MA in Art History

Knowledge and understanding

• LOS 1: Develop a knowledge of art in Rome in various eras: understanding of origins; ability to analyze contexts; awareness of the agency of art and how it influences, as well as is being shaped by, history.
• LOS 2: Familiarity with the sources of art historical knowledge (exhibitions, collections, archives, archaeological research, etc.); ability to analyze art, architecture and material culture as primary sources.
• LOS 3: Appreciation of developments of art as shaped by dynamic social and cultural interactions; ability to analyze works of art in terms of materials, techniques, cultural traditions, artistic and symbolic intention.

Analytical and research skills

• LOS 4: Familiarity with and ability to utilize aspects of the major theoretical and methodological approaches to the field; acquisition of an extensive vocabulary of words and terms.
• LOS 5: Ability to gather and evaluate data from many sources; ability to analyze works of art in terms of materials, techniques, formal organization, cultural and artistic traditions and intentions.
• LOS 6: Ability to formulate research questions; ability to critically evaluate and rank sources of different types; ability to produce reliable information that respects academic integrity and property.

Professional and transferrable skills

• LOS 7: Training in how to continue to learn, to engage with new ideas and changing contexts; ability to engage in peer exchange discussion and collaborative work.
• LOS 8: Attainment of improved observational skills, greater sophistication in handling visual material, and capacity to describe effects: for works of art, for contemporary media, and for the impact of the image stream of modern society.
• LOS 9: Ability to identify problem-solving strategies for effective project management; ability to engage sympathetically with diverse cultural contexts; ability to work independently.

You can complete the Master's program in either about 15 months of full-time study or over the course of two academic years, with the option of a second internship. The two-year timetable is mandatory if you plan on receiving U.S. student loans, as you will need to maintain your full-time student status during the summer term. The more intensive, 15-month option is possible for those with a strong academic record and substantial background in art history.

The Art History Master's program begins with a Foundation Phase that lays the groundwork for advanced research and professional practice through eight courses and three independent components. Completing this requirement leads to M.A. Candidacy and the Thesis Phase, during which you complete your M.A. Thesis, Thesis Colloquium, and Professional Experience.

Foundation Courses (24 Credits)

• Methods courses (6 credits)
  • AH 600 Practicum in Art-Historical Research and Problem Solving (3 credits)
  • AH 601 Case Studies in Art-Historical Practice (3 credits)

• Six courses in Art History (18 credits):
  • Three or more research seminars (9 credits)
  • One course in each of the following periods Ancient; Late Antique or Medieval; Early Modern; Modern or Contemporary (12 credits)

• Additional requirements (0 credits):
  • AH 602 Language Reading Knowledge: M.A. students must demonstrate proficiency in a second language beyond English at the B2 (upper intermediate) level or higher in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR)
  • AH 603 Cultural Events Reviews
  • AH 790 Master’s Exam

Thesis and Professional Experience (12 Credits)

• AH 791 M.A. Thesis Colloquium (3 credits)
• AH 792 Professional Experience (3 credits)
• AH 793 M.A. Thesis (6 credits)

Explore the courses of the M.A. program.

Graduate Course Descriptions

Find a detailed list of key dates for each semester of your graduate education.

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JCU offers several options to help you meet your educational goals through a focused, merit-based scholarship program. All program applicants are automatically considered for our scholarships and grants. In addition, US students may be eligible for student loan options, as well as veteran and military family benefits, to help pay for school.

Graduate Financial Aid

You will take classes and study in JCU's Center for Graduate Studies. The building hosting the center is a historic site itself, dating back to 1495, when Cardinal Alessandro Farnese, the future Pope Paul III, built a small villa on the site. In the first half of the 19th century, it passed on to the powerful Bourbon family. Since 1934, it has been part of the adjacent Accademia dei Lincei, the oldest academy in the world dedicated to the study of the humanities and natural sciences. Galileo Galilei, Enrico Fermi, and Vito Volterra were among its members

Visit the Center for Graduate Studies

The Foundation Year of your graduate education is comprised of:

