Art History, M.A.

Degree Requirements

The Master of Arts in Art History offers two tracks: a thesis track and a non-thesis track. Students declare which track they intend to pursue after completing 18 hours of coursework, with the art history faculty who will then determine whether or not they may continue in their chosen track. Students who do not have a grade-point average of at least 3.7 (A-) will generally not be allowed to continue in the program, and students who have not demonstrated sufficiently strong research and writing skills will not be allowed to pursue the thesis track. Students who plan to continue graduate work after the Master of Arts in Art History at Georgia State University are urged to pursue the thesis-track option.

Each student will be assigned an advisor upon acceptance into the program, but may change advisors contingent upon acceptance by the subsequent advisor. Students are responsible for making appointments with their advisors and for being familiar with the requirements for the degree. Students must work closely with their advisors to determine the best distribution of art history courses and the most pertinent electives, as well as to make sure that they correctly progress towards the degree.

All candidates for the Master of Arts degree in Art History must demonstrate a reading knowledge of either French or German. The language requirement should be fulfilled no later than the end of the first year (or 18 hours) of graduate work. This requirement may be adjusted by petition of the student if his/her major area of research requires learning a language other than French or German. The foreign language reading requirement may be satisfied by:

1. Completing or providing evidence of completion of two years of college coursework in the requisite language.
2. Passing a reading examination administered by the Department of World Languages and Cultures. The reading tests, offered once a semester, emphasize translation ability. Students are permitted to take the exam more than once, if necessary.
3. Receiving a B or better in FREN 7151 - French for Reading , GRMN 7151 - German for Reading , or, with permission, SPAN 7151 - Spanish for Reading .

Courses taken to satisfy the foreign language requirement will not count toward the total hours of coursework a student must take in order to obtain a degree. Graduate-level language courses can be taken as electives, and FREN 7151 , GRMN 7151 , or SPAN 7151  can be taken as an elective once the student has already fulfilled the foreign language reading requirement in another language.