SDSU School of Art, Design, and Art History

Master of Arts (Art History) Degree in Art

The School's Specific Admission Requirements (Part Two of Admissions Process)

The following materials should be submitted by February 1 for admission for the fall semester to:

Art History Graduate Adviser
School of Art, Design, and Art History
San Diego State University
5500 Campanile Drive
San Diego, CA 92182-4805

1. School of Art, Design, and Art History application form. Refer to http://www.sdsu.edu/art(external link) to download application form and instructions;
2. Statement of purpose addressing your professional goals and reasons for selecting the School of Art, Design, and Art History at SDSU for your pursuit of these goals, what you plan to accomplish at SDSU (in which areas do you plan to specialize), and what your long range career goals are;
3. A copy (it will not be returned) of your best term paper or seminar report, or reprint of a published article, accompanied by a statement explaining how you came to your topic, your method of research, and the facilities available;
4. Three letters of recommendation from instructors who can assess your academic performance (you may include one museum reference). Letters can be sent separately or included with your application in sealed and signed envelopes.

Admission to the Degree Curriculum

In addition to meeting the requirements for admission to the university, students wishing to be admitted to the art history graduate program with a classified graduate standing must complete the equivalent of the graduation requirements as specified in the current General Catalog (a minimum of 39 units of art history to include Art 593).

Students who do not meet the requirements for admission to the graduate program in art history but meet the requirements for graduate admission to the university, may, at the discretion of the art history faculty, be accepted with conditional standing.

Advancement to Candidacy

Classified graduates should contact the graduate adviser to discuss their individual graduate programs before the third week of their first semester.

Before advancement to candidacy, classified graduate students working for the Master of Arts degree with a concentration in art history must pass a qualifying examination in art history. Classified graduate students must have completed three semesters of college level French or German or, on the advice of the art history faculty, the language necessary for thesis research. Alternately, with the consent of the art history faculty, students may demonstrate a reading knowledge of the appropriate language by passing the Graduate School Foreign Language Examination (the French MLA examination is given by the Student Testing, Assessment and Research Office during the beginning of each semester; contact the School of Art, Design, and Art History for permission to take the examination). The language requirement must be met before the add/drop date of the studentís first semester as a classified graduate student, or the student must enroll for appropriate language courses.

Specific Requirements for the Master of Arts Degree

In addition to meeting the requirements for classified graduate standing and the basic requirements for the master'≠s degree as described in Part Two of the Graduate Bulletin, all students must complete a graduate program of a minimum of 30 units which includes at least 24 units in art from courses listed as acceptable on master'≠s degree programs in art, of which at least 16 units must be in 600- and 700-numbered courses.

Specific to Art History (Major Code: 10031)

Those electing art history must complete at least 15 units from the 600- and 700-numbered courses to include Art 799A, selected in consultation with the art history adviser. Students may select up to 15 units of 500-level courses in art, 12 units of which must be in art history and approved by the graduate adviser. The additional three units must be selected in consultation with the graduate adviser, to include Art 578 and 593 if these courses are not already completed. A written thesis is required as fulfillment of Art 799A. Masterís candidates in art history will also be required to give an open lecture on their thesis subject, to be scheduled with the approval of the thesis chair.

This page was last updated at 2:27PM on August 20, 2008