Art History in Arts of the Americas (AHAA)
Rachel Debuque
Director of the School of Art
Studio and Design Center
479-575-5202
John Blakinger
Program Director of Art History
Email: johnrb@uark.edu
Jennifer Greenhill
Director of Graduate Studies and Museum Partnerships
Email: greenhil@uark.edu
Degree Conferred:
M.A. in Art History in Arts of the Americas (AHAAMA)
The Master of Arts in Art History in Arts of the Americas is a two-year residency program conducted in partnership with the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art and specializing in the arts of the Americas.
Educating students in a multivocal and inclusive art history, the program aims to give students the interdisciplinary training and robust work experiences that they will need to thrive with an M.A. degree in industries that value visual literacy, creativity, communication, collaboration, and research. The program prepares students for top Ph.D. programs in art history, but also facilitates other trajectories for those seeking to contribute to the arts and society with an M.A. degree.
The program offers a solid grounding in art’s complex global histories while providing a specialty in arts of the Americas. This specialized field was chosen for a variety of reasons, including the geographical location, the growing and world-class resources in American art, broadly conceived, and the commitment to leveraging these resources to expand access to the arts, which is seen as essential to building better futures in society as a whole. The curriculum is organized around six key themes that are deemed essential to understanding both the arts of the Americas and the social impacts of creative practice, historically and in the present. These six themes include environment, heritage, power, circulation, structures and systems, and identity and community.
Requirements for M.A. in Art History in Arts of the Americas
The Master of Arts in Art History in Arts of the Americas is a two-year program conceived in collaboration with the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. The program offers a solid grounding in art’s complex global histories while providing a specialty in arts of the Americas. This specialized field was chosen for a variety of reasons, including the geographical location, the growing and world-class resources in American art, broadly conceived, and the commitment to leveraging these resources to expand access to the arts, which is seen as essential to building better futures in society as a whole. The curriculum is organized around six key themes that are deemed essential to understanding both the arts of the Americas and the social impacts of creative practice, historically and in the present. These six themes include environment, heritage, power, circulation, structures and systems, and identity and community.
The program covers the cost of tuition and provides a generous stipend to all admitted students, providing a fully funded pathway toward a wide range of careers in the arts. Educating students in a multivocal and inclusive art history, the program aims to give students the interdisciplinary training and robust work experiences that they will need to thrive with an M.A. degree in industries that value visual literacy, creativity, communication, collaboration, research, and other skills. The program prepares students for top Ph.D. programs in art history, but also facilitates other trajectories for those seeking to contribute to the arts and society with an M.A. degree.
Application to the Degree Program:
Application for admission is a two-step process. Each applicant must:
- Apply to the Graduate School at the University of Arkansas.
- Submit the following to the School of Art using SlideRoom:
- A personal statement explaining motivation for pursuing graduate research in art history (in general and at the University of Arkansas), personal and career goals, and relevant qualifications and experiences.
- A writing sample demonstrating preparedness for advanced research in art history (15-20 pages). The writing sample should be a piece of scholarly writing that demonstrates the student's research and writing skills, analytical abilities, and capacity for original argumentation. The writing sample should read as a complete piece of work (and not an incomplete section of a larger text). Students may attach up to five additional pages of illustrations and/or bibliography.
- Curriculum vitae or résumé.
- Three letters of recommendation addressing the applicant's preparedness for graduate education. The application is not considered complete until all recommendation letters are received.
- A pdf of unofficial transcripts from all previous colleges and universities attended. Successful applicants will have an undergraduate degree in art history, or significant coursework in art history or a related discipline relevant to art history and/or the arts of the Americas focus of the program. Relevant work experience will also be considered as preparation for graduate work in art history.
The application deadline is February 15 for fall admission. The application portal on SlideRoom will close after 11:59 p.m. (Central Standard Time) on February 15. It is recommended that applicants submit their applications at least two weeks prior to the deadline to allow ample time for the submission of letters of recommendation.
