The
Ph.D. student is required to take the Ph.D. Comprehensive Examination
(including both major and minor field examinations) no later than the end of
the second week of the second semester following the completion of Ph.D. course
work, but not before having completed the Ph.D. course work and having
satisfactorily completed the foreign language requirement. Successful completion of both parts of the
comprehensive examination is required for admission to doctoral candidacy.
Both
the major and minor field examinations are assessed as either passing or
failing. An affirmative vote for a
passing grade by a majority of the examiners is necessary for the examination
to be considered passing. Should the
student fail either the major field or the minor field examination, the student
will be given an opportunity to take that portion only for a second time. (The part already passed need not be
retaken.) The second attempt to pass the
examination must be made not later than the end of the first semester after the
first attempt to pass that portion. That
is, for example, if an examination is failed at any point during the fall term,
it must be taken again by the end of the following spring term. Failure to pass the examination on the second
attempt will result in termination from the program effective at the end of
that term. No third attempt will be
permitted.
A
student’s major and minor fields should be reasonably distinct from one
another, separated by some combination of geography, time period, media, or
other factors as appropriate. Definition
of the major and minor fields, although proposed by the student, must have the
approval of the primary faculty adviser and the Director of Graduate Studies.
Students
should indicate their intention to take the comprehensive examination at least
four weeks in advance, using a special form available in the office. The major and minor examination may be taken
with a computer by arrangement with the Assistant to the Chair in the
Department.
MAJOR FIELD
The
major field exam comprises written and oral components, both administered by an
examining committee. The members of this
committee will be determined by the primary faculty adviser and the Director of
Graduate Studies after consulting with the student. Typically the examining committee will
include the primary faculty adviser and two or three other members. At least two (of the total 3 or 4) must be faculty
in the Art History Department or in another Department at the
The
written component of the exam is designed to test the student’s knowledge of
the field (including works of art and significant themes and issues in the
scholarship) and critical thinking.
After consulting with the student the examining committee will define
five to eight broad areas or themes that will guide preparation for the
exam. Each area should encompass a broad
segment of the field and command a substantial bibliography (e.g. the reception
of antiquity in the Renaissance; nationalism in modern art; word and image in
medieval art; portraiture and group portraiture in Dutch art; transcendentalism
and American art). A bibliography
usually containing 25 to 40 items (a mix of books and articles) for each theme
will be prepared by the student and approved by the committee. The exam itself will consist of six questions
designed by the examiners to engage the prepared areas. The student will be expected to answer three
such questions within a period of six hours.
The
oral component, a two-hour exam, will be held no more than one week after the
written exam is completed. It may return
to the questions posed in the written exam but is not restricted to them, and
the student may be asked to relate particular works to themes addressed in the
written exam.
MINOR FIELD
The
minor field examining committee will contain two members of the department
faculty determined by the primary faculty adviser and the Director of Graduate
Studies after consultation with the student. Students should have taken
seminars in the area of the minor field as part of the preparation for the
exam. Unlike major fields, minor fields
may be defined in a variety of ways that may be distinct from the major
fields. The scope of the minor field may
be proposed by the student but must be approved by the primary faculty adviser
and the Director of Graduate Studies.
The
minor field exam is modeled on the written part of the major field exam. Three to five broad areas or themes will be
defined by the examining committee after consulting with the student. A bibliography containing 10 to 15 items for
each theme will be prepared by the student and approved by the committee. The exam itself will consist of two parts and
last for five hours. The first part will
contain six questions designed by the examiners to engage the prepared
areas. The student will be expected to
answer three questions within a period of three and one-half hours. In the second part of the exam, the student
will have ninety minutes to answer three of five questions based on specific
works or groups of works which may be visual or textual.