practice based phd fine art usa

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The UC San Diego Visual Arts PhD Program grants two PhD degrees: Art History, Theory and Criticism and Art History, Theory and Criticism with a Concentration in Art Practice . The program embodies the department's commitment to innovative research by embracing the close intersection of art, media, and design practice with history, theory, and criticism, and by offering training in the history, theory, and criticism of a range and mix of areas represented in our MFA faculty, including studio art, film, video, photography, computational media, performance art, public art, design, visual culture, and socially engaged art practice. Regional and cultural frameworks of study include European and Latin American art, Chinese art, nineteenth-century French visual culture, Mesoamerican, Native American, and Indigenous art and material culture, Medieval art and culture, queer and feminist art, material culture, science, technology, and art; and ocean, environmental, and land art.

The Art Practice Concentration degree, which must be applied for at the time of application to the PhD program, follows the same course of scholarly training, research, and writing as the Art History, Theory and Criticism degree, with additional requirements in research-based art practice that span all years of coursework, qualifying, and doctoral research. Two students are admitted to this concentration annually.

Information for Current and Prospective Students

Requirement overview, program requirements.

• Coursework, 88 units

Language Requirement

• Qualifying Materials and Exams

Dissertation and Defense

• For VA77 Only- Art Practice Project and Exhibition

Full Time Enrollment

In order to remain eligible for financial support all graduate students must be enrolled   in 12 units of upper-division (100-199) or graduate level (200 and above) courses each quarter during the regular academic year. Graduate students must also maintain a minimum GPA of 3.0 to maintain good academic standing. The majority of students will choose to complete the majority of their academic coursework for a letter grade.

Pre-Candidacy

Coursework should be chosen in consultation with the Advisor and should be taken in preparation for the Qualifying phase. During the first three years in the program, students should aim to fulfill the following requirements:

• MA en Route Requirements (if interested and eligible)
• Qualifying Materials and Exams (year 3)

Advancing to candidacy occurs when the student has passed all course, language, and qualifying requirements and is ready to research and write a dissertation. Doctoral candidates, sometimes referred to as “all but dissertation” or ABD, work on their dissertation with Advisor and Committee consultation and feedback for two or more years. During this time, Art Practice candidates additionally produce the required art practice components. Each quarter, most doctoral candidates typically enroll in 8-12 units of VIS 299 and/or 4 units of a 500, in consultation with their Advisor. Candidacy concludes when the candidate completes and successfully defends the dissertation (and, for VA77, the additional Art Practice requirements) and is awarded the doctorate.

Degree Paths

The program consists of two degree paths: Art History, Theory and Criticism (VA76) and Art Practice (VA77), a concentration designed for artists engaged in advanced research who wish to pursue their work in an environment geared to doctoral study, and to produce studio, media, performance or public facing work alongside a written dissertation. See Handbook for further details.

Interdisciplinary Specializations

Students within the PhD program who are interested in the opportunity to undertake specialized research may apply to participate in an interdisciplinary specialization. Students accepted into a specialization program would be expected to complete coursework in addition to those required for their PhD program. The department offers interdisciplinary specializations with the following campus programs.

• Anthropogeny:   for students with an interest in human origins
• Critical Gender Studies:   providing specialized training in gender and sexuality
• Interdisciplinary Environmental Research : for students interested in environmental solutions

Curriculum: VA76 Art History, Theory and Criticism

VA76- 22 courses, 88 units

GENERAL FIELD EMPHASIS

During the first year of study, students declare a general area of study in consultation with their Advisor and with the approval of the Faculty Director. This general field emphasis will be considered as they choose courses and, toward year three, plan their qualifying materials. See the Handbook for general field options.

CORE REQUIREMENTS (8 courses, 32 units)

Required (4 courses, 16 units):

• VIS 200- Methods and Theories
• VIS 204- Rethinking Art History
• VIS 500 (1 course, 4 units)- Apprentice Teaching
• VIS 502- Graduate Teaching in Visual Arts

Breadth (4 courses, 16 units), choose from 4 different areas with 3 different faculty:

• Medieval, Renaissance or Early Modern Art- VIS 251, VIS 252
• Modern and Contemporary Art- VIS 254, VIS 255
• Media Studies- VIS 256
• Meso-American Art or North American Indigenous Art- VIS 257, VIS 260
• Asian Art- VIS 258
• Latin American Art- VIS 259
• Material Culture- VIS 261
• Design Studies- VIS 262

ELECTIVE REQUIREMENTS (14 courses, 56 units), choose from the following options:

• Art History Seminars (VIS 230-269), a minimum of 6 MUST be taken for the elective area
• Graduate Research (VIS 299), during 1st year with provisional advisor
• Professional Practice Seminar (VIS 220)
• Art Theory/Practice (VIS 206, VIS 210-219), a maximum of 2 may be taken
• Other Department, a maximum of 3 graduate level courses may be taken 
• Reading Courses (approved undergrad courses), a maximum of 4 may be taken 
• Directed Group Study (VIS 298), a maximum of 1 may be taken
• Individual Studies (VIS 295), a maximum of 12 units may be taken with Advisor

Curriculum: VA77 Art History, Theory and Criticism- Art Practice

VA77- 22 courses, 88 units

CORE REQUIREMENTS (12 courses, 48 units)

Required (9 courses, 36 units):

• VIS 206- Seminar in Art Practice Research
• VIS 207 (repeat 3 times for 12 units)- Working Practice for Art Practice
• VIS 210-219, 1 course from Art Theory/Practice 

Breadth (3 courses, 12 units), choose from 3 different areas with 3 different faculty:

ELECTIVE REQUIREMENTS (10 courses, 40 units), choose from the following options:

• Art History Seminars (VIS 230-269), a minimum of 3 MUST be taken for the elective area
• Art Theory/Practice (VIS 210-219), a maximum of 2 may be taken
• Other Department, a maximum of 3 may be taken 
• Reading Courses (approved undergrad courses), a maximum of 2 may be taken 
• Directed Group Study (VIS 298), a maximum of 4 units may be taken

For the VA76 PhD students, competency in reading, understanding, and interpreting texts in two languages other than English is required before advancement to candidacy (Qualifying Exam stage), and competency in at least one language is expected at the time of application to the program. Art Practice Concentration students (VA77) will be required to satisfy competency in one language other than English before advancing to PhD candidacy. The student and their Advisor will jointly determine examination languages. 

The Program’s language requirement may be met in one of three ways: 

• Passing the department’s in-house Language Exam  
• Passing one approved graduate-level language course 
• Passing two approved upper-division undergraduate language courses 
• Passing a two-year sequence of approved undergraduate language courses in a single language  

Required Paperwork

For each language exam or course sequence taken to satisfy a language requirement, a Language Completion form must be completed by the student, the proctor/instructor and submitted to the Student Affiars Manager in order to receive credit for completion of the language requirement. Submitted forms are automatically routed via DocuSign for approval and processing.

In-House Language Exams

In-house Language Exams test ability in reading and comprehension (by translation into English) only, not writing or spoken fluency in the designated language. The exam consists of two short texts, one less difficult to be translated into English without a dictionary, and one more difficult to be translated with a dictionary. The dictionary may be either a printed volume or an on-line resource. One hour is allowed for each section (total test time: 2 hours). The translations may be written on a computer or by hand. Exams are corrected by the faculty member responsible for designing the exam, who also invigilates the test. If adequate reading knowledge is not demonstrated, the student’s Advisor will review with the student and the faculty setting the exam the steps necessary to master the language and a new exam will be scheduled within a reasonable amount of time. 

Students requesting an in-house language examination should consult with faculty responsible for particular languages:

• Chinese and Japanese : Professor Kuiyi Shen 
• French : Professors. Jordan Rose and John Welchman 
• German : Professor Alena Williams 
• Italian : Professor William Tronzo 
• Korean : Professor Kyong Park
• Mayan languages : Professor Elizabeth Newsome 
• Spanish : Professors Elizabeth Newsome and Mariana Wardwell 
• Turkish: Professors Memo Akten and Pinar Yoldas

Individual arrangements for determination of competency will be made for those languages that cannot be tested by department faculty . 

Committee Constitution and Management

About the committee.

This is the group of four faculty who agree to the student’s request for mentorship and evaluation during the qualifying and doctoral years. The Committee is chaired by the Advisor(s). In addition to mentoring and guiding the student’s research, this team serves as the Qualifying Committee and the Doctoral or Dissertation Committee, conducting the Qualifying Exam and the Dissertation Defense. The committee must be formally appointed by Graduate Division in the process outlined below.

Committee Constitution

The Committee Chair is the student’s Faculty Advisor/Co-Advisors and is selected by Year Two through mutual agreement with the student. The rest of the Committee is constituted through request and consent between the student and other faculty, with the guidance and approval of the Advisor(s). 