• Two graduate-level courses in art-historical methods (6 credit hours total), one focusing on historiography and current practice (AH601), the other on direct work with primary sources: objects, environments, archival documents (AH600).  
• Six graduate-level courses in art history (18 credit hours), including at least three research seminars (700 level) and one course in each of the major periods of Roman and Italian art: Ancient; Late Antique and Medieval; Early Modern; and Modern and Contemporary.
• Cultural Events Reviews. Attend and analyze six scholarly lectures, conferences, or special exhibitions over the course of two semesters. These are prepared independently, graded on a pass-fail basis and are noted on the transcript but carry no academic credit. 
• Language Reading Knowledge is required by the end of the first year, through a language exam. You must demonstrate the ability to understand a scholarly text in Italian, French, or German at the B2 (upper intermediate) level in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR).
• Master’s Exam testing mastery of the basic image-repertoire, chronology, and methods of art history, with emphasis on Rome and related cultures. It is administered once a year, on the last Friday in May. 

After sitting for your Master's exam at the end of May, the remainder of the summer (through late August) can be devoted to coursework, thesis research, research-related travel, internships, supplementary language training, or other professional or educational activities. As an M.A. student, you will have access to the Frohring Library and other university facilities through the summer.

This culminating phase of the degree program has three elements:

• You will need to complete and submit an M.A. Thesis (6 credit hours), an original, article-length study of an object or building, written under the guidance of your thesis advisor. Your thesis should grow out of research done in Foundation Year courses or seminars and involve direct consultation of primary source material (objects, built environments, documents). The 6 credit hours can be concentrated in one semester (Fall) or divided evenly between two semesters (Fall and Spring).
• The Thesis Colloquium (3 credit hours) accompanies and structures the first semester of thesis writing through workshops and peer review, culminating in the presentation of your thesis at a public scholarly conference at JCU.
• The Professional Experience can take place in curation, teaching, research, and more. You will intern for at least one semester at a Roman museum, gallery, foundation, or research institute, or as a teaching or research intern at JCU. The Center for Career Services and specialized professors will help you to locate and secure internships ideal for your interests and career objectives.

• Graduate Research Seminars are research-intensive colloquia focused on specialized themes devised to stimulate original student research. They begin with the reading of a discrete body of scholarly sources and the examination of primary source material and proceed to the development of a focused research project, presentation, and paper by each seminar participant. Weekly seminar meetings are devoted to analyzing readings; examining art and other primary materials in museums, libraries, or laboratories; and presenting and discussing the results of individual research.

• Topics courses structure the acquisition of visual and historical information and research skills pertinent to specific artistic styles, media, genres, artists, or critical phenomena. Their formats vary. Most involve some combination of lectures, guided readings, site visits, and the researching and writing of a substantial paper.

  Sample course themes include Ancient Roman and Mediterranean mural painting; illuminated manuscripts of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages; Roman palaces and villas; and the valorization of contemporary visual culture.

• M.A. students are required to take two Methodological Foundations Courses:

  • Case Studies in Art-Historical Practice is a team-taught course focused on exemplary works of art-historical scholarship. Readings are selected to illustrate the diverse methods developed for studying the arts of different eras (Ancient, Medieval, Early Modern, and Modern/Contemporary), with their distinct problems and bodies of evidence, and to bring out possibilities for useful methodological borrowings across traditional chronological boundaries.

  • The Practicum in Art-Historical Research and Problem Solving provides a hands-on introduction to research from the primary record, with units on media and materials, object handling, documentation and record-keeping, archive and library navigation, palaeography and transcription, and bibliographic, digital, and technical resources for the professional art historian.

JCU is an American university, so your primary courses and coursework will be conducted in English. However, before registering for the Master’s thesis, you must demonstrate the ability to read Italian, French, or German at the B2 (upper intermediate) level or higher in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). This component is prepared independently and can be satisfied by passing a language exam administered by the John Cabot University Foreign Language Resource Center or by presenting a B2-level certificate from an approved language school or testing service (CILS, DELF/DALF, etc.).

Although language courses do not count toward the M.A., you may audit courses in Italian or French if you need further language preparation.

If your first language is Italian, French, or German, or you hold a Bachelor's degree or the equivalent from a university where the language of instruction is Italian, French, or German, you are exempt from this requirement.

If you are a European Union (EU) citizen or have an Italian permit of stay (permesso di soggiorno), you are eligible for admission as a part-time student. Part-time students typically take between three and nine credit hours per term and are allowed four years to complete all degree requirements.