Courses Offered to Graduate Students

Lecture Courses

Graduate students take art history lecture courses for 3 credits only. Courses below the 300-level do not count towards a graduate degree. Under special circumstances, attending a 200-level course may be part of the requirement for an independent study.

300-level These courses are intermediate survey courses that cover broad spans within each area of art history. These are particularly recommended for background in areas in which you have no prior coursework.
400-level These courses offer intermediate/advanced material and are designed to give you the possibility of greater specialization within a given area. Courses at the 400-level give graduates and advanced undergraduates the opportunity for greater in-depth study and readings, generally in a period shorter than those covered in 300-level courses. Enrollments for courses at this level are smaller, permitting more discussion.
500-level These courses are undergraduate proseminars designed to introduce undergraduates to discussion and research at a more advanced level. Art history graduate students are sometimes permitted to take undergraduate proseminars if space permits, but in most cases will not receive seminar credit.
600-level These courses have been designated by the department as special topics courses, and in any semester one or more may be offered. "Special Topics" courses allow faculty to develop and try out new lecture courses before they formally propose them; it also permits the offering of one-time-only courses and courses taught by visiting professors.
601-602 Museum course. History of museums and collecting; introduction to connoisseurship; studies and practices in art museum activities; experience in exhibition planning, research, cataloging, and installation.

Advanced Courses

701 Methods course
799 Independent Study for graduate students
800-level Graduate seminars
990 Research and Thesis

CIC Program

Students may also take courses at other institutions participating in the Committee on Institutional Cooperation (CIC) Program: University of Chicago, University of Illinois-Chicago, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Indiana University, University of Iowa, University of Michigan, Michigan State University, University of Minnesota, Northwestern University, Ohio State University, Pennsylvania State University, and Purdue University.