Makeup of the committee:

• 3 Visual Arts Faculty (including the Chair/Co-Chairs), 1 member may be a non-PhD faculty
• 1 tenured or emeritus faculty from outside the department

For each option, Assistant or Acting-Associate Faculty may serve as a general member or Co-Chair but not as sole Chair. The Graduate Division website has  additional information  about committees and a  Committee Membership Table  which may be helpful in determining what role a faculty member may serve on a committee.

Submitting Your Committee

After faculty have agreed to serve on the Committee, and the Faculty Advisor has approved the list, the student must complete and send the  Committee Constitution form  which will be routed to the Student Affiars Manager for processing.  This form must be approved by the Graduate Division by Week 5 BEFORE the Qualifying Exam .

Changing Your Committee

There are times when committee membership must change after the intial review and approval. All changes to committee membership need to be approved by the Department and then Graduate Division. Committee reconstitution must be completely reviewed and approved by Week 5, the quarter PRIOR to QE/Defense. When changing committee membership:

• Review the Committee Membership requirements 
• Discuss the change in committee membership with the Committee Chair/Co-chairs
• Discuss the change in committee with impacted committee members
• Complete the   Committee Reconstitution form   which will be routed to the Student Affairs Manager for processing.

Committee Management

It is the responsibility of the student, in consultation with their advisor/committee chair, to engage with and request feedback on drafts of written materials and (for VA77) documentation of artwork progress with all committee members during research and writing of their qualifying materials and dissertation. The student also must email final copies of all materials to their Committee prior to their Qualifying Exam and Dissertation Defense. 

Qualifying Exam, Advancement to Candidacy

About the qualifying process.

The Qualifying process occurs throughout Year Three. The student, under the supervision of the Advisor and with the advice of the Committee, prepares two bibliographies (one on the chosen field of emphasis and the second pertaining to the proposed dissertation); writes a qualifying paper and a dissertation prospectus; and takes written and oral examinations pertaining to these documents. The Art Practice PhD additionally requires a practice prospectus and a third bibliography.

Qualifying Exam

The Qualifying Examination has two parts: A Written Examination in which the student writes two essays over five days in response to questions provided by the Committee; and two weeks later,  a 2- or 2.5-hour Oral Examination led by the Committee, during which the student is asked questions and put in dialog about all of the qualifying materials.

Qualifying Timeline

A student must have completed all required course work and passed all language examinations before taking the qualifying examination, which will be held no later than the end of the third year. Upon successful completion of the qualifying examination, the student will be advanced to candidacy.

Qualifying Exam Administrative Checklist  

Qualifying Exam Failure

Should a student fail the examination, the Faculty Committee will clarify the weaknesses in the exam, so that the student can prepare to take it a second time. If a second oral examination is warranted, they will have to re-take and pass the exam prior to the end of the Pre-Candidacy Time Limit (or they need an extension approved to continue). They can always take a leave and return but if the PCTL is expired, they will have to advance before returning or an exception to extend the time would be need to be approved prior to retuning. If the student fails the oral examination a second time, their graduate studies in the department will be terminated.

MA en Route

• Five Art History seminars 
• VIS 200 Methods and Theories
• VIS 204 Re-Thinking Art History 
• One Theory/Practice seminar (chosen from VIS 210-219)
• Four breadth courses, from four different breadth areas

We do not offer an MA with an Art Practice concentration. Therefore, Art Practice concentration students must make a formal change in their degree aim to designate Art History, Theory, and Criticism (VA76). This change must take place at least two quarters prior to the Qualifying Exam. 

Note:   Students who wish to receive an MA as part of the Ph.D. program   must apply for master’s degree candidacy by the end of the second week of the quarter in which they expect to receive the degree.   Please see the Graduate Coordinator regarding this process.

Necessary Documents for the Qualifying Exam

• Report of the Qualifying Exam

Necessary Documents for the MA on the Way

• Application for MA (due week two) 
• Final Report for MA 

Best Practices for Completing the Report of the Qualifying Exam and Final Report via DocuSign:

• Ahead of your exam/defense ask faculty to add [email protected] as a “safe sender” so those emails are less likely to go to junk/spam. Although campus IT has taken steps to identify DocuSign as a safe sender, it is still recommended that individual users do so as well.
• At the end of your Exam/Defense ask your committee members to check their email for the DocuSign email with the link to the form and sign while you're all online together. 
• ask the faculty to check their junk folder, spam quarantine, or other spam folders
• next, ask them to log into their DocuSign account using their @ucsd.edu email address and SSO credentials to access the form/s directly (https://docusign.ucsd.edu) *some people have personal DocuSign accounts so ask them to ensure they are logging into the UCSD DocuSign account
• Get verbal confirmation of who has signed and who has not, then follow-up with the Student Affairs Manager to resolve any issues your committee members have with signing the form.
• Once the appropriate form is submitted to the Graduate Division, the appropriate fee will be charged directly to the student’s financial TritonLink account. 

About the Dissertation

Following successful completion of the qualifying examinations, the candidate will research and write a doctoral dissertation under the supervision of their Advisor and with the input of the Committee. Students in the art practice concentration (VA77) will submit a written dissertation that observes the same regulations and conventions as VA 76, except that the length requirement is slightly shorter and there must be one additional chapter devoted to discussion of the art practice. In addition, Art Practice candidates will additionally produce and exhibit a visual component. See the Handbook for details. 

About the Defense

After the committee has reviewed the finished dissertation (and art practice components, for VA 77), the candidate will orally defend their dissertation (and art practice work and exhibition), responding to questions from the Committee in a meeting that may be public (the student may invite visitors), as per university policy. The Dissertation Defense is the culmination of all of your work within the Ph.D. program. Please read all of the information on the Graduate Division's website about " Preparing to Graduate " and make an appointment to speak with the Student Affairs Manager one year prior to when you plan to defend.

Roles and Responsibilities for the Defense

Student will:

• Schedule the Dissertation Defense with their committee. This is normally scheduled for three hours. (You are responsible for reserving a room or scheduling the zoom meeting). 
• Complete the PhD Dissertation Defense Notificaiton form which will notify the Student Affairs Manager of the date and time of the defense. This form is required so that the Final Report paperwork can be initiated and sent to your committee members on the date of the defense.
• Follow-up with your committee, the Graduate Division, and the Student Affairs Manager about any issues surrounding the completion of your degree.

Faculty Advisor will:

• Ensure the   policy   appropriate participation of all members of the committee at the Dissertation Defense. It is also helpful to remind all committee members to sign the forms by checking their inboxes for the DocuSign request to sign the forms. These sometimes end up in a person's spam folder.

Student Affairs Manager will:

• Fill out the Final Report form via DocuSign and route the form the morning of the exam/defense for signature to all committee members, the department chair, and the Graduate Division.
• Follow-up with committee members regarding signatures on the Final Report and general petition forms (if needed).
• Send out the announcement of the defense to department faculty and graduate students.

Additional Information and Tasks

Preliminary Dissertation Appointments with the Graduate Division: Students will schedule their preliminary and final appointments with Graduate Division Academic Affairs Advisors utilizing the online calendaring system they have in place:   https://gradforms.ucsd.edu/calendar/index.php

Committee Management : If you need to make any changes to your doctoral committee please follow the instructions above in the "Committee Management" drawer. 

Embargo Your Dissertation:   Talk to your faculty advisor about embargoing your dissertation. You may want to embargo your dissertation if you are planning to turn it into a book. The embargo will delay the university's publication of your dissertation and prevent other academics from using your research.   https://grad.ucsd.edu/_files/academics/DissertThesisReleaseTemplate.pdf

Necessary Documents for the Dissertation Defense

• Final Report (routed for signature by the Student Affairs Manager)

Best Practices for Completing the Final Report via DocuSign:

• At the end of your Defense ask your committee members to check their email for the DocuSign email with the link to the form and sign while you're all online together. 
• Get verbal confirmation of who has signed and who has not, then follow up with the Student Affairs Manager to resolve any issues your committee members have with signing the form.

Paying Associated Fees:  For students who will need to pay fees (advancement to candidacy, thesis submission fee, filing fee, re-admit fee), they will be charged on the financial TritonLink account once the form is received by the Graduate Division. There is no need for students to go to the cashier’s office.

Grades and Evaluations

Only courses in which a student received grades of A, B, or S are allowed toward satisfaction of the requirements for the degree. Note that a “C” is generally regarded as unsatisfactory within this department. In satisfaction of all program requirements and electives, A, A-, and B+ are regarded as acceptable grades for seminars and courses. Grades of B, B- indicate weaknesses and are cause for concern. Grades of C+ or below are regarded as unsatisfactory and may lead to academic probation. University policy states that any student with more than 8 units of “U” and/or “F” grades is barred from future registration including the next available quarter. It is not recommended that VIS 295/298/299 are taken for a letter grade.

