Guide for BA/MA Five-year Combined Degree Students in Art History at Binghamton University Admission The BA and MA combined-degree program admits qualified applicants who are enrolled as art history majors at Binghamton University and wish to complete a BA and an MA in Art History in five years. The program is open to art history majors in the Art History track. The program restricts admission to students with exceptional academic records and demonstrated potential for advanced graduate work. Prospective students should begin the application process early in the junior year by applying to the combined-degree program at the level of the Art History Department. Applicants will fill out an internal form generated by the Art History Department and submit an official transcript, the names of two professors who have agreed to serve as references, and a writing sample. Qualified students will be conditionally admitted into the combined-degree program and then they will be allowed to enroll in 500-level courses that may be double-counted to fulfill requirements for both the BA and the MA. During the first semester of the senior year, combined-degree students must apply for formal admission to the Graduate School. The combined-degree student is granted MA student status only after all requirements for the BA degree are completed satisfactorily, with a cumulative GPA of 3.0 for graduate coursework. Combined-degree students are not eligible for the Departmental Honors program. Course Requirements Combined-degree students must fulfill all of the course requirements for both the Art History BA and the MA. However, all combined degree students must take ARTH 500 in the spring semester of their senior year (and not ARTH 496), which will fulfill both the BA requirement for ARTH 496 and the MA requirement for ARTH 500. Graduate-level courses (32 credits) must be taken for regular letter grades and a B average or better must be maintained. Foreign Language Students must pass an examination demonstrating an ability to read research literature in their areas of interest in an appropriate language of scholarship in addition to English. The examination must be taken no later than one semester after formal admission to the MA program. Work in certain fields may require additional language skills. Master s Comprehensive Examination The master s comprehensive examination has been incorporated into the mandatory seminar in theory and methods. All students are required to pass ARTH 500, Theory and Methods, with a grade of B or better. For combined-degree students, ARTH 500 also 1
fulfills the BA major requirement of ARTH 496. At the discretion of the art history graduate committee, students failing to achieve the required grade may be asked either to repeat the course or, in exceptional cases, to redo the examination assignment. Master s Thesis Students are required to produce a master s thesis, finished to a professional standard and approximately 30 pages in length. The paper will be supervised by a selected art history faculty member and refereed by a second reader, assigned by the departmental graduate committee. The final thesis must be approved by both readers and submitted in accordance with Graduate School regulations. Students must be registered for at least one credit of Thesis (ARTH 599) during the semester in which the degree is completed. 2
BA (Art History Track) MA Combined Degree Required Courses: Required Courses Credits Lower (100-level): Any two from ARTH 102, ARTH 103, ARTH 110, or ARTH 111 [Please note, ARTH 110 and 111 are new courses, introduced in bulletin year 2015-16. If you have taken ARTH 101 or ARTH 104 (which are no longer being offered), these courses may be used to satisfy this degree requirement. However, if you have already taken ARTH 101, you may not take ARTH 110.] 8 Intermediate (200-level) and advanced (300-level): No more than 8 credits at 200-level At least 8 credits must be in each of the following two distribution designations: Pre-1800 Post-1800 20 Elective in Fine Arts: Any course in ARTS, CINE, MUS, or THEA 4 Additional 400-level seminar 4 ARTH 500: Theories and Methods (taken instead of ARTH 496) 4 500-level courses: 7 courses (including at least six art history seminars, taken with at least four different faculty members in art history, at least 4 credits should be taken while still at the BA stage in order to complete the degree in a timely fashion) 28 ARTH 599: Thesis 1 or more Total at least 68 Please note: 2-credit courses may count toward total required credits. (For courses outside the department and all independent studies, students submit a petition to the graduate committee. In order to count towards the coursework credits for the degree, independent studies must be for 4 credits and must have been formally petitioned and approved in advance by the Graduate Committee.) 3
Sample Sequences of Coursework for the BA-MA Combined Degree Students who are considering the BA-MA combined degree in art history should signal their interest to the director of undergraduate studies as early as possible, ideally by the sophomore year. Students should take two courses from the 100-level introductory sequence during the freshman or sophomore year, and then move on to intermediate (200-level) and advanced (300-level) courses. During the junior year, students should apply to the program at the level of the department. After being accepted provisionally, combined degree students may enroll in 500-level courses. These courses will count toward the BA degree, but only ARTH 500 may be used to satisfy requirements for the BA Art History major. Combined degree students should take ARTH 500: Theory and Methods, a graduate-level seminar that examines the discipline and its history from a theoretical and critical perspective, instead of ARTH 496 in spring of the senior year. Combined degree students should plan to take and pass the language exam during the senior year, but definitely by the end of the first semester of the MA year. During the senior year, combined degree students must formally apply to the MA program through the graduate school. At the end of the senior year, combined degree students must complete all requirements for the BA degree in art history and file for completion. In the fifth-year, the MA year, the student takes the remaining 500-level courses needed to satisfy degree requirements and files the MA thesis by the end of spring semester. The following is a sample sequence for a potential path through the BA-MA Combined Degree program. Please note that it is merely a sample; actual course paths will reflect the specific interests and research orientation of individual students as well as courses offered. Students are advised to discuss their course programs with the Director of Undergraduate Studies and/or the Director of Graduate Studies. 4
Sample sequence for Art History Track Freshman Year: Fall ARTH 100-level course Freshman Year: Spring ARTH 100-level course Sophomore Year: Fall ARTH 200-level course ( Post-1800 ) Any-level course in ARTS, CINE, MUS, or THEA Sophomore Year: Spring ARTH 200-level course ( Pre-1800 ) ARTH 300-level course ( Post-1800 ) Junior Year: Fall ARTH 300-level course ( Pre-1800 ) ARTH 300-level course Junior Year: Spring ARTH 400-level course Apply to the Combined degree program at the level of the department using the internal form Senior Year: Fall Take and pass the departmental language exam Senior Year: Spring ARTH 500: Theories and Methods Apply to the MA program formally through the graduate school MA Year (fifth year): Fall MA Year (fifth year): Spring ARTH 599 1 cr. File MA thesis at the end of the semester Updated NU KH 6/1/2015 5