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Fall 2026 Graduate Catalog
Art History and Criticism, MA
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 Return to: Master’s Programs
Degree Awarded: Master of Arts in Art History and Criticism
The Graduate Program in Art History & Criticism at Stony Brook University focuses on modern and contemporary art, media, and material culture. We are a selective, close-knit program whose interdisciplinary orientation is well served by the resources of a large research university. Our proximity to New York City’s world-renowned artists, museums, foundations, and galleries offers extensive opportunities for research, internships, and professional networking. The New York Inter-University Doctoral Consortium allows students to explore courses at area universities, and campus galleries offer opportunities for curatorial theory and practice. We approach art history as a relational and transnational field, advancing material thinking and tracing routes of exchange that connect local sites to global networks.
Current research and curriculum emphasize:
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Social histories of art
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Global modernisms
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Media and technology
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Ecology and material culture
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Global indigeneity and decolonization
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Visual and material histories of science
MA in Art History and Criticism
The MA in Art History and Criticism is a two year 36-credit flexible degree program with a strong emphasis on modern and contemporary art and visual and material culture. In their second year, students must pass a comprehensive exam, and work with a faculty advisor on a written thesis or project that serves as a capstone requirement for the degree. Part-time study is allowed in this degree program. The MA in Art History and Criticism is appropriate preparation for PhD degrees in art history or other fields. Students also move on directly to careers in gallery and museum work, education, publishing, non-profit foundations and business.
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Admission Requirements
Admission into the MA and PhD programs is at the discretion of the art history and criticism faculty with the final approval of the Graduate School. Admission is usually for the Fall semester. Part-time study is permissible for qualified MA candidates only. Admission to the program assumes a minimum of a B average in undergraduate work and meeting the standards of admission to the Graduate School (including English Proficiency Requirements). It is recognized that MA and PhD applicants may come from a wide variety of backgrounds that will require individual structuring of their programs to suit their needs. Applicants will ordinarily have a bachelor’s degree with an art history major or minor; however, this requirement may be waived at the discretion of the graduate faculty. All applicants are encouraged to submit a sample of written work with their application. Degree Requirements
The student will be required to successfully complete 36 credits of graduate work, as outlined in the list of courses below. A student must achieve a 3.0 overall grade point average to receive a degree from Stony Brook. Required Courses (6 credits)
Art History and Criticism Electives (15-21 credits)
Humanities and Social Sciences Electives (3-9 credits)
One to three courses in the humanities and/or social sciences, to be chosen in consultation with a faculty advisor and with the approval of the M.A./Ph.D. Graduate Director. These may be in relevant aspects of studio art practice, literary studies or critical history, musicology, philosophy, dramaturgy, sociology, anthropology. Comprehensive Examination
Comprehensive Examination: This exam assesses foundational knowledge of art history. Full-time students must take the comprehensive examination in their third semester of study to continue in the program. In lieu of the examination, students who enroll in the foundational course series of ARH 520 - Media Aesthetics and ARH 521 - Global Postwar Art in their first year of graduate study may request that successful completion of these two courses (B+ or higher in each course) be accepted by the GPD to meet this requirement. Language Requirement
Students are required to have reading knowledge of at least one language in addition to English that is relevant to their projected area of research. This requirement may be met with a translation exam, coursework, or other evidence of fluency as determined by the GPD. MA students must meet the language requirement before filing their thesis and PhD students before Advancing to Candidacy. Teaching Requirement
All MA students are expected to undertake a teaching practicum under the supervision of a professor. They will be assigned as a teaching assistant for an undergraduate course, usually during the second year in the program. Students will be expected to assist the professor with tasks such as attendance, grading and maintenance of online materials. Competency will be judged on the basis of a guest lecture and/or leading class discussion session that will be observed and evaluated by the faculty supervisor. Thesis
By the end of the second semester, the student, together with an advisor chosen by the student, will jointly agree on a thesis topic, based upon a paper they have written for a seminar in their first year-preferably either ARH 520 - Media Aesthetics of ARH 521 - Global Postwar Art . The student will submit to the Graduate Program Director a prospectus outlining the nature and aims of the thesis, signed by the faculty advisor. Over the course of the third and fourth semesters, with recommendations provided by the advisor, this paper will be reworked into a significant interpretive text relevant to art history, criticism, and/or theory. At the beginning of the final semester, the Graduate Program Director will appoint a second reader. The thesis is to be completed and approved by the end of the fourth semester. |
Return to: Master’s Programs
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