2023-24 Edition

Graduate Program in Visual Studies

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Matthew Canepa
2000 Humanities Gateway
949-824-1124
http://www.humanities.uci.edu/visualstudies/

The graduate program in Visual Studies, administered by the faculty of the Department of Art History, offers students the opportunity to pursue a doctorate in the cultural analysis of visual artifacts and experiences. With a commitment to theoretically rigorous inquiry, Visual Studies synthesizes methodological insights from a wide variety of disciplines and interdisciplinary fields, including art history, archaeology, architectural history, design history, and environmental studies. The program leads to a Ph.D. in Visual Studies. While the program (in certain instances) grants an M.A. to students en route to their Ph.D., it admits only those students intending to complete their doctorate at UCI.

In addition, an emphasis in Visual Studies, described on the Requirements tab, is available to Ph.D. and M.F.A. students in all departments at UCI.

Faculty

Roland Betancourt, Ph.D. Yale University, Professor of Art History; Religious Studies; Visual Studies (Byzantine and Medieval art, critical and queer theory; histories of race, gender, and sexuality)
Bridget R. Cooks Cumbo, Ph.D. University of Rochester, Chancellor's Fellow and Professor of African American Studies; Art History; Culture and Theory; Visual Studies (African American art, museum studies, feminist and post-colonial theory)
Seungyeon Gabrielle Jung, Ph.D. Brown University, Assistant Professor of Art History; Visual Studies (Korean art and design, global design history, critical and media theory)
Peter Krapp, Ph.D. University of California, Santa Barbara, Professor of Film and Media Studies; English; European Languages and Studies; Informatics; Music; Visual Studies (secret communications and cybernetics [cryptologic history], cultural memory and media history [games and simulations, history of computing], aesthetic communication [title design, film music])
Felicidad (Bliss) Lim, Ph.D. New York University, Professor of Film and Media Studies; Visual Studies (Philippine cinema, temporality, postcolonial and feminist film theory, transnational horror and the fantastic, film archives)
Lyle Massey, Ph.D. University of California, Los Angeles, Associate Professor of Art History; Visual Studies (Italian Renaissance and early modern European art, gender theory, science studies)
Tyrus Miller, Ph.D. Stanford University, Dean of the School of Humanities and Professor of English; Art History; Comparative Literature; Visual Studies (modernist and avant-garde studies in literature and visual arts; critical theory and aesthetics; modern architecture and urbanism; East-Central European studies; culture of socialism and post-socialism; Frankfurt School theory)
James P. Nisbet, Ph.D. Stanford University, Department Chair and Associate Professor of Art History; Visual Studies (modern and contemporary art)
Alka Patel, Ph.D. Harvard University, Professor of Art History; History; Religious Studies; Visual Studies (South Asian and Islamic art and architecture, historiographies, Islamic diasporas in Cuba)
Aaron Trammell, Ph.D. Rutgers University, Assistant Professor of Visual Studies (analog games and video games, sound, fan studies, digital subjectivity)
Bert Winther-Tamaki, Ph.D. New York University, Professor of Art History; Asian American Studies; East Asian Studies; Visual Studies (modern Japanese art and visual culture, Asian American art, art and globalization)
Roberta Wue, Ph.D. New York University, Director of the Graduate Program in Visual Studies and Associate Professor of Art History; Visual Studies (modern Chinese art, photography, print culture)

Courses

VIS STD 290A. Art History:Theories and Methods. 4 Units.

Examines canonical texts and explores current directions in Art History.

VIS STD 290B. Theoretical and Historiographical Research Methods. 4 Units.

Provides students training in constructing and developing a research project integrating theoretical and historiographical methodologies.

Restriction: Graduate students only.

VIS STD 290C. Visual Studies: Theories and Methods. 4 Units.

Examines canonical texts and explores current directions in Visual Studies.

VIS STD 294. Getty Consortium Seminar. 4 Units.

Special graduate seminar offered at the Getty Research Institute in Los Angeles, involving faculty and graduate students from the five graduate programs in Art History or Visual Studies located in southern California (UCI, UCLA, UCR, UCSB, and USC).

Repeatability: Unlimited as topics vary.

VIS STD 295. Graduate Seminar in Visual Studies. 4 Units.

Studies in selected areas of Visual Studies. Topics addressed vary each quarter.

Repeatability: Unlimited as topics vary.

VIS STD 296. Directed Reading. 4 Units.

Directed reading on a specific topic agreed upon by student and instructor.

Repeatability: May be repeated for credit unlimited times.

Restriction: Graduate students only.

VIS STD 297. Writing Practicum. 4 Units.

Offered winter quarter each year and taught in a workshop format. Assists students with the preparation and revision of the dissertation prospectus so that they may advance to candidacy.

Prerequisite: VIS STD 290A and VIS STD 290B and VIS STD 290C

Grading Option: Satisfactory/unsatisfactory only.

Restriction: Graduate students only.

VIS STD 298A. Reading for the Preliminary Examination. 4-12 Units.

Directed reading in preparation for the preliminary examination. Formerly Visual Studies 298.

Grading Option: Satisfactory/unsatisfactory only.

Repeatability: May be repeated for credit unlimited times.

Restriction: Graduate students only.

VIS STD 298B. Prospectus Research. 4-12 Units.

Research and writing of the dissertation prospectus.

Grading Option: Satisfactory/unsatisfactory only.

Repeatability: May be repeated for credit unlimited times.

Restriction: Graduate students only.

VIS STD 299. Dissertation Research. 4-12 Units.

Research and writing of the dissertation.

Grading Option: Satisfactory/unsatisfactory only.

Repeatability: May be repeated for credit unlimited times.

Restriction: Graduate students only.