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Visual ArtsOFFICE: 216 Mandeville Center for the Arts The Department of Visual Arts offers courses in painting, drawing, sculpture, performance, computing in the arts, film, video, photography, and art history/criticism (including that of film and video). A bachelor’s degree from this department provides students with a solid liberal arts background and is preparatory training for careers as artists, art historians, filmmakers, video artists, photographers, digital media artists, and art critics. It also provides students the initial skills required for teaching and work in museums, television, and the commercial film, photography, and internet industries. By its composition, the Department of Visual Arts is biased in the direction of actively producing artists and critics whose presence at the center of the contemporary art world necessitates reconsideration and reevaluation of artistic productions, their information structure, and significance. Consequently, a flexible introductory program of historically based courses has been devised mainly to provide the student an opportunity to concentrate on areas involving significantly different aesthetic and communication structures. A series of studio courses, in which painting and sculpture are included, is presented to bring the student into direct contact with the real contingencies compelling redistribution of aesthetic attitudes and reinterpretation of genres. Because of the exploratory nature of our program, the department is prepared to emphasize new media that would traditionally be considered to have scant relation to the visual arts. Thus, courses in theatrical events, linguistic structures, etc., are provided. In this context, theoretical courses with a media orientation, as in film, video, photography, or computing, are also offered. The Department of Visual Arts is located in the Mandeville Center for the Arts. In addition, the graduate program office, as well as faculty and graduate students’ offices/studios/research spaces are located in the Visual Arts Facility sited in Sixth College. Facilities and equipment are available to undergraduates in both the Mandeville Center and at the campus-wide Media Center, providing the opportunity to study painting, drawing, photography, computing in the arts, 16mm film, performance, sculpture, and video. Facilities at the Media Center include portable video recording equipment, video and audio editing suites, non-linear editing, and production studios. Additional film equipment available includes an animation stand, optical printer, two sound-mixing studios, and numerous film editing suites. Courses in computing in the arts take place in the Silicon Graphics/Mac/NT lab located at the Visual Arts Facility, the INTEL-shared lab in the Applied Physics and Mathematics building, and a dedicated ICAM lab in building 201 University Center. The University Art Gallery displays a continually changing series of exhibitions, and the Mandeville Annex Gallery, located on the lower level, is directed by visual arts undergraduate students. A gallery and performance space, located in the Visual Arts Facility, are directed by graduate students. The Undergraduate ProgramCollege RequirementsThe Department of Visual Arts teaches courses applicable toward the Muir, Sixth, and Warren general-education requirements, the Marshall humanities requirement, the Eleanor Roosevelt and Revelle fine arts requirements. Optional minors may be taken within any college. Minor in Visual ArtsThe Department of Visual Arts offers minors in seven areas of study: studio painting/drawing/ sculpture, photography, computing, art history, media history/criticism, film/video, and ICAM. A minor consists of six specific courses of which at least three must be upper-division. Effective January 1, 1998, a minor will consist of seven specific courses, of which at least five must be upper-division. Because the requirements differ for each minor, prospective visual arts minors should consult with the departmental adviser for a complete list of appropriate classes acceptable for the minor. Students are advised to begin their program in the second year; otherwise, they cannot be guaranteed enough time to complete the classes required for a minor. Education Abroad ProgramStudents are often able to participate in the UC Education Abroad Program (EAP) and UCSD’s Opportunities Abroad Program (OAP) while still making progress toward completing their major. Financial aid is applicable to study abroad and special study abroad scholarships are readily available. Students considering this option should discuss their plans with the director of Undergraduate Studies before going abroad, and courses taken abroad must be approved by the department. More information on EAP/OAP is detailed in the Education Abroad Program of the UCSD General Catalog or on their Web site http://ucsd.edu/icenter/pao. Interested students should contact the Programs Abroad Office in the International Center. Residency RequirementsA minimum of two-thirds of the course work completed for the major must be taken at UCSD. Students who transfer to UCSD in their