Grade Point Average

A graduate student must maintain a minimum grade point average of at least 3.0 (B average) to continue in good standing. A student is subject to dismissal if the overall grade point average falls below 3.0 at any time.

Spring Evaluation

Every Spring quarter, Advisors (in the first year Provisional Advisors) will submit an evaluation of their advisee’s progress to Graduate Division. Students are expected to submit a summary of the past academic year to their advisor. These evaluations serve as an important tool for students and advisors in assessing student progress, while also providing suggestions and goals for students’ successful completion of their projects.   

The Graduate Division will review the evaluations when student/departments are making specific requests for exceptions

The duration of the Ph.D. program is five to eight years. University and departmental regulations stipulate that the maximum tenure of graduate study at UC San Diego or Total Registered Time Limit (TRTL) is eight years; while seven years is the limit for receiving any type of university financial support or a student's Support Time Limit (SUTL). For the Department of Visual Arts, the "normative" time to degree is 6 years. Students are expected to pass their qualifying exam and advance to candidacy in year three, but no later than year four which is the university's Pre-candidacy time limit (PCTL).

To learn more about time limits please visit the Graduate Division website.

Time Limits:  https://grad.ucsd.edu/academics/progress-to-degree/time-to-doctorate-policy.html

You can check your time limit by logging into the Graduate Student Portal.

Graduate Student Portal:  https://gradforms.ucsd.edu/portal/student/

PhD Current Students

Phd handbook.

The department website and catalog are great resources for students to learn generally about the PhD program and progress towards their degree. There are detailed instructions and robust program information available in the full PhD Handbook. Each student should refer to this resource throughout their academic career.

2023-24 Academic Year

2022-23 Academic Year  

2021-22 Academic Year

How to Apply

• Join our PhD Art History Program (VA76)
• Join our PhD Art Practice Program (VA77)

Department of Interdisciplinary Arts

• Graduate Programs

Department of Interdisciplinary Arts Ph.D. in Fine Arts

Ph.d. in fine arts.

We train public-facing, interdisciplinary scholars and artists

The arts are not silos or ivory towers. They are dynamic practices of give and take. Texas Tech University's unique Fine Arts Doctoral Program (FADP), which leads to a PhD in Fine Arts, encourages students to pursue creative-critical study of the arts as an energetic exchange between multiple disciplines. Our students work both deeply and broadly. They balance focused disciplinary investigation with more integrative research bringing together approaches from the arts, social and natural sciences, and/or humanities. The FADP serves two types of students: 1) those with interdisciplinary scholarly or practice-based research interests, and 2) those with disciplinary research agendas who also want to increase their breadth as educators or administrators in a variety of institutional contexts. Student dissertation projects vary widely—from the creation of a festival of theatre and performance art in shipping containers to evolutionary explanations for music and dance, from an analysis of medieval altarpieces as technologies of virtual reality to a feminist approach to voice-image relations in Iranian film.

Some of our students use different disciplinary practices to answer cross-disciplinary questions; others conduct research within a single discipline, but also want the broader knowledge necessary to be a leader in an institution serving diverse needs. Ultimately, interdisciplinarity does not disparage or deny the disciplines, but depends on them for their methods and insights, even as it reorganizes their commitments. The FADP sees interdisciplinarity as a performance of world-making aimed at both current and future cultural institutions. 

Programs by Track

Although the coursework is interdisciplinary, our students are situated within a specific track, making them more legible to hiring committees and facilitating the disciplinary components of the program. 

Students choose between four tracks: Theatre Arts (concentrations include acting/directing, design, arts administration, playwriting, and history/theory/criticism), Music (concentrations include musicology, music theory, music education, and arts administration), Art , or Interdisciplinary Arts , which allows students to choose two or three concentrations from different Schools or departments across the university. A Track in Arts Administration is currently in development.

track in Art

track in Arts administration

track in Interdisciplinary Arts

track in Music

track in Theatre

Program features.

Our program, which was started in 1972, prepares students for disciplinary excellence and interdisciplinary innovation. Our students ask big questions—about power dynamics, aesthetic forms, cognitive processes, the diversity of embodied experience, and the ethics of artistic creation—and have a wide variety of methodological tools at their disposal. Student experience is heavily customized to serve individual research interests. 

The FADP Interdisciplinary Core

A freshly redesigned set of Core Courses bringing together students interested in music, theatre, dance, and visual art

Research with Practice

Training in practice-based research serves students' passion for arts-making

Opportunities for collaborative, place-based, and community-engaged education

Student Support

Opportunites for teaching within and outside of students' primary disciplines

Research projects and travel supported through the TCVPA's Research and Creative Activity Awards (RCAA) and the TTU Graduate School's Research Awards and Dissertation Completion Fellowships.

Affiliated faculty from across the university to facilitate transdisciplinary research

Faculty members' wide-ranging expertise--from community engagement and the criticial posthumanities to data-driven approaches in arts research

Ad mission s

Applicants to the FADP Program will apply to the Graduate School.

Students will also choose a specific track within the arts based on interest.

• Music Track
• Theatre Arts Track
• Interdisciplinary Arts Track

Ph.D. in Fine Arts Coordinators

Heather Warren Crow Director, Fine Arts Doctoral Program; Coordinator, Interdisciplinary Arts Track

Divya Janardhan Coordinator, Arts Administration Track 

Kevin Chua Coordinator, School of Art Track

David Forrest Coordinator, School of Music Track

Andrew Gibb Coordinator, School of Theatre Track

Recent Graduates

Andrew Kagumba

Dissertation Orchestrating Social Competence: On the Transformative Work of Musicking in Two Ugandan NGOs (M-LISADA and Brass for Africa)

Track Music track, music education concentration

Dissertation Chair Janice Killian

Lina Kattan

Dissertation The Conflicted Living Beings: The Performative Aspect of Female Bodies' Representations in Saudi Painting and Photography

Dissertation Chair Jorgelina Orfila

Jared Stanley

Dissertation Working Through Grief: Continuing Bonds in the New Golden Age of Television 

Dissertation Chair Heather Warren-Crow

Collin Vorbeck

Dissertation Applying Event Schema Theory to the Evolving Dramaturgies of Dramatic Literature

Track Theatre track, History/Theory/Criticism and Acting/Directing concentrations

Dissertation Chair Andrew Gibb

Quest ions?

Contact student success.

Aaron Chavarria Academic Advisor

Art Practice

The Art Practice program in undergraduate and graduate levels  offers a production-based curriculum to prepare students for creative careers in the visual arts and hone their creative capabilities. Access to diverse courses and faculty, cross-disciplinary interaction, and well-equipped labs are among the strengths of the flexible program.

Within the intellectual context of the University, the program seeks to build a foundation on the concepts, skills, and cultural viewpoints in art practice.  It encourages experimental and innovative integration of media and interdisciplinary approach to art-making informed by contemporary theory, criticism and broader culture.

Art Practice Undergraduate Program

Art Practice Graduate Program

Art Practice Graduate Admissions

Art Practice Faculty

Works by Faculty

Works by Graduate Students

Art Practice Alumni

Related News

Jackie Sumell (MFA '04) awarded a 2024 Guggenheim Fellowship

Photo by Yunfei Ren

Yunfei Ren (MFA '24) at The Guardhouse

Featured work.

From left to right: Folds, 2022 Scarlet Tender, 2022 Open Water, 2021 Preludes to War, 2021 

Between the Tender and the Wake by Amy Elkins

Doctor of Philosophy

The Institute of Fine Arts is dedicated to graduate teaching and advanced research in the history of art and archeology and in the conservation and technology of works of art. The Institute strives to give its students not only a sound knowledge in the history of art, but also a foundation in research, connoisseurship, and theory as a basis for independent critical judgment and research. The student following the PhD course of study gains a deeper understanding of a subject area, beyond what is normally acquired at the master’s level and develops a capacity for independent scholarship. The PhD Program at the Institute of Fine Arts is a course of study designed for the person who wants to investigate the role of the visual arts in culture through detailed, object-based examination as well as historical and theoretical interpretation. The degree program provides a focused and rigorous experience supported by interaction with the leading scholars of the Institute, and access to New York area museums, curators, conservators, archaeological sites and NYU’s global network. The program is designed for up to six years of full-time funded study. A total of 18 courses (72 points) are required for the PhD degree. Each student registers for three courses per semester for the first five semesters. One course in the fifth semester is dedicated to developing the dissertation proposal. In the sixth semester students register for 12 points devoted preparing for the oral exam and beginning work on the dissertation. Exceptions to full-time study are made only for urgent financial or medical reasons and must have the approval from the Director of Graduate Studies.

