The Department welcomes applications for advanced study in the fields, periods, and specializations of the faculty in History of Art. We encourage prospective applicants to read carefully the Graduate Program Description, familiarize themselves with the teaching and research areas of the faculty and related Departments, and adhere precisely to application deadlines and requirements.

The faculty seeks exceptional candidates whose academic and professional preparation and achievement demonstrate that they will be able to make rapid progress toward a doctorate degree in History of Art and to complete their studies with distinction. Such qualifications cannot be precisely defined; extensive study in the history of art is not always a strict requisite. We do, however, prefer previous study in a discipline in the humanities or social sciences, study involving historical content and the acquisition of research and interpretive skills, as well as effective writing abilities. The capacity to read one or more foreign languages pertinent to one's study and research area(s) is also an important requirement; successful applications will generally have a strong reading fluency in one language and a good start on another. We welcome applications from recent B.A. recipients who have a strong foundation in the humanities and a set of clear intellectual interests in History of Art. The Department also invites applications from students who have received an M.A. at UC Berkeley or other universities.

PLEASE READ AND CONSIDER BEFORE SUBMITTING AN APPLICATION

Prospective applicants must determine that their educational preparation and intellectual aims are appropriate to UC Berkeley's doctoral program in the History of Art. The Department does not offer a terminal masters program, and students who have yet to establish a field or fields of proposed study, who lack previous study in fields with historical content, or who have yet to begin study of a primary research language may be better served by applying to an MA program in another University or an MA program in a cognate department at UC Berkeley.

Bear in mind too that admission to the program follows a thorough review of each applicant's complete dossier; no individual component, score, or statement will ensure admission. The Graduate Affairs Officer will not answer individual questions regarding "what it takes to get in," how many art history classes one needs to have taken, or the strength or potential impact of a particular component of an application in the admissions process. The Department does not report on the results of prior admissions.

After careful review of this page, the Graduate Program Description, as well as their own prior study and experience, prospective applicants may wish to contact individual faculty with specific questions regarding the doctoral program. Please keep in mind that faculty may not respond in detail to such inquiries due to the volume of applications.

All applications for Fall 2012 admission (with or without fellowship consideration) must be submitted online by December 15, 2011. Supplemental materials (transcripts, letters of recommendation, supplementary application, and writing sample) must be postmarked by December 15, 2011. We accept applications only for the Fall semester. Please note that the Department will not review your application until we have received all documents along with the $80 application fee for U.S. citizens or permanent residents, or $100 for all other applicants (payable online). Fee waiver request forms are available with the online application; read and follow instructions carefully.

Applications are reviewed by the Graduate Admissions Committee, which is comprised of four or five faculty members assisted by the Graduate Affairs Officer, in consultation with the faculty at large and in accordance with UC Berkeley's Graduate Division. The Committee considers individual applications and the composition of a prospective entering class. Applicants awarded admission, with or without fellowship support, will be notified by the University's Graduate Division by late March, and must accept or decline any award by April 15. The Department may send advance notification, especially to enable potential students to visit Berkeley.

Your application will be kept on file in the Department for two years. Please note that supporting materials cannot be returned and will not be retained beyond the two-year limit. For information on reapplying, or reactivating a past application, please consult the Graduate Division.

Applicants must complete the online application. Be sure to also download and submit the History of Art Supplemental Application available as a PDF. Your application file will not be reviewed without both the online AND supplementary applications. If you wish to be considered for University fellowships and/or Foreign Language Area Scholarship (FLAS), you must complete the Financial Aid Statement.

Please send all supplemental application materials to:
Graduate Affairs Officer
Department of History of Art
416 Doe Library #6020
U.C. Berkeley
Berkeley, CA 94720-6020

The faculty considers the Statement of Purpose to be one of the most important parts of your application. The Statement should precisely describe your preparation, academic interests, and professional goals. We look for a clear, well-written essay of appropriate length that demonstrates a sophisticated sense of the field of art history and that indicates the scholarly direction you wish to take. We look for applicants whose statements give signs of a creative intellect. Another important factor affecting the decision of the Graduate Admissions Committee is the compatibility of your research interests with those of our faculty. To see a list of our current faculty members and their fields of expertise, please go to our Faculty Webpages. Please note that we also require a Personal History Statement.