second or third year may petition to substitute courses taken at other colleges and universities for major requirements. Visual Arts 111, Structure of Art, must be taken at UCSD by all students, including transfer students, in the art history, media, and studio majors. Note: Rarely are community college transfer credits accepted toward fulfilling upper-division requirements in any of the four majors, but courses of comparable content will be considered by petition. Honors ProgramsThe department offers honors programs in art history, in media, and in studio for outstanding students. The art history honors program will provide outstanding students with pre-professional experience. It consists of an issue-oriented seminar followed by a directed group study and will result in an exhibition with catalogue, a scholarly conference with a mock publication and/or series of research papers. Students who meet the criteria may, with permission of the art history faculty adviser or the art history honors seminar instructor, enroll in the art history honors program during the last quarter of their junior year or as a senior. This program is open to juniors and seniors who meet eligibility requirements: minimum GPA of 3.5 (3.3 overall), completion of all lower-division art history requirements, completion of all upper-division art history distribution requirements, and completion of Art Historical Methods (VIS 112) and at least one additional art history seminar. The level of distinction will be determined by the faculty committee on the basis of work in the honors seminar and on the research project. The media honors program will help students develop high quality professional portfolios. The honors thesis project sequence of individual studies runs the length of an academic year to provide sufficient time for ideas to develop and critically aware work to be produced. Students may arrange to work with different faculty advisers each term or may engage a single adviser for the year. To be eligible for the honors thesis sequence, students must have at least a 3.5 GPA in the major and have approval of all the advisers with whom they will work. Qualified students may begin their sequence the last quarter of their junior year or during their senior year. At the end of the third quarter, all involved media faculty will meet to critique the overall quality of the final thesis work to determine level of distinction. Through exhibition, verbal and written presentations and course work, the studio honors program is intended to give the student as strong a technical, critical, and theoretical base as possible. The program is open to juniors and seniors with a minimum 3.5 GPA in the major (3.0 overall), who have completed all lower-division studio requirements and all upper-division groups I, II, III, and IV (subgroup A) requirements. Students interested in participating in an honors programs should consult with the departmental adviser. Double Major within the DepartmentThere are three double majors within the Visual Arts department: Art History/Theory/ Criticism paired with either studio, media, or ICAM. Students interested in a double major within the department must have at least ten upper-division courses that are unique to each departmental major and the remaining courses may overlap with other major requirements. Students should consult with the departmental adviser for additional information. Major RequirementsTwenty courses are required in studio, media, and ICAM and eighteen courses in art history for the attainment of the bachelor of arts degree. A minimum of twelve of these courses must be upper-division, however, some majors may require more upper-division courses. All courses taken to satisfy major requirements must be taken for a letter grade, and only grades of C– or better will be accepted in the visual arts major. Studio MajorThe studio major is aimed at producing a theoretically based, highly productive group of artists. Lower-division courses are structured to expose students to a variety of ideas in and about the visual arts. Introductory skills are taught, but their development will occur at the upper-division level in conjunction with the student’s increasing awareness of the range of theoretical possibilities in the field. The curriculum includes courses in drawing, painting, sculpture, performance, photography, video, 16mm film, many offerings in art history/criticism, as well as new courses in digital imaging and electronics. Group I: Lower-DivisionFoundation Level Five courses required
Choose one from:
Group II: Upper-DivisionEntry Level Five courses required
Note: Required for Visual Arts studio, media, and art history majors. VIS 40, 60, or 70N can be taken to fulfill Group II entry level studio requirements, but will not count toward the fifteen upper-division courses needed to fulfill the major requirements. Choose four from:
Group III: Upper-DivisionIntermediate Level Two courses required
Group IV: Upper-DivisionAdvanced Level Five courses required Group A:Choose two from:
Group B:Group A must be completed before Group B can be taken. Choose three from:
Group V: Upper-DivisionNon-Studio Three courses required Upper-division art history, film history, and theory/ criticism courses such as:
Honors Program in Studio
The Studio Honors I and the attached Studio Honors II count as one course towards the fulfillment of a Group IV requirement. Art History/Theory/Criticism MajorThe major in art history, theory, and criticism is designed both for students who desire a broadly based education in the humanities and for those who plan to pursue a career in an art-related profession. In both cases, the foundation for study is proficiency in the languages of artistic expression. Through the study of art history, students learn to treat works of art as manifestations of human belief, thought, and experience in Western and nonwestern societies from prehistory to the present day. Courses in criticism review the theoretical approaches which are used to understand artistic achievement. By combining art historical and critical study, the program promotes in the student an awareness of the cultural traditions which have shaped his or her intellectual outlook and provides a framework for informed judgment on the crucial issues of meaning and expression in contemporary society. Majors are encouraged to take relevant courses in allied disciplines such as history, communication, anthropology, and literature, and in such area programs as classics and Italian studies. In addition, students who plan to apply to graduate schools are strongly advised to develop proficiency in one or more foreign languages, as is dictated by their area of specialization. FOUNDATION LEVEL—Lower-DivisionFive courses required
Choose one from:
Note: VIS 23 must be completed by the end of the sophomore year or taken the first time it is offered after a junior declares an art history major or transfers into the program. ADVANCED LEVEL—Upper-DivisionThirteen courses required GROUP I—Required CoursesTwo courses These two courses are required for all art history and criticism majors:
Note: Majors must complete VIS 112 by the end of their junior year and are strongly advised to do so earlier. * Required of Visual Arts art history, media, and studio majors. GROUP II—Distributional RequirementFive courses Choose one course from each of the following areas: A. Pre-Modern: Ancient and Medieval
B. Early Modern: Renaissance and Baroque
C. Modern
D. Nonwestern
E. Theory
Students must take at least two upper-division seminars in addition to VIS 112 and to the course taken in fulfillment of the distribution requirement for Theory. These two additional seminars may be taken in fulfillment of Pre-Modern, Early Modern, Modern and Nonwestern or as open electives. Art history majors cannot enroll in more than one upper-division seminar without having completed Information Technologies in Art History (VIS 23) and Art Historical Methods (VIS 112). GROUP III—ElectivesSix courses Students are required to take six upper-division courses in addition to VIS 111, VIS 112 and those used to fulfill the distribution requirements. At least three of these must be courses in art history or theory. For the remaining three, choose from the following:
Pre-Media with Computing Emphasis MajorStudent interest in the media major with computing emphasis has been strong. Because the department has limited resources to accommodate student demand, it is necessary to limit admission to this major to the most highly qualified students. Beginning fall 2002, any student admitted to UCSD who wishes to declare a major with computing emphasis will be admitted to the pre-major. Freshmen designated as pre-majors must complete the six required lower-division courses for the media with computing emphasis pre-major within six quarters (i.e., by the end of their sophomore year). Upon completion of these courses, pre-majors seeking entrance into the major must formally apply at the Department of Visual Arts Undergraduate Program Office. Admission to the major will be based on the following criteria: 1) performance in the required lower-division courses as measured by GPA of 3.0 or higher, determined by the department on an annual basis; 2) submission of a portfolio of work acceptable to the department; and 3) an artistic statement. The portfolio will consist of at least two projects that the student has produced in ICAM 40/VIS 40, in another digital arts class, or independently that in the faculty’s judgment demonstrate that the student possesses the artistic ability and technical skills to perform at a high level in upper-division courses within the major. Pre-majors should consult the undergraduate staff adviser to the form in which projects should be submitted (disks, slides, tapes, etc.). Transfer students are admitted initially as pre-majors and must
apply for admission to the major when they have completed their
lower-division requirements. Transfer students entering with thirty-six
or more quarter units must apply for admission to the major no later
than their third quarter of study at UCSD. At the time of admission
to the pre-major, transfer students’ transcripts will be evaluated
by the department to determine what courses they have completed
elsewhere, if any, may be petitioned as equivalent to required courses.