Distribution Requirements

Students must take at least one seminar in four fields outside of their area of specialization. The Proseminar may count as one of these seminars. Students are required to take one course in technical studies of works of art. The minimum total seminars for PhD students is six. Students may take courses in other relevant disciplines in consultation with their advisor, and subject to the approval of the Director of Graduate Studies.

Distribution requirements are met by choosing courses in the following fields:

• Pre-modern Asia
• Pre-modern Africa and the Middle East
• The Ancient Mediterranean and Middle East, including
• Pre-modern Europe and the Americas
• Post-1750 Global
• Museum and Curatorial Studies
• Technical Studies of Works of Art
• Architectural History

Course Definitions and Requirements

Proseminar : The purpose of the Proseminar is to introduce students in the doctoral program to advanced research methods in the history of art. Because it is a dedicated course for the entering PhD student, it will serve to consolidate the cohort. It is taken during the first semester and is taught by a rotation of the Institute faculty, with a different faculty member chosen each year. Emphasis is placed on the specific practices of art-historical analysis in relation to visual and textual interpretation. The contents of the seminar vary each year according to the research interests of the chosen instructor. The class is structured around specific problems in the history of art rather than broad conceptual paradigms, with an emphasis on historical interpretation. Colloquium: A colloquium provides an analysis or overview of the state of the literature on a given art historical topic or problem, with extensive reading, discussion, and presentations. There may be a final paper.

Seminar: A seminar is a focused advanced course that explores a topic in depth. Seminars are often based on an exhibition in the New York area. Students are expected to produce a substantive paper that demonstrates original research. Lecture: Lecture courses explore topics or historical periods, giving overviews of major issues as well as detailed analysis of specific problems and works of art. Students are responsible for assigned and recommended reading, and may produce short papers and/or take an exam.

Curatorial Track

This doctoral-level program is offered jointly by the Institute of Fine Arts and The Metropolitan Museum of Art, under the supervision of the Joint Committee on Curatorial Studies composed of faculty, curators, and the Directors of both institutions. The purpose of the program is to prepare students for curatorial careers in specialized fields. Students are required to take two courses in Curatorial Studies, which are taught at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, before being offered an internship at the Museum.

Language Requirement

PhD students must demonstrate proficiency in reading two modern research languages other than English that are relevant to their studies. Proficiency is demonstrated by passing an examination administered by the Institute of Fine Arts. International students focusing on a field of study in which their native language is relevant may be granted an exemption from the language requirement pending submission of an exemption form signed by their advisor and the Director of Graduate Studies.

Qualifying Paper

The Qualifying Paper may be developed from seminar work or might be on a topic devised in consultation with the student’s advisor. Normally, the student will be advised to produce a detailed study on a subject that leads towards the dissertation. It should be no longer than 10,000 words (excluding bibliography and footnotes).

Students are examined on a major field consisting of two contiguous areas and a third component that can be in a related field providing skills for their dissertation.

Students are encouraged to teach after passing the second year review. Opportunities for teaching at NYU and at other New York area colleges and universities will be coordinated by the Director of Graduate Studies.

PhD students are funded for up to six years, depending on the transfer of previous graduate work. The program is normally divided into three years of course work, exams, and submission of a dissertation proposal and three years for dissertation research and writing. Variations to this pattern might occur according to opportunities for students to develop skills or experience in their specialist fields, as approved by the student’s advisor and the Director of Graduate Studies. Students are encouraged to compete for outside fellowships. The award of such fellowships might extend the number of years taken to complete the program. Institute funding will be suspended during the period of outside fellowship support.

Students Entering with a Master’s Degree

To receive the PhD degree, all Institute requirements must have been fulfilled, including a Master’s thesis (of copy of which is submitted with the application), and a distribution of courses within areas of study that correspond to those outlined in Distribution Requirements. No credits will be automatically transferred; credit will be awarded based upon evaluation by the Institute Faculty at the First Year Course Review. In addition, at least one written comprehension exam in a foreign language must have been passed. The student entering with a MA degree must pass an exam in a second language, if not yet attained, by the end of his/her first year of study. Entering students who have been awarded an MA at the Institute will begin as third year PhD students. They are expected to have a distribution of courses that meet the Course Distribution for the PhD and are required to pass a written comprehension exam in a second language.

Degree Requirements

PhD | Masters Degree | Conservation

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• Utility Menu

Department of Art, Film, and Visual Studies  

The Department of Art, Film, and Visual Studies (AFVS) at Harvard offers a graduate program in Film and Visual Studies leading to a PhD.

The Department also offers a secondary field in Film and Visual Studies for students already admitted to PhD programs in other departments in the Harvard Kenneth C. Griffin Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.

The study of film at Harvard functions within the multi-disciplinary examination of audio-visual experience. From Hugo Münsterberg's pathbreaking forays into the psychological reception of moving images and Rudolf Arnheim’s seminal investigations of "visual thinking" to Paul Sachs’s incorporation of film into the academic and curatorial focus of the fine arts at Harvard and Stanley Cavell’s philosophical approaches to the medium, Harvard has sustained a distinguished tradition of engaging cinema and the cultural, visual, spatial, and philosophical questions that it raises. With their emphases on experimentation in the contemporary arts and creative collaboration among practitioners and critics, the Department of Art, Film, and Visual Studies (AFVS) and the Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts provide a singular and unparalleled site for advanced research in Film and Visual Studies. The program aims to foster critical understanding of the interactions between the making of and thinking about film and video, between studio art, performance, and visual culture, and between different arts and pursuits whose objects are audio-visual entities. The Carpenter Center also supports a lively research culture, including the Film and Visual Studies Colloquium and a Film and Visual Studies Workshop for advanced doctoral students, as well as lecture series and exhibitions featuring distinguished artists, filmmakers, and scholars.

Interdisciplinary in its impetus, the program draws on and consolidates course offerings in departments throughout the Faculty of Arts and Sciences which consider film and other arts in all their various countenances and investigate the place of visual arts within a variety of contexts. Graduate students may also take advantage of the significant resources of the Harvard Film Archive (HFA), which houses a vast collection of 16mm and 35mm film prints as well as rare video materials, vintage film posters, photographs, and promotional materials. The HFA furthers the artistic and academic appreciation of moving image media within the Harvard and the New England community, offering a setting where students and faculty can interact with filmmakers and artists. In early 2003, the HFA opened a new Conservation Center that allows the HFA conservator and staff to accession new films as well as to preserve its significant collections of independent, international, and silent films.

Students and faculty in Film and Visual Studies are also eligible to apply to the Harvard Film Study Center for fellowships which are awarded annually in support of original film, video, and photographic projects. Established in 1957, the Film Study Center provides production equipment, post-production facilities, technical support, and funding for nonfiction works that interpret the world through images and sounds. Among the many important films to have been produced at the Film Study Center are John Marshall's The Hunters (1956), Robert Gardner's Forest of Bliss (1985), Irene Lusztig's Reconstruction (2001), Ross McElwee's Bright Leaves (2003), Peter Galison and Robb Moss’s Secrecy (2008), Ilisa Barbash and Lucien Castaing-Taylor's Sweetgrass (2009), Véréna Paravel and J.P. Sniadecki’s Foreign Parts (2011), Véréna Paravel and Lucien Castaing-Taylor’s Leviathan (2013) and De Humani Corporis Fabrica (2022), Stephanie Spray and Pacho Velez’s Manakamana (2014), Mati Diop’s Atlantiques (2019), Ernst Karel and Veronika

Kusumaryati’s Expedition Content (2020), and Joana Pimenta and Adirley Queirós’ Dry Ground Burning (2022).

Images:  Instructions for a Light and Sound Machine  (2005), directed by Peter Tscherkassky, from a print in the collection of the Harvard Film Archive.

• Undergraduate
• Academic Requirements
• Secondary Field in Film and Visual Studies
• Film and Visual Studies PhD Alumni:
• Graduate Program FAQs
• Courses in Art, Film, and Visual Studies -Fall 2024 (Spring 2025 COMING SOON!)

Graduate Contacts

Laura Frahm Director of Graduate Studies 

Emily Amendola Graduate Coordinator Film and Visual Studies Program (617) 495-9720 amendola [at] fas.harvard.edu  

FAQs about the Graduate Program

My native language is not english; do i have to take the an english language proficiency exam.

Adequate  command of spoken and written English  is essential to success in graduate study at Harvard. Applicants who are non-native English speakers can demonstrate English proficiency in one of three ways:

• Receiving an undergraduate degree from an academic institution where English is the primary language of instruction.*
• Earning a minimum score of 80 on the Internet based test (iBT) of the ...

