Except in extraordinary circumstances, no student will be given more than two chances to pass any given section of the examination. The doctoral committee, on the basis of the candidate's past academic performance and proposed dissertation topic, may require additional course work or other forms of preparation for the dissertation. The normative time for completion of the Ph.D. program is five to six years. Graduate Courses in Visual Studies Additional graduate courses satisfying the requirements of the Ph.D. program in Visual Studies are listed in the Department of Art History and the Program in Film Studies sections. Graduate students may also enroll concurrently in any upper-division lecture class with the approval of the instructor.
Introductory seminar surveys the key theories of vision and visuality.
Examines the theoretical texts that have, over the past several decades, enabled the emergence of the hybrid discipline of Visual Studies and addresses the recent polemics written in support of and opposition to this new disciplinary practice. History of art history and film studies to 1980. Examines the ways in which the visual has been constructed and places these constructions in their institutional and cultural contexts. Examines historiographic questions by interrogating the evidentiary power of visual artifacts. The exploration of a special topic in Visual Studies.