Transfer students should be prepared to provide course descriptions
and other materials that may be required to determine the content
of such courses. GROUP A (3 courses required)
GROUP B (3 courses required)
Pre-media with computing emphasis majors are not permitted to enroll in any upper-division production courses until the student has applied and been officially accepted to the media major. Upper-division production courses are numbered VIS 109, 131, 132, 140/ICAM 101, 145A/ICAM 102, 145B, 147A-B, 164-168, 172-177, and 180A-186. Any student admitted to UCSD before fall 2002, whether as a freshman or a transfer student, may continue to declare a media with computing emphasis by completing a Change of Major form at the Department of Visual Arts Undergraduate Program office, attending a departmental orientation meeting, and obtaining a department stamp. Media MajorWith a visual arts foundation, the program is designed for students who want to become creative videomakers, filmmakers, photographers, and computer artists, encouraging the hybridity of media. The curriculum combines hands-on experience of making with practical and theoretical criticism, provides historical, social, and aesthetic backgrounds for the understanding of modern media, and emphasizes creativity, versatility, and intelligence over technical specializations. It should allow students to go on to more specialized graduate programs in the media arts, to seek careers in film, television, computing, or photography, or to develop as independent artists. All media majors should see the Visual Arts Undergraduate Adviser upon entrance into UCSD. FOUNDATION LEVEL—Lower-DivisionSix courses required Group A
Group B
All six courses listed under Groups A and B above are required. VIS 70N is prerequisite for use of the Media Center facilities; no further production courses may be taken until VIS 70N is completed. INTERMEDIATE LEVEL—Upper-DivisionNine courses required Group ASix courses required
Both VIS 111 and VIS 174 are required and prerequisite to further study. Additionally, all courses from one of the following emphases are required. Computing Emphasis Three courses plus one from photography or film/video
Photography Emphasis Two courses plus two from computing or film/video
Film and Video Emphasis Three courses plus one from computing or photography
GROUP B–History, Criticism, and TheoryThree courses required
Note: Any art history courses in Pre-Modern, Early Modern, Modern, and Theory may be taken to fulfill the Group B requirement.
ADVANCED LEVEL—Upper DivisionFive courses required
Both of the above are required. Additionally, three electives must be taken. VIS 180A and 180B cannot be taken concurrently. Electives Three courses required Computing Emphasis
Photography Electives
Film and Video Electives
VIS180A/B must be completed before any of the following four courses may be taken; instructor approval is required to enroll:
Note: Enrollment in production courses is limited to two per quarter. Production courses are numbered VIS 109, 131, 132, 140/ICAM 101, 145A/ICAM 102, 145B, 147A-B, 164-168, 172-177, and 180A-186. Pre-Interdisciplinary Computing in the Arts (ICAM) MajorStudent interest in the Interdisciplinary Computing in the Arts (ICAM) major has been strong. Because the department has limited resources to accommodate student demand, it is necessary to limit admission to this major to the most highly qualified students. Beginning fall 2002, any student admitted to UCSD who wishes to declare an ICAM major will be admitted to the pre-major. Freshmen designated as pre-majors must complete the eight required lower-division courses for the ICAM pre-major within six quarters (i.e., by the end of their sophomore year). Upon completion of these courses, pre-majors seeking entrance into the major must formally apply at the Department of Visual Arts Undergraduate Program Office. Admission to the major will be based on the following criteria: 1) performance in the required lower-division courses as measured by GPA of 3.0 or higher, determined by the department on an annual basis; 2) submission of a portfolio of work acceptable to the department; and 3) an artistic statement. The portfolio will consist of at least two projects that the student has produced in ICAM 40/VIS 40, in another digital arts class, or independently that in the faculty’s judgment demonstrate that the student possesses the artistic ability and technical skills to perform at a high level in upper-division courses within the major. Pre-majors should consult the undergraduate staff adviser to the form in which projects should be submitted (disks, slides, tapes, etc.). Transfer students are admitted initially as pre-majors and must apply for admission to the major when they have completed their lower-division requirements. Transfer students entering with thirty-six or more quarter units must apply for admission to the major no later than their third quarter of study at UCSD. At the time of admission to the pre-major, transfer students’ transcripts will be evaluated by the department to determine what courses they have completed elsewhere, if any, may be petitioned as equivalent to required courses. Transfer students should be prepared to provide course descriptions and other materials that may be required to determine the content of such courses. ARTS (4 courses required)
COMPUTING AND THE ARTS (1 course required)
COMPUTING SCIENCE (1 course required)
Note: CSE 11 is an accelerated course in the JAVA programming language. CSE 8A and 8B, which cover the same material in a non-accelerated format, may be substituted.