When is the application deadline for admission to the Ph.D. program in Film and Visual Studies?

December 15, 2023

Where can I obtain an admissions application?

Applications are found on the Harvard Kenneth C. Griffin Graduate School of Arts and Sciences website ( https://gsas.harvard.edu/admissions/apply ). 

Institute for Doctoral Studies in the Visual Arts

IDSVA’s pioneering curriculum—fusing interactive online education with intensive residencies—allows working art professionals to pursue rigorous advanced scholarship without having to interrupt or abandon their teaching careers, art practice, or other professional responsibilities.

As a true nomadic institution, IDSVA does not have a campus. We exist everywhere our students and faculty are. The IDSVA experience fuses interactive online education with intensive residencies in Rome, Spannocchia Castle (Tuscany), Siena, Florence, Venice, Berlin, Paris, Athens, Madrid, Marrakech, Mexico City, and NYC.

Artists, architects, curators, educators, philosophers, and creative scholars. Throughout this experience, IDSVA students are joined by world-leading artists and philosophers who make up the Core Faculty and Visiting Faculty.

Our innovative curriculum explores the deeply intertwined relations between the history of ideas and the history of visual culture. IDSVA grants a PhD in Visual Arts: Philosophy, Aesthetics, and Art Theory.

Changing the Way Humans Think

IDSVA’s aim is to change the way human beings think, to change the way we see the lifeworld and the way we see one another. That change— the change we are working toward as a shared communal aspiration —stands as IDSVA’s vision of the possible.

Visting Faculty

The IDSVA Visiting Faculty bring together the world's leading philosophers, artists, and scholars. These internationally renowned educators join students at residency sites and lead seminar discussions about the site's historical, aesthetic, and ideological significance.

Achievements

With a wide-ranging and prolific array of exhibitions, conference presentations, and publications, IDSVA students & alumni are changing the way we see and think.

Job Appointments

We are proud to share the latest job announcements from our students & alumni.

Book Publications

Recent book publications from IDSVA students, alumni, and faculty.

IDSVA awards several PhD and MPhil degrees at the 2024 Commencement Ceremony

The following degrees will be awarded on April 21, 2024 in NYC.

SIMONETTA MORO NAMED IDSVA’S NEW PRESIDENT

Following an international search process, Simonetta Moro has been named the new President of the Institute for Doctoral Studies in the Visual Arts (IDSVA). Dr. Moro succeeds IDSVA’s founder, George Smith (2006-2024).

IDSVA is proud to announce the 2024 Commencement Speaker, Bruce C. Glavovic

Bruce Glavovic will receive an honorary PhD degree at the 2024 IDSVA Commencement Ceremony in New York City

IDSVA to participate in the 2024 Biennale Sessions

In June 2024, IDSVA will participate in the La Biennale di Venezia Biennale Sessions

IDSVA presents the final webinar in the series "The Blazing World, Or the Climatological Imperative: From Inaction to Reimagination"

April 5th from 2-4 pm EDT

IDSVA presents the second webinar in the series: “The Blazing World, Or the Climatological Imperative: From Inaction to Reimagination”

March 22, 2024 from 1-3pm ET

Join IDSVA for the International Webinar Conference Series: The Blazing World, Or the Climatological Imperative

PLENARY OPENING Bruce Glavovic on March 15, 2025.

IDSVA Student & Alumni Spring Professional News

We're pleased to present this list of IDSVA students and alumni participating in academic conferences and events this Spring. In particular, five IDSVA students and alumni will participate in the 2024 College Art Association (CAA) Conference in Chicago, IL, from February 14-17.

Meet the 2023 David Driskell Fellow: Matthew Fields

Born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri, Matthew Fields is an emerging African American laborer, Artist and Arts Educator.

IDSVA is now accepting Applications for September 2024 Enrollment

The Priority Application Deadline for September Enrollment is April 8, 2024

"IDSVA is one of the single most important developments in the recent history of art education." David C. Driskell, (1931-2020) American artist and preeminent historian of African American Art. The David C. Driskell Center for the Study of the Visual Arts and Culture of African Americans and the African Diaspora is located at the University of Maryland, College Park.

Get in Touch

Please take a moment to fill out the form below and I will be in touch as soon as possible to help answer any immediate questions and facilitate the next steps in the admissions process. I'm looking forward to working with you. Best, Molly Davis Director of Administration & Director of Admissions

• Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Cultures
• School of Fine Art, History of Art and Cultural Studies
• Research degrees

Practice-based research degrees (PhD/MPhil)

If you want to pursue your chosen area of research through practice, we offer supervision for fine art practice-led PhD and MPhil degrees.

You will produce a body of work which demonstrates an original contribution to knowledge and scholarship. This will comprise a substantial creative practice that you will produce during your degree, which displays critical understanding and is worthy of public presentation or publication.

You will also produce a written submission, through which you will explore your research questions(s) and will indicate how the research is embodied in your practice.

Entry requirements

To undertake a practice-led research degree with us, you will need a Masters degree in Fine Art (or an equivalent qualification or level of experience) and wish to pursue a supervised programme of independent research in which theoretical and historical enquiry underpins practice-based research.

Final submission

Your final submission can take the form of an exhibition or performance (for example) that is appropriate to your research.

You will also create an accompanying text of 15,000 to 50,000 words, which will represent the theoretical component of the PhD and will provide both the historical context and a critical commentary.

A permanent record of your exhibition and the preceding works and theoretical reflections must meet the University's library and archiving requirements.

For a practice-led MPhil degree, you will submit up to 50,000 words, resulting from a period of supervised research.

Fees and funding

We offer a number of funding opportunities for postgraduate researchers. 

How to apply

As part of the application process, you will be required to submit with the online applications form:

• a research proposal with a provisional bibliography;
• an online portfolio of work;
• two academic references;
• transcripts;
• proof of English language ability (if applicable);
• a CV and degree certificates.

More information is available on our ‘ how to apply ’ section.

Further information

If you have any questions about our practice-led research degrees, contact [email protected].

• School for the Contemporary Arts

The SCA’s PhD in Contemporary Arts is a research-intensive program focused on interdisciplinary approaches to the fine and performing arts. The program supports both scholarly and practiced-based research, with students tailoring their degrees to their specific research interests.

Students pursuing primarily scholarly approaches to visual culture, media arts, sound studies, and performance studies will take existing graduate seminar courses and produce a substantial written thesis under the mentorship of leading scholars in their chosen field of study. Practice-based artist-scholars or researchers with a curatorial, programming, or public-facing practice will take a mix of seminars and studio-based courses and directed studies, resulting in the creation of an original artwork or a public presentation supplemented by a substantial written body of work incorporating students’ reflection and commentary.

In all cases, students will be interacting within a lively intellectual and creative environment, in which the exchange of ideas and methods will encourage and enrich both discursive practice and research-creation.

For information about applying to the program, please follow the links at the  Future Students  section of our site, or scroll to the bottom of this page.

Program Information

Students pursuing the PhD in Contemporary Arts are expected to complete the program in 12-15 semesters (4-5 years). Each student is matched with a potential supervisor, normally upon admission, and the supervisory committee should be formed during the first year.

The program consists of course work, qualifying examinations, a thesis prospectus, and a thesis (scholarly or practice-based), for a minimum of 35 units.

Students complete:

CA 890 – Professional Practices Seminar I (0)

Professional Practices Seminar I

A non-credit course for graduate students working in contemporary arts that foregrounds professional aspects of the discipline. Includes workshops on academic writing, research skills development, pedagogy, proposal and grant writing, peer critique, artistic production and management, academic and public dissemination of work, and presentations of works in progress. Graded on a satisfactory/unsatisfactory basis.

CA 891 – Professional Practices Seminar II (0)

Professional Practices Seminar II

A non-credit course for graduate students working in contemporary arts that foregrounds professional aspects of the discipline. Includes workshops on academic writing, research skills development, pedagogy, proposal and grant writing, peer critique, artistic production and management, academic and public dissemination of work, and presentations of works in progress. Graded on a satisfactory/unsatisfactory basis. Prerequisite: CA 890.

CA 821 – Research Methods in Contemporary Arts (5)

Research Methods in Contemporary Arts

Develops thinking across the media arts in a comparative perspective, synthesizing the historical and theoretical approaches of art history, cinema studies, performance studies, and computer-based media studies. Establishes bases for understanding the relationships among art forms that incorporate reproducible and digital media. Investigates some of the useful emergent methods for making comparisons among media, across history, and across cultures. Students with credit for FPA 821 may not take this course for further credit.

And at least three of:*

CA 811 – Interdisciplinary Graduate Seminar I (5)

Interdisciplinary Graduate Seminar I

Critical study of contemporary issues in the fine and performing arts, with emphasis on concerns common to diverse artistic disciplines and the interaction between art and society. Students with credit for FPA 811 may not take this course for further credit.

