M.A. Program

Successful completion of 30 credit hours is required for the master of arts degree. 

Coursework must include:

• ARTH692: “Methods in Art History” (3 credits)
• Seven 600- and 700-level ARTH courses (21 credits)
• ARTH799 (6 credits) 

For one of these courses at the MA level, students may substitute an independent study (possibly done as an enhanced undergraduate course), an internship course, or a class at member institutions of the Consortium of Universities of the Washington Metropolitan Area. (A similar arrangement may again be possible at Johns Hopkins University in the future.) Students meet with their advisors every semester to determine course selection.

Art history is a global and transhistorical field, and graduate education at the University of Maryland is fittingly diverse. All students therefore must fulfill distribution requirements. Coursework for the M.A. must include at least one course from each of four topic areas:

• Art before 1800
• After after 1800
• Art outside Europe and the United States
• Art from Europe and/or the United States

Note that a single course may fulfill one of the chronological areas as well as one of the geographic areas. No one course, however, can fulfill both of the chronological topic areas or both of the geographic topic areas.

Effective spring 2024, students may receive course credit for professional paid or unpaid internships related to their degree, at the rate of one credit for each 45 hours worked during the semester (to a maximum of 3 credits). The internship course must be taken simultaneously with the internship, not before or after (no summer internships can be worked for credit). Credits are granted through ARHU786 or a similar ARTH course. Note that no credit will be given for internships worked at the University of Maryland, College Park or for the University of Maryland Museum Fellowship. Such courses are subject to approval by the student’s advisor and the Director of Graduate Studies. Note that any such internship course will count as the one non-standard course allowed for each graduate degree.

A minimum grade of "B-" is required for all courses approved for graduate credit. Two grades below "B-" result in dismissal from the program.

All MA students are required to take an examination in a language other than English necessary for research in their art-historical field. The student’s language should be chosen in consultation with their advisor. New students should enter the program with an appropriate level of preparation. Those with native fluency in the necessary language may petition to waive the exam using this form.

Entering students must take their foreign language examination in the first semester, customarily scheduled by the department for the second or third week of September. If a student fails the examination, another opportunity to take it will be given toward the end of the second semester, and, if necessary, again in future semesters. Completion of the language requirement is required for the degree.

The language exam will consist of a passage of approximately 500 words which the student must translate into good English. The exam period is two hours; the student may use a published translation dictionary but no online resources. The passage will typically come from an exhibition catalogue entry, and the translation will be graded pass/fail for its ability to convey the meanings of the passage in good, fluid English that reflects a good understanding, free of major errors or significant omissions. Students preparing may ask the Coordinator of Graduate Studies for an example of a past exam. In the case of an unsuccessful attempt, the student will receive a brief written rationale for the result and advice for future study and exam attempts.

In languages for which the department cannot offer an exam, or for students who entered the program when coursework was permitted in lieu of the exam (prior to 2024), two years of college-level study or a one-semester translation course (completed with a passing grade) will be accepted in lieu of an exam.

To obtain an M.A. degree, students must submit a thesis of 8000-10000 words in length. This may be either a seminar paper that has been substantially extended and rewritten, or a new piece of research. In conceptual terms, this should be the equivalent of a scholarly article or a dissertation chapter; like one of those, it should present an original argument supported by solid research in the necessary languages, using primary and secondary sources and employing an appropriate method of analysis. Captions must accompany the illustrations on the same page; content of the captions may vary slightly according to the subject. 

The committee will be allowed a minimum of four weeks in which to read the thesis and conduct the oral examination.

An M.A. thesis committee comprises three faculty persons (including the advisor), who are members of the Graduate Faculty at the university.  Two of the three members of the committee must be full-time Departmental faculty.  The advisor must submit to the Director of Graduate Studies a list of all committee members at least four weeks before the final copy of the thesis is distributed. If the Qualifying Paper was originally written for a professor other than the student’s PhD advisor, that professor will be on the committee but the advisor will still officially chair the committee.

A final one-hour-long oral examination of the M.A. thesis or Qualifying Paper will be held when the student has completed the work to the satisfaction of the student’s advisor, all other requirements for the degree have been completed, and a 3.0 grade point average has been earned

Based on the committee’s evaluation of the thesis and its own review of the student’s academic record, it will determine whether or not to award the M.A. degree, and whether or not to recommend the student’s advancement to the Ph.D. program if requested. The student’s advisor will submit a brief narrative evaluation report (1-2 paragraphs) reflecting the views of the entire committee to the department.

All students who wish to undertake a Ph.D. program in the Department, and were provisionally accepted before their M.A. work,  are required to submit a Petition to Undertake a Ph.D. Program form [link]. This form must be submitted to the Director of Graduate Studies within two weeks of the M.A. thesis defense. Students who were not provisionally accepted to the Ph.D. program in their original admission to the graduate program will need to formally apply to the Ph.D. program according to the regular deadlines.

A student must make satisfactory progress in meeting program requirements, demonstrate the ability to succeed in his or her course of studies or research and attain performance minima specified by the graduate program in all or in particular courses; otherwise his or her enrollment will be terminated. All graduate students are required to submit an annual report on their progress to degree to the director of graduate studies.

Specific deadlines for students intending to graduate will be announced on the ARTH graduate-student reflector and are also available from the Graduate School's Deadlines for Graduates. Most of the necessary paperwork for these deadlines can be found on the Graduate School's General Forms for Graduate Students.