Art History
The Ph.D. Program in Art History at the CUNY Graduate Center is dedicated to the development of scholars, teachers, museum curators, art critics, and other arts professionals.
Request InformationDegree Offered
Ph.D. in Art History
Full-time
Admissions Deadlines
January 1 for fall enrollment
(No spring enrollment)
The Ph.D. Program in Art History at the Graduate Center, established in 1971, aims to be the most progressive and public-facing department for the study of art history and visual culture in North America. Our graduates go on to do impactful work in academia, museums, education, and publishing.
The Program’s main strength is the study of Modern and Contemporary art, including Latin American, Latinx, and Art of the Americas. For a list of other cluster areas, see here.
Our distinctiveness lies in a shared set of beliefs and attitudes:
- No ivory tower: the Graduate Center Ph.D. Program in Art History promotes public-facing research for and from the City of New York and globally.
- No pre-existing canon: students frame their own major and minor in tandem with faculty expertise.
- No passive learning: seminars are high-level incubators for faculty and student research.
- No competitive ethos: research is understood as shared and collaborative, for the greater public good.
- No teaching assistantships: students devise and teach their own courses–often advanced-level classes– at one of the CUNY colleges, serving and learning from a diverse body of undergraduates.
We say yes to:
- adventurous scholarship that combines historical rigor with methodological innovation.
- undoing the misogyny, racism, and elitism traditionally associated with art history as a discipline.
- students from non-traditional backgrounds, with interesting life/work experience, who now wish to focus on long-term academic study.
- radical pedagogy.
- strong mentorship and collaboration.
Doctoral students at the GC are seen as junior colleagues whose presence and opinions are valued. They:
- participate in all aspects of departmental governance, with representatives on the Executive Committee, Admissions, Exams & Curriculum, and Search Committees.
- initiate and present public programs at the James Gallery.
- lead the Anti-Racism Task Force and hold regular Town Hall meetings to air issues with faculty.
- suggest and introduce guest speakers at the Rewald Seminars each semester.
- devise and organize conferences.
- curate exhibitions.
Art History Announcements
More Like This
Professor Josh Cohen co-edits a special issue of ARTMargins
Professor Josh Cohen, along with Foad Torshizi and Vazira Zamindar, co-edited Art History, Postcolonialism, and the Global Turn — a special issue of ARTMargins . See it here.
- Congratulations/Kudos
Winning grant for Symposium of Latin American Art 2024
Congrats to students Suzie Oppenheimer and Laura Suárez Rodriquez who won a DSRG Surplus Initiative Grant to fund a symposium on Latin American Art in 2024! The DSRG received a large number of proposals across all fields at the Graduate Center, so this was a highly competitive grant. Well done Suzie and Laura!
- Congratulations/Kudos
Cynthia Hahn named Distinguished Professor
Congratulations to Professor Cynthia Hahn who has just been named Distinguished Professor of Art History. She has written 10 books and over 40 articles, making major contributions to the history of medieval art history. With particular interest in reliquaries - their place in devotion and the cult of saints, their materiality, how medievals interacted with them, among other approaches to understanding them - she has re-shaped the understanding of these objects and their place in medieval life. Among her many honors, she was recognized by the Medieval Academy of America who elected her as a fellow in 2018. She has held fellowships at CASVA and the Institute for Advanced Study, among many other prestigious institutions. We are so pleased that she has been given this well-deserved honor.
- Congratulations/Kudos
Alum Sooran Choi Directs Cross-Gender-Ethnic-Korean-Asian Studies Initiative
Alum Sooran Choi (Art History Ph.D. '18) has won a grant from the Black, Race and Ethnic Studies Initiative at CUNY to direct a Cross-Gender-Ethnic-Korean-Asian Studies Initiative at Brooklyn College, where she teaches in the Art Department. As part of that initiative, she is running a symposium to foreground Korean studies while taking an intersectional approach to the subject. The symposium will be held Saturday and Sunday, April 22-23, online. More information can be found here.
- Announcement
Our Program
Our doctoral program provides students with a general background in the history of art to prepare them to serve their discipline and their communities in all areas of cultural endeavor. Courses given at the Graduate Center cover the broad spectrum of the history of art; courses given at the senior colleges in their master’s degree programs are also open to doctoral students, as are courses given at universities within the Interuniversity Doctoral Consortium.
Review our curriculum
Faculty
The doctoral faculty consists of professors drawn from the Graduate Center and from the CUNY senior colleges. Courses given at the Graduate Center cover the broad spectrum of the history of art; courses given at the senior colleges in their master’s degree programs are also open to doctoral students, as are courses given at universities within the Interuniversity Doctoral Consortium.
View our faculty
Student Highlights
Find out more about our current doctoral students, their research interests, academic accomplishments, and professional careers. We work closely with our students to assist them with professional placement upon graduation. Many of our graduates hold prominent positions at cultural and educational institutions in the U.S. and abroad.
Read about our studentsProgram News
Sep 29, 2023
In Memoriam: Art History Professor Emerita Barbara G. Lane
The Graduate Center is deeply saddened by the death of a renowned scholar and beloved mentor.
- GC Stories
- Faculty News
- In Memoriam
Sep 15, 2023
Recognizing Leaders of Hispanic Scholarship
In celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month, we recognize our scholars who are leaders and pushing the boundaries of knowledge.
- GC Stories
- Student News
- Alumni News
- Faculty News
Sep 1, 2023
In Memoriam: Art History Professor Emerita H. Barbara Weinberg
The Graduate Center community mourns the death of an esteemed scholar, curator, teacher, and mentor.
- GC Stories
- Faculty News
- In Memoriam
Aug 23, 2023
A Curator Comes East for an Art History Ph.D. and a New Perspective
Nicolas Orozco-Valdivia wants to make a difference in the art world and for Latinx artists.
- GC Stories
- Student News
Program Events
Student Handbook
Review our student handbook for our policies and procedures, resources, and other important information.
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