<p>My D ( a sophomore Int Student) is majoring in Art history and wants to work in a museum, hopefully one day as a curator. She is getting a lot of conflicting advice about going to graduate school Would a MA in Curatorship studies be better than a PhD since she has no intention of teaching, and if so, which would be the best regarded programs? thanks in advance.</p>
<p>My advice would be to look at the job requirements at museum positions. What type of advanced degree do they recommend for curators? Especially if she wants to advance to a director role? The PhD in Art History tends to carry more weight than other degrees, but she might only need a MA in Public History or Certificate in Museum Studies.</p>
<p>Thanks for the info!</p>
<p>Go To Williams!!!!</p>
<p>Generally, I think PhDs are expected for curators - definitely for curators at bigger museums. For other museum positions, though (curator of education, for instance), it wouldn't be worth wasting 7 years...</p>
<p>I agree, PhD does carry more work because of specialization it requires- she may benefit from the longer training in art history to be able to handle the curator position. If she only wants to be an assistant, then the MA may suffice.</p>
<p>Museum world is also super competitive so she may need to go the PhD track to get a big leg up. PhD doesn't always have to lead to teaching- these days, people are finding creative ways to use their PhDs without ever stepping in a classroom (after obtaining it, that is). Make sure she definitely has her language training underway (French or German).</p>
<p>I'm currently a graduate student in art history, and a museum studies degree is definitely not recommended over a degree in art history if one wants to work in an art museum - especially for a curatorial position. A PhD is basically a requirement if one wants to do curatorial work. The only museum jobs that one might be able to obtain with just an M.A. are in education. </p>
<p>For more information on the schools, purchase the following directory:</p>
<p>Gathering info on grad programs in art history requires a lot of leg work - I wish there had been a current edition of this directory when I was applying.</p>
<p>The top schools are Columbia, Princeton, Yale, Harvard, Berkeley etc. Of primary concern, however, is whether the school has a professor with whom you wish to study.</p>
<p>Thanks a million</p>
<p>what's your field, katreese?</p>
<p>I study 17th-century Dutch art.</p>
<p>Just wanted to share my frustration with all the history of art people: seeing all these scientists get responses from schools I want to be at is driving me mad. Oh well, only two more months to go (possibly longer from a certain notoriously tardy school whose name shall not be mentioned)...</p>
<p>Katreese - I thought NYU was one of the top art history universities for your masters & PhD? My son is an applicant there for a masters (with the intention of getting his PhD). The reason he chose NYU was because he is not sure he wants to study art history or archeology & he didn't have to decide until the end of his first year. Many schools were strong in either archeology or art history or if they had both then not the art history program he was interested in. </p>
<p>Thanks so much for the link too. If he doesn't get into the Courthauld or NYU (he only applied to two) then we may have to look at other options.</p>
<p>Also to the OP, make sure your daughter has her languages too. My son is fluent in French, reads Latin & is two years into German. He was told by several schools that many people who are trying to get into their programs only have Spanish which is not going to help them get into grad school (unless they are interested in Spanish art). I can't believe that their advisors/profs don't tell them this but I guess if you don't ask then you don't know this.</p>
<p>My wife who has a bachelors in art history sang me the commercial jingle from the Budweiser "true men of genius" advertisement campaign. The barista one (check this out on youtube) goes "what do you do with a masters degree in art history? you get a nose ring and pour coffee for a living. Here's to you Mr. Nosering Barista Art History Guy"</p>
<p>This is my first time posting here, Hello!!!!</p>
<p>I'm also very anxious regarding my applications, having to wait is so hard. many of my deadlines were late December or early January so I still have to wait a lot. I check my e-mail like 5 times a day, crazy. well, Good luck to everybody!</p>
<p>To Mominsearchs . Thanks for the advice, but as a matter of fact, languages are my D's strong point, and what I hope will tip the balance in a couple of years: she is french, fluent in German, has done 6 years of Greek (loved it) and Latin (hated it) in high school, and is currently studying Italian.
To those awaiting results, good luck and keep us posted. Where did you apply?</p>
<p>Lost - that is great! One other tip - have her do an honors thesis. She should get this done in her junior year - spring semester so that she can submit it with her applications. My son is still working on his so he wasn't able to submit his with his applications. Thankfully, he had a few pretty heavy duty art history papers that qualified to send with his apps, but it would have been much better to have done the thesis his junior year. Good luck!</p>
<p>NYU is definitely a top school as well. The ones I listed were just the first 5 that came to mind. Below is a list which is very old (The Gourman Report, 1993) but still helpful as a rough starting point, since statistics on relative merit of art history grad programs are so hard to find. </p>
<ol>
<li>New York University<br></li>
<li>Harvard University<br></li>
<li>Yale University<br></li>
<li>Columbia University<br></li>
<li>Princeton University<br></li>
<li>University of California, Berkeley<br></li>
<li>Stanford University<br></li>
<li>University of Michigan, Ann Arbor<br></li>
<li>Bryn Mawr College<br></li>
<li>Johns Hopkins University<br></li>
<li>University of Pennsylvania<br></li>
<li>Brown University<br></li>
<li>University of California, Los Angeles<br></li>
<li>University of Chicago<br></li>
<li>University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill<br></li>
<li>Cornell University<br></li>
<li>University of Pittsburgh<br></li>
<li>Indiana University – Bloomington<br></li>
<li>University of Virginia<br></li>
<li>University of Kansas<br></li>
<li>Boston University<br></li>
<li>Northwestern University<br></li>
<li>Univ. of Maryland – College Park<br></li>
<li>Rutgers – New Brunswick<br></li>
<li>Univ. of Minnesota – Twin Cities<br></li>
<li>Pennsylvania State, University Park<br></li>
<li>University of Iowa<br></li>
<li>University of Texas, Austin<br></li>
<li>University of Washington, Seattle<br></li>
<li>University of Wisconsin, Madison</li>
</ol>
<p>
[quote]
I thought NYU was one of the top art history universities for your masters & PhD? My son is an applicant there for a masters (with the intention of getting his PhD). The reason he chose NYU was because he is not sure he wants to study art history or archeology & he didn't have to decide until the end of his first year. Many schools were strong in either archeology or art history or if they had both then not the art history program he was interested in.
[/quote]
The Institute of Fine Arts is arguably the most diverse art history program, in large part due to the Institute's close ties with the Met. Several of the Met curators (some of whom are NYU grads) teach at the IFA. The biggest drawback to NYU is that funding for the first year can be iffy, although it's usually excellent afterwards.</p>
<p>ETA: cross-posted with katreese</p>
<p>Thanks, for the info katreese & archaeologist. NYU is just such a good fit for my son - I hope he gets accepted! We also know that funding will be tough - the cost of apartments in NYC is outrageous! A couple of his friends are applying to Columbia & NYU so they could possibly share an apartment.</p>
<p>Best of luck! :)</p>