All applicants are required to submit one writing sample of approximately 20 pages. The sample should be a formal, scholarly piece of writing that preferably addresses analytically a topic that is historical in nature. Post-MA applicants should submit their master's thesis. Please do not use special folders or binding as it delays processing of your application and does not improve your chances of admission. Writing samples will be returned only if accompanied by a self-addressed stamped envelope. Please do not send slides, catalogues, original artwork, and so on.

You should arrange for three letters of recommendation to be sent to the Department of History of Art, either by mail or online. Such letters are most helpful when they speak specifically to the applicant's achievement and potential in the history of art, or in related fields such as history or languages and literature, with an emphasis on recent academic work. It is your responsibility to ensure that recommendation letters reach us by December 15. In addition, one official and sealed transcript from each college or university attended must be submitted to the department by the application deadline.

The GRE General Exam is required by for domestic applicants who attended college in the U.S., applicants from abroad whose native language is English, and those who have studied full time for one year or more in schools or universities where English is the language of instruction. Foreign applicants from non-English speaking countries are required to take the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). The TOEFL is offered online, via the internet (IBT) or computer (CBT). The passing score for the IBT is 68. Because there is sometimes a delay in forwarding of results, the exam(s) should be taken early, preferably in the early fall. For the GRE use institution code 4833 and department code 2301. For the TOEFL the institution code for UC Berkeley is 4833 and the department code is 26.

If you have any questions not answered by this page and the Graduate Program Description, concise inquiries may be sent by email to knugent@berkeley.edu.

All graduate students at the University of California must pay registration fees of about $9,500 for the 2010-11 academic year. In addition to the standard registration fees, non-residents must pay $14,700 in tuition per year. Unless they are awarded a University fellowship or have permanent resident status, foreign nationals cannot be exempted from the non-resident tuition. However, after being advanced to candidacy, their tuition may be reduced by 75% for a total of three consecutive calendar years.

The department works with all its students to obtain continuous support through a combination of university fellowships, departmental grants, GSI appointments, research assistantships, student loans, travel awards, and extramural grants. Students not awarded University fellowships or extramural support will usually be required to serve as a GSI one semester of each year (after completion of the first year) to be eligible for support in the other semester of each year. Students who have advanced to candidacy are required to apply to outside sources of funding and must provide a copy of all applications made when applying for departmental support of any kind. The department offers support and resources to assist in this pursuit, such as grant proposal workshops and interviewing practice sessions. Generally, no department funding will be awarded after the seventh year, and seventh year funding will usually consist of teaching appointments only.Exceptions to these policies will be made on a case-by-case basis by the Fellowships Chair in concert with the student's advisor. Occasionally GSI positions will be available to students beyond their seventh year. General fellowship information is available from the Graduate Student Affairs Officer (SAO) in 416 Doe and the Graduate Fellowships Office in 318 Sproul Hall. The History of Art department maintains a binder with samples of successful grant applications for student review. In recent years students have been successful in obtaining such grants as the Javits, Kress, Fulbright, Social Science Research Council, American Association of University Women, and the National Endowment for the Humanities, Getty Predoctoral, National Gallery/CASVA, Fulbright and many others.

The department annually awards a number of smaller travel grants to enable students to acquire first-hand knowledge of works of art, normally during the summer break (this assumes normal progress on language requirements). If preferred, students have the option of using this grant for intensive language study rather than travel. The award is generally taken in a student's first summer, but can be deferred to another time if travel or study plans warrant an exception.

The Graduate SAO and the Fellowships Committee chair meet annually with graduate students in order to explain and answer questions about the overall fellowship process. The Graduate SAO is available anytime for advice and assistance with strategizing for the best funding possible.

Most multi-year fellowships are awarded at the time of acceptance to Berkeley. There are, however, additional fellowships for students further in their graduate study, and for graduate students whose backgrounds and educational interests enhance the level of diversity within the Graduate community. See the Graduate SAO or Graduate Fellowships Office for more information.

Since teaching is considered an important part of graduate training, each student in the program will normally serve several times as an instructor. Applications for GSI appointments are distributed each spring, usually in March or April. Appointments are decided at a subsequent faculty meeting and are announced before the end of the spring semester. Entering students are normally not eligible during their first year's residence, unless they have already had teaching experience elsewhere. To qualify as a GSI, students in Western art must have satisfied both language requirements and students in Asian art must have satisfied one language requirement and be making good progress in the second. Ancient art students must satisfy their Modern language requirement and be making good progress on their Greek or Latin requirement. Before teaching begins, all students must clear from their record any incomplete grades that are more than a year old. Moreover, per Graduate Division policy, GSIs may not have more than two incompletes at the time teaching begins. All first-time GSIs are required to attend an orientation workshop sponsored by the University, as well as the teaching workshop offered in the department each semester. Mandatory training and pedagogy sessions are offered at the start of each semester for all GSIs. In addition, first-time international GSIs must pass an exam to demonstrate English language proficiency. (See Graduate SAO for more information on English workshops and proficiency exams) The stipend for a one-semester teaching assistantship at the beginning teaching level in 2008-2009 is $8500.00, plus a remission of 100% of education and registration fees.

