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Policies
and Procedures for the PhD Degree
Approved by the GPC, November 11, 2003
This document is for the internal use of the Department of Art History.
In any cases where the document is in conflict with the published Graduate
School catalog, the provisions of the catalog will take precedence.
- General Graduate Requirements
- Administration of the Ph.D. Program
The Ph.D. program in art history is the
responsibility of the Graduate Program Committee (GPC) and is administered
by the Director of Graduate Studies (DGS). All questions or problems
should first be directed to the DGS. If there are unresolved problems
these may be taken to the chairperson of the department.
- Advising
As long as graduate students are taking
courses, they must meet with either the DGS or an advisor of their
choosing before registering for each semester in order to discuss
the available offerings and their progress toward the degree. Students
may ask a faculty member to serve as their advisor at any time.
In regard to their courses and preparation for their specialization,
students are also encouraged to consult with various members of
the department.
- Registration
Students normally register continuously
until all course requirements for the degree have been completed.
Those students on full-time status usually register for twelve
(12) credits or more each semester.
- Students are expected to maintain a Grade Point Average (GPA)
of 3.0.
If a student drops below this average,
he or she will be expected to meet this requirement by the end
of the following semester or be placed on academic probation. While
on probation, students will not receive financial aid or fellowships.
After two semesters on probation, the student will be dismissed
from the program.
- Time Limitation
Students admitted to the PhD program with
an MA from the department or from another university, must complete
the requirements for the degree within seven consecutive calendar
years after initial registration as a doctoral student. Students
entering the program with a BA must complete the requirements for
the degree within nine calendar years after the initial registration.
Exceptions to this requirement will be granted only upon application
and then only if the justification is sufficient in the judgment
of the GPC, the DGS, and the Graduate College.
- Requirements for the PhD Degree
- Coursework
- Semester Hours Required
The candidate must complete, at minimum,
96 semester hours beyond the bachelor’s degree, and 64 credits
beyond the MA degree. Of these hours, 24 semester hours must
be in 500-level graduate seminars, of which 18 semester hours
must be taken in the Department. Of the 64 semester hours required
beyond the masters degree, no more than 24 semester hours of
dissertation research is permitted. Only 400 and 500 level
courses can be applied to the degree and only courses in which
the student received a grade of B or better.
- Transfer Credit
Students may petition to receive credit
for up to 32 semester hours for courses taken at other universities.
- Required Core Courses
AH 510, 511, and either AH 512 or AH
562. Students who have taken equivalent course work, as part
of an MA degree, may petition the DGS for a waiver of specific
requirements; no course credit is given for a waived course.
- Dissertation research
AH 599. Ph.D. Thesis Research. May
be taken for 0–16 hours on pass/fail option only. Prerequisites:
Consent of advisor and the DGS.
- Language Requirement
Students must present evidence of advaced
knowledge of a language other than English as it relates to the
student’s chosen area of research. Evidence of the ability to pursue
research in additional languages may be necessary, depending on
the availability of literature in the field selected, and the selection
of those languages must be approved by the student’s advisor or
the DGS if the student does not have an advisor.
- Selection of language
Reading knowledge of a foreign language
relevant to the student’s plan of study is required. The Director
of Graduate Studies or faculty advisor will approve the selection
of a language. French and German are the languages most frequently
selected for those pursuing the degree, but the study of any
language important to the student’s area of research interest
will be considered.
- Proof of language competence
The student must do one of the following:
- Receive a grade of B or better in a UIC foreign language reading course for graduate students
(or its equivalent at another institution, with the approval of the DGS). These courses will not
count toward the 36 credit hours required for the MA or PhD degree.
- Pass a language exam administered by a language department at UIC. The department recommends that
students take the language exam during their first year of graduate study. In case of failure, the
student may repeat the examination until it is passed. The foreign language requirement must be
satisfied before the student registers for thesis research.
- A test administered by or through the Department of Art History of no more than two hours. The language test usually consists of a translation of a passage into English with the aid of a
dictionary.
- 4 semesters of college/university language study, with a grade of B or better. Courses
where readings are in translation may not be used. The last semester of study can be no
more than 5 years prior to the student’s first year of graduate study.
- The equivalent of the above (determined by the Director of Graduate Studies) in workshops,
summer programs, fieldwork or research in a foreign language, or other language-learning
activities.
- A degree from a foreign university where English is not the primary language of
instruction. In cases of languages, such as some Native American languages, where there
is not a significant body of written material in the language, courses focusing on grammar
and conversation, or spoken fluency as demonstrated by testing, may be used.
- Native speakers with advanced reading skills as determined by the Director of Graduate Studies
are exempt from the language requirement as are those students who have completed: 1) study in
a foreign language at a foreign university, 2) field work conducted in a second language, or
3) summer intensive second language programs at an advanced level.
- A test of language proficiency from the MA degree (must be noted on transcript).
- Doctoral (Preliminary) Examination
The purpose of the doctoral exam is to
determine the candidate’s readiness to undertake dissertation research
and passing it constitutes formal Admission to Candidacy. The student
forms an Examination Committee when coursework and the language
requirement are completed. The committee will be composed of at
least five members of whom at least three are UIC graduate faculty
with full membership, and two of whom must be tenured. At least
one member must be from outside the Department of Art History,
either from another UIC department or from outside the university.
The chair of the committee must be a full member of the UIC graduate
faculty. Committee members must be approved by the Dean of the
Graduate College who will appoint them.
- Each student will propose two areas of specialization.
