School of Comparative Arts

Graduate Comparative Arts Courses

The Ph.D. program in comparative arts is an academic program of liberal humanistic study in the arts of western civilization. Fundamental emphasis is placed on the ability to deal with works of art on their own terms: that is, the competence to analyze a work in any basic medium using the procedures of accepted modes of analysis within the scholarly tradition of each artistic discipline. But, as our name implies, departmental work is further focused upon the exploration of relationships between works of art and their significant cultural and intellectual contexts. There is no intention in this program to present a choice between scholarship and creative expression. Instead, the program is based on the belief that knowledge and understanding of your heritage and the development of acute critical abilities can only enhance the creative spirit, not hinder it.

Degree work is thus structured around a historical-theoretical-critical basis, involving period studies in each of the basic artistic disciplines, as well as interdisciplinary seminars.

Admission Requirements

You should have completed a master's degree from a reputable accredited university. This program of study may be in historical and critical studies of any major art discipline or in a studio or performance field. If your master's degree is in modern languages, litera-ture, history, or philosophy, and you have interest and training in arts fields, you are also encouraged to apply.

Your application should include:

1. Official transcripts of all previous degree work.
2. At least three letters of recommendation from people qualified to speak of your academic achievement and potential.
3. A three- to five-page essay in which you discuss reasons for selection of interdisciplinary graduate degree work and a statement of philosophical and practical expectations from such study.
4. A sample research paper.
5. Scores for the Graduate Record Examination (quantitative and qualitative aptitude tests) or the Miller Analogies Test.

The department recommends a personal interview when at all possible.

Most admissions to the program are for fall entry. Submit all application materials by the beginning of March, as basic admission decisions for the following year are generally made by the middle of April.

Program Requirements

The basic curriculum for the degree consists of:

1. Historical-theoretical studies: From the arts of theater, music, painting, sculpture, etc., two are selected as areas of concentration requiring a minimum of six courses in each. In the area not selected as one of the areas of concentration, a minimum of one course is required.
2. Seminar: A full cycle of the Seminar in Comparative Arts, consisting of all six courses, is required.
3. Academic minor: Three courses in aesthetics.
4. Studio Minor: Students without studio/performance experience are required to take three courses.

You are also required, as a part of the total program, to demonstrate proficiency in at least two scholarly tools outside of, but related to, your area of concentration as determined by the graduate committee of the department. You may choose from:

1. A reading knowledge of two foreign languages.
2. A reading knowledge of one foreign language plus at least three graduate courses in the literature of that language.
3. A reading knowledge of one foreign language plus satisfactory competence in a related tool (music theoretical systems, statistics, etc.) The music theoretical systems option is not open to students with graduate training in a music area.

Upon petition, the department will accept test scores from the Educational Testing Service that demonstrate reading proficiency in a foreign language, provided that the test score is at least 600 and no more than three years old.

Minimum course requirements for the degree can ordinarily be completed in six to eight quarters of full-time residency, of which six quarters must be continuous. Toward the end of your sixth full quarter of study or when the coursework is virtually completed, and upon recommendation of the graduate committee of the department, you must take a comprehensive examination in which you demonstrate the ability to make historical, philosophical, and comparative analyses of works of art.

In addition to these requirements, all candidates for the Ph.D. in comparative arts must register for six quarters of CA 891 Seminar in Comparative Arts.

All candidates for the degree are also required to teach and/or engage in some performance activity as determined and supervised by the department.

A dissertation (and oral defense) that is comparative in nature is the culminating demonstration of your scholarly abilities.

Requests for financial aid may accompany applications for admission. Most graduate teaching associateship appointments are made for a nine-month academic year period beginning in the fall quarter.

University Publications and Computer Services revised this file ( https://www.ohio.edu/~gcat/99-01/areas/coar.htm ) December 11, 2000.

Please e-mail comments or suggestions to " gcat@www.ohiou.edu ."