Download the 2011-2012 GSI application here

Download the 2011-2012 list of GSI courses here

Positions as Graduate Student Researchers are awarded by individual faculty members who have research grants for a given academic year. While these grants are not for regular salaried positions, faculty members sometimes hire students for specific hourly projects. Interested students should contact the department manager about available positions.

In recent years students have been successful in obtaining such grants as the Chateaubriand, Kress, National Gallery/CASVA, Fulbright, Social Science Research Council, American Association of University Women, and the National Endowment for the Humanities. Applicants who indicate interest in fellowship or financial assistance on the University Application, Form C, will automatically be considered for all forms of aid for which they are eligible. No separate application is required. Students are encouraged to apply for appropriate outside funding, and for such portable grants as the Jacob K. Javits and Andrew F. Mellon Fellowships. Students who are accepted to the program but not awarded University Multi-Year Fellowships will usually be required to serve as a GSI one semester of each year after their first year, as well as to actively pursue outside sources of funding. The department offers support and resources to assist in this pursuit, such as grant proposal workshops and interviewing practice sessions. Questions about need-based financial aid should be directed to the Financial Aid Office, Graduate Unit, 211 Sproul Hall, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-1960, (510) 642-6442.

The application and program requirements for International students are the same as domestic students except for the following:

• Foreign applicants from non-English speaking countries are required to take the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). Tests taken before June 2004 will not be accepted, even if the score was reported to Berkeley. The minimum score of the most recent test is 570 for the paper-based test and 230 for the computer-based test. The institution code for Berkeley is 4833 and the department code for History of Art is 26. TOEFL scores must be sent directly by the ETS testing office.
• If you have completed at least one year of full-time academic work at a U.S. university, you do not need to submit the TOEFL, and instead must submit a GRE score.
• Please note that as Berkeley is a state institution, there is very limited funding available for international students. Full support is rarely possible unless the student secures his or her own funds from extramural sources. The department is only able to provide support at the domestic student level; international students will be billed Non-Resident Tuition (approximately $17,500 in 2005-06) each year in attendance. Non-Resident Tuition tends to increase by at least 10% per year. However, after advancement to doctoral candidacy, tuition may be reduced by 75% for a total of three consecutive years.
• Be sure and read the information for international students in the Graduate Application for Admissions and Fellowships 2006-2007.

Doctoral Completion Fellowship activities (DCF)

See http://grad.berkeley.edu/policies/dcf.shtml for more information.

Mentoring Graduate Students at the Dissertation Stage

The History of Art Department provides academic support for graduate students who are researching and writing their dissertations primarily through individual research courses (299), in which students meet regularly with their main advisers. The department is also in the process of formalizing its longstanding voluntary dissertation colloquium, which has traditionally been held informally under the guidance of the Graduate Adviser to bring students and faculty together in regular meetings to discuss dissertation chapter drafts. The History of Art Graduate Student Association and faculty also offer voluntary sessions on professional development. Past discussions have focused on preparing articles for publication, writing job application letters, completing the dissertation efficiently and preparing it for submission, techniques for photographing art objects and scanning images, and working with Photoshop, PowerPoint, and bibliographic software.

299. Dissertation Research and Writing (1-12 units) All students who have advanced to candidacy must enroll in 299 every semester they are registered. Students who are in residence must meet with their major advisers at least twice each semester to report on progress in dissertation research and writing. When engaged in research away from campus, students will communicate with their advisers on a predetermined schedule. Must be taken on a satisfactory/unsatisfactory basis.

297. Dissertation Writing Colloquium (2 units) Students in the writing phase will meet once a month under faculty guidance to discuss dissertation chapters. Following a schedule determined at the beginning of the fall and spring semesters, each two-hour meeting will focus on a single chapter, which will be circulated at least a week in advance. Feedback will be used to revise chapters for submission. Prerequisites: Advancement to candidacy, limited to students engaged in doctoral dissertation research and writing.