Founded in 1969, the MA program in the Department of the History of Art and Architecture at the University of Massachusetts Amherst offers fifty years of experience in preparing students for doctoral study and professional careers in the art world and beyond. Graduates go on to a variety of careers in the art market, academia, museum and historical society work, conservation, government programs in the arts, journalism, and teaching at all levels. The department offers competitive comprehensive financial support with teaching assistantship appointments that include a stipend, full tuition credit, and health insurance.
The four-semester program has a rigorous structure of training that provides both breadth and depth in the wide range of art historical fields taught by a dynamic and award-winning faculty. Graduate students closely collaborate with faculty in small groups that prioritize hands-on training at area museums and special collections. The department has generous funds dedicated to summer research and internships. Students are offered several opportunities for professionalization, including a year-long Graduate Curatorial Fellowship at the University Museum of Contemporary Art culminating in a student-organized exhibition, and the student-organized annual Mark Roskill Graduate Symposium that celebrated its twentieth anniversary in 2019.
The University of Massachusetts Amherst is a member of the vibrant Five College Consortium in Western Massachusetts, comprising Amherst College, Smith College, Mount Holyoke College and Hampshire College, with access to an exceptionally rich network of museum collections, faculty, and academic libraries within a ten-mile radius.
The application deadline is January 15, 2020. For more information and link to the application, visit www.umass.edu/arthistory