MATHEMATICS (2 courses required)
Note: MATH 20A and 20B are accelerated calculus courses for science and engineering. MATH 10A, 10B, and 10C, which cover similar material in a non-accelerated format, may be substituted. Pre-ICAM majors are not permitted to enroll in any upper-division production courses until the student has applied and been officially accepted to the ICAM major. Upper-division production courses are numbered VIS 109, 131, 132, 140/ICAM 101, 141A-B, 145A/ICAM 102, 145B, 147A-B, 174, ICAM 120, 160A-B. Any student admitted to UCSD before fall 2002, whether as a freshman or a transfer student, may continue to declare an ICAM major by completing a Change of Major form at the Department of Visual Arts Undergraduate Program Office, attending a departmental orientation meeting, and obtaining a department stamp. Interdisciplinary Computing and the Arts (ICAM)The Interdisciplinary Computing and the Arts major in the Music and Visual Arts departments draws upon, and aims to bring together, ideas and paradigms from computer science, art, and cultural theory. It takes for granted that the computer has become a metamedium and that artists working with computers are expected to combine different media forms in their works. All of this makes the program unique among currently existing computer art or design programs which, on the one hand, usually focus on the use of computers for a particular media (for instance, specializing in computer animation, or computer music, or computer design for print) and, on the other hand, do not enter into a serious dialogue with current research in computer science, only teaching the students “off-the-shelf” software. The program also recognizes that creating sophisticated artistic works with computers requires a new model of the creative process, one which combines traditional artistic procedures with the experimental research characteristic of the sciences. All in all, it aims to train a new type of cultural producer, who is familiar with art and media history, who is equally proficient with computer programming and artistic skills, who is always ready to learn new technologies, and who is comfortable interacting with scientists and computer industry resources. The goals of the program are:
LOWER-DIVISIONEight courses required Arts Four courses required
Computer Science One course required
Note: CSE 11 is an accelerated course in the JAVA programming language. CSE 8A and 8B, which cover the same material in a non-accelerated format, may be substituted. Mathematics Two courses required
Note: MATH 20A and 20B are accelerated calculus courses for Science and Engineering. MATH 10A, 10B, and 10C, which cover similar material in a non-accelerated format, may be substituted. Computing and the Arts One course required
UPPER-DIVISIONTwelve courses required Survey One course required
Foundation Three courses required
Advanced Four courses required Choose one from:
Choose three from:
Theory and History Two courses required
and one of:
Senior Project Two courses required
Note: Enrollment in production courses is limited to two per quarter. Production courses are numbered VIS 109, 131, 132, 140/ICAM 101, 141A-B, 145A/ICAM 102, 145B, 147A-B, 174. ICAM 120, 160A-B. Master of Fine Arts ProgramThe program is designed to provide intensive professional training for the student who proposes to pursue a career within the field of art—including art making, criticism, and theory. The scope of the UCSD program includes painting, sculpture, performance, installation art, photography, film, video, and digital media. The program is unique in that the course of study provides for and encourages student mobility within this range of traditional and media-based components. It also offers opportunities for collaborative work. The educational path of students is focused around their particular interests in art. The department seeks to provide an integrated and comprehensive introduction to the possibilities of contemporary art production, the intellectual structures which underlie them, and the “world view” which they entail. All art-making activities are considered serious intellectual endeavors, and all students in the program find themselves confronted by the need to develop their intellectual and critical abilities in working out their artistic positions. A body of theory-oriented courses is required. Therefore, we have no craft-oriented programs or facilities; nor do we have any courses in art education or art therapy. The courses offered are intended to develop in the student a coherent and informed understanding of the past and recent developments in art and art theory. The program also provides for establishing a confident grasp of contemporary technological possibilities, including those involved in film, video, photography, and the electronic media. The program includes formal education in lecture and seminar courses as well as study groups, studio meetings, and quarterly departmental critiques. Course work is intended to place art making in critical and intellectual context but doesn’t underestimate the central importance of the student’s own work. In fact, this aspect of the student’s activity is expected to be self-motivated and forms the core around