Graduate Colloquia

Lithograph by Pablo Picasso

Graduate students can take graduate colloquia (700 +) or 300+ lecture courses to satisfy the distribution requirement for the MA Graduate students are required to take at least 18 credits at the 700/900 level. The 18 credits include ArtHist 700 (Proseminar in Art History) but exclude ArtHist 703 and 704 (Introduction to Museum Studies I & II). 6 of the 18 credits should be taken in thesis research (ArtHist 990).

What is a graduate colloquium?

A graduate colloquium is a low enrollment discussion-based course that usually meets once a week for 2 hours and 40 minutes. Colloquia focus on a specific topic (see below) and allow for a more in-depth study of historiography, methodology, and major themes in a particular art-historical field. Students are expected to read, write, and contribute to class discussion. Weekly readings can exceed 100 pages a week. Assignments usually include weekly writing assignments, a 20-30 page paper, and a 30-45 minute presentation. Graduate colloquia typically do not have exams.

Sample Colloquia Topics

Van Gogh
Bronze Age Arts and Cultures of China
Performance Art
Velazquez
Contemporary Art Cinema
American Prints
Medieval Reliquaries
Gender in Pre-Columbian Art
Arts and Crafts Movement
Roman Copies or Greek Sculpture
Medieval Narrative Arts
Art of the 1860s
Spirituality in Golden Age Spain
Art and Identity in Sixteenth-Century Mexico
The Parthenon and the Athenian Acropolis
Art of the 1950s
American Art 1900-1945
The Bauhaus
Problems in Iconography