The Department of Art, Art History & Visual Studies at Duke University offers an interdisciplinary
Ph.D. Program in the History of Art. We invite applications from highly
qualified students interested in careers in research, teaching, and
criticism.
The Ph.D. Program is committed to preparing students for advanced research
in the visual cultures of the past and present. The Department recognizes
that visual literacy plays an increasingly important role in negotiating
contemporary society. Art, architecture, mass media (television, video,
film, internet), and urbanism all work through reference to visual and
spatial conventions. We strive, in consequence, to provide our graduate
students not only with the necessary tools to understand objects and
archives, but also the skills to interpret visual and material culture
for the benefit of the broader community.
Chair:: Hans Van Miegroet, Professor of Art History
DGS:: Gennifer Weisenfeld, Associate Professor of Art History
e-mail: gennifer.weisenfeld@duke.edu
Program Strengths
Duke University is in the forefront of academic institutions supporting
interdisciplinary and theoretical initiatives in the Humanities. Art
History makes a unique contribution to these ventures. All members of
the Art History faculty are engaged in innovative teaching or research
projects involving faculty from other departments and programs. Courses
that have been team-taught include "Mercantile Culture and the
Art in the Netherlands" (Art History and Economics), "Late
Ancient Christian Culture" (Art History and Religion), and "Introduction
to Medieval/ Renaissance Studies" (Art History, English, and History).
Three faculty members of the Department have received Women's Studies
mainstreaming awards, allowing them to explore feminist issues in courses
on Modern and Postmodern Architecture, Gothic Architecture and Modern
Women Artists. The interdisciplinary character of many of the Department's
courses is indicated by their cross-listing in other programs' offerings:
“History of Photography” (Art History, Film/Video/Digital
and Documentary Studies), "The Blues Aesthetic: African-American
Art in the Twentieth Century" (African and African-American Studies),
"History of Netherlandish Art and Visual Culture in a European
Context" (Comparative Area Studies and Medieval and Renaissance
Studies), “Mercantile Culture and Art in the Netherlands”
(Economics) and “Early Christian Culture” (Religion).
The Research Triangle area provides a culturally rich setting for Duke
University. In addition to the Duke’s new Nasher Museum of Art,
with which the Department is closely affiliated, students have access
to the nearby Ackland Art Museum in Chapel Hill and the North Carolina
Museum of Art in Raleigh. A large number of other arts institutions
are located in the area, including the Southeastern Center for Contemporary
Art (SECCA) in Winston-Salem and Weatherspoon Art Gallery in Greensboro.
In conjunction with the Nasher Museum of Art, Ph.D. candidates may
also obtain a Certificate in Museology. Students may take courses for
full credit toward their degree at the University
of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, which has a distinguished Art History
faculty, and North Carolina State University at Raleigh, which is well-known
for its School of Design.