which the program of study operates and makes sense. No two students will necessarily follow the same path through the degree program, and the constitution of individual programs will depend upon the analysis of their individual needs and interests, worked out by students in collaboration with their individual faculty advisers. Admission RequirementsGrade-Point Average—An overall GPA of 3.00 and a 3.50 in a student’s undergraduate major is required. Art History—Students are expected to have had at least four semester courses or six quarter courses in art history and/or film history/criticism at the undergraduate level. Those who have a broader art history background will have a better chance of being awarded teaching assistantships. Students without this requirement can be admitted, but they may be expected to make up the six courses in excess of the seventy-two units required for the degree. If there are questions concerning this requirement, check with the department student affairs adviser. Statement—Students are required to submit an essay of one-to-three pages on the direction of their work and its relationship to contemporary art. This essay should be critical in nature, refer explicitly to the student’s own work, and may refer to other artists, recent events in art history, and issues in domains other than art that have bearing on the student’s process, thought, and work. Work—Students are asked to submit documentation of their best work in a suitable format such as slides, videotape, film, diskettes, CD, DVD, photographs, etc. These will be returned upon review of the application. It is necessary to include a self-addressed, stamped envelope for return of work. Regular University Admission PoliciesPlease note that no application will be processed until all required information has been received. Students should submit applications with the application fee to the graduate admissions office using the UCSD online application on or before Monday, January 16, 2006. Portfolio, statement of purpose, letters of recommendation, and official transcripts should be sent directly to the department. Requirements for the DegreeThe M.F.A. Is considered the terminal degree in studio work, and is a two- to three-year program. The following requirements must be completed in order to receive the M.F.A.: First Year Review—This review takes place in the third quarter in residence. Students make a formal presentation of their work to a faculty committee; this includes a position paper and an oral examination. This presentation is considered a departmental examination, and if at its conclusion the student’s work is judged to be inadequate, the student may be dismissed regardless of GPA, or may be reviewed again in the fourth quarter. Seventy-two units of course work, including a four-unit apprentice teaching course, are required. Students may select sixteen of these units (four courses) from upper-division undergraduate course offerings. (See listings in this catalog.) There are six required Visual Arts core seminars:
Specific information on other course distribution requirements can be obtained from the department. One additional graduate course is required and must be taken in another department. Students who remain registered in the third (optional) year must average one graduate course per quarter. The M.F.A. Final PresentationPresentation of Work—During the last quarter in residence, each student is required to present to the public a coherent exhibition or screening of his or her work. Oral Examination—A committee of three Department of Visual Arts faculty members and one faculty member from another department will administer an oral examination to each student covering the student’s work and its relationship to the field of art. Thesis—Students are required to submit some form of written work for the M.F.A. degree. Four options are available:
Additional information can be obtained from the graduate office of the Department of Visual Arts. Ph.D. ProgramThe Department of Visual Arts offers the Ph.D. and M.A. degrees in art history, theory, and criticism with concentrations in any of the areas in which faculty do research (see below). Offering a distinct alternative to existing Ph.D. programs in art history, the program centers on a unique curriculum that places art objects and practice at the center of inquiry, both past and present, and encompassing fine art, media, and mass culture, even as it encourages examination of the larger frameworks—historical, cultural, social, intellectual, and theoretical—within which the category “art” has been contextualized in the most recent developments in the discipline. This program is also distinctive in that it is housed within a department that has been for many years one of the nation’s leading centers of art practice and graduate education in studio, media, and—most recently—digital media. The offering of the Ph.D. And M.F.A. degrees is based on the department’s foundational premise that the production of art and the critical, theoretical, and historical reflection upon it inherently and necessarily participate in a single discursive community. The innovative character of this program is most evident in a unique curricular structure that is