Art History and Visual Culture
The MA in Art History and Visual Culture examines the production and consumption of images, objects, and spaces from varied cultures. It challenges prevailing ideas about cognition and perception, and includes the study of the ocular. Because the visual is crucial to our understandings of cultural difference, Art History and Visual Culture Studies is vitally concerned with the manner in which the interdependent elements of race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and class construct identity. It demands that we think across cultures and national boundaries, and within a global context. Students will learn to discuss and write critically about objects and images in their material, critical, theoretical, and contextual totalities. Students will also explore the concept of identity, the power of visual rhetoric, and the shifting power dynamics inherent in art and its disciplines both in historical and contemporary contexts.
Administrative Staff
Director of SOFAM
Kimberly Francis (Zavitz Hall 203, Ext. 52362)
kfranc02@uoguelph.ca
Graduate Program Coordinator
Dominic Marner (Johnston Hall 121, Ext. 54382)
dmarner@uoguelph.ca
Graduate Program Assistant
Barb Merrill (Zavitz Hall 201, Ext. 54671)
bmerrill@uoguelph.ca
Graduate Faculty
This list may include Regular Graduate Faculty, Associated Graduate Faculty and/or Graduate Faculty from other universities.
Amanda Boetzkes
BA Victoria, MA, PhD McGill - Professor
Graduate Faculty
Susan J. Douglas
BA Western, MA Carleton, PhD Concordia - Assistant Professor
Graduate Faculty
Sally A. Hickson
BA Carleton, MA, PhD Queen's - Associate Professor
Graduate Faculty
Dominic J. Marner
BA Regina, MA Victoria, PhD East Anglia (UK) - Associate Professor
Graduate Faculty
Christina Smylitopoulos
BA Victoria, MA York (UK), PhD McGill - Associate Professor
Graduate Faculty
MA Program
Admission Requirements
Admission to the MA program in Art History and Visual Culture may be granted on the recommendation of the School of Fine Art and Music to:
- the holder of a BA degree (honours equivalent), or an honours BA (or its equivalent in art history) with a minimum of a 75% average; or
- in exceptional cases, the holder of a degree in another field who has completed a minimum of six one-semester courses in art history; or
- a student who has satisfied the requirements for transfer from the provisional-student category.
It is highly recommended that applicants complete at least eight semesters of courses in art history, cultural studies, or related areas prior to applying. Serious interest in, and substantial familiarity with, historical and contemporary issues in Art History and Visual Culture is expected.
Program Requirements
The MA program is intended to provide students with core knowledge about Art History and Visual Culture within an interdisciplinary research context beneficial for transition to higher levels of education and research and for careers in a variety of related fields, including publishing, collections management, work in the not-for-profit sector, museums and galleries, and cultural agencies, more broadly. The program aims to prepare students for future study at the doctoral level in the core discipline or a related disciplinary program, and those who wish to enter into the workforce with advanced skills in visual analysis, critical thinking, research, and writing. Towards this end, the objectives of the MA program are:
- To enable students to gain a command of visual literacy through global and critical understandings of art and its cultures and histories;
- To combine art historical methodology and visual and material culture perspectives in the study of objects both past and present;
- To explore critically the assumptions underpinning writing about art history and visual culture.
Students enroll in one of two study options:
- course work and major research paper, or
- thesis.
Thesis
In the thesis option, students must complete three (3) core courses, one (1) elective and a thesis.
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Core Courses | ||
| AVC*6100 | Proseminar: Critical Methods I | 0.50 |
| AVC*6200 | Proseminar: Critical Methods II | 0.50 |
| AVC*6300 | Special Topics in Art History and Visual Culture | 0.50 |
| Electives 1 | ||
| Select one of the following: | ||
| AVC*6310 | Topics in Art and Visual Culture I | 0.50 |
| AVC*6320 | Topics in Art and Visual Culture II | 0.50 |
| AVC*6330 | Topics in Art and Visual Culture III | 0.50 |
| AVC*6340 | Topics in Art and Visual Culture IV | 0.50 |
| AVC*6350 | Topics in Art and Visual Culture V | 0.50 |
| AVC*6400 | Practicum: Art Institutions | 0.50 |
| AVC*6500 | Directed Reading | 0.50 |
| Thesis | ||
| Complete a thesis, consisting of an extensive piece of research of 30,000-35,000 words, a public colloquium, and an oral examination. 2 | ||
- 1
One elective may be an approved course from another College of Arts program. The courses selected must be acceptable to the school and the Board of Graduate Studies for graduate credit. Students must obtain an overall average grade of at least 'B-' standing.
- 2
The thesis topic is subject to the approval of the MA AHVC Graduate Committee, which includes an examiner from the profession. The thesis is a project of publishable quality. In essay form, it discusses the critical, historical, and theoretical aspects of the student's subject of research. Students are expected to present and defend their work orally in a manner appropriate to a professional art historian's public presentation.
Course Work and Major Research Paper (MRP)
In the course work and major research paper option students must complete the three (3) core courses, three (3) electives, and a course-based major research paper (MRP) of 10,000-15,000 words.
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Core Courses | ||
| AVC*6100 | Proseminar: Critical Methods I | 0.50 |
| AVC*6200 | Proseminar: Critical Methods II | 0.50 |
| AVC*6300 | Special Topics in Art History and Visual Culture | 0.50 |
| Electives 3 | ||
| Select two of the following: | ||
| AVC*6310 | Topics in Art and Visual Culture I | 0.50 |
| AVC*6320 | Topics in Art and Visual Culture II | 0.50 |
| AVC*6330 | Topics in Art and Visual Culture III | 0.50 |
| AVC*6340 | Topics in Art and Visual Culture IV | 0.50 |
| AVC*6350 | Topics in Art and Visual Culture V | 0.50 |
| AVC*6400 | Practicum: Art Institutions | 0.50 |
| AVC*6500 | Directed Reading | 0.50 |
| The third elective may also be from the list above or an approved course from another College of Arts program. | ||
| Major Research Paper (MRP) | ||
| Complete a Major Research Paper (MRP) of 10,000-15,000 words. | ||
| AVC*6800 | Art History and Visual Culture Major Research Paper | 1.00 |
- 3
The courses selected must be acceptable to the school and the Board of Graduate Studies for graduate credit.
Students must obtain an overall average grade of at least 'B-' standing.
Collaborative Specializations
Sexualities, Genders and Bodies
The Art History and Visual Culture program participates in the collaborative specialization in Sexualities, Genders and Bodies. MA students wishing to undertake thesis research or their major research paper/project with an emphasis on sexualities, genders and bodies are eligible to apply to register concurrently in Art History and Visual Culture and the collaborative specialization. Students should consult the Sexualities, Genders and Bodies listing for more information.