Art, History of

University of California, Berkeley

This is an archived copy of the 2014-15 guide. To access the most recent version of the guide, please visit http://guide.berkeley.edu/.

About the Program

The Department of History of Art offers a two-stage integrated master's and doctoral program (MA/PhD) in preparation for college teaching, writing, and specialized curatorial careers. Students are not admitted to work for a terminal MA degree, though students may apply for the MA after meeting Stage I requirements toward the PhD. Students work closely with faculty in courses, seminars, and on independent research projects to develop independent thought and a thorough knowledge of the field and its critical methods. Cross-disciplinary work in Berkeley's distinguished departments of languages and literature, philosophy, rhetoric, film studies, women's studies, history, and the social sciences is strongly encouraged. A student may opt for a more formal relationship with other departments through "Designated Emphases" programs, including Film Studies; Women, Gender, and Sexuality; and Critical Theory.

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Admissions

Admission to the University

Uniform minimum requirements for admission

The following minimum requirements apply to all programs and will be verified by the Graduate Division:

  1. A bachelor’s degree or recognized equivalent from an accredited institution;
  2. A minimum grade-point average of B or better (3.0);
  3. If the applicant comes from a country or political entity (e.g. Quebec) where English is not the official language, adequate proficiency in English to do graduate work, as evidenced by a TOEFL score of at least 570 on the paper-and-pencil test, 230 on the computer-based test, 90 on the iBT test, or an IELTS Band score of at least 7 (note that individual programs may set higher levels for any of these); and
  4. Enough undergraduate training to do graduate work in the given field.

Applicants who already hold a graduate degree

The Graduate Council views academic degrees as evidence of broad research training, not as vocational training certificates; therefore, applicants who already have academic graduate degrees should be able to take up new subject matter on a serious level without undertaking a graduate program, unless the fields are completely dissimilar.

Programs may consider students for an additional academic master’s or professional master’s degree if the additional degree is in a distinctly different field.

Applicants admitted to a doctoral program that requires a master’s degree to be earned at Berkeley as a prerequisite (even though the applicant already has a master’s degree from another institution in the same or a closely allied field of study) will be permitted to undertake the second master’s degree, despite the overlap in field.

The Graduate Division will admit students for a second doctoral degree only if they meet the following guidelines:

  1. Applicants with doctoral degrees may be admitted for an additional doctoral degree only if that degree program is in a general area of knowledge distinctly different from the field in which they earned their original degree. For example, a physics PhD could be admitted to a doctoral degree program in music or history; however, a student with a doctoral degree in mathematics would not be permitted to add a PhD in statistics.
  2. Applicants who hold the PhD degree may be admitted to a professional doctorate or professional master’s degree program if there is no duplication of training involved.

Applicants may only apply to one single degree program or one concurrent degree program per admission cycle.

Any applicant who was previously registered at Berkeley as a graduate student, no matter how briefly, must apply for readmission, not admission, even if the new application is to a different program.

Required documents for admissions applications

  1. Transcripts:  Upload unofficial transcripts with the application for the departmental initial review. Official transcripts of all college-level work will be required if admitted. Official transcripts must be in sealed envelopes as issued by the school(s) you have attended. Request a current transcript from every post-secondary school that you have attended, including community colleges, summer sessions, and extension programs.
    If you have attended Berkeley, upload unofficial transcript with the application for the departmental initial review. Official transcript with evidence of degree conferral will not be required if admitted.
  2. Letters of recommendation: Applicants can request online letters of recommendation through the online application system. Hard copies of recommendation letters must be sent directly to the program, not the Graduate Division.
  3. Evidence of English language proficiency: All applicants from countries in which the official language is not English are required to submit official evidence of English language proficiency. This requirement applies to applicants from Bangladesh, Burma, Nepal, India, Pakistan, Latin America, the Middle East, the People’s Republic of China, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, Southeast Asia, and most European countries. However, applicants who, at the time of application, have already completed at least one year of full-time academic course work with grades of B or better at a U.S. university may submit an official transcript from the U.S. university to fulfill this requirement. The following courses will not fulfill this requirement: 1) courses in English as a Second Language, 2) courses conducted in a language other than English, 3) courses that will be completed after the application is submitted, and 4) courses of a non-academic nature. If applicants have previously been denied admission to Berkeley on the basis of their English language proficiency, they must submit new test scores that meet the current minimum from one of the standardized tests.