CA 812 – Interdisciplinary Graduate Seminar II (5)

Interdisciplinary Graduate Seminar II

Continuation of CA (or FPA) 811. Students with credit for FPA 812 may not take this course for further credit. Prerequisite: CA (or FPA) 811.

CA 813 – Interdisciplinary Graduate Studio (5)

Interdisciplinary Graduate Studio

A selected topics studio course with an emphasis on interdisciplinary artistic projects. Students with credit for FPA 813 may not take this course for further credit. Prerequisite: CA (or FPA) 811.

CA 823 – New Approaches to Visual Art and Culture (5)

New Approaches in Visual Art and Culture

Empire follows Art, and not vice versa as Englishmen suppose. - William Blake, annotations to Sir Joshua Reynold's Discourses (ca. 1798-1809) For WJ.T. Mitchell, pictures have lives and loves. Instead of seeing images as inert objects that convey meaning, he urges us to see them as animated beings with desires, needs, appetites, demands, and drives of their own. In the past three decades, literature on visual culture has burgeoned in art history, cultural studies, critical theory, philosophy and anthropology, and recently it has taken on a "performative turn." For art history, which is traditionally concerned with the interpretation of art objects, the artists who make them and the interests of patrons, the interdisciplinary field of visual culture has opened up new ways of thinking about images of all kinds. In a culture in which the production and dissemination of images has grown exponentially, it has never been more necessary to pay attention to how images work and what they do. While histories of images tend to locate intentionality in the maker or the patron, this seminar seeks to bring forward the intentions of the image, how, for example, its formal material characteristics, modes and contexts of circulation and use, reproducibility and referentiality, solicit responses: how images seem to take on, in Mitchell's words, "lives of their own." For your paper, you can choose as your main object of study a work of art, a landmark exhibition, or a famous image drawn from popular culture. This image or event will be the subject of student presentations at the end of the term. The topic must be a visual phenomenon about which there is a substantial discourse in print, preferably in both scholarly and popular sources. The final paper will be based on your presentation and should address some of the critical issues and readings discussed in class. Students with credit for FPA 823 may not take this course for further credit.

CA 824 – New Approaches in Moving-Images Studies (5)

New Approaches in Moving-Image Studies

Examines what are understood as the arts of the moving image: film, video, and other time based audiovisual media. A survey of emerging approaches in cinema studies relates these developments to the longer history of the discipline and the intermedial art forms that informed it, including theater, public spectacles, photography, painting, music, and sound recording. Additional topics include: how the practice, aesthetics, and reception change when cinema moves to television, both move to digital formats, and all these platforms move to handheld and social media; medium specificity in the moving-image arts in light of "media convergence"; what new forms emerge when moving images shift from the institution of cinema to museum and online contexts; new approaches to national cinemas and documentary; and cognitive and neuroscientific theories of moving images. Students with credit for FPA 824 may not take this course for further credit.

CA 825 – New Approaches in Digital Art Studies (5)

New Approaches in Digital Art Studies

This course will focus on the history and practice of digital art, with an emphasis upon the artistic outcomes of the new methodologies and practices within this field. Digital technology has fundamentally changed the process and products of contemporary creativity in art-making. Although a great deal of contemporary art involves some aspect of digital technology, this course will examine those artists and art-works in which digital technologies play an intrinsic part in the creative process, as well as the realization. A range of processes - from interactive systems through to algorithmic approaches (stochastic, deterministic, chaotic) - will be examined, with particular reference to artistic goals, approaches, and results. Students with credit for FPA 825 may not take this course for further credit.

CA 826 – New Approaches in Performance Studies (5)

New Approaches in Performance Studies

Traces the interdisciplinary origins of performance studies and brings its concepts and methods to bear on dance, music and sound arts, theatre and performance arts, and media performance while introducing cross-disciplinary ideas from emergent areas such as neuroscience, cognitive science, and gaming, for example. Course assignments will involve case studies as forerunners for further research. Students with credit for FPA 826 may not take this course for further credit.

CA 828 – New Approaches to Sound and the Arts (5)

New Approaches to Sound and the Arts

Scholarly research on sound ranges from studies on listening, more-than-human soundscapes, audio media archaeology, sound art, and sonic cultures. These works question and expand upon longstanding issues concerning the onto-epistemologies of sound, the status of the voice, the role of music in everyday life, the politics of sound, and sound's relationship to the imagination and other sensory domains. This seminar will entail an examination of current debates and changing methodologies in sound studies, especially as they pertain to the contemporary arts.

CA 877 – Selected Topics in Fine and Performing Arts (5)

Selected Topics in Contemporary Arts

Study of particular artistic techniques or issues. The topic varies from term to term.

CA 883 – Studio in Fine and Performing Arts I (5)

Studio in Contemporary Arts I

Intensive studio work, concentrated in a particular art discipline, but with opportunity to involve interdisciplinary materials and techniques. Students with credit for FPA 883 may not take this course for further credit.

CA 885 – Studio in Fine and Performing Arts II (5)

Studio in Contemporary Arts II

Continuation of CA (or FPA) 883. Students with credit for FPA 885 may not take this course for further credit. Prerequisite: CA (or FPA) 883.

CA 887 – Selected Topics in Fine and Performing Arts (5)

CA 889 – Directed Study in Fine and Performing Arts (5)

Directed Study in Contemporary Arts

Students with credit for FPA 889 may not take this course for further credit.

CA 892 – PhD Qualifying Examinations (0)

PhD Qualifying Examinations

Qualifying examinations. Graded on a satisfactory/unsatisfactory basis.

CA 895 – PhD Thesis Prospectus (0)

PhD Thesis Prospectus

Thesis Prospectus. Graded on a satisfactory/unsatisfactory basis. Prerequisite: CA 892.

CA 899 – PhD Thesis (15)

Thesis. Graded on a satisfactory/unsatisfactory basis. Prerequisite: CA 895.

* coursework may be substituted in consultation with the supervisor or Graduate Program Chair.

PhD PROGRAM APPLICATION

Our [PhD/MA/MFA] application period for the Fall 2024 intake has now closed. Our admission portal for fall 2025 will open in October, 2024.

A COMPLETE APPLICATION REQUIRES

1. Online Application for Graduate Studies.

ALL CANDIDATES MUST COMPLETE AN ONLINE APPLICATION

If you have not submitted the online application, you will not be considered for the program. All graduate program applications are processed through  Graduate Studies . In order to use the online application system, you will need to pay an application fee of $90 CAN (students with Canadian transcripts) or $125 CAN (students with international transcripts) by credit card (MasterCard or Visa). The online application includes a checklist of the documents that you will need to submit to us to support your application. This checklist will be updated online as we receive your documents. Please refer to the online checklist to ensure that all documents are received. NOTE: Due to the number of applications, it is not possible for us to monitor every applicant's checklist closely.

2. Official sealed  Transcripts  of all post-secondary education. Sealed transcripts should be sent directly to the address below by the academic institution. Non-English language transcripts must include an official English translation. (For the purposes of lowering costs, unofficial transcripts may be uploaded to an application for review. If an offer of acceptance is given, all official sealed transcripts will be required.)

Graduate Studies Maggie Benston Student Services Centre 1100 Simon Fraser University 8888 University Drive Burnaby, British Columbia Canada V5A 1S6

3. A  Curriculum Vitae .

4. A  Research Statement . This two-page document should indicate your academic/artistic background, the nature of your scholarly and/or creative practice, and the faculty members in the School who might supervise your work. It should also include an outline of the doctoral research you wish to pursue in our program, the significance of this research, and the contexts (artistic/scholarly/other) through which you are framing this research.

5. A sample of  Academic Writing . Acceptable samples include MA or MFA papers or other academic writing, catalogue essays, published articles, and grant applications.

6. For students pursuing the practice-based PhD option: A  Portfolio  of your work, including a list which prioritizes the viewing/listening order of materials. You may upload video, audio, images, or PDF documents (less than 10 Mb each). Unfortunately, we are unable to accept physical media (DVDs, CDs, etc.). For works that involve a creation and production team, please make your role (Director, Choreographer, Curator, etc.) clear.

7. Three (3)  Letters of Reference  from (preferably) academic or professional sources. Letters can be uploaded online directly by each referee. Your referees will receive login information and instructions for uploading their letters once you have named them as a reference. We do not have a template for reference letters; your referees can use their preferred format.

9.  International students : English is the language of instruction and communication at SFU. The School for Contemporary Arts requires English proficiency as outlined on the  Graduate Studies website . Please note that we must receive test results directly from the testing agency. Copies of documents sent directly by students will not be accepted.

