reasons for enrolling in graduate school
• Recent term paper or professional writing sample
• Two letters of recommendation from people familiar with your academic record
• Professional ré́sumé (optional)

If you do not have the recommended background in your intended field of study, you can be accepted on a conditional basis. Undergraduate course work in art or art history will need to be completed before beginning any graduate-level work. For graduate school requirements and possible exceptions, visit gradschool.unt.edu.

Degree requirements Master of Arts

• 15 credit hours of art history course work
• 6 credit hours in art history or an optional minor
• 3 credit hours in research methods
• 6-credit-hour scholarly research project
• Competency in a foreign language (prior to undertaking the research project)

Certifications Art Museum Education or Arts Leadership

The art museum education certificate provides theoretical grounding and practical experience in the field. Utilizing the rich museum resources of the Dallas- Fort Worth region, you explore and interact with a vibrant and forward-thinking landscape of museum education.

The certificate consists of 18 credit hours including a 6-credit-hour internship in an art museum. It complements the graduate degree by giving you a strong grasp of education’s role in museums. By collaborating with other disciplines in the college, you come to understand how art history is essential to the way museums communicate with their publics.

The arts leadership certificate provides you with special preparation in arts leadership. Completion of the certificate requires four courses in new media, politics and advocacy, and music administration in addition to a 6-credit-hour internship with an arts organization.

Financial assistance

We offer teaching assistantships and fellowships and area assistantships on a competitive basis each fall and spring semester. Levels of appointment and positions vary from semester to semester. Students awarded half- time appointments receive state-paid health insurance, a reduced rate on insurance for spouses and children, and out-of-state tuition waivers.

The Donahue Scholarship supports one new or continuing graduate student each year in art history. The Arabic Heritage Society Scholarship is awarded each year to a student studying Islamic or Middle Eastern art.

Many other scholarships are offered annually through the college to all graduate art majors. Scholarship information is available at art.unt.edu/scholarships.html. Visit financialaid.unt.edu for information about other financial assistance programs.