broadly organized into three groups of seminars. The importance of critical theory to the field today is reflected in the seminars under the Theories/New Visions group, while the study of art in its concrete historical, social, and cultural contexts, across different cultures and media, is emphasized in time, place, and media specific seminars listed under Times/Terrains. The program builds most distinctively on recent developments in the field in the seminars under the heading Categories/Constructs. These seminars address the core questions about artworks and practices that the department believes every doctoral student in art and media history, whatever his or her area of specialization, should engage. How is the category “art” itself produced, now and in the past, in the urbanized west and in other cultures, in the context of ever-changing technologies? How are artistic identities constructed across distinct epochs and societies, and with reference to categories such as gender and ethnicity? What are the circumstances and contexts (social, intellectual, institutional, and the like) within which art is both produced and disseminated? What are the alternative modes of engaging art objects and practices and what are the histories and theoretical assumptions of the specialized discourses used to describe and analyze them? Seminars in the Categories/Constructs group are unique in the degree to which they foreground the self-critical turn in recent art and media history by making reflection upon the central concepts, constructs, categories, and languages of art historical inquiry a key programmatic concern. They are also distinctive in that they are designed to cut across traditional categories of history and contemporaneity, art and media (film, video, photography, digital media), history and theory, and to promote cross-cultural inquiry insofar as they center on questions crucial to the study of art of diverse cultures as well as diverse art forms and historical epochs. AdmissionApplicants may apply to the Ph.D. program only. The policy of UCSD is to admit in the fall quarter only. Applications for admission must be postmarked January 16, and selections will be made by April 1. For circumstances under which the M.A. is granted, see below. Prior to matriculation, students must have obtained a bachelor’s or master’s degree in art history, art practice, or another field approved by the departmental committee on graduate studies, such as (but not limited to) history, literature, anthropology, or philosophy. Applicants must submit their academic transcripts, scores on the Graduate Record Examination, three letters of recommendation, a statement of purpose (no more than 750 words), and a sample of written work (e.g., senior honors thesis, M.A. thesis, or other research or critical paper, preferably in art or media history). An overall GPA of 3.00 and a 3.50 in a student’s undergraduate major are required. The Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) is required for international applicants. Applicants must have a good reading knowledge of at least one of the foreign languages required for graduate study, normally either French or German, at the time they enter the program. Please note that no application will be processed until all required information has been received. Students should submit applications with the application fee to the graduate admissions office on or before Monday, January 16, 2006. Statements of purpose, writing samples, and letters of recommendation should be sent directly to the department. Areas of ConcentrationDuring the first year of study, each student must declare an area of major concentration in consultation with his or her individual faculty adviser and with the approval of the Ph.D. graduate adviser. The major concentration may be selected from the following: ancient art; medieval art; renaissance art; early modern art; modern art (nineteenth and twentieth centuries); contemporary art; media studies (film, video, photograph, digital media); and Meso-American art. A student may also choose, in consultation with his or her adviser and the Ph.D. Graduate adviser, a field of emphasis that cuts across the areas within the department (e.g., art or media theory and criticism) or, with appropriate approvals, one that involves another department (e.g., early modern art history and history). Once the field of emphasis is established, it will be the responsibility of the student and his or her adviser to devise a program of courses, independent study and outside reading, over and above the required program, that will ensure that the student will attain command of the major field of emphasis. Course WorkA normal full-time program consists of 12 units per quarter. Prior to the qualifying examination, students will be expected to complete 84 units, equivalent to 21 four-unit courses (normally accomplished in seven to nine quarters). This 21-course requirement will normally be satisfied by a combination of graduate seminars, reading courses, independent study, and apprentice teaching. No more than three may be apprentice teaching; no more than two may be reading courses; and no more than two may be graduate seminars in art practice or art practice/theory. By