What are the approximate tuition and fees for this program?

This is a rundown of the Fall 2023 fees (they tend to go up a bit each year). The application fee is about $125 CND. If accepted into the program, a deposit of $250 is needed to secure your place. It is a per-term fee schedule, not per-unit. Please note: international students pay the same tuition as domestic students.

These are the  Fall 2023 fees in CND:

• U-Pass BC Transit pass Fee: $180.40
• GRAD Student Athletic Fee: $84.94
• GRAD Student Activity Fee: $75.65
• GRAD Student Services Fee: $50.99
• GRAD Tuition (T2202A): $2066.11
• Graduate Graduation Fee: $12.00
• Grad Health Plan Dental: $280.67
• Grad Health Plan Medical: $204.33
• International & US Graduate Students

Fall Total International: $3,224.09+ $75 Per Month BC MSP Health Fee

Fall Total Domestic: *$2,943.09

Spring Total: *$2,458.09 (+ $75 Per month BC MSP Health Fee is only for International Students)

In the Spring and Summer Terms, students are not charged for the Graduate medical and dental plans because they are an annual fee, so roughly: *$2,458.09 CND for the other two terms of the year. Living expenses are separate.

After 6 completed terms of full-time fees in a regular fee master's program, tuition is reduced to half of the full-time fee as the continuing fee.

A completed term is defined as a term a student is not on leave, or has not withdrawn (extenuating or otherwise).

*These are approximate amounts and are subject to change each year.

More details on tuition and fees can be found on the SFU Graduate Studies website .

Do International students in this program pay an international rate for tuition?

International students pay the same tuition rate as domestic students.

Can my application fees be waived?

SFU and SCA are not waiving application fees at this time.

Where can I find information on housing arrangements and costs?

Information on housing can be found here:

• Housing Options
• Off Campus Housing

What kind of funding is provided for incoming SCA PhD students?

Students enrolled in the PhD program in Contemporary Arts are expected to complete the program in 12 to 15 terms. Students in the program will be funded for 12 terms. Students will receive guaranteed minimum funding in the amount of $28,000 for the term of the funding guarantee provided in 1. The School will review the level of minimum funding annually to determine whether the minimum can be increased in consideration of rising cost of tuiiton and cost of living. Continued funding is contingent upon:

• maintaining a CGPA of 3.5 or higher
• satisfactory progress in the program as documented in the annual progress review
• applying for at least one major (>$10,000) award by the end of term 6
• applying to and being available for in-person teaching and research employment at SFU.

Individual student funding packages will be comprised of a combination of awards (including major entrance scholarships), fellowships, teaching assistantships, research assistantships and, where possible, sessional instructorships.

Students can also apply for travel and research funds ($500 – $1500 per annual cycle) over the course of their degree. SCA Travel and Research Awards (TARA) and unrelated arts grants are *not* counted toward the student’s guaranteed funding amount.

Students in the practice-based stream can also apply for limited funding to support the presentation of their thesis projects.

For more information, please read the PhD in Contemporary Arts Minimum Funding Policy (PDF).

Will a Teaching Assistantship position cover some of the 2 additional international health care fees?

Yes. As international students have two additional costs, the SFU Teaching Support Staff Union ( TSSU ) of which all TAs are members, can provide support for these costs while graduate students are working. More details can be found HERE .

What are the Graduate English proficiency requirements?

International applicants will not be required to complete an English-language test if they have completed a  degree  at an institution where the language of instruction and examination was in English in a country where English is the  primary  language. All University Graduate English proficiency requirements can be found on the SFU Graduate Studies website .

Do you accept Duolingo English test results?

The Duolingo English Test (DET) has been approved on a provisional basis, effective Summer 2024 through to the Fall 2026. The minimum required score for the DET is 130 overall with a minimum of 120 in each section. 

Can I apply if I do not meet all the English proficiency test minimum scores?

All applicants must meet the Graduate English proficiency minimum requirements. Please note, meeting the minimum scores does not guarantee entrance into the SCA grad programs.

Does this program require GRE results?

The SCA Graduate programs do not require GRE results.

Will you look at my CV and Portfolio before I apply to see if I am eligible?

Due to the high volume of applicants, Staff and Faculty are not able to review application materials. The review process is part of the application process.

Do I need to contact and establish a potential supervisor before applying?

Before accepting a student into the program, the School will consider the proposed research in relation to faculty resources in the field. Students will be matched with a supervisor upon admission, so supervisory capacity and fit is an important consideration for us.

Is an interview part of the application process?

Yes, but only if an applicant is selected for an interview. The program selection committee reviews all applications in an initial round of assessment. Successful applicants from this initial assessment are then contacted for an interview.

Will you still accept applications after the deadline?

Due to the high number of applications each year, SCA does not accept applications past the application deadline.

If I am accepted into the program, can I defer my start in the program to the following year?

At this time SCA will not be granting deferrals for starting the following year.

Is there a waitlist for this program?

Yes, we have a waitlist for this program.

How long is this program?

Normally 4 to 5 years.

How many students are accepted into the SCA PhD program each year?

Approximately 3 per year.

Does this program have a Spring or Summer intake?

No. All SCA Graduate programs start in the Fall Term.

Can I transfer course credits into this program from another institution?

No. All course credits for each SCA Grad program are to be taken during the span of the program.

Can I take classes remotely in this program?

No, SCA Graduate courses are in-person only.

What are the COVID-19 protocols for the University?

Please see the SFU Return to Campus Website HERE .

Can I take undergraduate SCA courses for credit in this program?

SCA Undergraduate courses can be taken with permission from the instructor. However, credit for these courses will not count towards your graduate degree. Many students opt to sit in the class or audit the course instead.

Do I need to supply my official transcripts in my application?

For the purposes of lowering costs and saving paper, unofficial transcripts may be uploaded to an application for review. If an offer of acceptance is given, all official sealed transcripts will be required.

Is there a minimum word length or limit for the Research Statement?

The Research Statement should be limited to 2 single-spaced pages in not less than 11-point font, and with margins of at least 2 cm.

How many items should I include in the portfolio?

The average number of portfolio items is 5 to 7. More can be included, but please keep in mind the selection committee will be reviewing a fair number of other applications

Can I provide links to sound recordings and videos in my portfolio?

Yes. It is much easier to review applications where links to sound recordings and videos are provided in a .pdf file. It is best to provide these examples in the order of importance/relevance to your application. If the videos or sound are hosted on a specific artist website, provide a link to the page where the video is rather than just a link to the entire website. Links to other media sites such as Soundcloud, YouTube, Vimeo, etc. are fine also.

Can my references come from non-academic email addresses?

Yes, SCA will consider non-academic references from professionals; however, it is preferred that there is at least one academic referee.

Can I get an un-conditional letter of offer?

It is best to meet the requirements of the University prior to submitting all of the application material. As many official transcripts will not have been received within the application period, a condition of receiving the official transcripts will likely be included in the letter of offer as detailed HERE .

If I am offered acceptance, when should I address any enrolment conditions in the offer letter?

As soon as possible, but definitely by July, before enrolment opens. Many conditions will prohibit enrolment in classes until they have been met.

Will you provide feedback on my application if I’m not accepted?

Due to the high volume of applicants, Staff and Faculty are not able to provide feedback on applications.

Is there an information session for this program?

There is usually an in-person information session each November. For the last couple of years, we have hosted our information sessions online. If you have missed the latest information session you can request a link to the video from the Graduate Program Coordinator at [email protected] .

Projects & Activities

The Comparative Media Arts Journal (CMA Journal)

The CMA Journal is a newly established open-access, student-run, peer-reviewed journal, publishing the best of graduate and postgraduate essays, artworks and experimental content, created and run by SCA MA students. MORE INFO: CMA Journal

Audain Visual Artist in Residence program

The SCA's Audain Visual Artist in Residence program brings artists and practitioners to Vancouver who have contributed significantly to the field of contemporary art and whose work resonates with local and international visual art discourses. E: [email protected]

For an archive of past Audain Visual Artist in Residence guests, exhibitions, and projects, please click here .

The program is generously funded by the Audain Foundation Endowment Fund.

With approximately four talks per term, the free and public 611 Talks series at the Alexander Studios, which is organized by the SCA Visual Art area, features curators, international and local artists, both distinguished and emerging, and other cultural producers presenting on their practices, projects, and ideas. The series is a productive occasion for working artists and students to discuss their methods and concepts and to explore the contexts and theories of contemporary art while also engaging with visual culture in a broader way.

For an archive of past  611 Talks guests, please click here .

