Ph.D. Degree Requirements

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» Credit Hours
» Course Work
» Transfer Credits
» Comprehensive Exam (if M.A. was not in Art History)
» Doctoral Comprehensive Exam
» Advancement to Candidacy
» Ph.D. Final Examination or Defense of Dissertation
» Manuscript
» Dissertation Hours
» Time Limit to Complete Requirements

Read the Ph.D. Degree general requirements as described in the University Catalog. If you are admitted to the Ph.D. program without an M.A. in art history you may be required to take additional graduate courses beyond the minimum Ph.D. requirements of 48 hours of course work; in all cases you must pass the M.A. comprehensive examination.

Credit Hours

A minimum of 48 hours of course work beyond the bachelor’s degree, exclusive of dissertation.

Course Work

• You must take a minimum of 18 hours of 500-level courses.
• You must take 24 hours of coursework at UNM, of which at least 18 must be taken after admission to the Ph.D. program (exclusive of dissertation hours).

To receive the Ph.D. degree, you must demonstrate a general mastery of the discipline, comprehensive knowledge of your field of specialization and an ability to conduct original research. Required course work done outside the Department of Art and Art History will be determined by your particular needs and is to be undertaken with the advice and approval of your Committee on Studies.

Substitutions of required coursework must be approved by the Director of Graduate Studies before registration for the substituted course. Petition forms are available in the Department Graduate Office.

You may not take more than 24 hours, exclusive of dissertation, with a single professor, unless you have submitted a memorandum to The Office of Graduate Studies (endorsed by the Department) regarding this matter.

Transfer Credits

Credit hours previously applied to a master’s degree from UNM or another accredited institution may be applied toward the Ph.D. The credits may include (1) UNM non-degree and/or extension credit, (2) a maximum of nine hours of approved graduate-level courses taken in undergraduate status, (3) a maximum of 6 hours of thesis credit or other coursework graded pass or credit.

All other conditions of transfer, noted in the University Catalog regarding doctoral degrees, apply to the Ph.D. in Art History.

Comprehensive Exam (if M.A. was not in Art History)

If you were admitted to the doctoral program with an M.A. from another institution you must meet the following general requirements before advancing to candidacy: Art History 500, Graduate Fall Review and Spring Symposium (see MA requirements for details). IMPORTANT: Doctoral students admitted with an M.A. in a field other than Art History must also pass the Department M.A. comprehensive examination. This examination is not limited to the areas of the student’s course work, but tests the student’s grasp of the field as a whole.

Doctoral Comprehensive Exam

You must successfully complete the Doctoral Comprehensive Examination. This written examination, administered by the student’s Committee on Studies, tests the student’s comprehensive knowledge of the field of specialization.

Advancement to Candidacy

Advancement to candidacy usually takes place during the semester in which you complete the minimum of 18 hours of course work (500-level and above) beyond the M.A. Requirements for advancement to candidacy for the Ph.D. are:

1. Evidence of proficiency in at least two foreign languages appropriate to your area of concentration.
   
2. Student must successfully complete the Doctoral Comprehensive Examination.
   
3. Student must fulfill residency requirements. Twenty-four of the required forty-eight hours of coursework must be completed at UNM, of which at least eighteen, exclusive of dissertation hours, must be taken after admission to the Ph.D. Program.
   
4. Dissertation proposal must be accepted. A preliminary outline of the proposed dissertation subject and research must be approved by your Committee on Studies prior to beginning enrollment in dissertation hours.
   
5. Submit the Advancement to Candidacy form.

The Application for Candidacy is a vehicle that formally establishes your program of studies. You must fill out the Application for Candidacy when you have completed the language requirement and passed the comprehensive exam.

You can obtain this form and complete directions from the Department Graduate Office.

Ph.D. Final Examination or Defense of Dissertation

The dissertation demonstrates your ability to undertake original research and to write a readable, scholarly argument of book length. You are expected to have complete knowledge of the historical, critical, theoretical, and methodological issues raised by the subject. It is your responsibility to defend your dissertation in an oral examination administered by your Dissertation Committee.

You must notify the Office of Graduate Studies by completing an Announcement of Final Examination form at least two weeks before the date of the examination. In order to graduate in a given semester, the examination must be held no later than the Office of Graduate Studies (OGS) graduation deadline dates.

The Office of Graduate Studies will publish on the web in the campus newspaper a calendar of final examinations (defense of dissertation). The final examination is open to faculty, students and staff.

At the conclusion of the examination, the Committee on Studies members shall confer and decide their recommendations. The Committee then reports the results of the examination on the reverse side of the Announcement of Final Examination form. It is the Committee Chair’s duty to turn this documentation, along with the confidential Evaluation Sheets, into the Departmental Graduate Office.
Red-border signature sheets should be present at the defense and signatures of all committee members should be obtained at this time.

The Director of Graduate Studies will verify by signature that all documentation is in order and route all paperwork to the Office of Graduate Studies.

Manuscript

You must submit a dissertation that demonstrates evidence of your ability to do sound research. Your topic and methodology must have the approval of your Dissertation Committee. It is your responsibility to provide each member of your committee with a complete draft of your dissertation in ample time for review before your final defense. After approval three copies of your dissertation need to be submitted. Two copies of the unbound dissertation, each with an abstract of no more than 350 words, must be submitted by the graduation deadlines. One copy must be submitted to the Department Graduate Office for Fine Arts Library cataloging. Guidelines regarding the format for your dissertation are available from the Manuscript Coordinator, Office of Graduate Studies and online. Please refer to the following Doctoral Graduation/Dissertation Checklist. Familiarize yourself with the necessary forms. All forms can be found either at the Office of Graduate Studies or the Department Graduate Office.

Dissertation Hours

Dissertation (699) credits are not counted until the semester in which you are advanced to Candidacy and have passed the Comprehensive Examination. Once you have registered for dissertation (699) credits, you must maintain continuous enrollment (exclusive of Summer session, unless you graduate in summer) until the defense/final examination is accepted by the following: Dissertation Chair, the Director of Graduate Studies, and the Dean of OGS.

Time Limit to Complete Requirements

You have five years to complete all degree requirements from the date the Dean of the Office of Graduate Studies formally advanced you to Candidacy. For example, if you advanced in the fall of 1998, your five-year time limit will end during the fall of 2003. If you advanced in the spring of 1993, your time limit will end in the spring of 1998.

Under extenuating circumstances, you may request an extension of this time limit in writing but it must be done prior to the end of the time limit. The request must be supported in writing, by your Committee on Studies Chair, the Director of Graduate Studies, and the Dean of the Office of Graduate Studies.

Note: Also see the Ph.D. degree general requirements described in the UNM Catalog.

Note: Those admitted to the Ph.D. program without an MA in art history may be required to take additional graduate courses beyond the minimum Ph.D. requirement of 48 hours of coursework; in all cases they must take and pass the MA comprehensive examination.

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