Doctoral Degree Requirements

Curriculum

HISTART 200Graduate Proseminar in the Interpretation of Art Historical Materials4
Electives12
Six must be HISTART Electives re specialization
introductory language courses excluded
HISTART 3003
HISTART 375Teaching History of Art Pedagogy2

Courses

History of Art

HISTART 200 Graduate Proseminar in the Interpretation of Art Historical Materials 2 or 4 Units

An introduction to the fundamentals of art history, including traditional and innovative perspectives designed for candidates for higher degrees. Offerings vary from year to year. Students should consult the department's "Announcement of Classes" for offerings before the beginning of the semester.

HISTART 203 Seminar in Material Culture: The Interpretation of Objects 2 or 4 Units

This seminar looks at both material culture theory and the practice of interpreting objects in the West and in Asia. It draws on the practices and inquiries of multiple disciplines including archaeology, anthropology, cultural geography, and art history . We will consider the variety of ways and contexts in which objects have been understood to "speak" as aesthetic vehicles and as cultural texts. Taught by two faculty members who have extensive experience as museum curators--one of American Art, the other of Asian Art, this class will combine theory with hands-on learning.

HISTART C204 Proseminar in Classical Archaeology and Ancient Art 2 or 4 Units

This seminar is intended to introduce graduate students--both archaeologists and non-archaeologists--to the discipline of classical archaeology, history, and evolution, and its research tools and bibliography. Since it is both impossible and undesirable to attempt to cover the entire discipline in one semester, after two introductory lectures on the history of the field, we will address a selection of topics that seems representative of its concerns.

HISTART C220 Seminar in Near Eastern Art 2 or 4 Units

Seminar on critical aspects of Near Eastern art requiring intensive study and presentation of a research paper. Topics vary from semester to semester.

HISTART 230 Seminar in Chinese Art 2 or 4 Units

HISTART 234 Seminar in Japanese Art 2 or 4 Units

HISTART 236 Seminar in the Art of India 2 or 4 Units

HISTART 240 Seminar in Greek Art 2 or 4 Units

HISTART 258 Seminar in Late Medieval Art in Northern Europe 2 or 4 Units

HISTART 260 Seminar in Italian Renaissance Art 2 or 4 Units

HISTART 262 Seminar in European Art 2 or 4 Units

HISTART 263 Seminar in European Art: Mimesis 2 or 4 Units

Mimesis, Greek for "imitation" is a key term in recent debates in a number of disciplines. However, what is at its core is often astonishingly undefined, open and ambivalent. Starting with antique and medieval works addressing key moments of mimesis we will also explore modern theories of mimesis. Crossing the threshold between pre-modern and modern examples will help us to understand the premises for the visual culture involving the rise of naturalism, and more generally the nature of representation in medieval and early modern culture.

HISTART 270 Seminar in Baroque Art 2 or 4 Units

HISTART 281 Seminar in 19th-Century Art 2 or 4 Units

HISTART 285 Seminar in 20th-Century Art 2 or 4 Units

HISTART 286 Seminar in 20th-Century Painting and Sculpture 2 or 4 Units

HISTART 289 Seminar in American Art 2 or 4 Units

HISTART 290 Special Topics in Fields of Art History 2 or 4 Units

Topics explore themes and problems, often reflect current research interests of the instructor, and supplement regular curricular offerings. Detailed descriptions of current and future offerings available in 416 Doe Library.

HISTART 291 Judith Stronach Graduate Travel Seminar in Art History 4 Units

This course explores site-specific themes, topics, and problems, reflects current research interests of the instructor(s), and suppplements regular curricular offerings. Detailed descriptions of current and (where known) future offerings available in 416 Doe Library.

HISTART 296 Directed Dissertation Research 3 - 12 Units

Independent study open to qualified students directly engaged upon the doctoral dissertation.