Requirements for the Degree
A total of 12 courses (36 graduate credit hours) from the following:
| Five courses (15 credit hours) in core courses: | ||
| ARHS 60003 | Art History's Histories: Critical Historiography and Methodology | 3 |
| ARHS 60403 | Art History Practicum | 3 |
| ARHS 60103 | Immersive Travel | 3 |
| ARHS 60203 | Graduate Art History Writing Workshop | 3 |
| ARHS 60303 | Art History Qualifying Paper | 3 |
| Five courses (15 credit hours) must be selected in one or more of the six themes listed below, which are fundamental to understanding the arts of the Americas in a global context. Students are required to touch on each one of these six themes in coursework by the end of their second year in the program. Although most courses will address multiple themes, each course may count for no more than two themes. Students may petition to have up to two courses outside of art history count toward the theme requirement. | 15 | |
| Environment Theme | ||
| This theme speaks to land, nature, climate change, resource extraction, migration, space, empire, region, territory, stewardship. | ||
| Seminar in Spatial Practices in Mesoamerica and New Spain | ||
| Seminar in Visual Legacies of the American West | ||
| Seminar in Monuments and Public Space | ||
| Seminar in Contemporary Native American Art | ||
| Heritage Theme | ||
| This speaks to ancestral lineages and legacies, invented traditions, the life of objects and ideologies, questions of authenticity, materials and making. | ||
| Seminar in Art and Artifice of Americana | ||
| Seminar in Visual Legacies of the American West | ||
| Seminar in Mining Museums | ||
| Seminar in Contemporary Native American Art | ||
| Seminar in Imagining Africa | ||
| Power Theme | ||
| This theme speaks to rights issues, social and political imbalances and inequities, race relations and racism, imperialism and national building, colonization and decolonization. | ||
| Seminar in Visual Legacies of the American West | ||
| Seminar in Monuments and Public Space | ||
| Seminar in Mining Museums | ||
| Seminar in Culture Wars: Politics, Protest, and Activism in the Arts | ||
| Seminar in Contemporary Native American Art | ||
| Seminar in Cross-cultural Artistic Production in the Atlantic World | ||
| Circulation Theme | ||
| This theme speaks to the movements and migrations of peoples, objects, and ideas across space and time; transculturation and globalization; value and mobility; markets. | ||
| Seminar in Art and Artifice of Americana | ||
| Seminar in Making and Unmaking the "Modern | ||
| Seminar in Mining Museums | ||
| Seminar in Contemporary Native American Art | ||
| Seminar in Imagining Africa | ||
| Seminar in Cross-cultural Artistic Production in the Atlantic World | ||
| Structures and Systems Theme | ||
| This theme speaks to institutions and the mechanisms that organize and legislate experience; systemically maintained social privileges and oppressions; systems of signification; intersections between art and science. | ||
| Seminar in Spatial Practices in Mesoamerica and New Spain | ||
| Seminar in Art and Artifice of Americana | ||
| Seminar in Making and Unmaking the "Modern | ||
| Seminar in Mining Museums | ||
| Seminar in Cross-cultural Artistic Production in the Atlantic World | ||
| Identity and Community Theme | ||
| This theme speaks to identity formation, individual subjectivities, intersectionalities, kinship networks, social world making, community protocols, imagined and real communities. | ||
| Seminar in Spatial Practices in Mesoamerica and New Spain | ||
| Seminar in Monuments and Public Space | ||
| Seminar in Monuments and Public Space | ||
| Seminar in Culture Wars: Politics, Protest, and Activism in the Arts | ||
| Seminar in Imagining Africa | ||
| Seminar in Cross-cultural Artistic Production in the Atlantic World | ||
| Elective Courses | ||
| Two graduate courses (six graduate credit hours) that address material outside the program's key themes or emphasis on the Americas. These may be specialized seminars or courses that fall outside of art history in allied areas including (but not limited to): African and African American Studies, Anthropology, Architecture, Art Education, Business and Entrepreneurship, Classical Studies, Communication, Comparative Literature and Cultural Studies, English, Environmental Sciences, Gender Studies, Graphic Design, History, Journalism and Strategic Media, Latin American and Latino Studies, Political Science, Sociology and Criminology, or Studio Art. May include 5000-level courses. | 6 | |
| Total Hours | 36 | |
Additional Requirements for the Degree:
- Language Proficiency: Reading proficiency in a minimum of one world language (other than English) is required. Proficiency should be demonstrated before the student's second year in the program by one of these means:
- Passing a translation exam offered by the World Languages, Literatures, and Cultures Department at the University of Arkansas or by special arrangement in cases when the relevant language translation exam is not offered;
- Receiving a grade of B or higher in a reading knowledge course taken at Global Campus at the University of Arkansas or at another approved institution; or
- Having an undergraduate major or minor in a world language.
- Students will be required to write a self-assessment at the end of each semester, summarizing the ways in which they have explored one or more themes in their courses and research projects during that term. Self-assessments will be evaluated by an Art History faculty committee.
- Comprehensive Examination: A 20-minute public presentation, adapted from the Qualifying Paper, fulfills this requirement, in addition to a one-hour oral defense of the project, demonstrating comprehensive knowledge of the student's research area and methodologies explored in the Qualifying Paper. By the beginning of Year 2, the student will assemble an Advisory Committee (comprised of the QP adviser and two graduate faculty, one of which may be outside of Art History) to provide guidance on the QP and evaluate the comprehensive exam.
Students should also be aware of the Graduate School requirements for M.A. degrees.