reading course, we mean an upper-division undergraduate course which a student takes with additional reading and writing requirements. Full-time study is expected; part-time study will be considered on a case-by-case basis and for a limited time. Graduate seminars in Art History, Theory, and Criticism should comprise the bulk of the student’s twenty-one-course requirement. All students are required to take the following seminars in their first year of study: VIS 200 Introduction to Graduate Studies in Visual Art (offered in fall only) and VIS 204 Re-Thinking Art History. Students must also take, at some point, one seminar from the Art Practice/Theory group, VIS 210-VIS 219. One four-unit apprentice teaching course is also required. In order to ensure that students attain a reasonable measure of historical and cultural breadth, all students are required to take one seminar from at least four of the following areas: 1) ancient or medieval art; 2) renaissance or early modern art; 3) modern or contemporary art; 4) media studies; 5) non-western art. If a student has completed some graduate work in art history, theory, and criticism before entering UCSD, there may be some appropriate adjustments in course work as approved by petition to the Ph.D. Graduate adviser and the department chair. Foreign Language RequirementsStudents will be required to demonstrate reading knowledge of at least two of the foreign languages required for advanced study in art history, theory, and criticism. Normally one of these should be either French or German, and the other should be the language most directly relevant to the student’s area of specialization. The student and his or her individual adviser will jointly determine the examination languages. Foreign language requirements will normally be satisfied by passing examinations requiring sight translation of texts in art history, theory, and criticism. No student who has not passed one such examination will be admitted to second-year study, and no student who has not passed two will be admitted to third-year study. ExaminationsNo later than the first quarter of the third year, the student, in consultation with his or her individual adviser, will form a qualifying examination committee which will consist of at least three members drawn from the visual arts department faculty and one drawn from another department. This committee will conduct the qualifying examination required by university policy and oversee completion of the dissertation. The membership of the committee must be approved by the Ph.D. Graduate adviser and ultimately the dean of Graduate Studies. The qualifying examination will consist of a three-hour written examination, followed within the next two days by a two-hour oral examination, in the student’s major field. 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. A student who fails either the written or the oral examination may petition the committee and Ph.D. Graduate adviser to repeat the examination. Any student who fails a second time will not be advanced to candidacy. In some cases, the committee and graduate program director may judge such student eligible to receive a terminal M.A. (see below). DissertationFollowing successful completion of the qualifying examinations, the student will complete a doctoral dissertation in his or her field of emphasis. Upon selection of the dissertation topic, a colloquium will be held at which the student will present a prospectus that outlines the topic and program of research for discussion by the graduate group and for approval by his or her committee. After the committee has reviewed the finished dissertation, the student will defend his or her thesis orally. In exceptional cases, the thesis defense may be waived by unanimous agreement of the committee members and the Ph.D. Graduate adviser. Normative Time from Matriculation to DegreeThe student will normally advance to candidacy in two and one-half to three years and must be advanced to candidacy by the end of four years. He or she will normally complete the research for and writing of the dissertation by the end of his or her sixth year of study. Total university support may not exceed seven years, and total registered time at UCSD may not exceed eight years. M.A. DegreeAll students will apply for and be admitted to the Ph.D. Program An M.A. degree may be awarded to continuing Ph.D. students upon successful completion of the following: (1) at least 12 four-unit courses, including VIS 200 Introduction to Graduate Studies in Visual Art, VIS 204 Rethinking Art History, and one seminar from the group VIS 210-219; (2) a three-hour written examination in a designated field of emphasis (see Examinations above); (3) one language examination; and (4) an M.A. thesis. The M.A. is not automatically awarded; students must apply in advance to the Ph.D. Graduate adviser and in accordance with university procedures, no later than the first two weeks of the quarter in which they expect to receive the degree. Students who demonstrate minimal competence on the qualifying examination, but not sufficient competence to continue in the program, may be awarded a terminal M.A. upon completion of the requirements set forth in the paragraph above. |
