University at Buffalo
Department of Art (ART)
202 Center for the Arts
Buffalo, NY 14260
Deadlines
PhD / Visual Studies: January 1, 2016
MFA / Studio: February 1
MA / Visual Studies: February 15
MA / Critical Museum Studies: February 15
The University at Buffalo Department of Art unites the practice of art, art history, and visual studies.
PhD in Visual Studies
The PhD in Visual Studiesis a small, highly selective program for motivated, independently-minded scholars. It is focused on critical discourses that analyze and challenge social norms. PhD candidates specialize in exploring structuring ideologies that lurk beneath the visible. PhD candidates help select, order, and make legible what can be seen—and what cannot be. We especially welcome students interested in considerations of sexuality, gender, and the technologies and sciences that underwrite and reveal our embodied self-understandings. The PhD program studies visual culture beyond traditional disciplinary boundaries, with a particular emphasis on the late-19th, 20th, and 21st centuries. It integrates art history, histories of the image, and critical theory.
MFA in Studio Art
In this intense two-year studio program that eschews traditional boundaries between disciplines and encourages cross-disciplinary research, MFA students reconcile scholarly interests with creative action to define a unique and individual practice—a practice that will carry forward beyond graduate study. Individual and group interactions with peers and faculty form the core of the program, supplemented by frequent visits with artists, designers, and scholars from a wide range of disciplines. This is a rigorous program that requires a serious work ethic and the ability to chart a personal course of artistic development. MFA students enjoy private or semi-private studios and full access to departmental facilities.
MA in Visual Studies
The MA in Visual Studies is designed for a small, carefully selected group of students who have already identified an intellectual project in keeping with faculty specializations.
MA in Critical Museum Studies
MA in Critical Museum Studies is a new professional development interdisciplinary MA program that falls under the aegis of three sponsoring core departments/programs: Art, Anthropology, and Arts Management. The program offers a theoretically informed and politically engaged perspective on the current museum field, while preparing candidates for leadership roles in arts management.
Scholarships and financial aid
Competitive and fully funded paid teaching assistantships that include full tuition scholarships are available in the PhD and MFA programs. University funding opportunities are available for the MA programs.
Department of Art speaker series features renowned artists, critics and curators. Students have the opportunity to conduct individual studio visits.
Past visitors have included Ryan Trecartin, Catherine Opie, Lyle Ashton Harris, Karen Finley, Douglas Crimp, The Yes Men, Xu Bing, Maurizio Cattelan, Claire Pentecost, Mel Chin, Stan Douglas, Trevor Paglan, William Pope L., Sara Reisman.
Interdisciplinary research opportunities
Beijing Graduate Exchange Program
Technē Institute for Arts and Emerging Technologies
Coalesce Center for Biological Arts
Humanities Institute
About Buffalo
Located in the upper west of New York State, Buffalo stands at the crossroads between Canada and the US, the East and the Midwest. Long a technological and industrial powerhouse, Buffalo is reinventing itself as a haven of the arts, and its many arts non-profits including Hallwalls, CEPA and Squeaky Wheel ensure one of the most lively cultural scenes in the nation. The city boasts nine museums including the Albright Knox, a symphony designed by Eero Saarinen, opera, multiple theaters and theater festivals, and fourteen colleges and universities—not to mention Niagara Falls.
Follow this link to apply
For more information on PhD and MA programs contact Dr. Jonathan Katz
For more information on MFA program contact Professor Stephanie Rothenberg
Applications received after the deadlines will be considered on a space available basis.