In most cases, one will be chronological
or geographic such as Renaissance art, or American art, and one
will be thematic such as gender and art, or landscape or furniture
design. The student will also give an indication of the proposed
dissertation subject matter. The suggested areas of specialization
and subject matter for the dissertation will be submitted to the
Examination Committee at least three months prior to the potential
date of the preliminary exam so that the committee and the student
can negotiate the areas to be covered by the exam. The Examination
Committee will meet (part of the time with the student), elect
a chair, set up the test schedule. and approve the two fields of
concentration and the reading list. Students are expected to prepare
for the exam on their own and cannot assume that courses taken
in the department will necessarily prepare them for it. They are
strongly encouraged to consult those members of the graduate faculty
who are responsible for their examination fields in order to become
familiar with the expectations of those individuals. They are also
encouraged to consult previous doctoral exams, which are available
from the DGS. Doctoral candidates are expected to have a reading
period of three to six months to prepare for the examination. Prepared
by the examination committee, the exam will consist of two three-hour
sessions on successive days. On each day, the student will be given
two or three possible questions and will be expected to write on
one of them.
- In evaluating the exam, each member of the committee will assign
a grade of “pass” or “fail.”
A candidate cannot be passed with more
than one “fail” vote. The examination report must be
signed by all members of the committee. The results of the examination
must be submitted to the Graduate College within two weeks of the
completion of the exam.
- When the student has passed the exam, he or she will be notified
of his or her Admission to Candidacy by the Dean of the Graduate
College.
If the student does not pass the exam,
on the recommendation of the committee, the chair may permit a
second examination, which must be taken within one year. A third
examination is not permitted. Students who do not complete the
degree requirements within five years of passing the preliminary
examination must retake the examination.
- Doctoral Dissertation
The dissertation should be a book-length
study in which the candidate demonstrates a full range of scholarly
skills. It should show insight and originality in the questions
it proposes to answer. It should also present evidence of thorough
research in primary and secondary sources. Arguments should be
clear, well-written and persuasive both to specialists and to other
scholars outside the field.
- Advisor
The advisor will be the candidate’s
dissertation director. He or she must be a member of the UIC
graduate faculty and is considered the primary reader of the
dissertation. The student will submit the name of the proposed
advisor at the time he or she submits the prospectus.
- Dissertation Committee
The student forms a Dissertation Committee
when coursework and the language requirement are completed.
The committee will be composed of at least five members of
whom at least three are UIC graduate faculty with full membership
and two of whom must be tenured. At least one member must be
from outside the Department of Art History, either from another
UIC department or from outside the university. The chair of
the committee, who will be elected by the committee members,
must be a full member of the UIC graduate faculty. Committee
members must be approved by the Dean of the Graduate College
who will appoint them. Members of the doctoral committee may
or may not be the same as those on the Examination Committee,
depending on the student’s choice. If, as the work progresses,
the chair or any committee member no longer wishes to supervise
a candidate’s dissertation, he or she must inform both the
candidate and the DGS in writing. If the advisor or a member
of the committee is, for any reason, unable to supervise the
candidate, the candidate, in consultation with the DGS, will
suggest an appropriate alternate. Candidates who wish to change
chairpersons or committee members must secure the consent of
another member of the graduate faculty, notify the current
chair, and submit the name to the DGS in writing. In all cases,
any changes in committee membership must be approved by the
Dean of the Graduate College.
- Prospectus
It is expected that no later than the
end of the semester following the completion of the preliminary
examination, the doctoral candidate will submit a prospectus
of 10–20 pages to the Dissertation Committee. The prospectus
(examples of which will be available from the Director of Graduate
Studies) will include the following:
- a brief description of the project and a statement of
the thesis
- a discussion of the theoretical issues to be pursued
- an indication of the relevant literature in the field
- a statement of the anticipated significance of the research
project
- a preliminary outline of chapters
- a substantial annotated bibliography
- Prospectus Defense
The student will meet with the Dissertation
Committee to discuss and defend the prospectus. The prospectus
defense provides an opportunity for the committee and the student
to discuss the intellectual and methodological aspects of the
dissertation and to formulate research plans and strategies.
If the committee deems that the defense has been satisfactory,
a copy of the approved prospectus will be filed with the DGS
within two weeks. If the defense is deemed unsatisfactory,
the student may petition to have another defense
- Change of Plans
If any substantive changes are made
to the plans for the dissertation as outlined in the approved
prospectus (which might include a change in direction, focus,
methodology, or material covered), the candidate must write
a revised prospectus and arrange a further defense.
- Monitoring the Dissertation
It is the advisor’s responsibility
to decide when the candidate needs to submit all or part of
the work-in-progress to other members of the committee for
review. The committee members will give comments to the advisor
who will convey them to the candidate. The director may call
a meeting of the committee at any time that he or she deems
appropriate.
- Dissertation Defense
A defense is scheduled after the committee
members have tentatively approved the dissertation. The committee
may accept the dissertation as it stands, accept it conditionally
pending certain revisions, or reject it. Revisions can range
from minor editorial changes to a major recasting of a substantial
portion of the text. Normally the committee delegates to the
chairperson of the committee the responsibility for ensuring
that these revisions are made. All dissertations must meet
the format and stylistic requirements of the Graduate College.
There will be an oral defense of the dissertation attended
by the doctoral candidate and the members of the dissertation
committee, advertised and open to the academic community of
the university and announced at least one week prior to its
occurrence. The committee vote is pass or fail. A candidate
cannot be passed if more than one vote of fail is reported
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