<p>does anyone know of any phd programmes that have a particularly strong reputation for modern&contemporary art history?</p>
<p>Any help would be greatly appreciated!!</p>
<p>I'm currently an undergrad at Duke, studying Art History (and applying to PhD programs in the near future as well...trying to do a terminal MA first). I think Duke is definitely a school worth looking into if you're familiar with/enjoy the work of Kristine Stiles. She works with a number of graduate students, a few of whom I've had the pleasure of getting to know, and they say nothing but good things about her. She is a great mentor. I don't want to comment too much because there are much wiser people on this board who can likely supply you with much better answers.</p>
<p>Anyway, if you haven't already, take a look at her work. She's a huge contributor to contemporary art, and if you respect the approach she takes and click with her personality she will be a great adviser.</p>
<p>@ Tunadunk5</p>
<p>I have no background in art history, but I do know the city of Chicago has an excellent modern art museum and the Art Institute. You should check out SAIC, Northwestern and maybe UChicago.</p>
<p>For sure U of C. And of course add the "usual suspects": Harvard and Yale, Stanford, Berkeley...</p>
<p>One thing you might want to try is to look at faculty CVs at the "big names" to see where the professors who specialize in modern and contemporary got their PhDs. That will not only give you an idea of where to start your search, but also the schools that are able to feed new professors to big name universities.</p>
<p>Also, look carefully at how the departments are are organized. Some schools have independent "History of Art" departments, others combine them in with "Art" per se, Architecture, even Archaeology. For someone interested in contemporary, I suspect that a department joined with Archaeology might not be the best possible environment.</p>
<p>Good Luck!</p>
<p>Columbia is HUGE in art history.</p>
<p>NYU is also an especially strong program in art history. Don't overlook Princeton.</p>
<p>The top five would be:
Yale
Columbia
NYU
Chicago
Princeton (although Princeton's grad school has a slightly odd reputation)</p>