M.A. in Art History and Criticism

The M.A. 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 M.A. in Art History and Criticism is appropriate preparation for Ph.D. 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. The Graduate Programs in Art History & Criticism at Stony Brook University focus on modern and contemporary art and visual culture. We aim to produce scholars, critics, curators and practitioners who can address global artistic production through contemporary issues and paradigms. Media aesthetics, art and technology, public art and social practice, politics of the avant-garde, photography, film and critical curatorial studies are currently areas of departmental research. We offer a dynamic, interdisciplinary curriculum along with individual mentoring from faculty whose work has won national and international recognition. Students benefit from engagement with the department's studio programs and with faculty and students from other programs including Philosophy, History, Music, Computer Science and Engineering, and are able to pursue Graduate Certificates in Media, Art, Culture and Technology; Art and Philosophy; Creative Writing and Literature; Women’s and Gender Studies, and Writing and Rhetoric, among others