HISTART 298 Group Study for Graduate Students in the History of Art 1 - 4 Units

Directed group discussion for graduate students, focused on selected books, articles, problems, primary sources, and/or works of art. Usually but not necessarily offered as preparation for a travel seminar or other supervised fieldwork.

HISTART 299 Special Study for Graduate Students in the History of Art 1 - 12 Units

HISTART 300 Teaching the History of Art 1 - 5 Units

Weekly meetings with the instructor to discuss the methods and aims of the course, to plan the content and presentation of the material for the discussion sections, and to set standards and criteria for grading and commenting upon papers and exams. In addition, after visiting sections early in the semester, the instructor will discuss with each GSI individually his or her performance and make any necessary recommendations for improvement.

HISTART 375 Teaching History of Art Pedagogy 2 Units

This pedagogical seminar introduces graduate students to methods and theories of teaching history of art. The course has two primary goals: (1) to train new graduate student instructors to assist in teaching History of Art classes at UCB; and (2) to introduce studnets to techniques of designing and teaching their own classes. The seminar may be taken concurrently with the first teaching assignment or in the semester before beginning teaching.

HISTART 601 Individual Study for Master's Students in the History of Art 1 - 12 Units

Individual study in consultation with the graduate adviser.

HISTART 602 Individual Study for Doctoral Students in the History of Art 1 - 12 Units

Individual study, in consultation with the graduate adviser, intended to provide an opportunity for qualified students to prepare themselves for the various examinations required of candidates for the Ph.D. degree.

Faculty

Professors

Patricia Berger, Professor. China, buddhist art, East Asian studies, history of art, Asian architecture and art.
Research Profile

Whitney Davis, Professor.

Darcy Grimaldo Grigsby, Professor.

Christopher Hallett, Professor. Classics, Roman art, visual culture, portraiture, Hellenistic art, Roman Asia Minor, Hellenistic and Roman Egypt.
Research Profile

Keonraad Jonckheere, Professor.

Margaretta M. Lovell, PhD, Professor. Architecture, design, American art.
Research Profile

Rolf Michael Schneider, Professor.

Andrew F. Stewart, Professor. Archaeology, classics, Greek sculpture, ancient art and architecture, the east after Alexander, the renaissance, antiquity.
Research Profile

Associate Professors

Julia Q Bryan-Wilson, Associate Professor.

Beate Fricke, Associate Professor. Medieval art, idolatry, iconoclasm, history of allegory, formation of communities, incest, anthropophagy, animation, emergence of life and procreation, theories and practices in use of images and relics, visual and material culture, Carolingian Art, Gothic Art, Ottonian Art.
Research Profile

Elizabeth A Honig, Associate Professor. Painting, Rome, baroque, Renaissance, Antwerp, digital humanities, Brueghel, Rubens.
Research Profile

Gregory Levine, Associate Professor. East Asian studies, history of art, Japanese art and architecture, histories of collecting, history of museums, Buddhist art and architecture, Buddhist visual culture.
Research Profile

Todd Philip Olson, PhD, Associate Professor.

Assistant Professors

Diliana Angelova, Assistant Professor. Gender, early Christian art, Byzantine art, late antique art, the Virgin Mary, early Christian empresses, imperial iconography, power and material culture, the empress Helena, the relic of the True Cross, urban development of Constantinople, textiles, ivories, mythology in Byzantine art, myth and genre in Archaic and Classical Greek art, romantic love in ancient and medieval art.
Research Profile

Lauren Kroiz, Assistant Professor.

Anneka Lenssen, Assistant Professor.

Sugata Ray, Assistant Professor.

Lisa Trever, Assistant Professor.

Contact Information

Department of the History of Art

416 Doe Library #6020

Phone: 510-643-7290

Fax: 510-643-2185

art_history@berkeley.edu

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Department Chair

Christopher Hallett, PhD

418 Doe Library

Phone: 510-643-4512

chrishallett@berkeley.edu

Graduate Student Affairs Officer

Matt Joyce

Phone: 510-642-5510

matt.joyce@berkeley.edu

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