PhD Art History at University of Illinois Chicago

Programme overview

The Department of Art History and Museum and Exhibition Studies supports study and research leading to art history degrees at both the master’s and doctoral levels. The Master of Arts in Art History offers emphases in the history of architecture and art. The PhD in Art History is designed to promote intellectual inquiry and provide professional-level training in the discipline, in a program that provides both wide coverage and particular depth in areas of faculty strength, including, but not limited to, the History of Architecture, Design, and Urbanism; Global Art Histories; and the History of Modern and Contemporary Art.

Faculty: College of Architecture, Design, and the Arts | Study mode: full-time | Location: Chicago, IL, United States

What you will study

Minimum 96 semester hours required. Required courses include Historiography of the Visual Arts, 1750 to 1960; Toward New Histories of the Visual Arts, 1960 to the Present; Art History Teaching Seminar; and; , a maximum of 2 semester hours of; Topics in Medieval Art and Architecture.

Official programme page

Application information

Entry requirements

Prior degree: No restrictions. GPA: At least 3.00/4.00 in an appropriate MA from another institution; if applying with a BA, the applicant must have a 3.20 overall and a 3.50 in the major, or approval by the Graduate Program Committee. Tests: None. Letters of recommendation: Three required, preferably from professors and others who are familiar with the applicant’s potential for serious academic work. Personal statement: Applicants must submit a short statement of purpose (2–3 pages) that should address the reasons for wishing to do doctoral work and the relationship of this work to their professional and career objectives.

Tuition is charged per credit, so the total depends on the modules you register for each year. Current fees are listed in the official fee schedule.

Graduate and professional programmes admit for Fall, Spring and Summer terms depending on the programme; applications for Fall 2027, Spring 2028 and Summer 2028 are expected to open on August 1, 2026.

Graduate and professional application deadlines are set per programme, with separate deadlines for domestic and international applicants for most non-online programmes; optional earlier priority, recommended or fellowship dates apply to both.

Apply through the official page: https://grad.uic.edu/admissions/

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