• Audain Gallery

As the location for yearly student exhibitions, SFU Galleries' Audain Gallery at SFU Goldcorp Centre for the Arts extends the pedagogy of the SCA. Through exhibitions, seminars, panels, artist talks, studio visits, and working directly with visiting artists, the programing and activities of the Audain Gallery offer our undergraduate and graduate students a unique opportunity to participate in high-profile, internationally focused and engaged artistic practices.

Audain Gallery Simon Fraser University Goldcorp Centre for the Arts 149 West Hastings Street Vancouver, BC, Canada V6B 5K3 E: [email protected] P: 778.782.9102

For an archive of past SCA exhibitions at the Audain Gallery, please click here .  

PHD in Contemporary Arts

Claudette Lauzon: [email protected]

Graduate Program Coordinator:  [email protected]

Graduate General Regulations

PhD Handbook

SCA Academic Calendar

Community Research Ethics Policy

CMA Journal

Graduate Journal List (updated 2019)

PhD in Contemporary Arts Minimum Funding Policy

Graduate Student Funding Database

Graduate Grants PDF

Gaming Grants PDF

Associations Canada: Search Examples PDF

NiNi Dongnier

Chris Chong Chan Fui

Simone Rapisarda

Noé Rodríguez

Nadia Shihab

MUSIC & SOUND

Arne Eigenfeldt

Stefan Maier

Mauricio Pauly

Eldritch Priest

Sabrina Schroeder

THEATRE PERFORMANCE

Erika Latta

Young Joo Lee

Ryan Tacata

THEATRE PRODUCTION & DESIGN

Kyla Gardiner

Miwa Matreyek

Wladimiro A. Woyno R

Sabine Bitter

Raymond Boisjoly

Elspeth Pratt

Jin-me Yoon

ART, PERFORMANCE & CINEMA STUDIES

Peter Dickinson

Claudette Lauzon

Laura U. Marks

Denise Oleksijczuk

Christopher Pavsek

Current PhD Students & Visiting Scholars

Sca pathways.

SCA Courses

All CA courses list

The doctor of philosophy (PhD) in contemporary arts

APPLY TO: PhD

Visit our Graduate information page to find out about the application process and timeline for the SCA PhD program.

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Slade School of Fine Art

• MPhil/PhD Fine Art

We offer a supportive, stimulating and creative environment in which to develop your doctoral research. We welcome applications from students with a wide range of backgrounds, here in the UK and internationally. 

Key information

• Full-time or Part-time
• Programme starts: September 2024
• Application deadline - 2 October, 5pm
• Application portal open - 28 August - 2 October 2023 - applications closed

AHRC-Open day split

The Slade is part of the AHRC funded London Arts and Humanities Partnership . The LAHP annually awards up to 90 studentships for postgraduate research students studying arts and humanities disciplines at eight leading UK research organisations. Please check the LAHP website for details of the award and to check eligibility.

Please read the information below in conjunction with the main UCL prospectus information:

MPhil/PhD Slideshow

©the artist

Arsenal Gallery, Poznan, Poland 2013

• Malgorzata Dawidek

Reece Straw

Shao-Jie Lin

Javier Artero

The aims of the MPhil/PhD programme are to:

• advance the highest quality of research in Fine Art that demonstrates ambition, breadth of vision and creativity
• enable you to further your aspirations as a practising artist, and, or, writer
• encourage your practice, art and writing, to make an original contribution to knowledge, and to further understanding through the processes of research
• encourage a diversity of research outputs including the visual and verbal (exhibitions, events, performances, collaborations, publications, conferences)
• affirm the importance of Fine Art research while also exploring the possibilities of interdisciplinary research with other departments and faculties at UCL
• ask you to contribute to the research culture of the Slade and the wider UCL community and to  exchange ways of working, thinking, doing and being
• encourage the sharing of research with national and international research institutions and the wider publics

MPhil/PhD Programme

The Slade offers a choice between the following three options within the PhD programme:

• Practice-led: a thesis of studio practice that makes an original contribution to knowledge plus a written report of normally between 15,000-30,000 words (maximum 40,000) and normally 10,000 to 15,000 words for the MPhil (maximum 20,000).
• Practice-related: a written thesis of 60,000-80,000 words with studio practice that together make an original contribution to knowledge (or 35,000-45,000 words for the MPhil).
• Written thesis only: a written thesis of 80,000-100,000 words that makes an original contribution to knowledge (or 50,000-60,000 words for the MPhil).

The MPhil/PhD programme has strong links to the taught programmes at the Slade and you will also have access to the across-School lecture and visiting artists’ programme. The Slade provides excellent workshop and research facilities (access subject to Covid regulations). Current Slade research themes include: Materials and Materiality; Histories and Cultures; Media and Performance; and, Environments and Publics.

As part of UCL we offer an extensive range of research skill courses through UCL Doctoral School plus support from the Arts and Humanities, Institute of Advanced Studies (IAS) and London Arts and Humanities Research Partnership (LAHP).

In addition to personal supervisions, students participate in:

• relevant research skills courses organised by UCL Doctoral School and London Arts and Humanities Partnership (LAHP);
• a Forum/Exchange for the presentation of research by Slade and other UCL researchers;
• regular seminars responding to your research interests;
• workshops on writing and research;
• exhibitions, events, symposia, conferences at the Slade;
• the organisation of an annual students’ event which can take the form of an exhibition, conference or symposium.

Students are also expected to attend:

• discipline specific MA/MFA studio seminars within the Slade painting, sculpture and fine art media areas;
• seminars and lectures given by Slade and UCL staff and invited artists and speakers: Slade staff talks, the Slade Contemporary Art Lecture Series and the UCL History of Art Centre for Contemporary Art lecture series.

In addition we would expect our students to be active participants in exhibitions, performances, events, conferences, and publishing both within and beyond UCL.

Staff and Supervisors

Head of the Doctoral Programme: Prof. Kristen Kreider Doctoral Research Tutor: Dr Hayley Newman

Due to the number of applicants we are unable to advise on proposals before you submit your application. We are also unable to discuss who to nominate as a supervisor. However, you may add names of potential supervisors to your application form and, if shortlisted, we will also suggest possible supervisors. Please look at the Slade website for  staff research profiles .

Your primary supervisor will be a member of Slade staff , all of whom are practising artists or scholars in the history and theory of art, with national and international profiles.

Secondary supervision is also available from renowned scholars and specialists from a range of departments at UCL. Second supervisors currently include: Dr Chiara Ambrosio  (Philosophy of Science),    Prof. Daniel Brett (Engineering), Prof. Robyn Carston (Linguistics), Dr. Marquard Smith (IOE), Prof. Penelope Haralambidou (Bartlett), Prof. Rodney Harrison (Archaeology),  Prof. Mark Midownik , (Institute of Making, Engineering), Prof. Sophie Page (History), Dr. Aaron Parkhurst (Anthroplogy). External supervisors include:  Dr Jeff Scheible and Dr Lara Shalson (Kings College London) and Prof. Ger Duijzings (Universitat Regengsburg).

There are also opportunities for interdisciplinary supervision across the London Arts and Humanities Partnership.

Outlines of current and archived MPhil and PhD research are in the MPhil/PhD pages of our Research section .

Application deadline

Deadlines for applications for 2024-25 are as follows:

• Application portal opens via UCL SELECT - 28 August
• Applications Deadline (UCL Select): Monday, 2 October 2023, 17.00 BST
• Applications Deadline (Portfolio): Wednesday, 4 October 2023, 17.00 BST (via SharePoint)
• Interviews: Monday 30 October – Friday, 3 November 2023 (inclusive) 

MPhil/PhD Open Day

Dates for the next MPhil/PhD Open Day are to be confirmed.

Entrance requirements

Applicants will hold a good first degree and will normally be expected to have studied to MA or MFA level.

English Language requirement

All students whose first language is not English must reach a satisfactory level of proficiency in English language before starting their studies at the Slade. Various English language qualifications are acceptable. For the MPhil/PhD the Advanced level is required.

Registration

Successful applicants normally register in September.

Supervision

You are not expected to approach potential supervisors in advance of making the application to undertake research. However, Slade tutors’ profiles and research interests are listed on our  people pages . It is strongly advised that applicants read our staff members’ profiles before your application is submitted. If there is a member of staff with whom you would particularly like to work, you may name them on the application form. Supervision by a specific tutor cannot be guaranteed at the application stage.

Secondary supervision is also available from renowned scholars and specialists from a range of departments at UCL. 

For admission enquiries please email the Slade PGR Administrator, ( [email protected] ). Please note that, due to the number of applicants, we are unable to advise on proposals before you submit your application or to discuss who to nominate as a supervisor.

Application procedure for MPhil/PhD And Graduate Affiliate Research

All applicants for MPhil/PhD and Graduate Affiliate Research should apply online. Please note: applications are now closed for entry in Sept 2024.