Graduate Faculty
Andree, David, M.F.A. (State University of New York), B.F.A. (Minneapolis College of Art and Design), Teaching Assistant Professor, 2015.
Andree, Kara M., M.F.A. (State University of New York at Buffalo), B.F.A. (Minneapolis College of Art and Design), Instructor, 2016.
Blakinger, John, Ph.D., M.A. (Stanford University), B.A. (Wesleyan University), Associate Professor, Endowed Chair in Art History, 2020.
Brown, Kathy, Ph.D. (University of Houston), M.A. (Eastern Michigan University), B.A. (Wilberforce University), , Endowed Assistant Professor of Art Education, 2023.
Cai, Danqi, M.F.A (University of Tennessee), B.F.A. (Maryland Institute College of Art), Assistant Professor, 2023.
Callander, Adrienne, M.F.A. (Rutgers University), B.A. (Reed College), Assistant Professor, 2017.
Callander, Neil, M.F.A. (Rutgers University), B.F.A. (Indiana University at Bloomington), Associate Professor, 2017.
Cassiano Alverez, Renata, M.F.A. (University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth), Instructor, 2019.
Chioffi, David Charles, M.A. (Wesleyan University), B.F.A. (The Rochester Institute of Technology), Professor, 2013, 2019.
Drolen, Rebecca, M.F.A., B.A. (Indiana University, Bloomington), Associate Professor, 2015, 2023.
Edwards, Vincent A., M.F.A. (Herron School of Art and Design), B.F.A. (Indiana University), Instructor, 2016.
Gepher, Henry, M.F.A (PennWest Edinboro), B.S.E. (Millersville University), Assistant Professor, 2023.
Greenhill, Jennifer, Ph.D. (Yale University), M.A. (Williams College), B.A. (University of California, Los Angeles), Professor, Endowed Chair in Art History, 2020.
Hapgood, Thomas Layley, M.F.A., B.A. (University of Arizona), Associate Professor, 2005, 2012.
Hernandez, Gaby, M.F.A. (University of Florida), B.A. (Universidad de Costa Rica), Endowed Associate Professor of Graphic Design, 2021.
Hogan, Adam S., M.A, M.F.A (Washington University in St. Louis), Assistant Professor, 2014.
Hulen, Jeannie, M.F.A. (Louisiana State University), B.F.A. (Kansas City Art Institute), Professor, 2002, 2018.
Jacobs, Lynn Frances, Ph.D., M.A. (New York University), B.A. (Princeton University), Distinguished Professor, 1989, 2016.
King, Sam, M.F.A. (Indiana University at Bloomington), B.F.A. (University of Tulsa), Associate Professor, 2011, 2022.
Lane, Marty Maxwell, M.G.D. (North Carolina State University), B.F.A. (University of Illinois at Chicago), Associate Professor, 2014, 2019.
LaPorte, Angela M., Ph.D. (Pennsylvania State University), M.A. (Arizona State University), B.S. (La Roche College), Professor, 1998, 2016.
Lee, Oh Mee, M.A. (University of Oregon), Instructor, 2019.
Levenson, Abra, Ph.D., M.A.(Princeton), B.A. (University of California, Berkeley), Assistant Professor, 2018.
Lopez, Linda Nguyen, M.F.A. (University of Colorado-Boulder), B.F.A. (California State University-Chico), Associate Professor, 2012, 2023.
McConnell, Mathew S., M.F.A. (University of Colorado-Boulder), B.F.A. (Valdosta State University), Associate Professor, 2011, 2016.
McMahon, Bree, M.A., B.A. (North Carolina State University), Assistant Professor, 2018.
Mitchell, Marc E., M.F.A. (Boston University), Associate Professor, 2014, 2019.
Place, Alison L., M.F.A (Miami University), Assistant Professor, 2017.
Posnak, Adam, M.F.A (Louisiana State University and A&M College), Instructor, 2010.
Pulido Rull, Ana, Ph.D., M.A. (Harvard University), B.A. (National Autonomous University of Mexico), Associate Professor, 2012, 2018.
Schulte, Christopher M., Ph.D. (Pennsylvania State University), M.A., B.A. (University of Northern Iowa), , Endowed Associate Professor of Art Education, 2019.
Slone, Ryan B., B.F.A (University of Arkansas), Instructor, 2001.
Springer, Bethany Lynn, M.F.A. (University of Georgia), B.A. (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University), Professor, 2006, 2022.
Sytsma, Janine A., Ph.D. (University of Wisconsin-Madison), M.A. (University of Denver), B.A. (Arizona State University), Assistant Professor, 2016.
Turner, Aaron, M.F.A. (Rutgers State University), B.A. (University of Memphis), Assistant Professor, 2016, 2021.
Yoon-Ramirez, Injeong, Ph.D. (University of Arizona), , Endowed Associate Professor of Art Education, 2017.